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BAILEY'S TAKE
ON PIRATE SPORTS
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From the Anchor Desk
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
By Brian Bailey |
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Limping Pirates playing
for East title
By
Brian Bailey
©2008 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
I really thought East
Carolina football coach
Skip Holtz might appear
at his weekly news
conference in a hospital
gown. Holtz joked that
he almost wore a shirt
with a big red cross on
it.
Sometimes you have to
laugh so you don’t cry.
Holtz was obviously
disappointed that his
team dropped
that 21-3 loss to
Southern Miss
on Saturday. He’s
totally baffled by the
MASH outfit that his
squad has turned into.
"We've tried to look at
all of our injuries, the
number of people who are
out right now and what
it's attributed to,”
said Holtz. “There are
just so many variances
and differences. Some
people talk about if
it's overtraining or not
being in shape. I just
don't think there's a
lot you can do about
broken bones and
surgeries.
"Those are,
unfortunately, the
injuries in football and
this just happens to be
a year where we have
fallen on an awful lot
of injuries. I've said
this before, but I'm not
making an excuse. I'm
stating the facts and
what we have to do in
order to get this
football team ready.”
I haven’t seen anything
like it either. Sure,
there have been
devastating,
season-ending injuries
before, but never
anything really like
this.
Still, with all of the
injuries and adversity,
this Pirate football
team maintains control
of its own destiny in
Conference USA heading
into Saturday's game at
UAB. The Pirates could
win the East Division by
default.
According to Conference
USA’s “simple
evaluation” of the race,
the Pirates certainly
continue in the driver’s
seat.
Marshall would have to
win out and have the
Pirates lose out to take
the title.
Memphis would have to
win out, have ECU lose
twice, and Marshall lose
once in order to take
the East.
Southern Miss would have
to win out and have ECU,
Marshall and Memphis all
lose out the rest of the
way.
The Pirates have had
their problems in the
state of Alabama, but
that’s really ancient
history for this team.
Most of these younger
players who have been
thrust into action have
no idea about any of
East Carolina’s luck in
‘Bama.
Maybe this is the group
that can help erase some
of those memories. A
Pirate win over UAB
clinches the East
Division
for Skip Holtz and
Company.
Holtz gets a win this
week, and then tries to
figure out which players
will be able to go the
day after Thanksgiving
against UTEP, the
following week in the
league championship game
and, finally, in the
bowl game.
So much football still
to play, but so few
healthy bodies to play
with. It’s some kind of
dilemma for the Pirates.
One win, though,
clinches the East
Division for the first
time ever.
Hoops squad winning so far
East Carolina’s
basketball team got off
to a 2-0 start with a
couple of wins this past
weekend.
The Pirates opened with
a 71-56 win
over Coker. The very
next night Coker
traveled south and put a
whipping on Coastal
Carolina. ECU followed
that first win with
a 94-58 pasting
of St. Andrews.
“We made some progress
between Friday night and
tonight (Sunday),” said
second year coach Mack
McCarthy after the
blowout win over St.
Andrews. “Mostly in just
how we approached the
game mentally. I was
really pleased with how
receptive they were and
how team-oriented they
were.
"We’ve got a lot of
things that we’ve got to
do better, but we’re
clearly sharing the
basketball, we’re
clearly trying hard and
we’ve got clearly more
offensive weapons then
we’ve had in the past.”
I’d say things are
crystal clear through
two games. The schedule
stiffens from here, with
Campbell due in town
Wednesday, George Mason
coming to town on
Saturday and then
Virginia Commonwealth
visiting next week.
Big Darrius Morrow came
off the bench to record
a double-double on
Sunday afternoon against
St. Andrews. Morrow
first committed to South
Carolina, but came to
ECU after the coaching
change with the
Gamecocks. He may become
the inside presence this
program has needed for
some time.
The three-point line may
have been moved back a
bit, but that doesn’t
seem to bother James
Legan and Sam Hinnant.
The two were 6-11 from
the 3-point line in the
win over St. Andrews.
The two wins were nice,
but Coach Mac and
company know that these
next three games will
certainly give us a
better feel for what
we’ll see this
basketball season.
BB
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11/18/2008 01:17:37 AM |
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