News and Notes from East Carolina, Conference USA and Beyond

PREVIOUS NUGGETS

07.26.05: BCS faces challenge from shadow poll of VIP's

07.25.05: Players still learning the ropes of redefined ACC ... Huggins assistant acquitted of DUI charge

07.24.05: CIAA trophy to be named after 'Big House' ... ECU hoops mirror reflects Herd, Wave, Knights

07.23.05: East Carolina alum Mike Sutton taken off respirator
... Jury slaps recruiting guru with $30 million verdict

07.22.05: Big Ten stirs the pot of shifting bowl alliances

07.21.05: Cal, AF, road trip to Memphis on Vols' 2006 slate ... Mississippi Valley State hires former USM coach

07.20.05: Revamped Big East striving to hold on to respect

07.19.05: Rocky Mountain football rivalry up in the air

07.18.05: 'One-year rule' presents quandary for recruiters

07.17.05: Williams unaware 'graduation gifts' prohibited

In what portends to be an annual event for the East Carolina football program, Coach Skip Holtz and his staff will be hosting a Ladies Football Clinic this Saturday.

Whether you are a woman merely trying to understand the game that occupies so much of your man’s time or are simply a football fan looking to get some face time with the ECU staff, you are sure to have a redeeming experience at this event.

Walk-up registration begins at 8 a.m. at Minges Coliseum and will include an autograph session. The clinic, which will commence at 9 a.m. includes position instructions given by the ECU coaching staff, a speech by Coach Holtz and a tour of the Murphy Center which will include demonstrations of the weightlifting equipment.

Before conclusion of the clinic at noon, all participants will get a chance to take the field at Ficklen Stadium via the players’ Pirate Tunnel.

Tickets for the event are $25 and the fee includes a T-shirt. Tickets can be purchased at the ECU football office located at 203 Ward Sports Medicine Building or by calling (252) 328-4568 or (252) 328-4570.

HOT SPRINGS, VA — The newly expanded Atlantic Coast Conference must get by with only six bowl tie-ins this season. In 2006, the league will add at least two more.

Commissioner John Swofford announced agreements Tuesday with the Emerald Bowl and the Music City Bowl that will give the league at least eight bowl destinations following next season, including one in the Bowl Championship Series.

The conference also extended its existing deals with the other six, allowing up to two-thirds of the league's 12 teams to move into the postseason if they qualify.

``We'll probably be a little short of bowls for one year,'' Swofford said Tuesday at the final day of the conference's media kickoff. ``The thing we'll have to do is watch over bowls and other conferences and see who may not be able to fill their bowl slots.

All eight bowls will be played after Dec. 25, avoiding a problem such as the one last year that led Virginia to decline an invitation to the Champs Sports Bowl because its date came during exams. The game has been moved to later in the month.

In addition to a date change, the Champs game will pit the ACC team against a Big Ten opponent instead of one from the Big 12.

The ACC's matchup in the Gator Bowl will also undergo a shift, with the Big East giving up its annual slot and providing a team on a rotating basis with the Big 12 and Notre Dame.

In the Music City Bowl, the opponent will come from the Southeastern Conference, joining the Peach Bowl as bowls matching teams from the two power conferences based in the South. Virginia Tech, which won the ACC last season in its debut, and new member Boston College each played in the Music City Bowl as members of the Big East.

``Obviously, what we set out to do is protect all of our bowl eligible teams,'' Swofford said. ``So we're really excited about all of these relationships.''

Also Tuesday, Swofford and ACC supervisor of officials Tommy Hunt showed off a new instant replay system, complete with a live demonstration of how it would work. A small technical problem delayed the show, leading to the inevitable jokes about how it was going to work at actual games, but once it started, the ``replay official'' needed only 54 seconds to complete his review.

``What we all want is to get that crucial call right,'' Swofford said. ``I think this will enhance our ability to do this. And I think the officials welcome this with open arms.''

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 Associated Press and other sources. Copyright 2005 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.