News and Notes from East Carolina, Conference USA and Beyond

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08.31.05: Katrina blows Tulane-USM game into November ... Frosh guards round out ECU hoops roster

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08.18.05: Talk 1070 touts Pirates, Panthers, new shows ... Fort Worth Bowl embraces Mountain West, TCU... NYC schools reap windfall from NCAA-NIT deal

East Carolina quarterback Patrick Pinkney, from Fayetteville, underwent successful surgery for an injured shoulder on Wednesday, according to his father, Pirate football legend Reggie Pinkney.

After injuring his shoulder last season, the younger Pinkney underwent off-season surgery, but the first pass at the shoulder did not accomplish all that was intended and the redshirt freshman — who had been expected to make a serious run at the starting position — was unable to shake the serious pain he was experiencing when passing the football.

Though Pinkney worked through the preseason looking to make the depth chart, it was obvious to the coaches and to his father that he was not healthy. Doctors are assuring Pinkney that the operation's objectives were achieved this time around and in about six weeks, he should be able to pass the football without pain.

“He is fine and the surgery was a success,” Pinkney’s father said. “He really wanted to go out there and compete this year, but it will probably be next year now. Patrick is excited about the season and looking forward to picking up the football again.”

East Carolina's Sports Information Department staff has continued to work around the clock with its vendor, College Sports Television, to get its renovated Website and the recently announced "Total Access" Internet multimedia service launched before the Pirates' looming football season opener.

With just two days remaining before ECU and Duke kick off the 2005 campaign in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, Pirate fans — particularly those outside the range of the Pirate Sports Radio Network — have been rushing to sign up for Total Access to gain access to the service's live stream of the game and other features.

After joining the subscription plan, many are just now getting around to asking, 'What did I sign up for?' and 'How do I get to the services?'

According to ECU staffers familiar with the process, the official launch of Total Access will be apparent to visitors to ecupirates.com as soon as the service is in place — an occurrence which is expected to take place by tomorrow, barring technical snags.

The launch will be heralded by the appearance a very visible link/logo for “Total Access” on the right side of the ecupirates.com home page, say the staffers. When that link is selected by a user who is signed up for Total Access, a logon prompt will request the user to enter a registered name and password.

Once the logon is verified, the user will be taken to a page containing the buffet of options for Total Access subscribers, including audio, Game Tracker LiveStats, live streaming game video, and video/audio archives.

Future features in ECU's Total Access offerings will include a section devoted to audio/video archives of some of the Priates' greatest moments.

A description of Total Access and a link to the signup form is located at this link on ecupirates.com. The cost for the service is $4.95 per month or $44.95 for the upcoming season.

News Nuggets are compiled periodically based on material supplied by staff members; data published by ECU, Conference USA and its member schools; and reports from Associated Press and other sources. Copyright 2005 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.