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Non-ECU: U2 asked to perform outside Keenan…
(Please note: The following article is pure satire and is in no way serious.)
Rock legends U2 will perform a hastily arranged concert atop one of the many parking decks dotting the elegant UNCCH campus this evening, providing background music for the hordes of Carolina Blue-clad patrons stuck in their Mercedes during an expected traffic jam.
“(N.C.) State did it, and were very successful” explained UNC Provost for Parking Life Sidney Duffus. “They knew they were going to have a traffic jam, so they invited U2 to play and keep everyone entertained. We couldn’t let the Wolfpack one-up us.”
Carolina officials weren’t exactly sure why they were anticipating the big traffic snarl this evening, except to say “It ain’t Late Nite with Roy… That’s Saturday.”
The opening act for the famed rockers is an expected appearance by Erin Andrew’s hair, which by all accounts, is pretty and clean.
“That’s what I’m talkin’ ‘bout” explained longtime Tarheel fan John Flea. “She dominates.”
The traffic is expected to first be light, then get heavy and then get light again. “It’ll kind of be like a Pink Floyd record,” said Duffus, adding “But they weren’t available.
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Pirates Attack! Dustin, Patrick, Josh and Dwayne…
With a name like Dustin Lineback, he was destined to play linebacker.
The former walk-on transfer from Brevard has steadily worked his way up through the ranks and started the strong side linebacker position for ECU in their 49-13 Homecoming romp over Rice. With Rice driving from their own 10 yard line and approaching midfield at the beginning of the fourth quarter, it was third and seven when Rice QB Nick Fanuzzi threw that fateful pass. Lineback hauled in the errant throw at the ECU 44 yard line and churned his way 36 yards down to the Rice 20.
But in the process, Lineback did more than that. “From there, the floodgates opened” Coach Holtz said.
With a steady diet of RB Ruffin Giavani running up the middle, the Pirates attacked for a rare fourth quarter score and took control of the game over a woeful parliament of Owls. Giavani’s TD set the stage for two more Pirate TD’s while hopefully pulling the plug on the Pirate’s second half blues.
Up 35-13 and after allowing redshirt FR Josh Jordan a three-and-out series in the second period, Holtz wasn’t ready hand over the keys. Patrick Pinkney came in after a 37 yard punt return by Travis Simmons to deliver from the Rice 30 and take the lead to 42-13 on a seven yard strike to Dwayne Harris.
Then came the much anticipated return of Jordan, who directed the final and most celebrated drive of the 21 point late-game outburst. Jordan showed poise and the ability to scramble, as well as a deft touch. Pirate fans were quick to anoint Jordan as the new Jeff Blake, but fans should take heed. There will be bumps in the road for Jordan as he matures into the Pirates starter of the future.
Right now, he’s the most popular guy on the team: the backup QB.
Notes from this game wouldn’t be complete without a mention of CUSA special teams player of the week. Harris has now returned a punt for a TD in each of the last two games. Harris’ stock has basically gone up every week this season, as even when ECU has struggled offensively, Harris seems to come through.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Harris playing on Sundays next year…
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Bad mojo marks first half of Pirates’ season
I’m convinced the ECU Athletics Director Terry Holland has put the bad mojo on this team.
Apparently no one, not even Mr. Holland can’t just monkey around with the football scheduling gods, give up a game against what turned out to be a sad NCSU team and start makin’ deals with the Double-A devil without some sort of gridiron karma biting us on the collective behind.
I should’ve recognized it earlier. The whole App experience was as weird, unnatural even. With the ironic hoisting of the “No Quarter” flag, where we promptly laid down and tried our best to lose, something may have told me then. I just refused to listen.
How else could you explain the mystery surrounding this PIrate football team? What else could have made the injuries to our defensive backfield before they even worked up a sweat in Game One? How else could you explain the resulting defensive adjustments that made us look like saps against West Virginia and Chapel Hill? The subsequent malaise even in the wins over UCF and Marshall? And finally, the spate of Texas-sized mistakes that cost us the game in Big D?
OK, so maybe it isn’t karma, just kismet that finds us where we are today with this Pirate program. Maybe we all were looking to last year’s start and wishfully thinking that was our natural spot in the college football pecking order. Instead here we stand, at 3-3 through the first half of the season, with homecoming a few days away and four of our last six at home. We’re halfway into the forrest metaphorically speaking. The question is now about how we find a way out.
We followed a similar course last year, batting .500 through the first half of the season. But we recovered nicely to go 6-2 over the remaining games. Picked a Championship banner to boot. Once we got over giving away the Liberty Bowl to Kentucky, everyone was all warm and fuzzy again.
But still I can’t help but to think back to the last time that the preseason expectations were this high for a Pirate football team. Steve Logan’s 2001 team was coming off an impressive 8-4 year and a bowl win over Texas Tech. We had a senior quarterback in David Garrard and in that heady summer, a schedule that looked to fall like dominos. We were 3-3 after six games that year too. That team faded down the stretch and capped the season with the historic meltdown against Marshall in the bowl game.
I point those two examples because it illustrates just how much football is yet to be played and how dramatically our fortunes could turn.
This team has problems on offense and on special teams that need to be resolved, but we really shouldn’t let the debacle in Dallas obscure the bigger picture. I’m not sure why, but I still feel like this team has the talent to repeat as CUSA champs. Maybe it’s the irrepressible human spirit. Maybe it’s just that the Pirates have hit bottom and are ready to live up to their potential.
Or maybe the football gods have decided we’ve paid our dues.
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A tale of two leagues…
East Carolina’s 21-17 ‘slobbernocker’ road win over Marshall on Saturday vaulted the Bucs into first place in the East, but also solidified the division’s reputation as C-USA’s equivalent to the NFL’s ‘Norse’ division, where defense, field position and turnovers make the difference in the game.
Later that night, the CUSA West featured a rootin’-tootin’ shootout, with UTEP beating #12 Houston 58-41. With 99 total points, 1245 total yards and 1549 all purpose yards between the two, the game highlighted the marked contrast between the East and the West. Even more remarkable was that Houston managed a whopping 42 first downs - and lost by 17. This isn’t anything new in the West however, as UH and UTEP have averaged over 75 total points and a thousand yards combined over their last five matchups.
For ECU’s sake, let’s hope the old adage of ‘defense wins championships’ holds true this year, as it did with ECU’s stellar defensive effort versus Tulsa in the 2008 Championship Game.
Pirate fans were beginning to wonder if the day and night difference between the divisions were beginning to carry over off the field as well. After the UTEP win over Houston and UH’s win over Texas Tech the week prior, fans took to the field to celebrate their milestone victories, but the league was seemingly reluctant to enforce the apparent infraction of league rules regarding post game celebrations.
Those league rules in summary state that fans are not to take the field until the visiting team and officials are safely escorted off the field, a condition that was clearly not met according to YouTube videos from the games in question.
It’s not surprising that Pirate fans would be sensitive to CUSA’s treatment of these post-game histrionics. ECU’s win over the eighth-ranked Mountaineers of West Virginia in 2008 had a similar post game situation. In that game however, the league imposed a $10,000 fine and warned East Carolina that any further activities of that sort would resort in ECU’s forfeiture of the right to host the CUSA Championship game.
It was only after a barrage of emails to the league office and repeated inquiries by PIrate Radio 1250 that CUSA commissioner Briton Banowsky acquiesced and indicated that he would assess a fine to the University of Houston (no word on how much) and “will likely do the same in the UTEP case, but it remains under review.”
