Furmanology: Paladins ranked 14th in FCS

By MONTE DUTTON Senior Xavier Stephens anchors the defensive line. (Furman photo) Click here. Old movies reveal habits from the past. For instance, back when automobiles didn’t have consoles and bucket seats, drivers got in the passenger side and slid across the bench seats. Have you ever tried to get in the passenger side and …

County Signs: Porter in charge on practice field

By MONTE DUTTON Greg Porter (Monte Dutton photos) Click here. Particularly since the Laurens High baseball team was playing afterward, I chose an overcast Monday to pay a visit to the Raiders practicing football earlier and down below. I waited a while because I wanted to see new head coach Greg Porter lead the charges …

Blue Hose Blurbs: There’s something about Wofford

By MONTE DUTTON Dixon Black homers for Wofford in the top of the first inning. (Monte Dutton photos) Click here. I was moderately excited when I drove over to Elton Pollock Field on Tuesday. Presbyterian was riding a four-game Big South winning streak. The previous game against Wofford seemed a distant memory. It drew nearer …

County Signs: Long ago in about the same place

By MONTE DUTTON Clinton head coach Corey Fountain at practice Monday (Monte Dutton photos) Click here. On Tuesday, I spent about an hour watching Clinton High School in a spring football practice. After taking more photos than I could possibly need, I walked across the field and decided not to leave. I sat down on …

Furmanology: Just call the latest Paladin Smitty

By MONTE DUTTON (File photo) Click here. I went through college in a period of little unrest. I read about the 1960s and watched it all on TV as a boy, but the biggest threat to the Furman campus in the late 1970s and early 1980s was the invasion of Citadel cadets the night before …

Furmanology: Paladins’ young men go west

By MONTE DUTTON Jacob Johanning (Furman photo) Click here. Uniforms used to be so much easier to understand. I thought about this when I was watching the Philadelphia 76ers play the New York Knicks, and both team were wearing uniforms I really liked, only the Knicks were wearing white and the Sixers were wearing blue, …

Furmanology: Searching for a pot of gold

By MONTE DUTTON J.P. Pegues is moving along. (Monte Dutton photo) Click here. Ain’t gonna be no more Willie Totten to Jerry Rice at Mississippi Valley. Walter Payton blazing a trail at Jackson State? Ken Anderson quarterbacking Augustana? Walt Frazier at Southern Illinois? Centenary’s Robert Parish? Get outta town! Maybe this is how it should …

Furmanology: Another heavenly hall of fame

By MONTE DUTTON (Caleb Gilbert photo) Click here. I have warm memories of Jimmy Satterfield, who was not always a warm man. He was folksy, humble and patient, but on game day, he turned cold. Satterfield grew up hard, as most in his generation did. It took a while to figure him out. And vice-versa. …

Blue Hose Blurbs: Where abnormal is the norm

By MONTE DUTTON Ryan Ouzts (Monte Dutton photo) Click here. Every time another unexpected event happens, whether it lives in fame or infamy, compels me to start reciting again. One year the football team won a game one week by 65 points and lost the next week by 72. Last year a descendant of that …

Blue Hose Blurbs: Lots of excitement at spring football game

By MONTE DUTTON (Monte Dutton photos) Click here. One characteristic of the Presbyterian College spring football game was that it got better as it went along. Would that it be true of us all. I was there for most of it. I started out frantically shooting photos of the Clinton Red Devils baseball game. It …