|
BAILEY'S
TAKE ON PIRATE SPORTS
|
From the
Anchor Desk
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
By Brian
Bailey |
 |
On to New Orleans
|
BRAIN BAILEY SHOW |
|
 |
 Replay
Monday night's BRIAN BAILEY SHOW.
Brian's guests were beat writer Tim
Buckley of the Lafayette Daily
Advertiser and R+L Carriers Bowl Executive
Director Billy Ferrante. Eastern North
Carolina's longest running
sports radio call-in show airs each Monday
night from 6:30-7:30 on Pirate Radio 1250 and
930. |
|
REPLAY SHOW |
|
Pirate Radio Home
Page |
|
|
|
|
By
Brian Bailey
©2012 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
View the
Mobile Alpha version of this page.
Tulsa’s overtime win
over Central Florida in Saturday's Conference-USA title game sends East
Carolina to New Orleans for the postseason. The Pirates (8-4) will take
on the Ragin’ Cajuns of Louisiana-Lafayette in the R+L Carriers New
Orleans Bowl on December 22.
It’s a return trip for
the Ragin’ Cajuns. They beat San Diego State 32-30 in last year’s New
Orleans Bowl, winning the game on a Brett Baer 50-yard field goal as
time expired.
For the Pirates, it’s
a return trip to college football’s postseason after missing out last
year.
“We are looking
forward to it,” said ECU coach Ruffin McNeill at an informal media
gathering Sunday afternoon. [Replay
Coach Ruff's remarks...] “Not going to a bowl last year
makes it even more special. It is great for our players, our coaches and
their families.
"We are excited about
it. I know Louisiana Lafayette played in it last year and did a good job
against San Diego State. We’re looking forward to playing against a good
football team.”
The R+L Carriers Bowl
may not be the biggest of the bowls, but New Orleans is a great bowl
city. It also provides a different challenge. It’s a fine line between
enjoying the bowl city and getting the work done that is necessary to
win the football game that week.
“We’ll address bowl
rules early,” said McNeill. “We have two weeks before we go to the bowl
site. I’ll address team rules and expectations early on. We are going to
a great city, but we know we have a job to do. We want to play our best
game for our last game.”
Last week the Pirates
made news by finally
getting that invitation to join the Big East
Conference as a football-playing membery. While it’s
certainly not the news it would have been five years ago, it’s still a
step up for the Pirate program. McNeill says he’s gotten plenty of
positive response on the recruiting trail.
“I’m excited about
it,” McNeill said. “I think it’s going to benefit all sports. I’m
looking forward to the competition. It will be great for recruiting. It
will expand our base. I think it’s great for our university.
"We got a lot of
notice going into the schools. All of the high school coaches and
parents brought up the move and I think they were excited about it as we
are.”
The Pirates get back
to work with practice later today. McNeill and his staff have a plan for
the bowl practices that really highlights the younger players and
focuses on getting them ready for spring football.
“That’s one of the
advantages for sure,” McNeill said. “You get a chance to prepare your
young players. We will have 12 days to work before we go to New Orleans.
The first five days will be fundamentals, sharpening our skills, and
working with our young players.
"We’ll get five good
scrimmages in with our young players before we really dive into
Louisiana-Lafayette.”
ECU fans will have to
get the Christmas shopping done early with the December 22 bowl date.
Either that or they can wait until the last minute and come back home to
take advantage of the late sales.
Or they can buy their
gifts in New Orleans and make it a Pirate Christmas for sure...
BB
E-mail Brian Bailey.
Brian Bailey Archives
12/04/2012 04:25 AM |
