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BAILEY'S TAKE
ON PIRATE SPORTS
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From the Anchor Desk
Tuesday, November 3, 2008
By Brian Bailey |
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Team, town primed
for the big stage
By
Brian Bailey
©2009 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
For many in Eastern
North Carolina, Thursday
will be a football
holiday. In fact, many
have made plans to make
it a long weekend.
I don’t think there will
be much business going
on for Thursday, unless
it’s tailgating or
football.
Virginia Tech comes
calling for the ESPN
special on Thursday. A
national audience will
get a chance to check
out Dowdy-Ficklen
Stadium and the planned
“black out.”
For East Carolina coach
Skip Holtz, it’s another
in the BCS challenges
that this schedule
presents each year. It’s
a chance to show off his
program to an entire
nation.
"There is an awful lot
of buildup and
excitement for this
game, venue and
atmosphere,” said Holtz.
“I think Greenville will
come alive a little bit
Thursday. We're really
excited to not only play
Virginia Tech, but to
play the team at home,
on Thursday night, in
Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium
with a
national-television
audience."
Coach Holtz knows there
will be a buzz. He hopes
that buzz continues
throughout the night.
Frank Beamer may be
wondering which Hokie
team shows up. Virginia
Tech crushed Marshall,
Boston College and
Miami. Tech beat
Nebraska as well.
The Hokies also bring a
two-game losing streak
to Greenville with
back-to-back losses to
Georgia Tech and North
Carolina.
Both of those games
offer a bit of a
blueprint on how to beat
Virginia Tech. Just like
in last year’s game in
Charlotte, the Pirates
have to hang around and
fight, and then be ready
to make a play late.
North Carolina did just
that in Blacksburg last
week. The Tar Heels
found a way to hang in
the game, and then took
advantage of a late
turnover to pick up
their first ACC win of
the season.
Holtz knows his team
can’t give up the big
play. Unfortunately, the
Hokies have a tendency
to force their
opposition to do just
that.
"They are a big-play
football team,” said
Holtz. “They have 44
plays of 20 or more
yards. They're very
explosive on offense and
are averaging over 30.6
points a game.”
The Pirates are
sitting pretty in
Conference USA’s East
Division,
and they’ll continue
their trek to a big
league showdown in Tulsa
next week. As for this
week, it’s a chance to
shine in front of the
entire nation. That’s as
much as any football
program in the country
can ask for.
"It's going to be a
great challenge for our
football program,” Holtz
continued. “This team is
practicing hard and I
think they understand
the challenge we have
ahead of us. We're
really looking forward
to having the
opportunity to play this
game."
Early Christmas present
I had the privilege
recently of serving as
Master of Ceremonies for
the 2nd annual Beau’s
Buddies banquet in
Greenville.
Beau’s Buddies is a
wonderful organization
that raises money to
help area individuals in
their fight against
cancer. The organization
gets its name from Beau
Stanley, a young child
who lost his battle with
cancer in November of
2007.
Part of my duties as MC
involved introducing the
different packages
available for bid in the
live auction.
One of the packages was
entitled “Tis the
Season,” a package
designed to make
Christmas very special.
The package included a
professional tree
trimming, a Christmas
wreath, poinsettias,
stocking stuffers,
Christmas candy and
cakes, and even some
holiday wines and other
spirits.
The bid came from the
back of the room. I
couldn’t see, but I
thought I recognized the
woman’s voice.
“We’ll take it for one
thousand dollars,” said
the voice. She added,
“It’s for Rock.”
Jennifer Holtz made the
winning bid. The wives
of the entire ECU
coaching staff occupied
that table in the back,
and were combining their
funds to give Rock
Roggeman a nice
Christmas.
Rock is currently in his
own battle with cancer.
This Christmas should be
a little brighter as
Roggeman continues his
fight.
What a win-win. Area
businesses donated a
wonderful package.
Beau’s Buddies made a
thousand dollars to help
cancer victims. Rock
Roggeman gets a gift
from a classy group of
ladies.
It kind of makes you
feel like that’s what
Christmas is really all
about.
BB
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Brian Bailey.
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