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Bailey's
Take on Pirate Sports
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From the Anchor Desk
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
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By Brian Bailey |
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Lassoing the 'Big D'
©2005 Bonesville.net
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Replay
the archive of Monday night's Brian Bailey Show,
with guest Rick Smith: |
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Replay
the archive of Brian Bailey's sideline
interview with Terrance Copper during
Saturday's ECU-SMU game: |
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What a Weekend! My trip to
Texas was a great one. East Carolina was victorious on Saturday, and then I
enjoyed an overtime win for the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.
I also had a chance to hook up
a couple of times with former Pirate star Terrance Copper, who played
his high school football at Washington. We visited during the first half of
the ECU-Southern Methodist game and then again in the Cowboys' locker room
after the game on Sunday. (Replay
the audio archive of Brian Bailey's one-on-one interview with Terrance Copper.)
The Pirates played a very
solid game in beating SMU 24-17. The running game is still very much a work
in progress, but the defense made enough big plays to make it work.
The ECU secondary picked off
four more passes against SMU and is sixth nationally in the category.
Pirate coach Skip Holtz has
praised his secondary coach, Rick Smith, several times thus far this season.
Smith, though, says it is a total team effort.
“It all starts up front,”
Smith said Monday night as a guest on my weekly show on Talk 1070 and Cable
7 (Replay
the archive of the show.). “Those guys have to give us a push for
us to do the things that we can do.”
The secondary is obviously
light years better then it was last season. Coach Smith says it all goes
back to philosophy.
“It starts with Coach Holtz,”
Smith said. “He structures our practices so that our players can get better.
We get plenty of individual time to work with our groups, and I think it
makes a big difference. I’ve worked places where that wasn’t the case.”
TV markets
I’ve often made the case that
the Greenville-Washington-New Bern (East Carolina) television market isn’t
as bad as it looks on paper. As I’ve mentioned before, if you add in Raleigh
the number really jumps.
It is well documented that
South Florida’s jump to the Big East was aided by the Bull’s television
market.
SMU is a part of the Dallas
television market, which is among the largest in the nation.
Still, only 11,000 (if that
many) made it out for the ECU-SMU game on Saturday.
So many people, yet so few care about the game itself. My point is this: You
can have 5 million potential viewers, but what does it mean if nobody
watches.
SMU got very little mention by
the local newspaper in Dallas or the local television stations. In fact, the
Mustangs made the 6 p.m. sportscast but weren't even mentioned in the 11
p.m. sportscast on that same station.
Sometimes it is better to be
the big fish in the little pond.
Back to Memphis
Every time the Pirates return
to Memphis I think back on those back-to-back Liberty Bowl trips from the
mid-90’s.
The parade on Beale Street
that first year was jam packed with purple and gold Pirate fans. I learned
just what a “dry” rib was on that trip. I visited Graceland and I could have
sworn that I saw Elvis. I did see a couple of Benjamins leave my wallet at
the casinos.
Memphis was a rewarding trip
the second time. The Pirates wore shirts claiming “Unfinished Business” all
season long. East Carolina did indeed come back and take care of business in
that return trip.
Here’s hoping the Pirates
again win in Memphis, taking another step in turning this program around.
Three wins in two years, compared with three wins in six games — the
program's turnaround is certainly underway.
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Brian Bailey.
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02/23/2007 01:32:10 AM |
Replay Skip
Holtz's weekly press conference: