Man in the Hat media

The deadseason of the football crazy south is in full drought. So, to wet the whistles of the maniac contingency-myself included-I want to try and settle the debate of which conference is better in football, because this argument deserves to be settled. Plus, we have three months to kill. First, let's examine-using alphabetical order-the ACC. The conference still has the slight hint of that new car smell, as it expanded into two divisions, the Atlantic-made up of Boston College, Clemson, Wake Forest, Florida State, NC State, and Maryland-and the Coastal-made up of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Miami, North Carolina, Duke, and Georgia Tech. Clearly, the conference has some academic juggernauts in Virginia, North Carolina, Duke, GT, and VT (all merit academia esteem, just those seem to be the premier institutions). Of course the top teams right now are VT and Clemson (this should be the 2009 ACC Title game on paper) and have rising teams in Miami, FSU, Virginia, and UNC; consistent tough ...

Both USC and Clemson have concluded their NCAA alloted spring practices and closed with their Garnet and Black and Orange and White games respectively. Some questions were answered, some names were moved on depth charts, but some questions remain just that, questions. Both teams shared a common goal going into a spring: Find an offensive line. For Clemson, the loss of four-fifths of last years line (Offensive tackles Barry Richardson, Christian Capote, offensive guards Chris McDuffie, Brandon Pilgrim) presented a challenge that looked to be solved with inexperienced talent. For USC, the return of an inconsistent line meant that spots could be taken over by reserves from last year. The Tigers, after this spring, will be depending on youth this year. Big offensive guard Jamarcus Grant looked to step into the role of starter, but a weak performance early on gave way to redshirt freshman OG David Smith. C/OG Mason Cloy, assuming he can beat out Barry Humphries (very possible) and Smith l...

Average Joe is leaving Anderson, and the leave is as sudden as the homecoming. Around last summer, Anderson welcomed home minor league baseball after 20 years. The independent run South Coast League gave Anderson the minor league team, The Anderson Joes. Other teams, like the Charlotte County Redfish, South Georgia Peanuts, Aiken Foxhounds, and Bradenton Juice made up the rest of the league. I remember the opening day (I was covering it for the weekly Anderson Journal at the time). The almost football like weather, the crack of the wooden bat, the smell of the dust, the fireworks afterward. It was a good ole time at the ball park. Heck, the first souvenir foul ball came on the third live pitch. After that, the Joes were a pretty mediocre team record wise, but improved the second half of the season. The SCL looked to make its second run this summer, but now the league has folded, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. The first sign of trouble should have been the Juice, a team...

There have been many great strides and advancements in the communication mediums of print and television. The television has gained unmatched power since its release in the 1950s; from programming and advertising, to even the quality of the picture that has changed from black and white to color, and now to high definition. Print has stayed true, but has added flash, such as color pictures, eye-grabbing graphics, investigative pieces, and shorter, fact-filled stories; thanks to publications such as USA Today . Although the two seem to be competing with one another for the eyes of the American public, each has one thing in common. Each has sacrificed the substance of fact-based truth for entertainment and ratings as they have changed through the years. Print media, more precisely newspapers, got their birth with the invention of Gutenberg’s printing press in the 15 th century. Jump to the late 1800s and the first advancement in newspapers came with the “penny press.” This made informa...

I think not. According to The State Paper (Columbia, SC) Clemson head football coach Tommy Bowden is lobbying to get the SCHSL (South Carolina High School League) to move the state title games in football from Williams-Brice Stadium, the home of rival USC, to Death Valley in Clemson. The argument being made by Bowden, as well as statehouse senators Dan Cooper of Anderson and Harvey Peeler of Cherokee, is that it isn't fair to Clemson University, or the city of Clemson, that all the games are played in the middle of the state. According to the article, 30,000 fans attend the title games, bringing in monetary gains to the city of Columbia. I'm afraid Bowden and the members of the General Assembly are wrong on this. From a convenience standpoint, it is illogical to move the games to Clemson. The town of Clemson simply does not have the infrastructure to support 30,000 people. Some may argue that Clemson caters to roughly 80,000 a Saturday. This is true, but these people aren't...