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Bailey's
Take on Pirate Sports
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From the Anchor Desk
Friday, September 6, 2002
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By Brian Bailey
Sports Anchor of WNCT-TV 9 |
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©2002 Bonesville.net
Nobody wins in the controversy over colleges playing on a
“high school football” Friday night.
I’ve heard every different side of the story. Some blame the
athletic director, some blame the high school coaches, others blame the
North Carolina High School Athletic Association. Take your pick.
It’s just a no win situation.
There is now a resolution that will go to the entire East
Carolina University Board of Trustees saying that the school's football
program will try not to play on Fridays in the future.
The problem, though, is that East Carolina will probably
again face situations in which it won't have much of a choice.
The resolution also says that if there is a need for a
Friday game, the athletic director must meet with several different people
before accepting the game.
That list includes the head coach, the chancellor, the
athletics committee of the Board of Trustees and the North Carolina High
School Athletic Association.
But, really, doesn’t common sense tell you that this is the
way it should have been handled in the first place this season?
Doesn’t it make sense to get the damage control forces out
early in the process?
Didn’t Coach Steve Logan have a clause in his contract
intended to insure he would have input — in advance — concerning such
schedule changes?
And how does this resolution help with the current
recruiting situation in South Carolina?
At least Charlie Adams with the NCHSAA had a positive
comment, calling the resolution a “step in the right direction.”
Some have told me that they don’t think it is that big of a
deal, that the high school coaches are overreacting.
The high school coaches say they are just trying to protect
Friday nights.
Members of the East Carolina coaching staff say they are
very concerned about the effects the situation will have on recruiting.
Maybe all of this infighting could be better served if we
all changed the target of our objections about the Friday night conflict
occurring to begin with.
Perhaps it’s ESPN that we need to notify. If all Pirate
fans, and all the high school coaches would contact the powers that be at
ESPN, then maybe that might get the message across to the faceless TV execs
who make such self-serving decisions.
Nobody wins with college football on Friday nights.
Pirates look to bounce back
East Carolina faces a most difficult challenge this week,
visiting Wake Forest.
The one thing that East Carolina coaches came away with from
last years game was just how well-coached the Deacons are under Jim Grobe.
Coach Grobe is an outstanding coach and really had his
Deacons ready to play last year in Greenville.
Grobe took some heat in Winston-Salem this week over his
decision to go for a two-point conversion in the 42-41 overtime loss to
Northern Illinois last week. Did Grobe's gamble remind anyone of Steve
Logan's ill-fated decision, based on sound logic, to go for two in a 10-9
loss at West Virginia in 1996?
The good news for Pirate fans is that Wake Forest did give
up some big plays to the Huskies in that loss.
ECU's big play arsenal never got a chance to get going in
the rain in Durham. In all likelihood, the Pirates will have to make some
big plays in order to win against the Demon Deacons.
The other good news for the Pirates is that the weather is
expected to be much better this time out.
We only hope the Pirates are much better this time. They’ll
have to be in order to avoid an 0-2 start!
 Send an e-mail message to
Brian Bailey.
Click here to dig into Brian Bailey's Bonesville
archives.
02/23/2007 01:23:14 AM
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