It’s counter-intuitive, but the league has a policy of allowing the member institutions to decide how and if these league sanctions will be made known. If the purpose is to bring awareness and education to the inherent safety issues, then allowing the ‘guilty’ school to remain mute goes against the grain. ECU AD Terry Holland as usual, was above board and communicative with respect to last year’s league action. I’ve seen no such openness from our league mates from the Lone Star State.
So we may never know the extent of the financial penalty or if the same threats were issued with the fine, but ECU’s already had the last laugh, and the CUSA Championship hardware to prove it.
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Game Speed…
Regardless of how the Pirates fare this football season, there will be a point in time where we diehards scratch our proverbial bald spots and wonder aloud where the season went. We wait all year, go through summer single-minded with the notion of the opening kickoff and boom, 12 or more games sail past like a blur.
But the answer to where the season went is here. It’s now. It’s the conference road opener. It’s a game against a team that may soon surpass Southern Miss as our chief rival in the East. It’s another football Saturday that, like the weekend itself, is anticipated, savored, sometimes regretted, but always too soon gone.
Each week has it’s subplots, and this weeks contest in Huntington is no exception. The eleventh game in the ECU/Marshall series, thanks to UAB’s Thursday night’s win over Southern Miss, suddenly now pits the lone two undefeated teams in the C-USA East. It’s a battle for the early front runner as the season hits a point where teams can begin to see their goals come into view or fall, week by week, by the wayside.
Also among this week’s subtext is the return of Mike Hamrick to the CUSA fold, this time as the AD of the University of Marshall. Hamrick is of course, a native son, playing linebacker for the Herd back in the day. And while Hamrick has been almost suspiciously gracious in pre-game interviews, there’s no doubt he wants nothing more than to beat the defending CUSA Champion and rub all of his Pirate detractor noses’ in it.
Behind it all is the tragedy of 1970 and link we’ll share as a result. It’s been nearly 40 years since that plane crash that took the lives of so many Marshall fans and boosters as they descended back into Huntington, but even that doesn’t seem like all that long ago.
The speed of the game depends on one’s perspective and one’s age. There’s the speed of the action on the field and the velocity of the season. For example, there have been 16 ECU football games since the instant classic in Charlotte and 16 hours ‘til kickoff.
Wonder which one seems longer…
And now for a few random notes…
-ECU has won 8 out of their last 10 against CUSA East foes.
-ECU has won 3 out of the last 4 road openers.
-ECU has won 6 out of their last 8 conference games on the road.
-ECU has won 5 out of their last 7 on the road against the CUSA East.
-ECU is 7-3 all-time versus Marshall.
-In their series against Marshall, ECU has always won two and then lost one. If that holds true to form, ECU will win on Saturday.
-ECU is 3-2 in Huntington.
And a few observations…
-Patrick PInkney needs to show a renewed scrambling ability to keep the Marshall defense at bay. Not necessarily to run the ball upfield, but rather to find passing lanes. That’s when Pink is effective.
-The return of Emmanuel David and Levin Neal in the backfield allows the Pirate D to blitz. If we have a run blitz in the playbook, Saturday is the day to do it.
-I’d love to see Harris in the direct snap with Jonathan Williams set as a wideout. Then a rollout with Williams going deep….
-P Matt Dodge is currently fourth nationally in net punting, so please let’s not everyone pile on the first time he misfires…
-My preseason pick: ECU 27- Marshall 24
-My Gameday pick: ECU 22- Marshall 20
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Fixing the BCS in an afternoon…
Everybody loves money. Like the song says ‘it makes the go world go ‘round.’
So it’s not surprising that College Football is any different, especially since nowadays, there’s so much of it.
When the Bowl Championship Series was first pitched by former SEC boss Roy Kramer, you know the suits from around the leagues lit up. They had a plan that would leverage collegiate football to a new level, and the broadcast networks were more than happy to foot the bill.
Though it seems like the BCS has gone through more tweaks than NASCAR, they really haven’t changed the concept’s one fatal flaw. So while the ACC, SEC, Big East, Big 12, Big 10 and PAC 10 continue to rake in the bucks by the tens of millions, the rest of the D-1 conferences have been crying foul and occasionally throwing each other under the bus to try and get a piece of the pie.
This is recently evidenced by the University’s of Memphis hiring former Big East Commissioner Mike Tanghese to try to knock down the gauntlet for UM and find their way to Easy St.
This particular attempt will fail, as will others like it. The fact remains that no one wants to carve out a slice for any newcomers. The money leagues get to spend millions on mahogany locker rooms, while us poor folk best not forget our shower shoes.
Other representatives in government and education have called for the scrapping of the current system in favor of a playoff format, but that’s not going to happen either. This is a rather ignoble attempt to hide the money, under the guise of fair play. What the reality would be is a post season dominated even more by the rich guys. Schools like ECU would be further marginalized in the process.
The one wild card in all this is the NCAA, who could bring everyone to the table, provide a sense of fairness and act with the best interests of all of it’s member institutions at heart.
Jettison the entire notion of ‘automatic qualifiers.’ Keep the bowls in place, keep everything in place, except for the bigoted notion that some schools deserve entry just for waking up in the morning and being the shiny happy people that they are.
‘Poof’ they’re gone.
If the ACC and others of their ilk are as confident as they would have us believe that they are deserving of these prestigious and lucrative bowl berths, then surely they wouldn’t mind earning it on the field. Why hide behind the automatic bid, which sends a league member virtually regardless of how good they are? Beat us fair and square and I promise to take my virtual soapbox and go home.
I don’t pretend to believe for one second that you would see dramatic changes in our near term bowl match-ups, but over time some of us will sneak in there. The mere removal of this one legal loophole in the BCS law would automatically level the playing field for everyone involved, and in so doing remove the prejudice out of the entire process.
If you are Florida or Texas or USC, you wouldn’t have anything to worry about, just like you don’t have anything to worry about now. You’re good and you deserve the best bowls the NCAA and the BCS can serve up. But even in the short history of the BCS, you can find several examples of those who should’ve played, but didn’t.
So set up a conference call, BCS people, and we could sort out the entire business in an afternoon. Unless that is, you’re afraid to put your money where your mouth is.
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Still cogent after all these years…
I believe it was Steve Logan who once prophetically stated something like: “Each team has a life expectancy of exactly one year.”
Regardless of your opinion of the former ECU coach, QB guru and football philosopher, he was right about that one. Each year’s team does have unique character traits that are not genetically encoded to be carried forth into future years. Theoretically at least, you could have eleven returning starters on both sides of the ball and have entirely different results.
That’s not what we want to hear. Fans naturally crave certainty and continuity, but that’s a rare commodity in this game. Looking over the first quarter of the game that is the 2009 Pirate football season, it appears this team lacks the focus, energy and perseverance that the 2008 team showed early on. And in this case, there are some aggravating factors in play.
I’m sure there’s a term for it in a sports psychology textbook, but it’s normal for fans to expect more every year. Throw in the fact that ECU beat West Virginia and Carolina the last time they played, and it’s easy to see how a lot of fans would have pencilled in a 3-0 start, just like last year. To his credit, Head Coach Skip Holtz has incrementally added one win to the total in each of his first four seasons. But in the process that improvement has created a false sense of security.
Throw in all those returning starters and the sixth-year of eligibility for Patrick Pinkney on top of last year’s nine win season and conference championship, it’s easy to see why many Pirate fans were looking for a banner year.
