Man in the Hat media

What comes to mind when one thinks of spring? Flowers blooming, pollen pollinating, temperature rising, and football? Yep, spring practice has begun for many schools. This is a time for teams to coach, and really work on basics, and to get younger players some more attention for development. This is the case with South Carolina. For Clemson, it is all that plus learning new schemes with the coaching change. I guess USC falls under that category too. And I know we are in football country, where college ball is king, but I am just not that into spring, and more precisely, the spring games. I don't get how so many people could get into a glorified scrimmage. You really have no idea how good your team is by watching and analyzing a spring game. What good does it do for your guys to play your same guys, who schemes they all know? Did I mention there is that added risk of players getting hurt? Sure, you can have excitement with trick plays and learn some new faces, but it really isn'...

You know what? Sure, you already know I love baseball. I believe it is the greatest game, a thinking man's game, ever devised by the human mind. But you know something? I really like the World Baseball Classic. There is just something about it that draws me to it. Maybe it is because I haven't even heard the crack of a bat since November and I'm dying to hear a ball smack some leather. We already have the drama. The Netherlands already had a stunning upset over the highly favored team from the Dominican Republic, and USA and Canada went toe-to-toe in a close and hard fought ball game. But I think the real attraction for me with the WBC is because it gives us, Americans, a chance to see how our game sticks up to the world, and how the world has embraced our game. In a world today where so much violence and death are fought over, mostly due to misunderstandings and breaks in communication, sports speaks a common language. Though many of the participants in these games don...

Here in the South there are three sports seasons: Football, spring football, baseball. Well, it is time to strap on the pads, which means the real season is less than 6 months away. Here in the coverage area of the Report (Georgia, South Carolina, Clemson) we will be looking at what to expect from spring ball, what to watch for position battle wise, and 5 things I think will happen to each team. I'll start in alphabetical order. Clemson The Dabo Swinney era has officially begun at Clemson. This will mark the first spring under Swinney for the Tigers, and I expect some big changes for the orange clad bunch. New defensive coordinator Kevin Steele will look to bring some of that Alabama toughness to the Tiger D, while Billy Napier was promoted to offensive coordinator. This breeds the two biggest questions for the Tigers: What kind of defense will they run? What type of offense? If they run the Alabama 3-4-4, it will take away their lack of depth at defensive tackle, but it may expose...