"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 (PC photo) Click here. Was Iowa’s upset of South Carolina in the national semifinals a year ago the first time I ever heard of Caitlin Clark? I certainly know all about her now. I’ve watched about 500 percent more women’s basketball this year, apparently mirroring the general public. This year I watched …
Continue reading County Signs: Hose home in baseball, softball
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 …
(PC photo) Click here. Sports gambling has been legal in the United Kingdom for all sports since 1960 and on horse racing for centuries. Breathes a TV-watching man or woman alive here who doesn’t know it’s been legal in North Carolina since March 11. It’ll probably infest us here in time. Remember when people used …
Continue reading Blue Hose Blurbs: PC splits softball twinbill with S.C. State
(PC photo) Click here. I haven’t seen anything near a full major-league baseball game on TV. Basketball has dominated my viewing time. Most of what I’ve noticed is the Phils’ Bryce Harper, whom I watched crash over a rail in one game and hit two homers in another. The Tigers, Pirates and Brewers are undefeated. …
Continue reading Blue Hose Blurbs: Something about the Peach State
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
Carson Glenn (Monte Dutton photos) Click here. Baseball terms come from a variety of origins. For instance, “on deck” refers to the next batter. The one after that is “in the hold,” not the hole. They were naval terms before baseball adopted them. It irks me that any time a player holds a bat in …
Continue reading County Signs: Spartanburg edges Clinton, 5-4
Me-Me Smith delivers. (Monte Dutton photos) Click here. I see a lot of interesting names. Perhaps my favorite of the spring to date is Presbyterian College baseball player Rhogue Wallace. I’m partial to Clinton softball player Me-Me Smith. I think of a coach, perhaps even Joseph Terry, asking, “Hey, who wants to pitch?” “Me! Me! …
Continue reading County Signs: Name games and a Clinton comeback
(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
(PC photo) Click here. In the immortal commercial words of Mike Krzyzewski, “Who needs championships when you can look at birds?” I’m starting to add words to the CBS March Madness theme. Everyone talks about the Big Dance. And the Sweet Sixteen. And the Elite Eight. And the Final Four. Why no love for the …
Raiders came back, but Jordan Hudson wasn't around to see it. (Monte Dutton photos) Click here. Even when the weather is clear, a spring night has dampness in it. Parents and friends huddle in the shadows, some up against the fence in their foldable chairs, others standing back a bit, wearing caps and windbreakers, wishing …
Nightrider's Lament 