Man in the Hat media

If you are a politician in Florida, get ready to be able to post whatever you want on social media and face nearly zero consequences. According The Sun-Sentinel, the Florida legislative body, controlled by the Republican party, passed a bill that would make it illegal for social media companies to ban politicians, with threat of hefty fines. LINK: Florida passes bill to limit social media companies I The Hill Companies would still be able to suspend accounts for two weeks, according to the legislation. The bill is pending the signature of Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who is expected to sign.  Everyone should fully expect this law to be challenged in court, and opponents have many avenues to go. I could argue the hypocrisy of the party that has long-touted itself against regulations now looking to impose regulations on a private business. You could also question how and if the state of Florida can enforce a regulation on companies based in California, namely Facebook and Twitte...

  The cancel culture has reached its apex of lunacy. Organizations are now canceling themselves. Major League Baseball has canceled...Major League Baseball. Recently, MLB pulled its annual All-Star game from Atlanta in protest of an election law passed by the state of Georgia's general assembly and signed by its governor, Brian Kemp.  The 95-page bill in question does, among other things, gives state officials authority to remove county and local level election officials with a non-partisan, state legislature appointed board, limits drop box locations, drastically effects absentee voting among other things you can read about. LINK: What is in the bill LINK: Georgia SB 202 Quite possibly the biggest change is the food and drink restrictions. Simply put, food and drink cannot be provided by anyone within a certain distance of a polling place. People will have to lug their own coolers or have Bitesquad on the ready when they stand in a long line because a polling place is crowded...

Frank Martin is coming back for his 10th year as South Carolina men's basketball head coach. The news comes after two weeks of conflicting reports. LINK: Beamer hire has more questions LINK: Gamecock coaching staff young, unproven Martin is coming off the worst season under his leadership, going 6-15 and marred by arguably the worst defense of the era.  The bad year can be attributed to COVID 19, which Martin contracted twice, and the start-stop-start protocoals in place. Martin has earned one more year. Historically, Martin is one of the best coaches to march the sidelines. He is third in all-time wins with 153 (behind Frank Johnson and all-time wins leader Frank McGuire). He was also the third longest tenured coach in school history, again behind Johnson and McGuire.  Under Martin, this has been one of the best eras for Gamecock basketball. You could argue the Eddie Fogler era, with a pair of NCAA tournament appearances and a regular season conference title, or the Dave Odom...

It is no secret college athletics is a big business. By their own numbers, the industry had a revenue of nearly $19 billion . That line between amateurism and professionalism got a bit blurrier on March 11, when Michigan State announced its basketball team signed a five-year partnership with national lending company Rocket Mortgage. The agreement makes the Detroit-based company a "presenting partner" of the basketball team, and includes sponsorship tie-ins across the athletic department.  Sponsorship deals are nothing new in college athletics: uniforms, signage around stadiums, drink and beverage vendors and stadium naming rights have become common place. This is the first timeI can recall a team name being effected. According to the release, the men's basketball team will be called the MSU Spartans presented by Rocket Morgtage.  "Michigan State Athletics couldn't compete at the highest levels without the support of our corporate partners like Rocket Mortgage,...

The start of March featured the next big shot across the bow in America's long-running culture war when it was announced six books by Dr. Seuss would no longer be published for "racist imagery." The six titles are: -And to Think I Saw it on Mulberry Street -If I Ran the Zoo -McElligot's Pool -On Beyond Zebra! -Scrambled Eggs Super! -The Cat's Quizzer “Ceasing sales of these books is only part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure Dr. Seuss Enterprises’ catalog represents and supports all communities and families,” the company released in a statement. “These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong." As expected, online backlash was quick, labeling Dr. Seuss Enterprises a victim of cancel culture and the continued trampling of the First Amendment.  The logic behind that being once you ban books, it is a slippery slope to what is decent, and further reinforced a world view that "Big Brother is coming." It is a sentiment I can...

Shane Beamer has put the final touches on his inagural coaching staff at South Carolina. Assuming Auburn hasn't hired away any more holdovers from the Will Muschamp era between now and hitting the publish button, the new group of coaches are a departure from Carolina's usual model from the last 20 years. Or nearly 60 years.  LINK: Bobo, Friend head to Auburn LINK: Rocker to Auburn There is not a proven head coach, and when I say proven, I mean a proven track record of what you are likely to expect. With Lou Holtz and Steve Spurrier, you got two men that elevated a program, before holding on for one year too long and setting things back. With Muschamp, you got a guy who could do well with other coach's talent before the program bottoming out two years later when he had to worry about more than just the defense and punching white boards.   Now, the head coach has no proven track record as a head coach. All that is known about Beamer is his ability to recruit. The overall st...

South Carolina has hitched it future on Shane Beamer. The first time head coach was officially announced Sunday by the school  LINK: Questions abound with Beamer hire As mentioned yesterday, this hire leaves a lot of questions. While special teams is an affinity that comes with the Beamer name, the new coach has never been an offensive or defensive coordinator. Expect the school to open the pocket book and pay both coordinators between $800,000 and $1 million salaries. That puts extra emphasis on Beamer getting these hires right. News broke late Sunday that South Carolina defensive coordinator Travaris Robinson was not being retained.  Here are some names to keep an eye on for defensive coordinator. Jay Bateman, DC, North Carolina Bateman is in his second year with Mack Brown in Chapel Hill. In his first year he engineered a major  turnaround for the unit, going from allowing 34.5 points per game to 23.7. That number has increased to roughly 28 this year, but in this era ...