"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 Keith Richardson won six state championships and 239 games as Clinton head coach (photo courtesy John Clayton). Click here. Many times I have expressed the opinion that my life is seldom mediocre. Either everything goes right, or everything goes wrong. That’s not the way life is. It’s just the way it seems. …
Continue reading Good times, great oldies, the Devils and the deep blue sea
By MONTE DUTTON Ian Williams drilled three field goals (Furman photo). Click here. Anything doesn’t often happen, but it certainly can. I spent Friday and Saturday surprised in various degrees. I expected Clinton to win the Laurens County championship in high-school football, but not 50-0 over Laurens. I expected Furman to start the season with …
Continue reading Paladins take down Tribe as Blue Hose step up
By MONTE DUTTON (Monte Dutton photo) Click here. It is glittering and bright, this brand-new Timmons Arena. On a campus of stately brick buildings and picturesque fountains, Furman University’s reimagined basketball arena more closely resembles the fountains. A little of the Williamsburg architecture remains on the sides, but from the outside, the edifice is overwhelmingly …
By MONTE DUTTON Click here. When writing about stock cars became my principal way to make a living, one of the surprises was Howard Augustine “Humpy” Wheeler Jr., known for his flamboyant promotion of events at Charlotte Motor Speedway. I was expecting P.T. Barnum. What I found was the Wizard of Oz, a mild-mannered fellow …
By MONTE DUTTON Click here. A state championship is the ultimate achievement in high-school sports until, all of a sudden, it isn’t. Clinton High, like every other occupant of the proverbial mountaintop, enjoyed the experience so much that the prospect of another seems irresistible. It’s not easy. Last year, when the Red Devils were 12-2, …
By MONTE DUTTON Click here. Latest trends in the world of sports: Length and size have replaced height and weight. Groups have been replaced by rooms (“the quarterback room”) that I suspect do not actually exist. Some words have flip-flopped meanings to the point where anything goes. Citizens want governments to be “transparent” so they …
By MONTE DUTTON (Monte Dutton photos) Click here. The Clinton Red Devils were decked out in their game uniforms on Friday morning, and they looked proud, as well they should. The fact that they are the reigning Class 2A state champions naturally leads to the suspicion that they can do it again. High expectations are, …
By MONTE DUTTON Click here. I enjoyed the wide world of motorsports on Saturday. “Spanning the globe to bring you the human drama of sports … the thrill of victory ... the agony of defeat,” I watched a little Indy Car qualifying from Laguna Seca – perhaps my favorite road course because of “the corkscrew” …
By MONTE DUTTON Click here. This isn’t the first time I’ve noted that my favorite novelists – Larry McMurtry, Elmore Leonard, Pat Conroy, et al. – have been dying off. Given my own advancing age, there’s no getting around it. Over the years, I’ve read most of John Irving’s great novels: The Cider House Rules, …
By MONTE DUTTON Click here. I have become obsessed with how bad journalism has become. It’s become a hobby to read Internet stories with lurid headlines if only to see what nothing burgers they are. This morning I saw a headline on “NASCAR’s deadliest tracks.” Truth be known, there aren’t any. I don’t think a …
Nightrider's Lament 