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Pirate Notebook No. 109
Friday, February 21, 2003

By Denny O'Brien
Staff Writer and Columnist

ESPN not helping league's football image

©2003 Bonesville.net

When Conference USA inked a deal with ESPN to televise its football games, it was thought the pact would springboard the up-and-coming league out of mediocrity.

Entering the third year of the arrangement, the TV suits have instead packaged and presented the league in a fashion that accentuates a 'mid-major' impression.

Generally speaking, television enhances college football's appeal by showcasing a school's campus and traditions during intense conference rivalries. Sell-out crowds and warm Saturday afternoons provide the perfect backdrop to a sport known for its pageantry.

Lately, that hasn't been the case for C-USA, with its work-day contests serving as little more than dress rehearsals for ESPN's high-profile weekend matchups.

It is abundantly clear that ESPN was not motivated to pursue the television rights to C-USA football by a need to add a roster of non-BCS-blessed football programs to its stout lineup of offerings. Rather, it was the perfect opportunity to use the adolescent league as a guinea pig, testing the network's new concept of round-the-clock football.

Advantage ESPN.

Since C-USA made the jump from Fox SportsNet, crowds have dwindled and the league's status has langished. Thought as recently as the 2000 season to be priming itself for a major BCS push, C-USA's marquee programs — Louisville, Southern Miss, and East Carolina — have experienced a significant slip that eerily parallels the timing of the drying of the ink on the new TV pact.

Was it a deal with the Devil?

That's one way to view it.

C-USA has definitely played itself into more living rooms, with ESPN and ESPN2 both standards on basic cable packages, while in some areas, subscribers must pay for upgrades to receive the Fox family of sports channels.

So what's the problem?

Well, for starters, unless a conference school schedules a high-profile BCS opponent, it can forget about snatching one of the prime Saturday time slots, which by rule are reserved for the Power Six conferences.

About the only time you'll see two C-USA foes knocking heads with each other is during the work week, going head-to-head with the new fall lineup of mainstream programming. Outside of of die-hard college football enthusiasts or those with intimate ties to the featured schools, it's hard to imagine a large volume of viewers flipping over to the Deuce on a Wednesday night to watch Texas Christian and Southern Miss.

Not if they can catch an all-new episode of Law and Order.

And for those who must have a mid-week football fix, they're likely to view a sparsely-filled stadium and jump to the conclusion that the TCU's and Southern Misses of the world are run-of-the-mill programs with little fan support, a misconception that could, in the long run, damage recruiting.

The truth is, both the Frogs and Golden Eagles draw well when their home dates fall on college football's traditional day, a tradition C-USA breached when it signed the contract with the Disney-owned network.

At least with Fox, C-USA was showcased nationally each Saturday at 3:30 and was advertised heavily throughout the week as a can't-miss game. Though the telecast itself may have been a slight drop-off from an ESPN production, commentators Joel Meyers and Trevor Matich focused much of their conversation on the action instead of sidetracking viewers with a telephone interview with Bobby Bowden or Mack Brown.

With ESPN, C-USA games get sub-par commentary from relative unknowns whose preparation often leaves something to desired. Bet you didn't know that East Carolina once had a quarterback named David Juhrard.

Some conspiracy theorists might have suspected from the very beginning that the deal was a blindsided shot by the BCS leagues aimed at slowing C-USA's climb. Though I've never been a proponent of the ESPN arrangement, such suspicions never appeared on my radar when the deal was struck.

But now I'm not so sure.

ESPN is owned by Disney, which owns ABC. ABC, in case you don't remember, owns the BCS.

Starting to make the connection?

I am.

Academically speaking

Academic performance (Or should I say the lack thereof?)  has been in the media of late.

According to published reports, North Carolina and North Carolina State are having trouble graduating their football players. East Carolina isn't.

During a six-year period, only 48% of freshman football players who entered Carolina in 1996 received a degree. At State, that statistic is even lower at 42%.

In comparison, ECU was recently honored as one of the nation's Top 25 schools for graduating its players at over 70%.

The knee-jerk reaction by many 'Pack and Heels fans is that their alma mater — providing they actually attended one of the two schools — has a more strenuous curriculum which makes earning a degree much more difficult.

Not so fast.

Consider what has happened at the three schools since '96:

The Tar Heels are on their third coaching staff during that period, while the Pack is under its second regime. John Bunting and Chuck Amato probably weren't overly motivated to cater to the academic needs of players they did not recruit and had not previously coached.

East Carolina, on the other hand, has benefited from stability not only within its coaching staff, but also within its support system.

Assistant Athletics Director for Student Development Darrell Bryant and Academic Coordinator Nita Boyce have been mainstays in the program and have often been credited for the Pirates' strides in the classroom.

Their hard work and dedication has certainly paid off.

Spring thoughts

John Thompson made a few friends when he announced Spring Practice will be open to the public.

But was that really necessary?

From the outset, Thompson has charged himself with rejuvenating the fan base, a task, which so far, the new Pirates coach has passed with flying colors. PR is obviously one of his strong suits, and he demonstrated it admirably at his inaugural press conference and the recent Signing Day party.

Though opening Spring drills to the fans is another good PR move for Pirates football, the negatives could far outweigh the positives.

Spring ball was designed to work on fundamentals and install new wrinkles into the system. For East Carolina, it will be an especially critical time as the Pirates will have to digest an entirely new philosophy, while learning new terminology on both sides of the ball.

The last thing Thompson and his staff need is the potential, albeit unintended, distractions curious onlookers could present. Face it, Pirates fans are a fun, rowdy bunch.

That goes without mentioning the possibility that rivals down the road could send functionaries to monitor the Pirates' day-to-day activities. And they wouldn't have to sneak peaks from the Ward Building, either.

Restoring the Spring Game and the Purple-n-Gold Pigskin Pig-out Party should have been enough to tide fans over until preseason drills begin in August.

As for practice, it should remain closed to the public and, for that matter, the media, too.

Send an e-mail message to Denny O'Brien.

Click here to dig into Denny O'Brien's Bonesville archives.

02/23/2007 01:51:59 AM
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