It’s said that the best way to lose a friend is to go into business with him. There’s even more truth to that old axiom when it comes to the business of coaching. Regardless of how long a head coach and his staff have worked together or how long he and an assistant have known one another, the only friendships that truly last in sports are the ones that continue to produce … [Read more...]

Sports teams are known to give away all sorts of items — from schedule magnets to t-shirts to bobble heads, just to name a few — as inducements to entice fans into attending their games. All that stuff is nice and people seem to like it. But when it comes to promotions, the best of all is one no marketing whiz can ever top no matter how creative he or she might be. It’s … [Read more...]

Just in case you haven’t noticed, there’s an uncanny similarity between East Carolina’s football and basketball programs right now. Both are in the early stages of a building process. Both are led by coaches with track records of success. Both are making positive strides, albeit not always in the win column. And most importantly, both have dynamic young stars with multiple … [Read more...]

I hope all of you out there in Pirate Nation had a very merry Christmas and that Santa was good to you. He certainly rewarded Mike Houston for being on the “nice” list. And the East Carolina football coach didn’t even have to wait until the 25th to unwrap his presents — all 25 of them. Christmas came to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on Dec. 18, the first day of college football’s … [Read more...]

I have deliberately refrained until now from commenting on the struggles of the East Carolina basketball team during the first month of its 2019-20 season. Considering the makeup of the squad with only two scholarship returners on the roster, one of which hasn’t played since the team returned from the Bahamas last month, it’s simply too early to make any rash judgments about … [Read more...]