How to Bulk for Football Season

By: Andrew Howle

Bulking for football season is not all about eating everything in sight. There is a perfectly good strategy to bulk with purpose. The bulk is typically initiated to increase muscle, strength, and size for improved performance on the field. Whether you are a lineman looking to strictly improve power, or a skilled position player looking to maintain speed while increasing size. The bulk is an essential tool to this progression of performance within limits.

In order to gain weight, you must eat in a large calorie surplus. This surplus is dependent on what you’re looking to improve with the bulk. It could range from 500-2,000 extra calories on top of your usual intake per day. These calories must contain a large amount of protein and carbs. It is usually recommended to eat about one gram of protein per pound of your body weight. The amount of carbs immensely differs depending on your personal goal of the bulk. It is also important not to skip meals of the day. This specifically calls out breakfast, which many people skip.

These extra calories that are being taken into your body must go to something important like muscle building. It is very important to lift constantly throughout the bulk. This stimulates growth in your body and allows you to put on a bigger frame physically. The most efficient way to put on this size is to track your calories and workouts. This allows you to fill your body with the necessary nutrients to perform at its highest. These extra calories are very pivotal for rebuilding the muscle fibers and tissues of your body.

In conclusion, bulking is a very useful tool to improve performance in football if done right. However, a strict diet and consistent exercise is needed to see the results you are looking for on the field.

Top Travel Destinations I’ve been to

By: Adelaide Eaddy

Out of all of the places I’ve traveled to, I have a list of my favorites that I’ve been to in the past two years. In the past two years I’ve traveled to Harbour Island, New York City, and Rosemary Beach. These three places have been put at the top of my list of recommended travel destinations.

The first destination is Harbour Island, Bahamas. This place is definitely my favorite place I’ve traveled to. In Harbour Island, I went to the beach most of the time, but I also explored the islands on a boat charter that took us to swim with sea turtles, places to snorkel, and beaches to look for conch shells. If someone asked me what to do in the Bahamas, I would tell them to definitely do the boat charter. The guy who took us asked us what we wanted to see and he took us to every place we asked. That was the best thing I did while I was there.

The second destination I would recommend is New York City. New York is a great place to go if you want to take a short trip that you want to always remember. New York is known as the city that never sleeps which I can second that famous phrase. When I was there I went on a boat cruise around new the Statue of Liberty, shopped a lot, and went to a Broadway show. The Broadway show I went to was “The Lion King,” and I would highly recommend it. I would also recommend staying at the Plaza while in New York because everyone there made sure that we had the best stay possible.

The last travel destination I would recommend is Rosemary Beach, Florida. Rosemary Beach is located on 30A that is along the Gulf of Mexico. While you are there, I would recommend  going on the beach, of course, and I would recommend going to other towns surrounding it. When I went, my family and I rode bicycles from Rosemary Beach to Seaside and it was beautiful. I would recommend stopping at all of the cute beach shops along 30A as well. 

I have made some really good memories in these three places, and I would definitely recommend going to one of these three places at least once.     

NFL Super Bowl Prediction

By: Henry Jones

After a long summer break off of cranking out entertaining blogs for everyone in the digital media class, I have had time to refresh my thoughts on my ground breaking sports takes. Which means I am ready to drop more predictions on major sports events such as the Super Bowl. My first prediction of the year is a bold one. Normally I would show bias and say that the Arizona Cardinals (my favorite team) would be taking home the hardware this year, but new year new me. I do believe Cardinals have a good chance at winning the division, the offense just isn’t fully there yet. Now, there are many teams I feel have a shot at the Super Bowl this year. One is the winners of last year, the Philadelphia Eagles. They are still a very strong team despite losing key pieces on defense. Another team, as always, is the Kansas City Chiefs. In my opinion, any team with Patrick Mahomes at the helm is a Super Bowl contender cause he is a straight dog. A negative about this team is Travis Kelce recently getting engaged to that witch, Taylor Swift. Whenever they started dating she stole all his talent and turned him into some hermit crab. Finally, I truly believe that the New York Jets have a real shot this year at the Super Bowl. They have two up and coming offensive linemen and two stud running backs. Also with the addition of Justin Fields they have very solid quarterback play that they haven’t had in multiple years. In conclusion, with the adding of all these new, young pieces, I’d be willing to bet the life of Milling Galloway that the Jets will be taking home the gold this year. This is easy money.

Prize Picks lines I would always choose if my life depended on it! 

By Milling Galloway

Prize Picks is one of the best and worst ways to make money. If you’re a genius like me, you would understand how to make that bread. There are always some lines that are destined to hit. LaNorris Sellers is my number one. Every single time he hits. He can run and throw. I would not take the passing touchdowns, but everything else is golden. He’s just a beast, so unless Vegas changes the lines, I would always put over.