But if fans are nonplussed with the Pirates’ play, they are downright bewildered at the coaching staff. And while the team’s time-out to begin the second half in Chapel Hill was a prime example of poor game execution, the conservative play calling and soft zone defense has hurt this team as much as any position player’s performance.
Perhaps Coach is harkening back to the heart of the 2008 season, where ECU depleted troops reverted back to the days of the leather helmet, toughing out three point wins over UCF, Marshall and UAB. Fans may have not been thrilled with the bore-you-to-sleep offense then, because we were able to win. But now, with the three-and-outs mounting along with the losses, Skp’s play calling becomes an issue.
The staff did open up the playbook a bit for the UNC-CH game, mixing in a small dose of ‘Wildcat’ offensive set (though I like to refer to it as the ‘Buccaneer’) but it wasn’t enough to soothe the critics or get the win. Faced with a 4th and 1 with about eight minutes to go and trailing by 10, Skip opted for the safe bet, kicking the short FG and cutting the lead to seven.
But this is a team that hadn’t scored a second-half touchdown all season. And despite the relative closeness of the score, the stats were dominated by the Heels. Add in that this three pointer was the culmination of ECU’s longest drive of the day and well, you get the idea…
There are times when you have to lay it on the line, and that was it. And while we would all probably be howling if Skip had gone for it and failed, going for it in this situation would still have been the right call. More than anything, this team needs to know that this staff has confidence in them to get the job done.
Skip’s call didn’t exactly say that.
On the other side of the ball, I’d like to believe that the absence of Emmanuel Davis and Levin Neal hurt ECU”s deep-threat defense, but if they were going to be asked to zone cover like their replacements, then I don’t know if the result would’ve been any different. Since the second half of the ill-fated win over Appalachian, the Pirate D has not shown the type of aggression that makes winning easier. ECU has given up nearly a thousand yards over the last two games, so I can’t really see how ratcheting up the pressure could hurt.
It’s certainly not the end of the road for this year’s Buccaneers, as the Pirates begin their quest to repeat as CUSA champs this Saturday at the ‘Fick. You can throw out all of the bad calls, missed assignments and sluggish second half play, because this game Saturday means more.
Which brings me full circle to an truism shared by Logan, Holtz and every other coach to ever wrap a whistle around his neck: ‘There’s nothing wrong with this team that a win wouldn’t cure.’
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Three keys….
With the UNC-Ch game quickly approaching, here are my three keys to a victory (and harmony) at Keenan Stadium…. Remember I’m not a coach, I just play one on the internet…
1) All I am saying is, give ‘Pink’ a chance.…
Yes, this paraphrase from the John Lennon classic seemingly has nothing to do with anything, except for an outside chance of being original. But there is a thought behind it.
It’s obvious to this football observer that Pink needs some help back there. And in my book, that means non-traditional sets to take the heat off our favorite sixth year senior. Notice I don’t call it the ‘Wildcat’…. let’s call the ‘Buccanneer’ package.
Also, notice that Pink is the only guy who doesn’t get subbed for the entire game. That should change. It will allow Pink a breather, let him see the field and (at least hopefully) give him some confidence in whoever is behind him. Whether it’s Rob Kass, Josh Jordan or Rio Johnson, someone has to step up. I’ve said it before but it bears repeating, Skip should not allow the stigma of the two-QB system dictate his offenisive philosophy.
2) Run with it…
I think this is the name of a Steve Winwood song, but that’s beside the point. You know what else is pointless? Subbing running backs every three minutes.
I know we have a talented stable of backs, maybe too many to give everyone the carries they deserve. Running backs need carries to work up a head of steam to get into the game. Unfortunately, most of our backs get more yardage running to the bench than running to the goalpost. I’d play Jackson in the first quarter, Williams in the second and play whoever does the best in the second half.
3) Let it be…
Right, the Beatles did this song and they were pretty good, right? It was said that the Beatles had their personality conflicts, but when they were able to get Yoko Ono out of the studio, they could make great music.
Now I may be the first to compare Coach Holtz to Yoko Ono (pretty sure about that one), but his controlled offense doesn’t really look like it’s working. Sometimes you just have to leave the studio and let the kids play. At this point, it’s worth a shot. You never know, they might come up with a classic.
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Second & Never…
The morning after a tough loss is always a time to consider what might have been.
Although in this case, we might not want to go there.
The fifteen point loss to the Mountaineers was not as close as it appeared, and the statistics resembled more of the Pirates’ last visit to Morgantown than last year’s excellent performance in Greenville. Time and again the ‘eers’ miscues gave ECU sudden-change chances, but the Pirates were unable to capitalize. Going plus three in turnovers and losing by two plus scores reveals a game that was deceptively close and surprisingly frustrating.
West Virginia more than doubled the yards per play (3.5/7.5) and managed nearly twice as many first downs as the Bucs. Equally telling was the penalty yardage, the Mountaineers giving up nearly a half a field more in markers. But the ugliest of the numbers was the fourth quarter TOP, with ECU just managing over three minutes of clock. In second halves this season, the Pirate offense has yet to score a point.
Even still, ECU was down by only one at halftime, and therein lies the rub. For the third consecutive game (going back to last year’s Liberty Bowl loss to Kentucky) the Pirates have come out of the gate stumbling in the third quarter, particularly on offense. With four three and outs in the second half in each of the two games this year, a disturbing trend has developed.
What that appears to show is the lack of an imaginative offensive gameplan, or at least the addition of sufficient wrinkles to get ECU’s pool of talented playmakers in open space. If the Pirates’ notoriously conservative coaching staff feels compelled to keep the active playbook the size of a travel brochure, then it easily follows that this offense is going nowhere fast. That would portend a deeper issue with the confidence head coach Skip Holtz and Offensive Coordinator Todd Fitch have Patrick PInkney’s ability to run the show.
If I had to guess (and I’ve never been shy about guessing before) it’s a little of both. As Pinkney’s performance as waned to begin his sixth year senior season, it looks like the staff has tried to help by keeping things simple. It looks for all the world out there that this strategy has backfired, as Pinkney is allowed to do less when he’s needed more.
It’s also important to note that Patrick Pinkney, for the first time in his collegiate career, has all the pressure to perform placed squarely on his shoulders. With former backup QB Rob Kass moved to tight end (with limited success to date), Pinkney is bound to realize that the drop-off behind him, at least in game experience, is steep.
And while Holtz may have allowed the stigma of the two QB system to dictate his offensive philosophy, this team appears to have myriad options to get the ball downfield and create opportunities for game-changing plays. Occasionally including Kass and WR Dwayne Harris in direct snap sets could help to relieve Pink of some of the pressure, allow more options on offense and add a spark to an already beleaguered attack.
And it’s not too late. If ECU can pull off the upset of UNC-Ch this weekend, the Pirates 2-1 record from the first three games would still have them on course for an exceptional season. But as ten point underdogs, and against a formidable Tarheel defense, the time is now to take action.
Perhaps Holtz & Fitch still have a few tricks up their sleeves for unleashing the offense, but it’s gotten to the point now where they are going to have to pull a rabbit out of their hat.
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In Tune with the Pirates….
East Carolina AD Terry Holland has apparently been receiving some nasty comments from irate Pirates about this week’s game. Apparently, some were nastier than a campground bathroom.
Because this week’s game versus West Virginia is being streamed on espn360.com, rather than being broadcast via the usual channels, I can see how some viewers have questions. Yes it seems some fans were more confused than the city council member who asked what side of town that ‘information superhighway’ was going to be built.
