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BAILEY'S TAKE
ON PIRATE SPORTS
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From the Anchor Desk
Tuesday, April 4, 2006
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By Brian Bailey |
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Colorful past fostered great
spring tradition
©2006 Bonesville.net
The “Great Pirate Purple-Gold
Pigskin Pigout Party” has certainly changed over the years. This is the 23rd
annual observance of the event, which is a celebration of all things sacred
in eastern North Carolina, football and bar-b-cue.
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Replay the archive
of Monday night's Brian Bailey Show, with guest
Greg Hudson previewing Saturday's Purple-Gold
football game. |
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Select clip |
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I remember the days when
Miller Lite was the big sponsor. Remember the old “Miller Lite All-Stars”
and those crazy commercials. John Madden usually ended the ads by blasting
through a Miller Lite banner.
I still have autographs from
some of the stars who made their way to Greenville for the Pig-out. As a
Cowboy’s fan, I especially enjoyed meeting Randy White. Boog Powell was a
great guy. Big Ben Davidson had everyone rolling.
And who could ever forget “the
doll” from ads with Mickey Spillane, Lee Meredith. Ms. Meredith wore a
stunning dress which left plenty of room for ventilation. Her attributes
were the talk of the party for sure.
In fact, we talked for a while
and I could tell that the skimpy dress and all of the flirting was a
definite act. When we were alone, she asked about my children and all kinds
of family things. She was a great lady and one of my favorite Miller Lite
All-Stars.
Tastes great! Less Filling!
The Miller Lite All-Stars
helped to get “The Great Pirate Purple-Gold Pigskin Pigout Party” up and
running!
This year, as always, the
highlight of the extravaganza is the
Purple-Gold intra-squad football scrimmage,
which is slated to kick off at 3 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets are $5 for the
game — or $10 for the game plus a plate of barbecue — and can be purchased
at the ECU Athletics Ticket Office or by calling (252) 328-2300 locally or
(800) DIAL-ECU outside the Greenville area.
Delivering in the clutch
East Carolina was desperate
for someone to step up and make something happen after dropping the first
two games of the baseball series with Houston this past weekend.
Lefthander Brody Taylor was
certainly up to the challenge. Taylor fired a five-hit shutout against the
Cougars,
leading the Pirates to a 3-0 win.
After
falling to Houston on Saturday 13-4,
first-year Coach Billy Godwin had a closed door meeting with his club.
“We felt like someone had to
step up and give us a shot in the arm and we didn’t care who it was,” said
Godwin.
That shot came from the left
arm of Brody Taylor. Taylor got off to a little bit of a slow start, and had
to wriggle off the hook after Houston put two on in the first.
Coach Godwin paid a quick
visit to Taylor in that first frame. The visit certainly paid dividends.
What looked to be a quick pep
talk was actually a meeting on mechanics. Taylor was getting the ball up and
Godwin said it was because he was late getting the ball out of his glove.
The real pep talk came later.
Houston loaded the bases in the fourth. Godwin called for Taylor to be a
“bulldog.” Taylor did just that, getting a fielder’s choice and a double
play to preserve the shutout.
Taylor was worried about his
hamstring in the 9th. With a standing ovation for much of the inning, Taylor
struck out the side.
“It was nice,” Taylor said. “I
could hear the cheering, and I didn’t want to disappoint.”
The shutout was the first for
an East Carolina pitcher since
Ricky Brooks no-hit Memphis last April
and earned Taylor Conference USA's
pitcher of the week award.
During the post game
interviews, Taylor's teammates had a little surprise. As Taylor started to
answer my first question, he was ambushed with a towel loaded with shaving
cream. It was hilarious.
You could tell that this team
had been pressing, and the win was certainly a stress reliever.
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02/23/2007 01:33:39 AM |