My next guy is Jahmyr Gibbs. He is truly one of a kind. His speed and athleticism just stand out compared to other backs in the league. Receiving yards and rushing yards hit with this guy. There is nothing he can not do. My third stud on the list has to be Lamine Yamal. He does not always hit on goals, but he rips shots. He loves to cut on that left foot and take a chance. Defenders can not find an answer for the 18-year-old wonder kid. Even though the lines might be set high, he finds a way to shoot and shoot more. He is third because other lines, he is not always fully consistent. My next guy has to be the best quarterback in the NFL. Justin ‘Him’ Fields. What a beast. This dude is always making highlight plays and beating Vegas. He can throw and take off, and run. He is very consistent, and it shows. Now that he is a Jet and is the main guy, he will cause some havoc this year for sure. I see a big year ahead of him. With my last choice I will have to say John Rahm. The guy is a dumpster fire waiting to fail. The only time he did ok was one tournament. Everytime he plays PGA he can’t do anything right. When he is playing on LIV I would not risk it. When he gets in front of the big stage he is destined to fail.

Baseball

By: Cooper Scott

Baseball has been one of my favorite sports ever since I was a little kid. I started playing baseball when I was 4 years old t-ball of course. Whenever I got to coach pitch something I will never forget is we were in the playoffs and I hit a walkoff homerun against Bynum Insurance, and they were like the best team. My first year of kids pitch, my dad was the head coach, and our team was called Colonial Urgent Care. I was left handed so there is only an unlimited number of positions I can play. Ever since 9 and 10 youth baseball I have pitched and played first base, but my strongest ability in baseball has always been hitting. I always played baseball during the fall growing up as well. The next year I broke my leg and was unable to play b-team in the 6th grade, and I was very bummed out about that. 7th grade year was my first year of baseball at Wilson hall. We were very talented that year but our season came up short because of covid. My first year as J.V Coach Neil Moerson was our head coach, and I got best offensive player at the banquet at the end of the year. The next year I think I can safely say is the most fun I have ever had playing baseball. Luke Pederson, Jones Deschamps, Tyler Jordan, Slade Custer, and Peyton Price and I were all on the same team. We would have to run at practice every other day for the stupidest stuff, and we were also very good, probably the best J.V team I was on. My 10th grade year I went out for varsity, and unfortunately I got cut, but it was okay. I went back down to J.V. for the third year in a row, but I wouldn’t trade those three years for anything. I had a very successful season my 10th grade year, and decided to play for the Junior p-15s. I played for 2 summers in a row and the second summer we won the state championship, and I met a lot of new friends from different schools. My junior year I played varsity, and I did not get to play very much. Now we are on to this year, and I am looking forward to playing for the senior p-15s one last time this summer.

My POV on the Carolina Wildfires

Tyler Jordan

I’m going to be talking this week about 2 of the bigger Carolinas Wildfires and tell you about how they went.

The first wildfire I went to was the Covington Lake fire in Myrtle Beach, SC. My Sandhill Fire Department got mobilzed. We went down on a saturday morning and won’t return till wednesday of the next week. When we got there and got checked in we got sent on an assignment. From that point on we were working 24 hour shifts and resting about 6 hours then working again. We worked alongside Lugoff FD , Howe Springs FD, Pickens FD. Our group worked amazingly together and we were able to stop fire from spreading into this big area. These long nights and days were a killer but worth it.

The second fire I went to was the Table Rock Complex fire. This was a massive fire that’s still going. It’s roughly 13k acres big and only 30% contained at this time. We went to this one on a friday and came back on monday. Almost the same as the Myrtle Beach fires time as we got there we got sent on assignments. We worked through the whole first night and next day then finally rested for about 5 hours and then went back to work. We were on the frontline fighting fires and climbing the mountains to extinguish the fire. These were very long days walking 5-10 miles and runnin off energy drinks and not sleeping well. 

Although these fires were a lot of work and effort I wouldn’t have not gone now. The connections I made with outside people and new Fire Departments and some of the bonds made I wouldn’t change that experience for anything. I also would like to say none of this could have happened without community and brothership from around the state to help these people out in unfortunate times

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My Favorite Starbucks food and drinks

By: Anna Kate Coker

Starbucks - Wikipedia

Iced Chai Latte

This is my all time go to drink. I enjoy it with oat milk, cinnamon, and vanilla sweet cold foam. This drink makes my day automatically better and it is yummy to sip or chug. It has the perfect flavor of spices but more cinnamon based. The oat milk gives it almost more of a natural flavor instead of it becoming more bland with 2 percent milk. 

Pink Drink

This is my summer drink. I prefer it with coconut milk because if you just get water with it then it makes a lot of the flavor go away. I also remove the dried strawberry inclusions they add because the texture kind of freaks me out and I do not like them. With my special changes this drink is top tier. 

Vanilla Bean Frappuccino

This is the best basic drink there is. You can obviously add really anything to it if you want because it is such a versatile base for all. Even alone though with just the vanilla flavor, it is so good. I get this drink when I want something other than just an iced drink and I always end up finishing all of it.