And the ‘From the desk of Terry Holland’ letter is chock full of useful information about TV rights and who picks what game for what media outlet. If you haven’t caught up with it, here’s the link….
http://www.ecupirates.com/genrel/091109aac.html
Good stuff, Coach, just not sure a “soapbox memo” was necessary on this one. Just the info please. And thanks Suddenlink for making the game accessible to their internet subscribers.
And while the ECU/West Virginia game is the highlight of today’s football schedule for most anyone reading this site, here’s a rundown of today’s TV action…. Just in case you have all day for football viewing.
There are basically four time slots with a few games overlapping around key times: The Nooner, The Afternooner, The Prime Time & The Late Nite: Here is the general runndown with my (often off the wall/exotic) picks in bold. (In my announcer voice) Please consult your local listings for the games in your area…
The Nooner
Stanford @ Wake (local Fox): Does the garage need clearing out?
Fresno St. @ Wisconsin (ESPN): Does the tub need scrubbing?
Central Michigan@ Michigan State (ESPN2): zzzzzzzz
UNC-Ch @ UCONN (ESPNU): For diehard Tarheels only.
Iowa @ Iowa St. (FSCAR): They have catchy intro music…
Duke @ Army (CBSC): This is the early game to watch. Evenly matched in a game full of rivalry and tradition at beautiful West Point. How this game is outcast to the hinterlands of CBS-College is beyond me.
The Afternooner
Notre Dame @ Michigan (ABC): Sorry ABC, but I don’t have a dog in this fight.
TCU @ Virginia (ESPNU): ‘Hoos picking this game? Not me.
Louisiana Tech @ Navy (CBSC): Another competitive matchup right of the dial.
Houston @ OK State (FSCAR): Interesting to see if the Cougs can hang for a while.
BYU @ Tulane (ESPN2): BYU QB Max Hall is worth the price of admission.
Texas @ Wyoming (Versus): Huh?
UCLA @ Tennessee (ESPN): Not what it used to be…
East Carolina @ WVU (ESPN360): Naturally… Gather the fam around the ‘ole blackberry and check it out…
The Prime Time
South Carolina @ UGA (ESPN2): South Carolina has already bored me to tears once this season…
Vandy @ LSU (ESPNU): Maybe not the slaughter you might expect.
USC @ Ohio St (ESPN): You don’t need me to hype this one. There are paid professionals to charm us in this ‘made for Disney’ matchup.
Kansas @ UTEP (CBSC): UPSET ALERT! Go Miners!
The Late Night
Purdue @ Oregon (FSCAR): Bet there are no sucker punches in this one…
Oregon State @ UNLV (CBSC): Wonder why UNLV doesn’t seem as repulsive as it did, say, three months ago?
Utah @ San Jose St (ESPNU): This is the ticket for the East Coast night owls, at least until the Utes pull away…
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More ‘eers, more beards…
Now that some of the anxiety from the ‘Dark Victory’ of Saturday’s App. State game has ebbed, we can clear our collective psyches and prepare for the next set of Mountaineers. Clearly a bigger challenge awaits, and this promises to be an intriguing football match-up, but history is not on our side.
Mmmmm, I see we have .15 winning percentage against West Virginia…. and that drops by 15 percentage points for games in Morgantown…
West Virginia 17, ECU 3 H: 2-5, A: 0-12, N: 1-0 1970 WVU 28, ECU 14 H 1971 WVU 44, ECU 21 A 1981 WVU 20, ECU 3 A 1982 WVU 30, ECU 3 A 1986 WVU 24, ECU 21 H 1987 WVU 49, ECU 0 A 1988 WVU 30, ECU 10 H 1992 WVU 41, ECU 28 A 1995 ECU 23, WVU 20 H 1996 WVU 10, ECU 9 A 1997 WVU 24, ECU 17 A 1999 ECU 30, WVU 23 N 2000 WVU 42, ECU 24 A 2002 WVU 37, ECU 17 A 2003 WVU 48, ECU 7 H 2004 WVU 56, ECU 23 A 2005 WVU 20, ECU 15 A 2006 WVU 27, ECU 10 H 2007 WVU 48, ECU 7 A 2008 ECU 24, WVU 3 H
So yeah, it’s another tough assignment, another set of Mountaineers and another band of beards to tangle with this week and the football Bucs head to Morgantown as a seven point underdog.
*Last year’s 24-3 beatdown of the Mountaineers was the only season the Mountaineers finished with a winning season after losing to ECU. WVU finished 9-4 after stealing a 31-30 victory over UNC-Ch in the Meineke Car Care Bowl in 2008). The Mountaineers finished 5-6 in 1995 and 4-7 in 1999.
*Beating West Virginia has it’s rewards, as ECU has finished with exactly nine wins in each of the seasons ECU has won (1995; 9-3/1999; 9-3/ 2008; 9-5).
*After playing WVU for 12 out of the last 13 years (DNP 2001) this year’s matchup against WVU is the last on the schedule, at least through 2013. Next year’s OOC slate includes @Virginia Tech, @UNC-Ch, NCSU and Navy.
*A Pirate win on Saturday would mark only the second time in the last ten years ECU began the season 2-0 (2008; 3-0).
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Long way to the top….
Ridindown the highway / Goin to a show / Stop in all the by-ways / Playinrocknroll / Gettin robbed / Gettinstoned / Gettin beat up / Broken boned /Gettinhad/ Gettin took / I tell you folks / It`s harder than it looks…It’s a long way to the top, if you wanna’ rock n roll…
-AC/DC
(Notes from a moral defeat/actual victory…)
**Why the rock and roll quote? The Pirates of ECU, just after desperately holding off a fourth quarter charge by ASU, showed they know how to rock the house, but you can’t unplug at halftime. If they are to live up to this season’s expectations, the Pirates have a long way to go…
**The Pirates’ delay of game penalty to start the game turned out to be a little ironic, because the end couldn’t come soon enough…
**Free Safety Van Eskridge, again among the team leaders in tackles is our ‘secret linebacker’…
**While Pirate fans were yawning in the third period, ASU fans were yodeling in their little corner of the stadium. I think it’s a safe bet to say that Pirates are not morning people…
**You can call Appalachian a ‘FCS’ program if you like, and they are no doubt a bit smaller across the board, but football is football. And those guys know how to play.
**The new Pirate looks less like Johnny Depp, and more like Snoop Dogg (at least with the new ‘lid’)…
**The’ Fick has always been a tough ‘room’, but the personnel operating the student gates need to chill out a little and let the kids in… without the third degree and near-strip searches. Once again we find that our security people are less interested in protecting the crowd and more interested in victimizing them…
**Going into the season I thought ECU had a lot of weapons on offense, but increasingly it looks more like we have a lot of ammo, but just one gun. Other than the anomaly that was the 2008 UTEP game, ECU hasn’t scored more than 30 points since the 2007 season, when the Bucs did it in eight out of their 13 games…
**I haven’t seen the telecast of the game, but I hope somebody got paid. TV games kill the natural flow of the game with all of the extended commercial nterruptions. And I still can’t figure out why this game was moved to Noon. The MASN TV schedule didn’t have any live events to air until Saturday night, unless horse racing is really that big of a draw…
**ASU coach Jerry Moore wasn’t playing cat and mouse by announcing DeAndre Presley to start at QB, but the play of Travaris Cadet turned out to be a surprise. Call him a backup for a FCS team if you like, but the transfer from Dayton was hard to find and harder to tackle. When ECU did finally sack him though, it was at a crucial time…
**Even though the sellout crowd was subdued at times, the ‘Fick’s noise meter must have been off the chart late. ASU looked really confused when they burned their last time out…
**Even though ECU played somewhere around 65 players during the game, I hope we left something for the next set of Mountaineers we face…
**Even though both teams have a open spot in their future schedules in 2012, don’t look for ECU AD Terry Holland to announce a continuation of the series in the near future. He may book the date, but if he’s smart (and I know he is) he’ll let the post-game anxiety settle a bit before any official announcement is made. And I doubt there are but so many fans who want to see Dowdy-Ficklen ‘Back in Black’ any time soon…
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PIRATE FOOTBALL COUNTDOWN: DAY 1/ Top 10 Pirate Season Openers…
You can’t win ‘em all unless you win the first one…
10) 1964 - ECU 25, Catawba 0
Legendary Pirate Coach Clarence Stasavich opened his third season with the shutout in Greenville en route to a 9-1 season and a Tangerine Bowl win over UMASS.
