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Bailey's
Take on Pirate Sports
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From the Anchor Desk
Tuesday, April 1, 2003
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By Brian Bailey
Sports Anchor of WNCT-TV 9 |
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'Clark Kent' upstages Pitino, Huggins; Troth
blooms
©2003 Bonesville.net
For the first time in the league’s eight-year history, Conference USA has
a team in the Final Four.
No, it’s not Louisville. The Cards suffered one of those “Cinderella”
losses in that game with Butler.
It’s not Cincinnati. The Bearcats were merely a blip on the radar screen
in this NCAA tournament. Yes, Cincy has Final Four experience, but not since
the launch of Conference USA back in 1996.
The first league member to advance to college basketball’s promised land
is Marquette.
Coach Tom Crean looks like Clark Kent. Golden Eagles star Dwyane Wade
plays like Superman. It’s an outstanding combination.
The Golden Eagles took the game right to Kentucky last Saturday, and the
Wildcats never knew what hit them. The ‘Cats were the top seed in the entire
tournament, but were no match for the C-USA champs.
Marquette will face Kansas in the first semifinal in New Orleans on
Saturday afternoon. The Jayhawks are the early favorite, but Marquette has
reveled in the role of underdog.
It’s hard to believe that back on December 30th, East Carolina beat this
same Marquette team. In fact, the Pirates have beaten the Golden Eagles at
home each of the last two seasons.
It makes you wonder if Roy Williams might just give Bill Herrion a call
this week.
Troth blooms, Leach
bowls 'em over
Those thinking that Paul Troth might be on his way to the ECU bench next
season may need to think again.
Through two scrimmages, Troth is by far the best option the Pirates have
at the position. He had another very solid effort on Saturday in the team’s
second scrimmage of the spring.
“Paul was struggling a bit with an injury,” said first year coach John
Thompson. “But he battled through it and did a nice job. Paul has had a nice
spring.”
Vonta Leach has also had a nice spring. The move to fulltime fullback
seems to agree with Leach as well. He had a nice run in this past Saturday’s
scrimmage game.
To me, there is nothing more exciting then seeing a big, bruising
fullback break through the line of scrimmage with the football, looking to
run over a defensive back.
Leach had a run just like that on Saturday. It was a bruising run for a
touchdown, putting a broad smile on the bruiser’s face.
“I think we’ve had a good time this spring,” said Leach. “Everyone is
fired up and we’re getting a lot of work done.”
Discreet meeting
Officially, the Board of Trustees at East Carolina discussed the contract
of athletic director Mike Hamrick last Friday. Chancellor William Muse said
only that the contract was talked about, and that there were no changes
made.
Considering published reports and commentary in advance of the meeting,
including articles which appeared on Bonesville.net, "mum" is certainly the
word from those who were in on the session. No one who attended is saying
anything about the substance of the discussions.
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02/23/2007 01:25:07 AM
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