Bacon Egg Bites

Although eggs are usually just associated with breakfast, these delicious bite sized treats are good for eating whenever and wherever. They are so fluffy and I genuinely savor every bite and get sad when I have none left. They are great if you are on the go and need a good little grab.

I hope they never get rid of these because they also have egg white ones but they do not hit the same.

Everything Bagels

I feel like these are extremely underrated but if you get this toasted and add cream cheese they are a perfect study snack. When I need to lock in to write a paper or get homework done, I take my stuff to starbucks and pair an everything bagel with the yummy cream cheese and get a chai latte and I cannot think of anything better. 

Ice Cream

By: Olivia Cogswell

One of the most common desserts that people enjoy is ice cream. There have been so many flavors created to meet different preferences, some being better than others. 

In last place is the flavor chocolate. Although it is a classic flavor that does have a variety of types to choose from, the richness and sweetness that most ice cream brands provide in this particular flavor, making it less appealing. Chocolate flavoring tends to be better when mixed with another flavor or topping, meaning it is not a stand alone flavor. Also due to it being such a common flavor people choose to switch it up when choosing to go for a dessert. 

In fourth place is vanilla. This is another classic flavor that many people reach for when choosing an ice cream. Vanilla is a pleasing and smooth flavor that is not overwhelming and is usually the safe choice. However, due to this blandness vanilla is not number one. Vanilla ice cream is usually picked to be eaten with something, like pie, brownies, or another dessert. So the flavor itself is plain, and is not the top choice when it comes to choosing ice cream.

In third place is salted caramel. This flavor is very popular due to it not being overly sweet. Its salty component provides a balance making it more enjoyable for those who do not enjoy overpowering sweetness. The texture of this flavor also tends to be appealing to people, the smooth base mixed with the gooey caramel swirled together. Although this flavor does not place higher due to the strong caramel flavor, and the fact that the salt in the caramel makes the ice cream melt faster making it harder to enjoy. 

In second place is cookies and cream. This flavor has a nice mixture of vanilla base and crunchy chocolate cookie pieces. Making the texture appealing with the chunks paired with the smooth vanilla. This ice cream flavor is also a good stand alone flavor making it a quick and easy dessert. However, due to the cookies added into this it may be over sweet at times, and the chocolate cookie may overpower the vanilla flavor.

The best ice cream flavor is mint chocolate chip. This flavor has a refreshing cool taste that is perfect for a hot day. It has the perfect blend of sweetness due to the chocolate bits added into the minty base. Also with the chocolate chunks added it has a great texture, smooth with little bits to enjoy. It is preferred to be eaten alone, making it a superior flavor. 

The Final Countdown 

By: Lucy Buxton

Since it is finally April, days are starting to fly by for us seniors. To put it into perspective the senior class gets out of school, “has their last day of school at Wilson Hall” on May 9th. Which is 36 days, counting the days we are out for spring break. There are seven school days til Spring break, 22 days in all til prom, and 56 days til graduation. Although the numbers might not seem that small, one thing I have learned as a senior is the days are long but the weeks fly back…and I am not sure how to feel. 

Starting off with the first “big last event” of being a senior, Spring Break. This year’s spring break is going to look a little different for some of us. I have grown up going to Litchfield by the Sea since I was in lower school, along with the rest of Sumter but this year a group of my friends and I are going to Montego Bay in Jamaica. There are still a lot of people that are going to Litchfield, although I am thrilled to be going to Jamaica, I am skeptical about being apart from everyone. 

Next in these sequence of events is prom. I may just have this view of prom because I am a girl and trust me, I know boys dont take it as seriously as girls, my brother has made me well aware, I do feel like it is so “highschool”. That might be worded weird but think about it. In every movie about highschool, there is a scene about prom most of the time. I have a feeling this will be the best prom yet for two reasons. Number one being, it is so late (April 25th) so the weather should and better be absolutely perfect, this ties into prom breakfast as well.  Number 2 being, over the years and especially this year the senior and junior class have become very close and this is kind of “one last hoorah” for us to be together. I hope everyone has the same mindset when it comes to the actual day of prom.

  Following that, the last day of school or some call it the senior lunch, I’m not going to touch on this too much because for one, it makes me sad and emotional and two, I have never done it so I am not sure what to expect. 

Lastly, “The lasts of lasts”, graduation. In one of my prior blogs I expressed a problem with the location and my opinions but I have learned to be okay with it…(okay, not highly pleased) but I am thankful the administration took our concerns into consideration. I am very excited for graduation and I know it is a time lot celebration but I am feeling weird about it, like most of my grade and I think one main reason we feel this is because our grade has always kind of been the “babies”. A lot of people have had older siblings go through Wilson Hall and we are the last class that will remember some of the past teachers Wilson Hall will have. 

I know I have expressed some worry in this blog, I also need to note how grateful I feel to be able to feel so strongly about leaving because not everyone got to enjoy highschool as much as I have and been with as good of people as I have been with.