Texas A&M kicks off 2023 Coaching Carousel.

by: Jones DesChamps

To the surprise of absolutely nobody, another college football coach is out of a job. Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M’s head ball coach, has been let go.. Although his buyout is over 77 million dollars, Texas A&M buried their wallet and decided to let their fraudulent coach walk. Jimbo, who has recruited at the highest level, has not produced the lopsided records that his university was hoping for. Due to his underwhelming performances, Texas A&M decided to explore their other options. However the question still remains; who does this prestigious university look to hire next? 

The first realistic candidate for this high-paying job would be Dan Lanning. Simply put, Texas A&M is a better coaching job than Oregon is. Yes, Lanning has over-achieved at Oregon, but his efforts would be more fruitful at the higher level of SEC football. The timing would be difficult in the landing of this highly valuable coach, but if time is money then A&M has plenty of time to offer. Lanning is only in his second year at Oregon, but his success should grant him an offer at this job. 

Secondly, sticking to their guns, Texas A&M should look after a veteran coach. That coach could be Mike Elko. Clearly, football is not the top priority at Duke University. Elko, if he were offered, would certainly jump on the bandwagon to take over the job with the Aggies. Elko, who has little to no recruiting impact, could completely change this irrelevant reputation if put in the right situation. Not to mention, the Blue Devil’s head coach made his claim to fame as the defensive coordinator at A&M. His history with this university may prove vital in landing this job. 

Lastly, but certainly not least, would be the most interesting candidate, Lane Kiffin. No one controls Coach Kiffin. Every offseason, Kiffin is rumored to leave his position at Ole Miss and nowhere would be a better fit than Texas A&M. A&M is just a higher paying, more prestigious job than he has. His success as a Rebel has earned himself respect and recognition as one of the most explosive and high powered coaches in the country, and that’s exactly what the Aggies need. Kiffin would be the perfect coach to break through the barriers using A&M’s resources, so if the Aggies send an offer his way, do not be surprised to see this off-the-wall coach accept this offer. 

Obviously, there are plenty of worthy candidates for this job, but who will the Aggies offer? Will it be one of these possible options, or will the Aggies find someone different? Only time will tell.

Top NBA Games This Week November 6-12, 2023

By: Andrew Brown

Monday 6, 2023

Celtics vs Timberwolves 8:00pm
Who’s gonna win: Celtics, Jayson Tatum has been hot this season averaging 30 points per game and hasn’t scored under 22 points this season.
Clippers vs Knicks 7:30pm
Who’s gonna win: Clippers, with acquiring James Harden from a trade with the 76ers, this will be his first game in a Clippers jersey. This should be a fun game to watch.

Tuesday 7, 2023
No Games

Wednesday 8, 2023

Celtics vs 76ers 7:00pm
Who’s gonna win: Celtics, this one will be close. last year MVP facing this coming year MVP: Tatum.
Spurs vs Knicks 7:30pm
Who’s gonna win: Spurs, the spurs have a lot of spacing with Wembanyama being able to shoot anywhere on the court. A win for the spurs will be determined if Wemby goes off, and I think he does.

Thursday 9, 2023

Bucks vs Pacers 7:00pm
Who’s gonna win: Pacers, yes the Bucks have Giannis and Lillard but that’s it. Both teams are tied in the rankings for defensive so this game is going to come down to who has the better
offensive.
Hawks vs Magic: 9:30pm
Who’s gonna win: Hawks, this will be the first international game this season and Ice Trae will control the game, dishing dimes and getting buckets.

Friday 10, 2023

Celtics vs Nets: 7:30pm
Who’s gonna win: Tatum and Brown will destroy the Nets defense for their first in-season tournament win.
Lakers vs Suns: 10:00pm
Who’s gonna win: Lakers, the Lakers should win unless Beal and Booker are back from their injury.

Saturday 11, 2023

Bucks vs Magic: 6:00pm
Who’s gonna win: Bucks, Lillard will step it up on defense record steals and win.
Cavaliers vs Warriors: 8:30pm
Who’s gonna win: Cavs, the Cavs are just too big and the Warriors love playing small ball but it will not work against the Cavs twin towers, Mobley and Allen who both stand over 6 ‘9 feet.

Sunday 12, 2023

Hornets vs Knicks: 12:00pm
Who’s gonna win: Hornets, a battle between two irrelevant teams and I expect Ball to ball out.
Nuggets vs Rockets: 7:00pm
Who’s gonna win: Nuggets, surprisingly Brooks has been going off on his new team, leading the Nba in 3 point percentage with 60%. But Jokic will probably have a triple double with ease.

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?