Man in the Hat media

It may come as a shock, but I do enjoy reading other people's opinions on certain subjects.  Recently, Jim Baxter of SCVarsity.com penned a column on the decline of high school football here in South Carolina, which I invite you to read here . Baxter brings up fair points in his piece, namely blaming the end of the eight-quarter rule by the South Carolina High School League as a major cause. You can read more about the abolishment of the rule, which happened in 2015,  here , but in short, it made it illegal for players who competed in a JV game to dress out for varsity the following night. I suggest you read Brett McCormick's reporting in the link, because many of the concerns brought up have come true in the four years since. Before diving in, I must say I respect Baxter and the many decades of work he has put into covering high school athletics in this state. He is right more often than not, but in this instance I feel he is coming up short. No question ...

Editor's Note: For full disclosure, I feel I should mention I was a student at Anderson University my first two years of undergraduate work. I also spent some time covering their athletics department as a professional writer.  The game of football is getting a new team in South Carolina. On October 4, Anderson University announced plans to start a program during a press conference at the school. Here is a link to the full video. The school received a $3 million challenge gift from Dr. Melvin Younts, with the goal set to match that total for a $6 million total investment and a hopeful first season set for 2024. What is currently known is that the team will compete in the South Atlantic Conference (SAC), a Division II conference including Carson-Newman, Wingate, Lenior-Rhyne, Mars Hill, Newberry, Tusculum and Catawba. Football will also be the second of two men's sports, joining lacrosse which will start in 2021. This news likely won't shake the ground of the ...

The saga is over (for now). After an offseason and preseason filled with enough drama to put a daytime soap to shame, the Antonio Brown/Las Vegas Raider episodic quest of calamity is over. Brown, who had an offseason where he did his best Terrell Owens impersonation, was released by the Raiders  on Saturday. A few hours later, he was reportedly set to join the New England Patriots. Brown's release capped a long-running list of events that turned out to be more of a distraction than his talent was worth, at least for the Raiders. CBSSports compiled a  timeline of Brown's exploits here , dating back to January 2017 when he was still a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Of note was a holdout over having to use a different, league approved helmet, getting frostbitten feet after leaving them too long in a cryotherapy machine to having a yelling match with Raiders GM Mike Mayock. The question now is can Patriot head coach Bill Belichick control the madness? History say...

The Alabama football program has taken another step in the gameday experience arms race, releasing a video on its Twitter account August 16. This season the Crimson Tide will use newly installed LED lights in an attempt to bathe Bryant-Denny Stadium in crimson. Check out the post below. 🔴⚪️ LIGHT ⚪️🔴 ⚪️🔴 ’EM 🔴⚪️ 🔴⚪️ UP! ⚪️🔴 #RollTide pic.twitter.com/QhDOTA35A7 — Alabama Football (@AlabamaFTBL) August 16, 2019 First take, it is cool looking, without a doubt. It sets their stadium apart with something new and flashy. These upgrades seem to be a part of the $600 million athletic facilities plan the school announced last year, set to span the next decade. This is yet another show of the facilities/gameday experience arms race that has really gotten big the last few years. It started with the Mal Moore athletic complex, which raised the stakes for other schools to invest millions of dollars into building football operations buildings. Now, many of ...

There are many aspects to major college athletics. Funding, academic oversight, facilities and athletic success are the primary things athletic directors watch. But in the last few years, branding has become equally important. Branding encompasses funding, but it also dips into facilities and athletic success. Winning programs typically have the most money, the best facilities and win on the field consistently. Alabama would not be "Alabama" without the multiple SEC and national titles. Clemson would not be "Clemson" without its recent success, nor its facilities. Both of those programs are arguably 1a and 1b in the college landscape entering the 2019 season. Protecting a brand involves trademarks. Trademarks on the school logo, catch phrases and color scheme are all things smart athletic departments lock up ownership on. But recently, one school took things a step further. It was found Ohio State submitted a trademark application for the word 'The...

Michigan State unveiled new alternate uniforms for the 2019 football season, drawing criticism. Photo courtesy Colton Pouncy Football uniforms are a sense of pride for a fan base. The right color combination, the precise line work and design. For some such as Alabama and Oklahoma, simplicity is key while for others, eye-catching is the name of the game. Regardless of where you fall on that spectrum, the uniform of your college program can be a sense of pride. But when a program takes a chance and maybe gets a little too confident in their ideas, you can get wardrobe train wrecks that draw the ire and sarcasm all-to-well-known on social media and the internet as a whole. Michigan State is finding that out, after images were released of an alternate uniform the Spartans plan to wear at some point in the 2019 season. Needless to say, it is a little more, bold, than what the typically more conservative uniform is, as seen below. On a positive, the numbers are big, so you can...

Tavien Feaster will play his final season of college ball at South Carolina. Feaster previously played at rival Clemson. A major transfer domino fell this week, when former Clemson tailback Tavien Feaster announced he had decided to transfer to South Carolina for his final season of college eligibility. Feaster will be able to play immediately since he is a graduate transfer, giving South Carolina coach Will Muschamp a needed shot in the arm for a run game that has struggled at times during his tenure. During his three years with Clemson, Feaster rushed for 1,330 yards and 15 touchdowns. His last two years he split carries with current Tigers starter Travis Etienne, who has amassed over 2,400 yards and 17 touchdowns, and is now a preseason Heisman award candidate. In that same time span South Carolina has been inconsistent in the running game. Top returner Rico Dowdle has rushed for 1,669 yards and 12 touchdowns, but the last two seasons has been hampered by injury. Fell...