"Why do they [write] for their money? Why do they [work] for short pay? They ain't getting nowhere and they're losing their share. They must have gone crazy back there." — Michael Burton (paraphrased)
Clinton, South Carolina, Thursday, May 2, 2019, 8:32 a.m. Every dog has his day. Even the athletes with the most modest of skills – me, for instance, back in the distance when I tried to be one – have the occasional moment of glory. The proudest of my memories involve the accomplishments of teams for …
Continue reading I Don’t Know, but I’ve Heard Say, that Every Little Dog Has His Day
Clinton, South Carolina, Saturday, April 13, 2019, 2:27 p.m. It has not been uncommon for me to express the belief that the biggest problem facing writers is simple. More and more people write, and less and less people read. It’s sort of a double-edged sword, particularly if one happens to write books. Getting them published …
Clinton, South Carolina, Saturday, April 6, 2019, 12:34 p.m. When I was in the sixth grade at Clinton Elementary School, U.S. Sen. Ernest Frederick “Fritz” Hollings visited my classroom. From the view of an 11-year-old in a desk chair he couldn’t get his leg in now, Hollings looked as tall and thin as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, …
Clinton, South Carolina, Monday, March 25, 2019, 12:52 p.m. I’ve been reading three books at the same time. One is in hardcover. One is in my Kindle. One is in my phone. The last two could be read in either. For no apparent reason, I read one strictly in one and one strictly in the …
Clinton, South Carolina, Friday, March 15, 2019, 12:22 p.m. Oh, wow. We say, “oh, wow,” too much. The last time North Carolina went 3-0 against Duke was 1975-76. Oh, wow. Wait a minute. The Tar Heels and the Blue Devils don’t play in basketball three times every year. This is the first Clemson football team …
Clinton, South Carolina, Tuesday, March 12, 2019, 10:09 a.m. I guess most people actually do have similar experiences. Class reunions. I’ve only been to one of those, the 10th, and I made a spectacle of myself that I don’t regret much because I was much younger, and it was roughly what I was supposed to …
Clinton, South Carolina, Wednesday, March 6, 2019, 12:15 p.m. Treatment is going well. Not rehab for any addiction. Not radiation or chemo or anything like that. No shrink. The wound on my leg is almost healed. Soon I won’t have to surround it in clear plastic every time I take a shower. A man reaches …
Clinton, South Carolina, Saturday, February 2, 2019, 1:49 p.m. I just checked the TV listings and see that PBR Bull Riding is on from Oklahoma City. Now, PBR stands for Professional Bull Riders, so what the message on TV indicates is that what is on is Professional Bull Riders Bull Riding. What a surprise that …
Continue reading They’re Only Words, and Words Are All I Have …
Clinton, South Carolina, Sunday, January 6, 2019, 4:45 p.m. An alarmingly large array of life’s experiences are stupid, but that’s too broad a topic for a blog being written while watching NFL playoff games. Sports is also too broad a topic, and this isn’t going to be comprehensive. It’s going to be limited to what …
Continue reading To Think, Sports Was Once Considered an Educational Experience …
Clinton, South Carolina, Saturday, December 15, 2018, 9:31 p.m. Earlier today, I came across a quote from the great Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver, who once walked out to the mound to counsel an ineffective Ross Grimsley. "If you know how to cheat, now's the time," Weaver is alleged to have said. I remember Weaver, …
Nightrider's Lament 