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Pirate Notebook No. 31
Wednesday, December 5, 2001

By Denny O'Brien
Staff Writer and Columnist

College football's post-season awards are about as exciting as a super-sized order of McDonald's french fries. Both are pushed by extravagant marketing campaigns while lacking when it comes to flavor.

The Heisman Trophy, for example, is ostensibly given annually to the best player in college football. But for purposes of candor and clarity, the folks at the Downtown Athletic Club should describe the qualities of the typical winner for what they are.

Just in case they need a little help with honest wording, they could define the traits of their intended bronze statue winner as follows:

That would be a more accurate description, as opposed to continuing the deception that the award is intended for the best player in college football.

The same general rule of thumb, for the most part, seems to apply to conference awards. The honors recipients tend to come from each league's upper-tier programs, with outstanding performers from also-ran programs given little serious consideration.

For instance, Conference USA's prominent award-winners are likely to come from either Louisville, East Carolina or Cincinnati, all of which finished in the top third of the conference standings.

You wouldn't be going out on a limb if you predicted that either Louisville's Dave Ragone or ECU's Leonard Henry would take home offensive player of the year honors.

Tulane's Mewelde Moore, who finished with 1,421rushing yards and 756 receiving yards on 65 receptions, doesn't stand a chance to bring the hardware home to the Bayou. The Green Wave's miserable season, attributable mainly to its porous defense, sabotaged Moore's candidacy before it got started.

Defensive player of the year honors will also belong to a player from either the Cards or the Pirates. Louisville's Dewayne White and ECU's Pernell Griffin are in a neck-and-neck battle for that one.

Look for Griffin to get the nod, as voters will take into consideration that he is now the league's career leader in tackles, even though the award is given for the best season, not the best career.

U of L's John L. Smith or Cincinnati's Rick Minter are duking it out for the league's top coach. Both have done excellent jobs this season and you won't hear an argument from me against either.

But wouldn't it be nice if the league were to spice up the post-season awards a bit? Perhaps add a little of that delicious Bojangles' seasoning to that bland order of french fries?

In addition to coach-of-the-year, there ought to be a trophy that goes to C-USA's top coordinator, in which case Southern Mississippi's Tyrone Nix would get my vote. The Golden Eagles lost seven starters from last year's dominant defensive unit, yet still finished among the nation's best while breaking in a half-dozen greenhorns.

And how about giving something to the best position coach. Talk about being unappreciated � ECU offensive line coach Steve Shankweiler deserves some sort of recognition for the job he has done.

Coach Shank mixed and matched his young group of hogs all year long, developing a unit that fueled one of the nation's top rushing attacks, while keeping opposing defenders off quarterback David Garrard.

The league could dish out the annual Jim Mora Award, which would be given to the coach that provided the best post-game interview during the season. USM's Jeff Bower would be a tough one to beat there. His tirade upon hearing that his Eagles wouldn't be going to Mobile was much in the spirit of the award's namesake.

The Bobby Knight Trophy would no doubt be a fan favorite. That coveted piece of hardware would go to the coach who put on the best sideline show during the season.

ECU's Steve Logan would be difficult to top for that one. His five-minute tirade during the William and Mary game was worthy of a handshake and a sweater from the General. Rarely do you see a coach get flagged for 15 like Logan did.

There should be some type of award given to the league's best all-around player, too. Is there a more talented athlete in C-USA than ECU H-back Richard Alston? How many players are there who could start at three different positions for most teams?

Imagine what Clemson's fortunes could have been with Alston at quarterback in that spread offense � he's faster than Woody Dantzler and possesses a much stronger and more accurate arm.

At Nebraska, he would feel right at home as an I-back. With his speed and strength, he could put up the type of numbers that could make the Husker faithful forget about current Green Bay Packer Ahman Green.

Since we are dealing with student-athletes, C-USA ought to honor the top brain with the Albert Einstein Award. USM quarterback Jeff Kelly would take home that honor. After all, an MBA and academic All-American who stays busy conjuring up ways to solve the nation's economy while tossing around the pigskin on the side deserves some kind of trophy.

