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Bailey's
Take on Pirate Sports
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From the Anchor Desk
Friday, March 14, 2003
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By Brian Bailey
Sports Anchor of WNCT-TV 9 |
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C-USA, ACC flap an interesting dilemma
©2003 Bonesville.net
There is a certain faction in the Pirate community that apparently feels like Conference
USA basketball and ACC basketball can’t co-exist in Eastern North Carolina.
There is a belief that if you’re a fan of one, you can’t be a fan of the
other.
I received one e-mail this past week saying that we should cover the
Conference USA tournament over the ACC tournament, even though the Pirates
didn’t make the C-USA field.
Honestly, not just in Greenville, but in our entire viewing area which
consists of most of Eastern North Carolina, do you believe that there is
more interest in a South Florida-DePaul game than in an N.C. State-Georgia
Tech or North Carolina-Maryland match up.
As I wrote on Monday, I’ve been a big ACC fan since I was a kid. And
that’s the deal; many of us were born and raised in ACC country.
Does that mean we don’t enjoy Conference USA basketball? Does that mean
we think the ACC is a better league? No, it’s just the way we were raised.
Perhaps it will be our job as a generation, as East Carolina becomes more
competitive, to woo over our youngsters to C-USA.
C-USA should get more teams into this year’s NCAA tournament then the
ACC. I believe that Marquette, Memphis, Louisville and Cincinnati, despite
its opening round loss to Southern Miss, are all in.
The league could get five teams in if one of the lower seeds pulls some
upsets.
The ACC has three locks. Wake Forest, Maryland and Duke are all in. I
think N.C. State has to win at least one game, and probably two in the ACC
Tournament to get in.
But back to what I call this new anti-ACC Pirate mindset.
In gazing over the message boards over the last couple of days I read
where one guy was complaining because he overheard two gentlemen in the
bathroom during an ECU game talking about two ACC start times.
I don’t know about you, but I often plan my sports viewing around an ECU
game. The fact that the men were at an ECU game should be viewed as a
positive, shouldn’t it.
Much of this has to do with history. Conference USA is in its eighth
tournament. The ACC is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
I do believe that C-USA is building momentum on a national scale. Still,
a Louisville-Marquette game won’t come close to a Duke-North Carolina game
in the ratings war. It may in the future, but at this time it’s not even
close.
Billy Packer was dead wrong with his assessment last week that C-USA was
a mid-major conference. The league is a major player among the big boys.
I’ve enjoyed getting a chance to see the likes of Louisville, Marquette
and Cincinnati up close.
I think that we have the best of both worlds. East Carolina is a part of
an outstanding basketball league that is known as a national power. Our ACC
neighbors also provide us with outstanding hoops. Who could really ask for
more?
Conference USA shouldn’t take a back seat to anyone. The league just
doesn’t have the regional interest that the ACC does for Eastern North
Carolina.
At least not yet.
Crystal ball perking along
I’ll be the first to admit that my “pool” selections and “upset specials”
usually aren’t worth the paper that they are printed on.
However, I did pick both South Florida and UAB to win in the opening
round of the Conference USA tournament.
Somehow, I didn’t see that Southern Miss. upset of Cincinnati in my
crystal ball. That’s the beauty of a tournament, though. Anything can happen
and it usually does.
That is why it is so vital for East Carolina to make the field. You have
to get in the thing first, and then go after a Goliath or two.
Of course, I was so brave earlier this week that I took the top seeds the
rest of the way. Here’s hoping I’m wrong on that end, because upsets and
underdogs are what March Madness is really all about.
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Brian Bailey.
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02/23/2007 01:26:22 AM
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