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Insights and Observations
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Henry's Highlights
Wednesday, August 27, 2003
By Henry Hinton
Broadcaster & Owner
of Greenville Cable 7 |
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Online media merger marks
positive transition
©2003 GoPirates.com/Bonesville.net
If change is good for us then the East Carolina family has
certainly seen some growth opportunities in the past year. I am personally
no exception. Thirty years in the radio business came to a close for me
earlier this year when I sold my two Greenville stations and now I have
taken another step, merging GoPirates.com with Danny Whitford’s
Bonesville.net.
It is a move that Danny and I have discussed for two years.
We have been friends since the early nineties and I have admired his courage
and tenacity since launching Bonesville two years ago. It is simply the best
website around for ECU fans. Being involved with the newly merged website
along with my work on our Greenville television channel, Cable 7, will keep
me involved with ECU sports, a passion I admit has dominated a great deal of
my brain and time the last 30 years.
I always viewed GoPirates.com in two ways. It was certainly
a great promotional tool for our radio properties, but it also gave me a
chance to elaborate on a point of view for anyone around the world who might
be interested. We never saw it as a separate, standalone entity like
Bonesville, so I am excited to be a part of something bigger.
I have been amazed at the amount of response GoPirates.com
generated over the years. We were the first editorial site dedicated to
covering ECU sports. No matter what I wrote it was sure to strike a nerve in
some direction with folks in the Pirate Nation.
Most of the time the response I received in my email or on
the phone was positive, but, admittedly, there have been a few folks who
have taken exception to something I may have written and a few have crossed
the line of civility. Maybe the Internet truly is a microcosm of society
after all. Or maybe we are all overly passionate about the Pirates.
In a few short weeks, I will be turning 50. I have achieved
many of my goals but still have some left out there. It is at this point in
life that one tends to review and analyze things. Unfortunately, we also
begin to count the number of potential years we have left on this earth.
Quality of life begins to be a real issue.
It is for that reason that I have decided to simplify my
life and start to focus on some new opportunities. As such, I have made
another decision that hopefully will lead me to longer and happier weekends.
For the first time in many years, I will be sitting in the stands with my
wife this season for Pirate football games in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. For too
long, she has had to attend the games with friends, family or alone.
As for the road games, we intend to savor a few of them by
enjoying two trips to New York and New Orleans. Otherwise, you can catch me
on the golf course or taking advantage of some great fall fishing, which are
two things I tend to crave these days.
I broadcast my first ECU game on the Pirate Sports Radio
Network in 1975, believe it or not. Back then, longtime WNCT-TV 9 sports
director Jim Woods was the Voice of the Pirates and Pat Dye was the head
coach. I have seen a lot of changes and I have been around for the good and
the bad years.
I always said when late summer rolls around and the passion
does not grip me, it would be time to leave the booth. However, I will
continue to appear on the radio during the week and after the home games for
our post-game call in show on WCZI 98.3 FM, which will be simulcast (home
games only) this year from our Cable 7 studios.
Folks in Greenville and surrounding areas can see Coach John
Thompson’s post game press conference and interviews with the players just
after the game ends. We will also be fielding calls during the show, as in
the past. It will be fun to do it on TV as well as radio this time around.
I will also continue to do the Mid-Week Tailgate Show
(Wednesday night’s this season 6:30-7:30) on Cable 7. In fact,
the big news is that Steve Logan will sit in and
co-host with me as he starts a new broadcasting career.
Logan has already been hired to do color analysis on
regional television this fall and this is a great opportunity for him to get
some in-studio experience. I would not be surprised to see him doing this
for ESPN in future years, so it’s a great opportunity for Cable 7 as well.
So this year, I will be cheering from the stands, showing up
on local television and radio from time to time and offering my observations
on the same website where Danny and his writers live.
It will be a great marriage. The timing could not be better.
Hope to see you in the stands.
 Send an e-mail message to
Henry Hinton.
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02/23/2007 09:42:32 AM |
