"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)
By MONTE DUTTON Carson Jones is one of 14 Paladins who have started (Furman photo). Click here. What challenges lie ahead. Furman’s Southern Conference champion football program has 14 players who have started, at least by recent calculations. Players who have started are not the same as returning starters. Duplicating the 10-3 records of the …
Continue reading Furmanology: It takes a village to raise a team
By MONTE DUTTON (Monte Dutton photo) Click here. The United States Open is being played in Moore County, N.C., which is a golf principality. Just to the south is Richmond County, which is a onetime NASCAR duchy. Every time I wrote about a race at Rockingham, I stayed at the Holiday Inn in Southern Pines, …
Continue reading Furmanology: The need for speed(ing tickets)
By MONTE DUTTON (Caleb Gilbert photo) Click here. I’ve mentioned it before, but among baseball’s many virtues is the incidence of the unexpected. I’ve seen a zillion games and listened to a bajillion. That’s not even counting the softball. Technology multiplies. On Sunday night, I was surfing three college games, one major-league, the end of …
By MONTE DUTTON (Danny Barletta photo) Click here. Surfing the Super Regionals, I heard an announcer yell, “Wow!!! That ball went 110 miles off the bat!!!” I thought, Far out. (I’d just been playing a John Denver song.) In hysterics, of course, the announcer left out “per hour” after miles. I know that announcers do …
By MONTE DUTTON Paladin Stadium (Furman photo) Click here. I watched the ceremonies from Normandy on Thursday morning, and it made me wish America could come together like that on anything now. Culture shock hurts. Growing up, World War II veterans were prevalent. Teachers showed us mementoes in class. People told stories. The most mild-mannered …
By MONTE DUTTON Mike Bothwell, triumphant (Elena Davidson photo) Click here. I see lots of celebrations. The baseball ones, I think, are the best and most dangerous, albeit no precincts report these days at Furman. Basketball players are prone to exult in somewhat smaller groups. A single pair of eyes cannot capture the scene fully. …
By MONTE DUTTON (Furman photo) Click here. We’ll all know that gambling –oh, I’m sorry, it’s not gambling, it’s merely gaming – has completely taken over when folks can put money on the outcome of a Trump trial. Maybe even a parlay. Gambling is one of many areas of life that seems to be relentlessly …
By MONTE DUTTON (Furman graphic) Click here. Dick Sheridan was a man of great fame. To his credit, he was inducted into most halls while he was still alive. It’s probably impossible for me to name them all: college football, Furman, Furman athletic, state athletic, state football and now Southern Conference. At least. The most …
By MONTE DUTTON Senior Xavier Stephens anchors the defensive line. (Furman photo) Click here. Old movies reveal habits from the past. For instance, back when automobiles didn’t have consoles and bucket seats, drivers got in the passenger side and slid across the bench seats. Have you ever tried to get in the passenger side and …
By MONTE DUTTON PJay Smith (Monte Dutton photo) Click here. I never saw Stephen Croone play in person, but I was a big fan. While Croone was playing for the Paladins, I was, unbeknownst to me, winding down my NASCAR writing career. I had a false sense of security. Other than the occasional blog, I …
Continue reading Furmanology: Adjusting to the speed of light
Nightrider's Lament 