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Bailey's
Take on the Pirates
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From the Anchor Desk
Friday, December 14, 2001
By Brian Bailey
Sports Anchor of WNCT-TV 9 |
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Par for the Course: NCAA Defies Logic;
Williamston Reunion in Dowdy-Ficklen
©2001 Bonesville.net
Mikulas Ruling Makes No Sense
The NCAA finally put
out the word on the eligibility of Gabriel Mikulas this week.
Actually, the NCAA
didn’t disappoint — their ruling made absolutely no sense at all, as
expected.
Common sense says the
eight games Mikulas has already missed were enough, but the NCAA says
otherwise.
Now, Mikulas is being
penalized for working with a team in his native country of Argentina. His
national team wanted to get a look at Gabe after his elbow surgery. He
played in five games with that team, but they were not sanctioned.
All Gabriel did was
play basketball. He didn’t receive any payment. He just played.
The NCAA struggles
with the easiest of rulings. Just the other day the NCAA admitted they lost
a transcript from a player and made that player sit out an entire season.
It doesn’t make any
sense at all. Gabriel Mikulas and other players were punished for playing on
the same team as professionals. Gabe wasn’t paid, but now he’s paid the
ultimate price.
A half of a season
will be in the books when last year’s CAA Rookie of the Year finally takes
to the floor against UAB on January 8.
He’ll miss the
Conference USA opener with Cincinnati. He will have missed the
non-conference season.
Worst of all, we will
have all missed a great player for 13 basketball games.
Here’s hoping that
Gabriel keeps his head up, and moves on when he finally comes back.
Williamston Reunion
Former Williamston
High School star Pernell Griffin welcomed his former coach to practice on
Thursday.
Coach Harold Robinson
brought his Tigers to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium to work out the night before his
team will play Swain County for the State 1A championship.
The state title game
is set for Kenan Stadium Friday night. Coach Robinson wanted to get his team
a chance to work out in a big stadium before the title tilt, and worked out
a deal with Pirate Coach Steve Logan.
Robinson got all over
his former linebacker during the Pirate’s final sprints from practice.
Griffin finished last a couple of times, and Robinson let him have it from
the sideline.
It was all in good
fun, and Griffin, a three-time first-team All-Conference USA performer and
the league's all-time leading tackler, enjoyed seeing his former team.
“I was there when they
won last week,” Griffin said. “It’s just a lot of fun to see my former
school doing so well. I really enjoyed playing for the Tigers, and I hope
they can win again this week.”
Bowl Week is Upon Us
The Pirates will leave
around noon for the GMAC Bowl on Friday.
Word from Mobile is
that the Mobile, Alabama Bowl, renamed the GMAC Mobile Bowl, renamed the
GMAC Bowl is much improved since that first year.
Many of these same
Pirate players were in that bowl game, and most of them tell a very similar
story about the 1999 trip.
“We were too worried
about material things the first time we came to Mobile,” explained Offensive
Lineman Aaron Walker. “We were more concerned with gifts then with playing
football. This time, we’ll be thinking about football — I promise.”
David Garrard agreed.
“I think we’ll go back
to Mobile and put on a better show this time,” Garrard said. “We’ll be
concentrating on football. Marshall is a great football team so it should be
a great game.”
Going into Friday, the
Pirates are a one-point favorite. Marshall can’t stop the run, and the
Pirates have trouble against the pass.
It should be fun.
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Brian Bailey.
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02/23/2007 01:19:59 AM
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