9) 1965 - ECU 27, West Chester 6
‘Stas’ followed up the strong showing in ‘64 with another 9-1 season, including another Tangerine Bowl victory, this time over Maine.
8) 1941 - ECU 31, Tusculum 0
Talk about Pirate legends. Head Coach John Christenbury’s team smokes Tusculum on the way to the Pirates’ only perfect season. They outscored their opposition by a cumulative score of 159-20, blanking four of the seven opponents.
7) 1976 - ECU 48, Southern Miss 0
Former Coach Pat Dye was no slouch either, tanking the Golden Eagles and finished 9-2.
6) 1985 - ECU 33, NCSU 14
(Excerpt from The Backyard Brawl: East Carolina University vs. NC State)
(Former ECU Head Coach) Ed Emory had brought his own unique personality to the ECU-NCSU match-up, and his ranting and raving gave the series an edge of animosity. The Bucs canned Emory in 1984 and gave the job to his assistant, Art Baker. Earlier that summer, (State coach) Tom Reed called and invited Baker to have dinner in Wilson to clear the air. Baker described, “We just tried to clean up some of the animosity that had been there before.”
Bob Gennarelli, ECU sports information director couldn’t help but chuckle at the improbable peace summit. “I have to laugh every time I think about it. Coach Baker and Coach Reed sat down and ate together. Ed Emory and Tom Reed would probably have to tried to kill each other. There would have been blood everywhere.
5) 2005 - ECU 24, Duke 21
Coach Skip Holtz, in his ECU debut was able to cleanse a lot of demons with his opening triumph. It was a classic, controlled affair, and it took nearly a perfect game from QB James Pinkney, but the game was critical in pointing the program in the right direction after the Great Depression that was the John Thompson era.
4) 2000 - ECU 38, Duke 0
Even in the best of times, playing Duke in Durham has never been a ‘gimmee’ (the series is tied at five games apiece). This one game provided a nice respite from the typical Duke drama, and Steve Logan’s team went on to a 8-4 record and a victory over Texas Tech in the GalleryFurniture.com bowl.
3) 1999 - ECU 30, West Virginia 23
Coach Logan’s 1999 team opened the season under sunny skies in Charlotte, while Hurricane Dennis churned off the coast. Logan’s game plan had been to attack the Mountaineers with an aerial assault, until his offensive linemen pleaded with him to change. “We can block these guys,” they told coach, and the staff changed their approach on the fly. The Pirates went on to finish 9-3.
2) 1987 - ECU 32, NSCU 14
The most infamous game in Pirate football history was also one of their best to date…
(from The Backyard Brawl)
Overzealous Pirates took to this familiar field with ten seconds still showing on the clock, but were shouted back by the angry Pirate boss, Art Baker. When time expired, the scoreboard read ECU 32- State 14. Pirate fans crammed on the steep grassy bank again poured onto the playing surface. East Carolina University was in hot water for this post-game celebration, but State was boiling in it during the game. The Wolfpack issued five turnovers, leading to several Pirate scores and a lopsided loss to their to their new arch-rival. Sadly, he celebration marred on of Art Baker’s finest moments as the Pirates head coach.
1) 2008 - ECU 27, Virginia Tech 22
Senior T.J. Lee’s block of a Brent Bowden punt and subsequent 27-yard return for a touchdown with just 1:52 remaining lifted East Carolina to a thrilling 27-22 non-conference victory over No. 17 Virginia Tech in the season opener for both schools at Bank of America Stadium … The victory marked the Pirates’ second-straight over a nationally-ranked opponent and came in front of 72,169 fans - the largest regular season college football attendance total in North Carolina history … Trailing 22-13 with 3:36 to play, ECU quarterback Patrick Pinkney capped a nine-play, 73-yard drive with a three- yard scoring plunge to trim the deficit to two … The Pirate defense held the Hokies on their next possession, setting up a fourth-and-13 punting situation at the VT 37-yard line … Lee broke through a block, knocked down the punt and scooped up the ball before rambling into the endzone … In addition to the last Virginia Tech drive, the East Carolina defense buckled down for the entire fourth quarter, holding the Hokies to just 31 yards on 14 plays … After Virginia Tech benefitted from a pair of Pirate fumbles to jump out to a 14-0 lead, ECU used Nick Johnson’s interception return to set up a Jonathan Williams one-yard TD run with 1:16 left in the half to get on the scoreboard … ECU followed by cashing in its first second half possession with a 12-yard Pinkney-to-Jamar Bry- ant scoring strike to cut the lead to 14-13 … Pinkney established a new school record for completion percentage, hitting 19-of-23 passes for 211 yards while adding another 24 on the ground. - ECU 2009 Media Guide
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PIRATE FOOTBALL COUNTDOWN: DAY 2/ Top 10 Pirate Gameday Traditions…
Any reader who’s familiar with my cozy little corner on the blogosphere knows that I’m not a paid professional writer. I’m just a hack with a “outstanding vocabulary” (as one friend put it) who is mercifully allowed free reign to post my thoughts on Pirate Athletics.
The point was (at least early on) was to have a ‘fan blog’, a Pirate who would presumably write things like “Only two days ‘til Pirate Football, and I AM STOKED!”. In the year I’ve been here, I’ve tried to take this space a bit further than that, but I still break down from time to time.
This entry is one of those where the unabashed fan comes out. With two days ‘til kickoff for a very highly anticipated season, I am stoked, and I can hardly contain myself. And so with undefeated preseason euphoria in mind, I give you my Top 10 Pirate Gameday traditions…. knowing full well that I’ll still add my snarky little remarks.
10) THE PIRATE WALK - OK, so I open with a little joke. The Pirate Walk, a holdover from the Thompson era, is now defunct and has been more or less replaced with the new “Call to Port”. It has to do with the Marching Pirates leading the sober and the eager to the gates early. Someone let me know how that one goes…
9) THE ‘JOHNNY DEPP’ PIRATE’ - Word on the street has it the old ‘Johnny Depp Pirate’- the one who leads the football team onto the field (see #4 Purple Haze)- is out, and a new JDP will lead our valiant warriors into battle. I do have to admit that the ‘old’ JDP was awesome. The best part was that he managed to disappear when his work was done, and is never seen again- Pure Pirate Magic, and I’m not kidding about that one.
8) THE ALMA MATER - Lots of us can’t sing, but I usually give it my all none the less. It’s a beautiful number, written circa 1940 by Harold A. McDougle (ECU -‘44)…
Praise to your name so fair, Dear old East Car’lina, your joys we’ll share, and your friends we’ll ever be. We pledge our loyalty, and our heart’s devotion, To thee, our Alma Mater, love and praise.
He wrote that either as a senior in high school or as a freshman at ECTC. We were so cool back then… Gets me every time.
These people can sing it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2DAabUvEk8
7) THE GHOST ON THE WIND - This poem by Alfred H. Lockamy (ECU-2005) is no Alma Mater, but does sound pretty serious when backed up by the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ soundtrack… Try to pick out which verses are edited for the Gameday rendition…
Like a ghost on the wind He comes from the sea, And trembles the foe Like a storm on the lee.
With swashbuckling swagger And a Jolly Roger laugh, He flies the black flag On a whalebone staff.
He has a black-patched eye And a ring in his ear, And on his wind-burned face, A crusty-grizzled beard.
With a bone-cold glare And a sneer on his lip, He has a cannon by his side And a cutlass in his grip.
With a thunderous blast From his cannon’s might, He shivers the strong And cripples their fight.
He takes what he’s lost And turns it to gold, For He’s crafty and shrewd And He’s fearless and bold.
He’s dashing and daring, A fierce buccaneer, For the sight of his plunder Pales many with fear.
From East Carolina Victories are told Of the Spirit of the Pirate And his purple and gold!
6) THE CANNON - There’s tons of information on the history of the ECU Pirate Cannon here:
http://www.ecupirates.com/trads/ecu-trads-cannon.html
I think we need to have a bigger cannon, and fire it off of the Privateer’s Deck, but I am thankful for the fact that our Army ROTC is in control… One of the funnier moments in Pirate football lore resides here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzSH4hY2Gy4
5) THE PURPLE GOLD CHEER - Pretty self explanatory. We can get pretty loud with this thing… although sometimes a bit overused. It’s best used when we’re on defense, but a lot of fans don’t seem to care…
4) PURPLE HAZE PIRATE INTRO - As a freshman back in 1981, I remember talking with my friends at Aycock Hall about how cool it would be to have ‘Purple Haze’ by Jimi Hendrix as our intro theme. We all agreed that it would never happen. The coolest fan reaction to our intro was when we played Army for the first time at the ‘Fick. We were seated next to their band, and they were totally getting into it…Sweet! I was so proud to be an American.
3) FIRST DOWN, PIRATES! - People laugh when I tell them that I started the whole ‘First Down, Pirates!’ thing. They laugh out loud. But there was a game, sometime long ago, where the crowd was sparse, the game was decided and the rain was coming down. Our old announcer John Moore hesitated after he said first down, and I yelled “Pirates!!!” and pointed towards our objective. Needless to say, it caught on quickly.
It may have been a dream, but I don’t think so….
2) PIRATE TAILGATING - I’ve been fortunate to hang with a hearty group of PIrates for a good many years now. And while our tailgate spot has shifted over that time, we always represent our old ‘Skull and bones crew’ and Lord willing, all of us will be there Saturday at Eppes, with a new batch of tales and lots of good eats.
1) WINNING - Whether Pirate fans take the field or the Pirates make it over to the student section to sing the fight song and celebrate the victory, it’s all good. After all, winning is well….unbeatable.
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PIRATE FOOTBALL COUNTDOWN: DAY 3/ Injury shoe on the other foot…
When you look back at the 2008 Pirates’ football success, it’s remarkable that Skip Holtz’ fourth edition was able to achieve the CUSA Championship and 9-5 record, particularly when you consider that ECU lost 41 starts due to injury, which was among the most in the FBS.
This year, at least to start the season, the injury report is much more concise:
RB Brandon Jackson r. thumb PROBABLE
LB Melvin Patterson r. leg DOUBTFUL
WR Michael Bowman l. arm OUT
FB Ben Herlocker l. knee OUT
RB J.R. Rogers l. knee OUT
Just so happens the injury problems may be on the other foot this year (pun intended) as ASU all-everything Senior QB Armanti Edwards was reported as questionable for Saturday’s season-opener versus the Pirates, with further determinations to be made Wednesday. Edwards, who injured his foot this summer after an accident involving a lawnmower, practiced Monday, but the 35-stitch wound apparently did not respond well.
If Edwards’ doesn’t make it for Saturday, the Mountaineers will be losing their top returning passer and rusher. If Edward’s does play, ASU can bank on Edward’s efficiency, as he only threw one INT in 2008. On the other hand, Edwards might not be enough, as ECU in 30-2 v. FCS since 1978.
Also on the Mountaineers injury report:
PROBABLE
OL Corbett Harris (ankle)
DOUBTFUL
OL Daniel Kilgore (ankle)
OUT
QB Jamal Jackson (thumb)
DL Justin Johnson (ankle)
DL Mark Moll (ankle)
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PIRATE FOOTBALL COUNTDOWN: DAY 9 The Appy conundrum…
Since ECU AD Terry Holland announced that the Pirates will open the 2009 football docket with the Mountaineers, Pirate fans have debated a circular question. Does it make sense for East Carolina to schedule FCS schools in general and App State in particular?
The upside of playing the Mountaineers, who have won three national championships in the division, are a packed house and a rekindling of an old rivalry. It makes sense, at least on this most basic of levels, since the NCAA went to a 12 game schedule and allowed FCS schools to count towards bowl eligibility.
Naysayers, and this resurgent rivalry has it’s detractors, counter with that bugaboo of an argument, that ECU has nothing to gain and everything to lose by playing our distant cousins from the hills. And while it’s true that this may represent a bit of hypocrisy amongst that segment of our constituency, there is a grain of truth.
If the goal for East Carolina is a BCS bowl, the App game could hurt. The CUSA conference slate would and could also be brought up, but the App match-up could be a deal breaker. It’s hard to see how anything other than an exceptionally strong non-conference schedule, featuring four legit FBS schools would allow ECU a glimmer of BCS hope, even under the best of circumstances.
Therein lies the conundrum, the riddle that playing App presents, and each perspective has a point. But the game is on, so the best ECU can do is win it, and let the chips fall where they may.
And if things go the way Holland expects them to September 5, don’t be surprised to see the boys in black make a return trip in ‘12 or ‘13.
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PIRATE FOOTBALL COUNTDOWN: DAY 10 - A.D. ON A MISSION
As far as AD’s go, ECU Director of Athletics Terry Holland is as popular as you can get.
And why shouldn’t he be?
He followed a real bumbler in Mike Hamrick, soothed a fractured fan base, accomplished great feats in football scheduling and got us back to the business of winning. That in a nutshell, is what an AD is supposed to do, though the reality of the job is no doubt harder than any of us could realize.
Apparently not content to stop there, Holland has other things on his plate. He seems to never tire from constantly thinking and rethinking our conference affiliation and our overall position on the college athletics’ landscape.
The results can sound a little insane at first blush, and occasionally at second. Holland’s vision for a East Carolina University that doesn’t have to travel to El Paso for a volleyball match has taken many forms, but he’s yet to hit the right fix. His notions have included super-conferences, half-conferences, allegiances and alliances, but Holland can’t pull off any of these in a vacuum. At some point, other schools will have to buy in, and that hasn’t happened.
There’s no question that East Carolina needs a home. An all-sports conference affiliation where rivalries, however far-flung, can eventually be formed. An all-sports umbrella also brands the school, and at least in my opinion, we are in fine company.
