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BAILEY'S TAKE
ON PIRATE SPORTS
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From the Anchor Desk
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
By Brian Bailey |
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Summer Vacation
By
Brian Bailey
©2008 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
I was back in West
Virginia for my week of
summer vacation last
week.
This time there is no
great adventure to talk
about. Last year I wrote
about
my trip down the New
River in
a raft.
This year my son Ryne
couldn’t make the trip.
He had commitments from
golf to girls to
football, so he stayed
in town.
Meanwhile, I hit the
road and hit the golf
course again. There’s
nothing like mountain
golf. It’s hard enough
to hit that little white
ball on a relatively
flat course. The
mountains just make
everything that more
complicated.
I’m hitting the driver
pretty well, but I could
kill someone with my
iron shots. Former East
Carolina basketball
coach Mike Steele gets
on me because I don’t
have a clue with the
“scoring irons.” He has
a good time watching my
ball go sideways with my
iron shots.
Actually, I hit the ball
pretty well up in the
mountains, breaking 85
on a couple of
occasions. It’s a
different sport, though.
One time a 150-yard shot
needs a 9-iron because
it’s down hill. The next
time that 150-yard shot
needs a five wood
because it’s uphill.
It’s way too
complicated.
I mention my trip
because once again I was
visiting Bluefield, VA.
Bluefield is 60 miles
from Blacksburg, so
there are plenty of
Virginia Tech fans.
There is also a
Bluefield, WV, so there
are also many West
Virginia fans.
Those Mountaineer fans
are still all over Rich
Rodriguez. I really
think it’s a true hatred
for the man for many.
Those same fans that I
ran into had high praise
for Skip Holtz and ECU.
They say perception is
reality. To a man, the
guys I met all had the
same perception of Holtz
and his band of Pirates.
“They always play us
tough,” they would say.
“That Holtz is a heckuva
coach,” they’d add.
No one seemed to
remember that West
Virginia took it to ECU
last year to the tune of
a 48-7 score. I know
Holtz remembers it, and
would like nothing more
then to turn the tables
on the Mountaineers this
year.
Maybe many of them
remembered the opener
against Virginia Tech a
little better. That day,
Holtz and company had
the Hokies on the ropes
on that emotional
Saturday in Blacksburg.
I didn’t run into as
many Tech fans, despite
the proximity of
Blacksburg to Bluefield.
The couple of folks that
I did meet said they
expect a tough one in
Charlotte to open the
season.
I know this. It’s never
too early to talk a
little football,
especially while you’re
on vacation.
With every passing week
we move closer to
another football season.
Summers tend to drag by.
Here’s hoping that’s a
perception that doesn’t
turn out to be a reality
this summer.
BB
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06/17/2008 02:08:48 AM |
