Author: baronmedianetwork

Should South Carolina really have celebrated their nail biting win over Jacksonville State?

By Clark Kinney

Last Saturday, the Gamecocks of South Carolina payed the Gamecocks of Jacksonville State a reported $1.3 million to come play them at Williams Brice Stadium. Now, normally when big SEC schools pay much smaller D1 schools to play them, they usually smoke them and send the home with a check, but Saturday was not the case.

It was a very close game and was tied 28-28 after 3 quarters. With around 2-3 minutes left in the game, Jacksonville State only down by 3 and was threatening to score. However, a bad decision from the Jax State quarterback led to a pick-six and sealed the win for South Carolina, 38-28.

In the press conference after the game, South Carolina head coach said, “we are going to celebrate the heck out of this game.” This statement by Beamer did not seem to excite many fans. The fans believe South Carolina did not play very well at all and could have lost the game to Jacksonville State who they believe South Carolina should have smoked. I do see where these fans are coming from but they just need to realize that South Carolina is simply not very good at football this year. I think Beamer did a good job on implying that no matter the opponent, we fought and found a way to win and that should be celebrated because celebrations do not happen that often this year and that is just the way it is and we are trying to do better. I also like the positivity from Beamer and I’m sure the players do too because I have played for positive and negative coaches and I always like the positive ones more and so do their players.

In search of the Next Book

by Adam Pelletier and Addison Thornton

Addison and Adam Book Blog Week 4

Joyland by Stephen King is a mystery crime novel about a man named Devin Jones who takes a summer job at a funpark named Joyland, as an attempt to recover from a heartbreak. Based in North Carolina, a fortune teller tells him about a few people he’ll meet, which have to deal with a series of unsolved murders around the park.

Devin is told to work at the ferris wheel of the park, while simultaneously taking a personal attempt at solving the murder cases.

The book is overall good but it can be hard to follow at some points. It’s another one of the three books in King’s hard case crime series, “The Colorado Kid.” 

Other books I would recommend:

  • The Institute
  • The Colorado Kid
  • The Langoliers
  • Thinner

Circe is a mythological fiction novel written by Madeline Miller. Unlike her popular novel, The Song of Achilles, this novel focuses on the life of a goddess and witch who was exiled to an island for an indefinite amount of time. This goddess goes by the name of Circe. As the ruler and only resident of the island Aeaea, the story goes through her experiences with others and how she grows her power as an immortal witch. 

The story begins with her life before her banishment and her relationships with her parents, Helios and Perse, and her siblings. Throughout her childhood she was treated terribly by her siblings and her mother claiming there was nothing special about her. One day something changes and she meets a man. From there, nothing will ever be the same.  

Circe is a wonderful novel about one of the most powerful women in Greek mythology and how she came to be remembered for centuries. Full of feminism and hardship, this novel is a beautiful retelling of a story not talked about enough. 

Other books similar to this:

  • Atalanta by Jennifer Saint 
  • Medusa’s Sisters by Lauren J. A. Bear
  • Daughters of Sparta by Claire Heywood
  • The Shadow of Perseus by Claire Heywood
  • A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

Don’t be a Tyler. 

by Jones DesChamps

For all who are unaware, there are some college football coaches around the country who answer phone calls from callers on various different radio stations. Dabo Swinney, the head ball coach for the Clemson Tigers, is one of those coaches. On Monday night, Coach Swinney hopped onto Clemson’s flagship radio station, “105.5 the Roar”, to answer any questions sent in by callers. After answering the light-hearted questions of many questions, Dabo received a unique call from an angry caller. 

This mysterious man was named Tyler, who states that he is from Spartanburg, SC. To say the least, he did not filter his concerns to his “favorite” team’s coach. During his four minute rant on the phone to Coach Swinney, Tyler asked many controversial questions and raised many eyebrows when talking over the coaching decisions that Mr. Swinney has made. During his harangue, he brought up the inappropriate subjects of why Coach Swinney was being paid 11.5 million dollars to have a 4-4 record, why he was too stubborn to change his coaching philosophy, and why his school’s relevancy has fallen off so drastically. This bandwagon fan claims to have followed the Tigers for years and wonders why Dabo has run his own team into the mud over the last 3 or 4 years. 

Dabo, who is a proven winner and joyful leader, responded in a way that is unusual for this mild-tempered coach. Mr. Swinney responded to Tyler in a firm tone throughout his extended answer. During his response, Coach Swinney pointed out the fact that his teams have achieved 12 straight 10 win seasons which only 3 other teams have surpassed in the last century and a half. Also, he pointed out that he built his program up from ground zero and led them to 2 national championships in the last 7 years, which Clemson had not done in the history of its existence. He wrapped his speech up by stating that he loves his university, but he hates the fact that the “expectations are above the appreciation” for what he has done for his school. This response not only silenced the caller but caused him to hang up the phone. By defending his own and his players, Dabo Swinney has caused much uproar among major news companies and social media pages. 

