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'Painting
'em Purple'
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From the Booth
Thursday, October 24, 2002
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By Jeff Charles
Voice of the Pirates |
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Booing the home team a
misguided exercise
©2002 Bonesville.net
The Steve Logan Radio Call-In Show Sunday nights affords
Pirate fans the forum to discuss East Carolina football.
This past Sunday I thought we had one of our better
shows.
The reason? The listeners who took the time to call.
A show of this nature is only as good as the quality of
calls it receives.
A relaxed Steve Logan had intelligent dialogue with many
Pirate fans who called. The questions were good and the answers were good.
We all have a tendency to jump to conclusions in the
emotional frenzy of watching a sporting event. Hopefully, twenty-four hours
later when the show hits the airwaves at 7:00 p.m. each Sunday night, cooler
heads have prevailed.
I’ve said many times the support the callers have for
the program each week is very uplifting.
Now for some specifics about last week's ball game that
were very important.
When Logan took Desmond Robinson out of the game
Saturday, his decision was roundly booed. Many fans thought Robinson was
being intentionally embarrassed by pulling him out in the middle of that
series.
Why would Steve Logan want to discredit the young man?
He has spent two years coaching him and Des is one of the hardest workers on
the team.
Remember, this was only Robinson's second college
football game and he was obviously a little nervous. Three times he went
down pulling out from center and it was embarrassing for him. Logan can
sense that better than anyone, and knowing that Robinson was becoming
flustered, he elected to remove him.
This wasn’t a punishment. It was a caring coach trying
to protect his player and not ruin his future.
Paul Troth came back into the game and some fans again
weren’t happy.
For the life of me I don’t understand the booing that is
taking place at times in the stadium. How can it possibly be constructive to
boo your own team and players? Nothing good ever comes of it and a lot of
bad can result from it. When the team is struggling, positive reinforcement
from the stands can really help lift a club.
When the fans boo, it tears down the very fabric so many
people have worked so hard for so many years to build. Booing will not
change the coaches' decisions and will not change the performance of the
players on the field. What it will do is leave residue in the hearts and
minds of a bunch of men who are working hard every day to give you a winning
football team.
Steve Logan knows when one of his decisions backfires.
Paul Troth knows when the offense is sputtering. Tim Rose knows when the
defense is struggling. All of these guys know when things aren’t going well.
No one wants to win more than these guys.
It’s becoming a tough year, but there are six games left
to play. That's six chances for a young team to make great strides in the
second half of the season. They are showing some improvement. They need your
positive support and energy.
Thanks for letting me get up on my soapbox.
News ‘n Notes from Pirate Land…
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South Florida Director of Athletics Lee Roy Selmon is a
class act. I was not disappointed, only impressed when meeting the former
Oklahoma All-American and pro football Hall of Famer. Selmon is a credit to
his profession. After talking with Lee Roy you can understand why South
Florida has come on so quickly. He’s a great people person with terrific
communication skills. I really enjoyed our visit on Pirate Preview at U.B.E.
this past Saturday. College athletics needs people like Lee Roy Selmon.
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Speaking of South Florida, how can you not be impressed?
They are going to be a big time force in this league and that’s good. It
raises the bar and makes Conference USA stronger. Now if the right decision
is made, and a quality twelfth member can be brought in, this league can go
to two six team divisions with a conference championship game on national
television. That will happen sooner rather than later.
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East Carolina and Louisville hit the airwaves at 2:00
p.m. Saturday on WITN Channel 7. Pirate Sports Radio Network coverage begins
at 1:10 p.m. The Steve Logan Television Show airs at 11:30 a.m. again this
Sunday on WITN Channel 7 in Eastern North Carolina.
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The Pirate basketball team looked impressive Saturday.
The talent is better and it needs to be. This is the second year of playing
with the “Big Boys” in Conference USA. Some of those teams have lost great
players, but just remember, the Cincinnati’s of the world just reload. Bill
Herrion has a tough challenge.
Till next time, “Keep painting’em purple.”
Send an e-mail message to
Jeff Charles.
Dig into Jeff Charles' Bonesville Archives.
02/23/2007 10:24:10 AM
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