There are some excellent institutions of higher learning in CUSA and some storied athletic programs as well. As a collective fan base however, have a hard time appreciating what we’ve got.
But we’re expert in tearing it asunder.
There’s no question that cost-containment is a major issue facing collegiate athletics, but like an former boss once told me, you can’t save your way to the bottom line. Holland’s on a mission to find the right answer, I just hope he doesn’t get too fixated on one side of the ledger.
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PInkney’s preseason snub…
Patrick Pinkney, ECU’s starting QB and a big reason why East Carolina won their first CUSA Championship in 2008 was conspicuously absent from the Manning Award Watch List, announced Monday. The 38 candidates range from Florida’s Tim Tebow and Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford to Appalichian State’s Armanti Edwards, but judging by the numbers, Pinkney’s absence looks like a snub. Pinkney was also a no-show on the Phil Steele’s Top 60 Draft Eligible QB’s for 2009.
The Manning Award Watch list is subject to change, and ‘Pink’ may indeed find a way to play his way into the limelight. But the sixth-year Senior from Fayetteville (and son of former Pirate standout defensive back Reggie Pinkney 74-76) should’ve gotten a little more love from the preseason pontificators. Here’s how Pinkney fared against his prolific CUSA counterparts who were included in the Manning Watch.
player com/att yds % ypa lng td px sac rating
PINKNEY, Pat ECU 223 363 2675 61.4 7.37 80 13 7 20 131.29
Austin Davis USM 261 454 3134 57.5 6.90 97 23 8 30 128.67
Case Keenum UH 397 589 5020 67.4 8.52 84 44 11 25 159.91
Trevor Vittatoe UTEP 246 418 3274 58.9 7.83 85 33 9 25 146.40
OK, so no real argument there. For a league that is almost universally chided for their disparate constituency and their status as non-automatic BCS qualifier, the league is developing a rep for talented signal callers. Pink fits in, but his numbers pale in comparison to Keenum of Houston.
Against the in-state ACC foes that made the list, Pink’s numbers are more comparable, and therein lies the rub. Pinkney is the only D-1 QB in the state to not make the list.
player com/att yds % ypa lng td px sac rating
PINKNEY, Pat ECU 223 363 2675 61.4 7.37 80 13 7 20 131.29
Wison, Russell NCS 150 275 1955 54.5 7.11 67 17 1 25 133.93
T.J. Yates UNC-Ch 81 135 1168 60.0 8.65 73 11 4 13 153.64
Riley Skinner WF 232 363 2347 63.9 6.47 58 13 7 30 126.19
Thaddeus Lewis DU 224 361 2171 62.1 6.01 52 15 6 16 122.96
Preseason analysis and rankings are notorious for being wrong and are, at the end of the day, forgettable. Other than resume fodder and media guide filler, the only thing the lists are good for is a pat on the back to the fans of the schools that make the list.
And motivation for those who don’t.
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2009 Preseason Picks….
As a counterpoint to my breathless commentary on the Pirates Preseason Probabilities, my cyber-Pirate friend Den Dickerson gives his astute and succinct take on the Pirate season about to unfold…Just for kicks, I’ve thrown in my early predictions as well…. Go Pirates!
Week 1: Appalachian State @ ECU (MASN/WITN) Noon
DD: App’s QB Edwards plays, but his preseason foot encounter with a lawnmower severely cut into his practice time. Bigger, stronger, ECU keeps App at arm’s length all day without showing much more than a power running game and an Armanti-containing defense.
Pirates 31-17 (1-0)
DS: I think it’s a bit more of a shootout, with ECU surging late and at least one defensive score…
ECU: 38-28 (1-0)
Week 2: ECU @ WVU (ESPN360) 3:30pm
DD: ECU is 0-for-Morgantown, but that changes this year. Without Pat White, this season’s Mountaineer team is not quite as good as in years past, but they play the Pirates even until a late score breaks ECU’s 0-fer streak at WVU.
Pirates 24-21 (2-0)
DS: Agreed. This is ECU’s best opportunity to win at West Virginia since 1996. Bet Holtz won’t go for two in the same situation.
ECU: 21-20 (2-0)
Week 3: ECU @ UNC-CH (ESPN/ESPN2) Noon
DD: Oh so close, but no Pirate victory in Chapel Hill. The Heels contain Pinkney with their rock-solid defense and just enough offense to hold off the Pirates in a nail-biter.
Heels 24-21 (2-1)
DS: Wish I could disagree, but the Heels at home get lucky. It’s 2001 all over again..
UNC-Ch: 27-20 (2-1)
Week 4: UCF @ ECU (WITN) 3:30pm
DD: ECU controls the entire game against the Knights in a game similar to App. The Pirate power running game bulldozes the Knights and the staunch Nick Johnson-led defense contains UCF.
Pirates 28-17 (3-1)
DS: UCF has QB non-issues, like they don’t have one, but their defense gave us fits last year. If Pink stays healthy, the Golden Knights say ‘night night’…
ECU: 31-10 (3-1)
Week 5: ECU @ Marshall (CBSCS) Noon
DD: Marshall in Huntington is tough and the Pirate offense has a difficult time getting untracked against a better-than-expected Marshall defense. The Herd puts up a mid 4th quarter TD to win a close one at home.
Herd 28-24 (3-2)
DS: Not so fast my friend. We can’t give up 28 to the Herd with our defense, but we can give up 24.
ECU: 27-24 (4-1)
Week 6: ECU @ SMU (MASN/WITN) 8pm
DD: SMU’s June Jones doesn’t have the horses to play his brand of offense with the Mustangs- yet. ECU plays their offensive version of Stop-Us-If-You-Can and runs the ball right at SMU all night.
Pirates 31-21 (4-2)
DS: SMU will be a little better this year, but we’re cookin’ by this point…
ECU: 42-17 (5-1)
Week 7: Rice @ ECU (MASN) 3:30pm
DD: ECU’s seniors remember losing to Rice there and that late-season loss costing the Pirates the CUSA-East title. Rice lost almost their entire offense from last year, but manages to keep this one close in Greenville.
Pirates 24-21 (5-2)
DS: Yep, this is where things start to get tricky…
ECU: 30-28 (6-1)
Week 8: ECU @ Memphis (ESPN2) 8pm
DD: Memphis scores quickly and the Pirates panic, playing back on their heels for most of the game. ECU’s senior leadership comes through late.
Pirates 28-24 (6-2)
DS: You’ve got us losing early @ Marshall, I’ve got us losing a little later @ Memphis. Both could be trouble.
Memphis: 20-13 (6-2)
Week 9: VT @ ECU (ESPN) 7:30pm
DD: Pirates score first in this mano-a-mano Thursday night slugfest on national TV. The Hokies have regrouped well since losing their star running back in mid-August. Beamer ball bites the Pirates late, a reverse of last year.
Hokies 24-21 (6-3)
DS: Oh ye of little faith… we make up for lost time at home and create another signature win for Skip. This one has Frank scratchin’ his head.
ECU: 17-14 (7-2)
Week 10: ECU @ Tulsa (ESPN) 8:15pm
DD: Revenge is on Tulsa’s mind after the Pirates physically beat them up in the CUSA Championship game last year. Tulsa jumps out quickly, the Pirates respond and win another thriller over the Hurricane.
