Man in the Hat media

It is that time of year again. Time to dust off the old mit, tar the bat, and clean off the cleats. Yep, it is baseball season once again. In an off-season that better resembled a bi-polar adolescent with the induction of players like Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice into the Hall of Fame and the admission of steroid use by A-Rod (which is another story altogether), it is about time we start hearing the crack of a bat. This offseason teams have been busy jockeying for players. The New York Yankees don't seem to be in a recession, as they acquired pitchers C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett, and first baseman Mark Texiera for very hefty sums of cash. The other cash cow in baseball, the Boston Red Sox, also were a little busy. They signed pitchers Brad Penny and John Smoltz, while the other New York team, the Mets, sured up their suspect bullpen with closer Fransico Rodriguez aka K-Rod. Other players have new homes, like Jason Giambi-who went back to Oakland, first basemen Adam Dunn (Washin...

The scene of an emptying courtroom paints the 6-inch screen of the television. The picture gets fuzzy, and a young boy gets up to adjust the rabbit ears so the message can come through clearly. It was 1954, and the Supreme Court of the United States has just ruled on the Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education case, and overturned the ruling of Plessy vs. Ferguson . That was Bob Prince’s first experience with the media. “I just remember how matter-a-fact the journalists were. They were commentators in journalistic mode and their purpose was to inform the public so the public could make their own decisions.” He doesn’t see it that way anymore though. Prince, 54 of Anderson , SC. , pointed to the late 1960s, after the Kennedy assassination, as a time when journalism started down its slope to the mess the media know finds itself in. “When Kennedy was assassinated, it was kept as fact. His private life was kept separate from his public life,” Prince said. “Then the Vietnam C...

Bring 'em in! Time to break down the recruiting classes for Clemson, Georgia and South Carolina. I will be looking to see if they addressed the main needs, replaced personnel wise, and if they picked up any bonuses. Starting with the Tigers. Clemson The Tigers have a small class coming in due to the firing of now ex-coach Tommy Bowden. But, what they lacked in quantity, they signed in star quality. Their biggest signings may be QB Tajh Boyd and DE Mallicah Goodman. Boyd gives coach Dabo Swinney his first QB to fit his system and that he can develope how he sees fit. Goodman gives him a man to build his future defense around, and continue the tradition of signing high quality defensive ends (like Ricky Sapp and DaQuaun Bowers). Along with Boyd, the Tigers signed a guy to run the ball, and to catch Boyd's passes in the future. RB Rod McDowell of Sumter, and WR Bryce McNeal give the Tigers an offensive group to build around. Safety Jonathan Meeks may be the steal of the class, an...

So Michael Phelps got high in Columbia (allegedly). Big deal. It isn’t as if he committed a major felony like some other high profile athletes in the past-here is looking at you Michael Vick and DeAndre McDaniel. Now those guys needed to make some apologies. But for Phelps, I think it would have gone a long way if he had said something to the tune of, ‘Yes, I did it, and I’ve done it before, and I liked it, but didn’t do it during competition.’ The argument if he had done that is that he probably would have lost a large deal of sponsorship and ad revenue that he garnered thanks to his 6-foot, 4-inch inch frame, and his 14 career gold medals. But why would Mazda, a China owned company, care? And what about Speedo, a company based in England ? Sure, he may lose the Wheaties deal, but who eats Wheaties? But unlike the prior named athletes, the only person Phelps hurt in this instance was himself. He didn’t hurt any fans with his drunk driving in November 2004, s...

The University of South Carolina should become a basketball school. Plain and simple. Why you ask? Well, through a systematic go-around, I'll explain. We all know that The Gamecocks are a football crazy fanbase. That is visible with sellout crowds almost every game, even when they went 0-21. Even historically, the fans have come, even with the fielded teams weren't very good. But why? What drives Carolina, South type, to be football crazy? They have only won one conference title, and that was in 1969 when they were still in the ACC. They have no national titles, no current SEC titles. All that the football program to hang its hat on in the last 30 years is a Heisman winner (1984 George Rogers) and decent era of football (the 80s) and a few, and I mean a few, bowl appearances and wins. All this with some Hall of Fame coaches in Paul Dietzel, Jim Carlen, Lou Holtz, and now Steve Spurrier (Would've said Joe Morrison, but his life and career was tragically cut short. Although h...

I’ve had time to digest the inauguration of our now 44 th President, Barack Obama. I must say, I was thoroughly entertained and enjoyed it. Aretha Franklin singing “My Country Tiss of Thee,” was a treat for the ears, and the great instrumental piece written by John Williams made me feel rather upper class. Even Obama’s speech was something to send chills and the spines of the listeners, while it so vividly reminded us of the mess we are in. The way Obama referenced and tried to link himself to American heroes and former Presidents George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and John F. Kennedy was not only a brilliant speech move, but a relevant one. Washington was thrust into the mess we call the American Revolution as he had to hold the colonies together, while Lincoln had to hold the Union together. All this while displayed a youthful energy and vigor that was reminiscent of Kennedy. Now, Obama has to hold this Union together. A Union that faces multi-trillion dollar debt, dual war fr...

Happy New Year to all. I'm going to try something new here. Although my area of focus is college, I'm going to try my hand at the NFL for the Super Bowl. I'll start off with the game I'm least interested in: the NFC title game. Here we have the surprising Arizona Cardinals and the Philadelphia Eagles. I'm not going to lie, I'm a big Donovan McNabb fan. I think that not only is he the best black quarterback, but also one of the best QBs today. Not to take away from the Cardinals. I think Larry Fitzgerald is the best wide receiver today. I look at this game, and I see one thing: The Eagles defense against the Cardinal offense. Here, I give the Eagles an edge, mostly because of safety Brian Dawkins. I don't the Cardinals defense has what it takes to stop Eagles offense, but I think they will contain them. I see runningback Brian Westbrook using the screen pass as a difference maker in this game, and I think that will be the play of the game. Give me Eagles over...