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BAILEY'S TAKE
ON PIRATE SPORTS
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From the Anchor Desk
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
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By Brian Bailey |
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A day for wins and
remembrances
©2006 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
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THE BRIAN
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SKIP HOLTZ PRESS CONFERENCE:
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Coach Skip Holtz' remarks from his Monday
media luncheon. (Recorded by Brian Bailey) ... |
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Saturday was truly a day to
remember at East Carolina University.
It started early that morning
with the dedication of the plaque to honor the victims of the 1970 Marshall
plane crash. I was impressed by the crowd of both ECU and Marshall fans for
the short dedication.
East Carolina will be forever
linked to Marshall because of the crash, and the plaque will serve as a
quick history lesson for visiting teams at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
The weather for Saturday's
game was absolutely perfect. Those of us in Greenville woke to a totally
different weather situation on Sunday. Thankfully, that cold front didn’t
come until well after the game.
Senior days always get me. I
cried like a baby when my daughter played her last home game in softball.
When I watched as Kort Shankweiler was introduced, with his dad and
offensive coordinator Steve Shankweiler by his side, I know I had a lump in
my throat.
Military Appreciation Day
added to the day’s enjoyment. The flyover was breathtaking. I’m sure the
members of the military that made the game all enjoyed a day of Pirate
football.
As for the game, it was
another testimony in just how far this Pirate football team has come in two
seasons under Skip Holtz.
Remember West Virginia running
for a country mile against the Pirates a couple of years ago. That’s not the
case anymore.
Greg Hudson’s defense totally
shut down an excellent Marshall rushing attack. The Thundering Herd really
never got anything going on the ground.
Had it not been for a Pirate
turnover and a couple of missed opportunities for ECU touchdowns, this one
would have been an early blowout.
Give Coach Holtz and the staff
credit for keeping this team focused on the game at hand.
“We’ll keep it going,” said
Holtz. “We want to be humble about our past, hungry for our future, and
focused on the present.”
The theme continues to work
well for Holtz and his upstart crew. East Carolina now heads to Texas this
week to take on Rice. Coach Holtz looked like he was ready to go on Monday.
He wore cowboy boots to his Monday news conference.
Last year, the Pirates got off
to a bit of a slow start defensively against the Owls. The team made some
nice adjustments and came away with a big win.
Statistically, Rice isn’t that
great on offense and is pretty miserable on defense. However, the Owls have
been successful because they’ve been able to create turnovers.
“That will be the key again,”
said Holtz. “We just can’t turn the football over. I don’t think we have to
get real conservative, but we have to play smart and not turn the football
over.”
The season has flown by and
the Pirates have accomplished much. Still, this team and this coaching staff
understand that there is so much more to play for in these next couple of
games.
While there are only two games
to go on the schedule, there are two more great possibilities for games.
First, a win over Rice puts ECU in the Conference USA championship game.
Second, the Pirates are already bowl eligible, but one more victory would
just about assure the team of a bowl trip.
Football is back in Pirate
land. Isn’t it nice to talk about big games in November!
Winning start for hoops
East Carolina’s basketball
squad opened with a win over visiting Morgan State on Saturday night. It’s
hard to believe that this was the Pirates seventh straight opening night
victory.
“I’m just glad that we were
able to be a part of great day at East Carolina,” said Ricky Stokes after
the Pirates' basketball win. “It was a great day, and I’m glad that we could
do our part.”
This Pirate team is better at
just about every phase of the game this season. The squad is very young,
especially down low, so mistakes will be made.
Still, this looks like a team
that will certainly shoot a little better this season. Darrell Jenkins led
the way from the point guard position. His hot hand early on got the Pirates
off to a great start.
Coach Stokes had a great big
smile on his face — until I asked him about tonight’s game at Richmond.
The Spiders also sport several
new faces. Still, any trip to Richmond in hoops will give any coach a gray
hair or two.
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04/21/2008 07:03:43 PM |
