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BAILEY'S TAKE
ON PIRATE SPORTS
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From the Anchor Desk
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
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By Brian Bailey |
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Nothing like a little trip
to Hawaii for recruiting
©2006 Bonesville.net
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Tune
in to tonight's Brian Bailey Show on Talk 1070
AM or catch the live Internet feed at 7 p.m.
right here on Bonesville.net. Brian's
guest will be Coach Mack McCarthy. |
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Is there a more valuable
recruiting edge then being on the sideline of a college football all-star
game in Hawaii?
What a coup for East Carolina
football coach Skip Holtz. Not only was he an
assistant for the Hula Bowl
under Auburn’s Tommy Tuberville, Holtz was communicating the plays to the
players on the sideline.
Just before the half, Holtz
was shown on the sidelines, wearing his white cap with “East Carolina
Football” spelled out in raised, purple letters.
If I’m a recruit at home, I
had to be impressed that the head of the Pirate ship was on a national stage
in an all-star setting. The sideline microphones picked up Holtz’s comments
in the huddle. He appeared to be having a great time, and any prospect
watching got a first hand look at what the coach might be like if the
prospect decides to join the Pirates.
Guy Whimper and Chris Moore
both got plenty of playing time as well.
Super Bowl commercials go for
2 million dollars apiece. Granted, the Hula Bowl wasn’t the Super Bowl, but
I would venture to guess that the exposure was worth a bunch to the football
program at East Carolina.
Pirates try again for league
win
Ricky Stokes and the ECU
hoopsters look like they’ve hit a wall. The team continues to struggle with
its shooting, and is now 0-4 in Conference USA play.
The Pirates have had their
chances. ECU had a
shot to win in regulation in the Southern Methodist game
before falling in overtime. The Pirates then
stayed with Tulane until the
final minute, before falling in that game.
There is such a fine line
between winning and losing, and so far, East Carolina hasn’t been able to
make the key plays late in order to win.
The Pirates just don’t have
the big bodies down low that most teams have. Corey Rouse is an excellent
player, but he continues to get pushed around in the paint.
Mike Castro’s injury was a big
deal for this team. Castro was big enough to do his own pushing, and his
absence has hurt the inside game for sure.
Stokes and his staff put an
emphasis on size and strength in their recruiting for next year, so help is
on the way.
Central Florida comes to town
tomorrow night, and again the Pirates will have a chance to put on in the
win column. Tip-off for the game is 7 p.m.
Hot Stove Banquet
It was my honor to once again
emcee the Pitt-Greenville Hot Stove League Banquet last night.
Baseball plays such a big role
in Greenville and in Eastern North Carolina. The Hot Stove League banquet is
truly one of the highlights of the year for many of us.
There was certainly a
Louisburg Junior College theme this year. Legendary coach Russ Frazier was
on hand, as was first-year East Carolina Coach Billy Godwin, who replaced
Frazier at Louisburg in 1999.
Coach Godwin brought his ECU
staff with him. Godwin seemed very much at ease greeting the many baseball
faithful in attendance.
Tony Beasley, who played at
Louisburg under Frazier and who is now the third base coach for the
Washington Nationals, was the guest speaker. Tony had a tremendous message,
and there is no doubt that he’ll someday be a manager in the big leagues.
Future Pirate Mark Letchworth,
the former J.H. Rose star, was honored as the amateur player of the year.
Letchworth had a great freshman year at Louisburg. He’ll finish up at
Louisburg this season and has committed to East Carolina for the 2007
baseball season.
Coach Mac on Talk 1070/Cable
7
Because of the Hot Stove
Banquet, I moved my weekly cable/radio show to tonight at 8 p.m., when my
guest will be ECU
associate head basketball coach Mack McCarthy.
Coach Mac actually has his own
radio show on a different channel that normally airs at the same time mine
does on Monday nights, so the change gives us a chance to get together.
Coach Mac is most
entertaining, and I think you’ll enjoy our show tonight from 8-9 on Talk
1070AM and on Cable 7 in Greenville.
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Brian Bailey.
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04/21/2008 07:05:11 PM |
