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BAILEY'S TAKE
ON PIRATE SPORTS
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From the Anchor Desk
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
By Brian Bailey |
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Pirates and fate
make formidable team
By
Brian Bailey
©2009 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
Who would have ever
thought this crazy 2009
football schedule would
provide East Carolina
fans with such a
trifecta of games at the
end?
The Pirates didn’t play
on a Saturday for a
month. East Carolina was
a television attraction
on a Tuesday, a Sunday
and a Thursday in
consecutive weeks.
Then it was back to
Saturdays for what
Pirate coach Skip Holtz
termed a “single
elimination tournament.”
Those three games on
three straight Saturdays
would send the Pirates
to a second straight
trip to Memphis and the
Liberty Bowl. Arkansas
now stands in the way of
some “unfinished”
business for Coach Holtz
and his Pirates.
I don’t know if Coach
Holtz carries a rabbit’s
foot, but I do know that
a couple of situations
late in the season might
have beaten other teams.
In the Southern Miss
game, Pirate punter Matt
Dodge tries for a first
down and gets stuffed
well short of the first
down. Holtz took
responsibility, though
Dodge was supposed to
read that the Golden
Eagles were in “punt
safe.” Dodge was
supposed to kick the
football away.
That play might have
beaten most teams. But
it didn’t beat East
Carolina.
Of course, C.J. Wilson
would go on to make one
of the biggest plays in
Pirate football history
with the blocked extra
point and return for the
two-point conversion.
The Pirates won the game
25-20.
Then in the Conference
USA championship, the
Pirates faced fourth and
a yard, desperate to
keep the football away
from Case Keenum and the
Houston offense.
East Carolina
quarterback Patrick
Pinkney was told not to
snap the football.
Instead, Pinkney got the
snap, the Pirates were
stuffed short of the
first down, and Houston
had the ball back.
Again, this type of play
would have certainly
come back to haunt a
lesser team, but that
near disaster also
turned out OK when
Travis Simmons and Van
Eskridge combined on a
pick in the Cougars' end
zone.
In the end it was a
thrilling 38-32 Pirate
victory and a second
straight Conference USA
championship. Destiny
was the Pirates' date to
the dance.
Now, the focus will be
on Memphis. Just like in
1995 when East Carolina
returned to Memphis with
a purpose. That year the
Pirates made up for a
loss to Illinois in 1994
by beating Stanford.
This time the Razorbacks
of Arkansas provide the
opposition.
“We’ve got unfinished
business baby,” said an
excited Dominique
Lindsey after Saturday’s
win in the conference
title game.
Kentucky beat East
Carolina in last year’s
Liberty Bowl, 25-19.
Arkansas may be an even
bigger challenge this
season. The Pirates have
had pretty good success
as a big underdog in a
bowl game — just ask
Boise State.
For Patrick Pinkney,
it’s one more start as
the Pirate quarterback.
Pinkney is certainly
playing his best
football of the season.
Now the sixth-year
senior gets one more
bowl game.
“I didn’t care what bowl
we went to,” said
Pinkney. “I just really
wanted this
championship. We do have
some unfinished business
in Memphis. We’ll
prepare hard for that
game. We want to finish
strong, baby!”
I’ve been very fortunate
through the years to get
a chance to cover East
Carolina University
athletics. I’ve seen the
highs and the lows, and
I agree with Coach Holtz
that I’ll have memories
for a lifetime from this
past Saturday.
“It was a totally
different feel then from
a year ago,” Holtz said.
“A year ago you’re on
the road, at Tulsa. You
got to see the joy and
the jubilation in your
players. But to look up
and see that fan base,
to know just what a role
they have played in us
being where we are right
now.
"We are undefeated in
the conference at home
at 5-0. They (the fans)
had a huge part in that.
To celebrate this game,
with our players, in
Dowdy-Ficklen, at home —
pretty awesome
experience. I’ve got
some mental pictures
that will go to my grave
with me!”
Keep the light on Silky!
The Pirate Nation is
headed back to Beale
Street to welcome in the
New Year at the Liberty
Bowl.
BB
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Brian Bailey.
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