"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. I have concluded that actual names are going out of fashion, particularly among the showboats who tell us all about them on television. The Most Valuable Player in the NBA is SGA. Do fans even know his full name? I didn’t. I never hear it. SGA slams! A steal by …
Continue reading The players get longer; the names get shorter
By MONTE DUTTON Click here. I spent a lot of time Friday watching NCAA baseball playoff games, mainly because I’m presently too broke to do much else.. I had the usual South Carolinian’s interest in Clemson, and some underdog’s affection for USC Upstate, which won the Big South Tournament out of which Presbyterian quickly retired. …
By MONTE DUTTON Many things in life are predictable. When a major golf tournament is on TV, and coverage shifts to a player who is out of contention, the shot is going in. They don’t have to mention all the “possible side effects” of prescription drugs. It’s obvious from the commercials that almost all of …
By MONTE DUTTON Click here. The hereafter is where old race fans debate the merits of Curtis Turner, Junior Johnson and Fireball Roberts. Some young NASCAR fans weren’t born when Dale Earnhardt met his maker. Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Rusty Wallace have their adherents, not to mention those of my age who also recognize …
By MONTE DUTTON Brett Young went deep (Monte Dutton photos). Click here. And then, in the Upstate, there were were four. Four schools, in Class 2A, to decide the representative to play for a state championship: Clinton in District 1, Batesburg-Leesville in District 2, Mid- Carolina in District 3 and Strom Thurmond in District 4. …
Continue reading Devils advance past Chesnee, rain, protest, triple play …
(Photo courtesy John Clayton) Click here. Laurens kept its hopes alive in Class 4A baseball and softball. Clinton flexed its Class 2A muscles in baseball, while its softball team’s fate depends on a Friday home game against Landrum. The Red Devils lost their playoff opener, 10-1, to Ninety Six. Thornwell is no more in the …
By MONTE DUTTON Click here. Clinton High School, undefeated at 11-0, is playing for the state boys’ tennis championship on Saturday in Cayce at 10 a.m. Red Devil teams have already won the Class 2A state title in football and reached the Upstate final in girls’ basketball. This is always a tall order, never more …
By MONTE DUTTON Tommy Spangler (Furman photo) Click here. At about the same time I arrived in the baseball valley on Tuesday, a familiar figure in a red shirt and a purple cap yelled my name. He brought someone with him. Was it a Clinton fan with Saluda roots? The only such person I know …
By MONTE DUTTON Click here. Lord, have mercy on the Presbyterian Blue Hose. If not for bad luck, the baseball team would have no luck at all. High Point just wrapped up the Big South regular-season championship by sweeping the Blue Hose 10-4, 8-5 and 15-5 on PC’s home field. Presbyterian has lost 11 of …
Continue reading The question at PC is will it get any better?
By MONTE DUTTON Owen Glenn (Monte Dutton photos) Click here. Both Laurens and Clinton highs experienced early disappointments in baseball region play. The Raiders lost three straight to Fountain Inn (21-5, 13-2), and the Red Devils fell twice to Mid-Carolina (18-7, 10-0). Neither has lost in region play since, and as such, optimism rises as …
Nightrider's Lament 