"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 (Monte Dutton photos) Click here. INMAN, S.C. – Chapman High School’s football team wore chrome helmets that were somehow navy blue. Looking across the way, a cluster of quicksilver glinted on the sideline, similar to a group of tubas in the Panthers’ band. Chapman (3-0) just shone more brightly on Friday night. …
By MONTE DUTTON A comic-book football game erupts into supernatural chaos as a goat, owl, and melting players join the action. Click here. Perhaps one reason writers struggle is that truth is getting progressively stranger than fiction. Journalism is not really about telling the truth. It’s about getting as close to the truth as possible …
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 The captains meet while broadcasters from both teams go live with the coin flip (Monte Dutton photos). Click here. After road trips to Greenville, S.C., on Thursday night and Clinton, S.C., on Friday night, I’m still playing catch-up. It took most of Saturday writing about two football games, processing the photos and …
By MONTE DUTTON Owen Glenn threw the winning touchdown pass with two seconds remaining (Monte Dutton photos). Click here, CLINTON, S.C. – A grueling road trip home – after a similarly taxing down-and-back-up to Furman – was, incredibly, worth every minute and mile. The previous time I saw Clinton High School in action was an …
By MONTE DUTTON Anderson brought a considerable crowd (Monte Dutton photo). Click here. GREENVILLE, S.C. – The night has never shone more brightly at Paladin Stadium than on Thursday night. The lights are brand-new. Furman proved on Thursday night it can be good. The Paladins are not there yet. A 20-3, opening-night football victory over …
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 …
Nightrider's Lament 