The final Directors’ Cup standings were announced on Thursday. As I always do, I began going through the list to see where all of North Carolina’s Division I schools placed. All the usual suspects were there. North Carolina was the top state finisher in the annual all-sports competition among the nation’s Division I schools at No. 5 overall behind perennial champion … [Read more...]
Insights from BrettMLB draft was a plus for Pirates
The Major League Baseball draft is a conflicting time for college programs. On one hand it’s a matter of prestige to have players selected and a positive selling point to recruits hoping to someday take the next step in their own careers. At the same time, it can also be the source of some short-term difficulty if too many players, especially top recruits, have their … [Read more...]
Insights from BrettTime to turn the page and forge ahead
The recently completed athletic year isn’t one East Carolina fans are likely to look on with warm and fuzzy memories. There were some highs, to be sure, including yet another football victory against an in-state ACC rival, this time N.C. State, and Zay Jones’ record-setting pass catching performance. A third straight American Athletic Conference men’s swimming title in … [Read more...]
Insights from BrettThe team that went all the way
A baseball team representing East Carolina University won a national championship this past week. Wait, what? You probably thought the Pirates’ season ended over Memorial Day weekend when they were denied an NCAA tournament bid by losing to Houston in the American Athletic Conference championship game. Well, they did. But that was the varsity team. Though not as … [Read more...]
Insights from BrettRedemption out of reach
There are any number of words that can be used to describe East Carolina’s 2017 baseball season. Disappointing, frustrating and painful are among the first that come to mind. That’s why it’s somehow fitting that a season that began with such high hope and promise should end the way it did Sunday. It’s not that the Pirates lost their final game. That seemed all but … [Read more...]