This begs the question: Were Coach Swinney’s remarks appropriate and correct? The simple answer is yes. As any good coach would do, he jumped to the defense of his personal strategy and his players. Would Kirby Smart, Nick Saban, or Deion Sanders respond the same way? Yes, so why is Dabo receiving so much criticism for his remarks? 

Top Picks for NBA Oct 24-30

by Andrew Brown

This basketball season, Andrew Brown is going to look through the the schedule and pick some of the top games of the week.

Tuesday 24, 2023

Lakers vs Nuggets 7:30pm
Who’s going to win: Nuggets, the reigning champs are carrying their momentum from last season to this season but it should be close.


Suns vs Warriors 10:00pm
Who’s going to win: Suns, the Suns offense is overwhelming and is going to overwhelm the Warriors defense.

Wednesday 25,2023

Celtics vs Knicks 7:00pm
Who’s going to win: Celtics, the Celtics have the best starting lineup but also one of the worst benches but they will win it all this year.

Mavs vs Spurs 9:30
Who’s going to win: Mavs, even though the Spurs have the number one pick their team is still not good. The Mavs also have a nasty duo, Kyrie and Luka.

Thursday 26, 2023

76ers vs Bucks 7:30pm
Who’s going to win: Bucks, with Lillard on the team they should win almost every game.

Suns vs Lakers 10:00pm
Who’s going to win: Suns, The Suns will once again overwhelm the lakers defense and win.

Friday 27,2023

Heat vs Celtics 7:30pm
Who’s going to win: Celtics, this ECF rematch will be fun. The Celtics have a chip in their shoulder and it will show as they will dominate the heat.

Warriors vs Kings 10:00pm
Who’s going to win: Kings, Same thing as the Celtics the Warriors knocked them out of the playoffs. The Kings also have a chip on their shoulder and will win but not by much.

Saturday 28, 2023

Knicks vs Pelicans 7:00pm
Who’s going to win: Pelicans, with Zion healthy they should be a top team in the western conference but if he’s injured it’ll be hard to win.

Jazz vs Suns 10:00pm
Who’s going to win: Suns, the Jazz have no defense which is bad when a team is all offense.

Sunday 29,2023

Trailblazers vs 76ers 7:30pm
Who’s going to win: Trailblazers, the Trailblazers have had a really good off season getting scoot with the number 3 pick, and acquiring Ayton, Robert Williams the third, and Malcom Brogdan. this team should upset the 76ers

Spurs vs Clippers 9:00pm
Who’s going to win: Clippers, clippers have a scary trio in Westbrook, Kawaii, and PG13 if this team stays healthy the can be a playoff contender.

Should Caleb Williams finish playing this year at the University of Southern California?

By: Clark Kinney

Caleb Williams is a “generational talent” and will likely be one of the first picks of the 2024 NFL draft. Caleb Williams won the Heisman last year and was hoping to add himself to the short list of Heisman repeats this season. However, the last two weeks for Caleb have not been great. His team, the Trojans of the University of Southern California, lost their last two games, one to Notre Dame and the other to Utah. This takes the Trojans out of playoff contention. On top of that, Caleb has not played great. In his last two games, Caleb has only thrown for a combined one touchdown and only rushed for one touchdown while getting sacked 9 times. In the loss to Notre Dame, Caleb threw 3 interceptions. All these factors likely take him out of the Heisman race.

With that being said, why continue to play? Your team is not going to make the playoffs, you are not going to win the Heisman, and you could get hurt and never be able to play again for all you know. It is a valid question and probably one that has crossed his mind these past few days. I strongly believe that there are times to be selfish. There are times when you need to take care of yourself if you are in a bad state or you really need to get something done, but this is not one of those times. Caleb needs to finish his season with his teammates and coaches and not be selfish. He will make plenty of money at the end of the year no matter his decision now. Who knows? He could just go off like we’ve seen him do for the rest of the season and someone else get hurt and he win the Heisman again. I do not see that happening but it is possible. 

Overall, the thought of quitting only 8 games into the season just angers me. Like why would anyone ever think that? That would never cross my mind to just quit on my teammates and coaches who I’ve worked and fought with. If one of my teammates quit on me this far into the season, I would not be happy either. Caleb may be getting a little too big for his britches here. Don’t even get me started on the NFL ownership thing. Shake my head.