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News Nuggets, 08.11.06
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Pirates dodge heat with nighttime drills

For the first time during the 2006 preseason camp, East Carolina conducted a workout under the lights at the Cliff Moore Practice Complex on Thursday evening. After battling high temperature and humidity levels for the first six days, the Pirates responded to the cooler conditions with a high-intensity session, according to a release from the ECU athletic media relations department.

ECU also returned to its single practice schedule a day after completing its initial two-a-day session Wednesday, working two-and-a-half hours on all facets of the program's special teams, offensive and defensive units.

Head coach Skip Holtz and staff also devoted a significant amount of time guiding ECU through redzone efficiency work, spending nearly 60 minutes on third-and-6, third-and-12 and first-and-10 situations inside the 20-yard line both from an offensive and defensive standpoint.

"With today's practice we finally incorporated our playbook," Holtz said. "The team has been busting their tails over the last six days in the heat and we wanted to give them a chance to get their legs back under them, so we decided to move the practice schedule back a bit."

East Carolina will return to the Cliff Moore Practice Complex for another single workout Friday to finish preparations for Saturday's intra-squad contest at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. The scrimmage, closed to the public, will precede the team's first off day of preseason camp scheduled for Sunday.

True freshman fullback Kevin Gidrey sat out his fourth straight practice with a concussion, while linebacker Michael Caple (concussion) and running back Norman Whitley (shoulder injury) also missed practice.

The Pirates will practice from 3 to 6 p.m. today in preparation for their Sept. 2 season opener at Navy.

ECU's Thorsen claims Norwegian amateur title

East Carolina rising-sophomore Andre Thorsen carded a four round total of 16-under par to win the 2006 Norwegian Amateur Golf Championship. After bogeying the 17th hole, Thorsen birdied 18 to capture his second career national title in his homeland. He also won the 2002 Norwegian Junior Golf Championship, according to an ECU athletic nedia relations release.

After shooting a par-71 in the first round, Thorsen posted consecutive rounds of 65 to move to 12-under for the tournament. In the final round, he shot a 4-under par 67 to claim a one-stroke victory over Knut Borsheim. Thorsen also finished six strokes ahead of third-place finisher Marius Thorp, who shot par over four rounds at the 2006 British Open.

Manning pledges $1 million to Tennessee

Former Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning has pledged $1 million to his alma mater's athletics department, according to an announcement on the Tennessee athletic website.

The gift, which represents the largest gift from a recent Volunteer student-athlete, will be used to update the Neyland-Thompson Sports Center and toward the master plan renovations at Neyland Stadium.

"Peyton is an outstanding young man and a remarkable role model," said university president Dr. John Petersen. "Since leaving UT, he has continued to be an active advocate for our great university and has been an integral player in helping us secure donations for both athletics and the Knoxville campus."

The latest pledge is the second gift from the Indianapolis Colts star to the university. He made a major gift in 1998 toward the construction of the Thornton Athletics Student Life Center.

Thursday 'Nuggets' sacked by network glitch

No "News Nuggets" were posted on Thursday, Aug. 10, 2006, because of a network problem affecting Bonesville.net's main Web server. The nature of the malfunction also temporarily prevented posting of new columns and audio features on the site and blocked login access to Bonesville.net's mail server.

The issues were resolved on Thursday afternoon, Aug. 10, according to Bonesville.net publisher and editor Danny Whitford, and the site is scheduled to resume its normal publishing schedule on Friday, Aug. 11.

News Nuggets are compiled periodically based on material supplied by staff members; data published by ECU, Conference USA and its member schools; and reports from other sources. Copyright 2006 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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