|
Bailey's
Take on Pirate Sports
-----
|
  |
From the Anchor Desk
Tuesday, April 29, 2003
-----
By Brian Bailey
Sports Anchor of WNCT-TV 9 |
 |
Tidbits of note flowing down
from West Va.
©2003 Bonesville.net
A recent story in the Charleston (WV) Gazette
indicates that East Carolina and West Virginia will be playing every season
through 2008.
The story is principally about Patrick Dosh, a
quarterback that is looking to transfer from the University of Florida.
Several reports indicated that Dosh has talked or will talk with John
Thompson at East Carolina. Dosh is also reportedly considering James
Madison, his father’s alma mater.
The story in the online version of the paper makes a
quick mention of the ECU-West Virginia series, noting that Dosh could could
conceivably be playing against the Mountaineers yearly as the Pirates QB.
There’s no word yet on the status of Dosh, but you
have to think that the connection with East Carolina is a possibility
because of the multiple Florida connections. Apparently, Dosh spent most of
last season playing against Thompson’s first-team Gators defense in
practice.
If the scheduling part of the story is correct — that
ECU and WVU will play annually for the next six seasons — that’s good news
for the Pirates. The more East Carolina can align itself with the
Mountaineers' league, the Big East, the better.
If some of the Big East heavyweights move to the ACC,
as has been speculated on extensively in the media recently, that league
still has a bunch to offer — most notably a chance to play in a BCS
conference.
ECU
players get in on NFL free-agent action
Draft day was a very quiet time around the East
Carolina football program. The Pirates failed to have a player go in the
seven rounds of this year’s NFL draft.
However, two Pirate football players signed free
agent agreements after the draft. Defensive lineman Ja’Waren Blair inked a
pact with the Cincinnati Bengals, while Kelly Hardy signed with the San
Francisco 49’ers.
Blair was the leader as far as the linemen in total
tackles with 87 this past season. His list of accomplishments for 2003
included six tackles for losses, two sacks, one forced fumble, one fumble
recovery and a blocked kick.
Hardy played his high school football down the road
at Kinston High School. Twice during his career he was named as the
Conference USA Player of the Week.
Hardy made some 198 tackles during his career,
including a team high 110 stops this past year, when he proved to be quite a
playmaker. He scored two touchdowns on fumble returns, had two interceptions
and led the team with a dozen pass breakups.
Hardy was also the only ECU player to participate in
one of those post-season all-star games, playing in the Rotary Gridiron
Classic in Orlando, Florida.
Pirate kicker Kevin Miller had hoped to be drafted.
Now, he sits patiently trying to get a shot as a free agent. At the very
least, Miller says he believes that he’ll finally get that shot to try out
with a team this summer.
“I’m really not that upset about not being drafted,
because kickers aren’t drafted all that often,” Miller said. “Timing is
everything and hopefully my time will come soon.”
Miller worked out for both Seattle and the New York
Giants. Seattle drafted a kicker in the seventh round, while the Giants
inked two kickers, Mike Hollis and Matt Bryant.
Miller says the best case would be for him to go to a
team with an established kicker, to get a chance to learn and impress during
training camp. That way, he might get a shot with a team whose kicker
struggles in the preseason.
 Send an e-mail message to
Brian Bailey.
Click here to dig into Brian Bailey's Bonesville
archives.
02/23/2007 01:25:12 AM
----- |