Kelly would also be in strong contention for the Rodney Dangerfield Award. He isn't the most talented player in the league, and thus doesn't get much ink. Yet, somehow, he always seems to get the job done.

Speaking of comedians, awarding the Eddie Murphy Trophy could be a hoot. It's hard to say just who would be most deserving, but East Carolina offensive lineman Aaron Walker would be my nominee.

Walker is one of the rare players with no qualms about addressing the media with a chicken wing in one hand and a plate of barbecue in the other. Nope, a few tedious questions isn't going to disturb this hoss's mid-day meal.

You can certainly expect an entertaining Q and A with Walker. Instead of being addressed by that boring old "Yes sir," or "Yes, ma'am," the big guy from South Carolina, at times, refreshingly refers to media members as "Dawg."

For now though, Walker, a boisterous 300-pounder with the body to match his mouth, will have to settle for All C-USA honors.

You shouldn't blame the Pirates if they don't feel right at home when they land in Mobile next Friday.

In 1998, the Pirates overcame a 21-0 first-half deficit to Alabama, only to lose 23-22 at historic Legion Field. Garrard, then a freshman, led the second half charge that fell just one-point short.

Few will forget how the Tide was awarded that phantom fourth time-out late in the second half.

The Pirates would return to Legion Field one year later, this time to face conference foe UAB. ECU carried a 7-1 record into Birmingham, but somebody forgot to tell the Blazers. Led by a back-up quarterback, UAB ended the Pirates' dreams of an 11-win season with a 36-17 drubbing.

A few weeks later, the Pirates made a return trip to Alabama, this time to Mobile for a bowl game against Texas Christian. The Mobile Bay proved no friend to the Bucs, though, who were dominated and sent home with a 28-14 defeat by the Horned Frogs.

The Alabama jinx would carry over one more year, this time in Greenville, of all places, as UAB eked out an improbable 16-13 win. Even Logan couldn't fathom losing with his team putting up 400 yards, while not turning the ball over on offense.

But maybe the Tide took a turn for the good last Thursday night, when Alabama defeated Southern Miss at Legion Field. Alabama's win sealed a winning season for the Tide and a GMAC bid for the Pirates.

Now, hopefully that bit of luck will wear off on the Pirates, when they once again march on Mobile.

ECU head basketball coach Bill Herrion doesn't like to talk about the absence of starting frontcourt players Gabriel Mikulas and Moussa Badiane.

The Pirates' third-year coach feels that would be a slap in the face to the rest of his team, which has displayed plenty of heart and hustle, despite being out-manned each night out.

After winning its first two games over a Big East and Big Ten opponent, East Carolina has dropped four straight, including a 28-point loss at Virginia Tech last week. And with each glaring loss, the Pirates' lack of a frontcourt is even more evident.

On Monday, Herrion said he hoped to have Badiane back for Saturday's home game against Old Dominion. The Pirates will likely still be without Mikulas, however, who has been greatly missed thus far.

"He's (Mikulas) an experienced, good, solid post player," Herrion said. "He's kinda like a poor man's Kevin McHale � great feet, great hands.

"What's really hurting us right now is, we're playing without a true post player. We need him back desperately."

Herrion is also addressing the Pirates' frontcourt woes on the recruiting trail. ECU has already signed six-foot-eight forward Corey Rouse, who comes from great pedigree at Kinston High School.

"Corey Rouse is a 6'7", 6'8" wing player out of Kinston High School," Herrion said. "There's just a long line of great players out of Kinston."

Herrion expects more signatures to follow in the Spring signing period as the word gets out that the Pirates have made the move into a power conference.

"A lot of kids still don't know that we're in Conference USA," Herrion said. "Until we start physically playing people in this league, and you start bringing Cincinnati to Greenville, and DePaul, Marquette and Charlotte into our arena, it's (not) going to start to sink in."

Herrion also said on Monday that he hopes to have the services of six-foot-eight forward Jason Herring next season. Herring signed with the Pirates last spring but was declared academically ineligible.