"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 Click here. It did everything but rain on Clinton High School in Inman, S.C., on Friday night. I got up Saturday, trudged through a wretched account of Chapman’s 45-13 victory — I shall not lie; I left the game early — and just wanted to go out and see something wholesome. Watching …
Continue reading Listening to the rhythm of the falling rain
By MONTE DUTTON On Saturday night, I slept well on paper. Click here. I’d been sick for a few days. Not on paper. In the toilet. I was better, but not enough to be too far away from the bathroom. Even in a shoebox, the bathroom is still a long way when nature calls in …
By MONTE DUTTON A triumphant kickoff at Unity Stadium erupts with fireworks, cheering fans, and football excitement. Click here. From time to time, the world is perfectly described by a three-word Jackson Browne song title from the 1970s. “Before the Deluge.” From time to time is gradually becoming all the time about everything. Thirty years …
By MONTE DUTTON Rosman slipped past West-Oak in a practice game (Monte Dutton photos). Click here. The Country Skillet was jammed late Friday afternoon. I was the only person there who didn’t know everyone else there, and they were all talking to everyone else. I sat there, reading about Rosman High’s football team in the …
By MONTE DUTTON Acapulco Mexican Restaurant welcomes diners beneath a colorful sunset in the Blue Ridge Mountains. (This is a bit exaggerated. Then again, it's a cartoon.) Click here. I awakened recently thinking about running backs. I certainly never was one. Neither was my brother, though he would have been better suited. Football has many …
By MONTE DUTTON (Monte Dutton photos) Click here. Ever since I moved to the mountains, I have thought about going to see the Asheville Tourists play. If I had been a betting man, I would not have predicted I’d be sitting at HomeTrust Park on Friday night. I also wouldn’t have predicted I’d get so …
By MONTE DUTTON Two identical news anchors deliver unchanging breaking news. Click here. I’m getting old. I am old. It follows that I am set in my ways. The evening news. I like to watch it, but it’s getting harder. The anchors could be AI-generated. They’re not. There apparently is a Tom Llamas. Wikipedia says …
By MONTE DUTTON Click here. It’s impossible for me not to pay attention to auto racing, since I’ve been going to races since my earliest memory and spent two decades writing about it full-time. I don’t watch all the races, and I don’t often watch all of those races. I’ve been guilty of picking up …
Continue reading That place is so crowded, nobody goes there anymore
By MONTE DUTTON The one I attended was not so boisterous. It was fun, or else I wouldn't have been there. Western Carolina's Kerwin Bell It was good to be out and about Tuesday.The Southern Conference held its football media day in Greenville, S.C., giving me another opportunity to review the various routes from my …
By MONTE DUTTON A quiet small town street glows warmly in the early morning light. Click here. I breezed through Laurens County on Thursday. It was an economical trip. I went to the post office, discovering to my surprise that the box wasn’t crammed. A big manila envelope was inside, but it was to an …
Nightrider's Lament 