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News Nuggets, 08.24.06
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Former ECU standout joins Godwin staff

Former East Carolina baseball standout Ben Sanderson has been named director of baseball operations for the Pirates, according to an announcement from ECU coach Billy Godwin, which was released by the university's athletic media relations department.

Sanderson, a four-year letterwinner helped the Pirates to four NCAA Regional appearances (2000-03), one Super Regional (2001) and a combined 170-78-2 record. As a senior he earned his second of two NCAA Regional all-tournament team selections in the Atlanta Regional and became the first recipient of the honorary No. 23 jersey which was the number worn by ECU head coach Keith LeClair throughout his coaching and playing career.

The number is awarded annually to a deserving player who best displays the hustle, determination and desire that made the late LeClair a great coach and player. Jamie Paige wore No. 23 in 2004, Brian Cavanaugh in 2005 and last year Adam Witter donned the No. 23 uniform.

LeClair, an ECU Hall of Famer, passed away last month after a long battle with Lou Gehrig's Disease.

"We are excited to have Ben Sanderson back in our program," Godwin said. "Ben has great pride in East Carolina and is a great addition to our baseball staff."

During his junior campaign he was a member of the 2002 Conference USA Tournament Championship team that posted a 4-0 record and earned a NCAA Regional bid to the Clemson Regional. For his outstanding play, he was named to the regional all-tournament team. Sanderson closed out the season with a .405 batting average, which ranked second on the team and is tied for ninth on the single-season charts.

In 2001 the Pirates earned their first-ever NCAA National Seed, a top-10 national ranking, and NCAA Regional (Wilson) title while winning a school record-tying 47 games. As a freshman he helped ECU to the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Tournament title and a NCAA Regional (Lafayette) appearance.

"I am extremely excited about being a part of Coach Godwin's staff at East Carolina," Sanderson said. "It is an honor to be associated with such a prestigious program and I am happy to be back in Eastern North Carolina among the best baseball fans in the country. The goal is to get this program to Omaha and compete for the national championship. I look forward to assisting the staff in any way possible to make that a reality."

It's not the Fort Worth Bowl anymore

Bell Helicopter, a Textron, Inc., company, has agreed to title sponsor the four-year old post-season college football game formerly known as the Fort Worth Bowl. The event is now the Armed Forces Bowl. With those changes, the official name becomes the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl, according to an announcement on the Conference USA website.

The Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl, an ESPN Regional Television (ERT) owned-and-operated event, will be played Saturday, Dec. 23, and will be aired during prime time at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN, live from Amon G. Carter Stadium on the Texas Christian University campus in Fort Worth.

Bell Helicopter-Textron is an American commercial and military helicopter and tiltrotor aircraft manufacturer headquartered in Fort Worth. Bell Helicopter provides the various branches of service with the world's best military helicopters, including the V-22, the ARH-70A Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter and the AH-1Z and UH-1Y H-1 helicopters. A sister company, Textron Systems, produces the new M1117 Armored Security Vehicle, which is designed for speed and for deflecting rocket-propelled grenades and land mines.

This year's Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl will feature a battle between top teams from the Mountain West Conference and Conference USA. Beginning in 2007, the Pacific-10 Conference will rotate with Conference USA every other year to take on a member of the Mountain West Conference.

Brown lightens up on banged up Blazers

The UAB football team was originally scheduled to have an afternoon practice in full pads on Wednesday. Instead, the squad went through a 24-period session in shorts with their focus turning to their season opening opponent, Oklahoma, according to a release from the UAB athletic media relations department.

The Blazers host East Carolina on Sept. 9 in the Conference USA opener for both teams.

"We are pretty sore," said UAB coach Watson Brown. "We will have a pad practice tomorrow, so we will lose one pad practice this week.

"We did it for two reasons. The coaches wanted to go ahead and get a start on Oklahoma and also we were pretty sore."

The revised schedule this week has the Blazers practicing in full pads on Thursday and returning to a shoulder pads and shorts session on Friday.

UAB has a busy day scheduled on Saturday, beginning with a substitution scrimmage in the morning. The players and coaches will then participate in UAB's Football Fan Day at 4 p.m. on the concourse of Bartow Arena. Fan Day is an opportunity for the public to meet the Blazer football team and get autographs from UAB players and coaches.

"We will go back to pads (Thursday)," commented Brown. "We will have a fundamental, hard-nosed day against each other on Friday then we will go back to OU again on Friday. We will do the substitution scrimmage on Saturday then we will be in game-week mode."

The Blazers' 2006 season opener is less than two weeks away as they travel to Norman, OK, to face the Oklahoma Sooner on Sept. 2. The 6 p.m. contest will be nationally televised on TBS.

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 other sources. Copyright 2006 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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