"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 (Furman photo) Click here. Had Iowa won the women’s basketball championship on Sunday, Caitlin Clark might have been named a finalist to be Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s running mate. She’s too young. It violates the Constitution. That doesn’t seem to stop anyone else these days. Iowa didn’t win the game Sunday. South …
Continue reading Furmanology: Mercer finishes of Dins in extras
By MONTE DUTTON (Furman photo) Click here. I conducted some web research and have confirmed that Connecticut’s Donovan Clingan is not a Klingon, though, in fairness, I did find some disreputable site that claimed he was, as well as Purdue’s Zach Edey and N.C. State’s D.J. Burns. The Wolfpack had quite a run. I can’t …
Continue reading Furmanology: No baseball … but lacrosse wins
By MONTE DUTTON Eli Lazio (Monte Dutton photos) Click here. While waiting for the men’s Final Four games, which didn’t commence till 6 p.m., and while monitoring electronically local games, I enjoyed a documentary on William F. Buckley and a Randolph Scott western. The day began with breakfast at Steamers, which now only serves it …
Continue reading Blue Hose Blurbs: McDaniel holds line for PC comeback
By MONTE DUTTON (Furman photo) Click here. Caitlin Clark is great. So is women’s basketball. But the women’s game and the men’s are not the same. They may be equally entertaining. Clark may be the greatest women’s player ever, but she and Pete Maravich – or Michael Jordan or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or LeBron James – …
Continue reading Furmanology: On Caitlin and tennis’s mastery of El Cid
By MONTE DUTTON Beneath this placid exterior (Monte Dutton photo) Click here. When I was a freshman at Furman, when the Colts were still in Baltimore, the Paladins in Sirrine Stadium and Johnny Carson still on TV, I experienced the rites of passage that most young people face when they no longer have parental supervision. …
Continue reading Furmanology: Meanwhile, in the current century
Anna Morgan (Furman photo) Click here. Isn’t it amazing how big women’s basketball has become? Isn’t it amazing how important women have become in areas where they were not always so influential? In a way, basketball is just hand in hand with everything else … which is great. For instance, I have grown familiar by …
Lauralee Scott (Furman photo) Click here. Writing out loud … well, not loud … I’m typing. All else being equal, shouldn’t women’s basketball players shoot at a higher percentage than men? The ball is smaller. The rim is the same size. Like most everyone else, I’ve fallen in love with women playing basketball. I never …
Continue reading Furmanology: Dins pull a fast one on Clemson softball
(Furman photo) Click here. Have you noticed that height has been replaced by length in the lexicon of basketball broadcasters? Players began positioning themselves at the elbows of the lane. The broadcasters are always developing new wrinkles. Writers, too, I suppose, but since we make use of a backspace button, it diversifies language a bit. …
Continue reading Furmanology: Paladins suffer softball sweep but success abounds elsewhere
J.P. Pegues scans the lane. (Monte Dutton photos) Click here. It’s ironic that as Furman rebuilds its arena, it is going to be rebuilding its men’s basketball team. It’s remarkable how well Bob Richey has managed to keep his teams together. Maybe this is the year the law of averages catch up. Kids from Christy …
J.P. Pegues was first-team All-SoCon and the 2023 conference tournament MVP. (Monte Dutton photo) Click here. Furman is unlikely to be picked first in the Southern Conference’s next preseason men’s basketball poll. The Paladins’ first, second, third and fifth leading scorers have entered the NCAA transfer protocol. The four – J.P. Pegues, Marcus Foster, Alex …
Nightrider's Lament 