Pirates 35-31 (7-3)
DS: Chances are between slim and none that Tulsa throws as many absolutely awful passes as they did last year. And Slim just left town…
TU: 35-17 (7-3)
Week 11: UAB @ ECU (MASN/WITN) 3:30pm
DD: The Blazers are still trying to rebuild their program, but the Pirates don’t offer up any hammers or nails to help in the Blazer’s reconstruction. Once again, the Pirates hold another younger brother at arm&’s length all game.
Pirates 31-17 (8-3)
DS: UAB has a lot of athletes, but I’m not sure if they have a team. Unless we have like 10,000 injuries like we did last year, this game isn’t close. Scrubs galore.
ECU 52-30 (8-3)
Week 12: USM @ ECU 1pm (TV not yet announced)
DD: USM flat out owns ECU, especially in Greenville, and this one is for all the marbles. The Pirates score first and the crowd senses a victory which could later give ECU something no other team in the new CUSA has - its second consecutive CUSA crown. ECU fails to play 60 minutes of football and the Golden Eagles win a close one in Greenville, which also gives USM the CUSA-East title.
Golden Eagles 28-24 (8-4)
DS: I remember watching us lose to USM as a sophomore and college and saying “There’s no way we should lose to USM.” Turns out, I was 27 years ahead of my time. This is the game we’ll remember, and finally give our fans a little something to like about CUSA. Like back to back Championship berths…
ECU: 13-6 (9-3)
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Preseason Probabilities for the Pirates…
“Excuse me, may I have the attention the class?”
If you’ve ever taken statistics, throw every thing you have ever learned out the window. If you’ve never had the pleasure, then you’re in the right place.
My brand of Pirate statistics follows quixotic mathematical laws of my own choosing, but may still have some relevance to the real world of probability and standard deviation. What I’ve done (after dutifully and diligently studying all the pertinent team names and numbers) is rate the probability of the Pirates winning in each of their twelve regular season gridiron contests for the 2009 campaign.
Note that my probabilities do fall with a 25/75 standard deviation, which means that it would be rare for any given team to fall below a 25% probability or over a 75% chance. And there are no such things as 100 and zero, because as we all know, anything can happen once you step off the bus. And lastly (and mostly just for kicks) I’ve refused to have any ‘pushes’, meaning that I won’t pick any games at 50%, because somebody’s gotta’ win…
SAT/9.05 v. Appalachian State 12N
I was just a young whipper-snapper the last time these two old Southern Conference rivals met, but I’ve heard the tale of some good ole’ smashmouth football back in the day. ASU dominated the series early on (winning the first ten between 1932 and 1950 back when ECU had like six guys on campus), but by the end of the 29 game stint, the Pirates were winning regularly. The Mountaineers have never won at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
ECU Win Probability: 75%
SAT/9.12 @ West Virginia 3:30p
Even though Pirate QB Patrick Pinkney lit up the Mountaineers while the Pirate D was suffocating Pat White & Co. in last year’s 24-3 rave-up over West Virginia, it’s hard to remember the last time ECU won in Morgantown.
Oh that’s right, never. But like they say there’s a first time for everything.
ECU Win Probability: 51%
SAT/9.19 @UNC-Ch 12N
It’s hard for me to recall a more exciting finish than the game versus the heels a couple of years ago. Time running out, Pinkney completing first downs mere millimeters off the ground, that totally-over-the-top-insane crowd chanting “First Down Pirates!” and Ben Hartmans’ make-good kick that transformed him from goat to hero in a split second. I remember being asked who I thought would win before that game and all I could say was “It’s gonna’ be tight.”
But ‘tight’ doesn’t cut in Chapel Hill, where ECU has a long and not so proud history of losing close games. And of course, the time when East Carolina could hang their hat on a moral victory has long since passed.
ECU Win Probability: 49%
SAT/9.26 v. UCF 3:30p
The Pirates narrowly escaped the Golden Knights in Orlando last year, sneaking out a 13-10 win in overtime and taking their record versus UCF to 7-1. But at the time, the Bucs were mired in the midst of their mid-season, injury-driven funk. And still the Pirates managed to outperform the Knights in the most of major statistical categories. Besides, unless UCF QB Rob Calabrese turns into Joe Montana overnight, I’m thinking the domination continues.
ECU Win Probability: 70%
SAT/10.03 @ Marshall 12N
The Pirates’ Ben Hartman hooked up on four of five FG’s and ECU withstood a Herd stampede in the fourth quarter to win in overtime, but ECU is probably still smarting from their last visit to Huntington, a 26-7 beatdown where the Bucs just didn’t have any answers. ECU leads the series 7-3.
ECU Win Probability: 65%
SAT/10.10 @ SMU 8p
While June Jones may be the ‘answer’ for rebuilding the struggling Mustangs (1-11 in 2008) and finally regaining some sense of respectability to the once storied program, it was hard to see in 2008. Though only in his first year, the results were rather ‘Thompsonesue’. But what they do have is a solid returning QB in Bo Levi Mitchell (a Texan name if I’ve ever heard one). His 24 TD’s and over 2800 yards were asterisked by 23 picks, but he does seem to have what it takes.
He has the ball, and ECU takes it…
ECU Win Probability: 80%
SAT/10.17 v. Rice 3:30p
Fortune smiled on East Carolina as they prepared for their second rotation against the CUSA West. Rice won ten games in 2008, including wins over Southern Miss and Tulsa, but phenom QB Chase Clement has moved on, taking his 4,000 yards of offense with him. Last year, this game would’ve been trouble…
ECU Win Probability: 68%
TUE/10.27 @ Memphis 8p
Watch out fellow Pirates, for the proverbial ‘trap game.’ It’s (sort of) the week before the big hoedown against the Hokies, and it’s on the road against a team that’s tripped up the Pirates before.The Bucs have won only once at the crusty Liberty Bowl since 1998. Coach Tommy West, now in his ninth season has loaded the deck with talented JUCO’s and star receiver Carlos Singleton returns, all of which spells trouble to me.
ECU Win Probability: 44%
THU/11.05 v. Virginia Tech 7:30p
Skip Holtz & Co. have been able to systematically add exactly one incremental win to the total for each of the last three seasons (going 9-5 in 2008, 8-5 in 2007 and 7-6 in 2006). And there are those who would predict that ECU will win 10 games this year, based on that ‘year plus one’ algebra.
Those folks will have a hard time understanding how I could basically pick us to lose at Memphis and then give us a better than even chance of defeating the vaunted Hokies (ranked as high as #5 preseason). But in the immortal words of fake NASCAR legend Ricky Bobby, “That just happened.”
ECU Win Probability: 62%
SUN/11.15 @ Tulsa 8:15p
What’s Tulsa got this year? Trust me, you don’t wanna’ know. Coach Todd Graham is 21-7 as the man in the eye of The Golden Hurricane and the big Dust Devil whipped up nearly 8,000 yards of offense last year on their way to an 11 win season. And while it’s easy to recall the five pics that the Pirate ‘D’ racked up against Tulsa in the CUSA Championship game, it’s a little unnerving when you remember the final score. Though the Pirates eeked out a 27-24 win, you’d think that many turnovers would have led to a little separation. Plus, the whole Sunday Night thing weirds me out.
ECU Win Probability: 39%
SAT/11.21 v. UAB 3:30p
UAB is an enigma wrapped in a mystery. Why would anyone want to play football in the moldy, decrepit echo chamber that is Legion Field. They have no fans, no pub and no cred. Yet, it took the Pirates until the final two minutes to beat the Blazers in 2008 and the series overall is tied at four apiece. On the other hand, Holtz is 3-1 versus UAB, so things may be looking up.
ECU Win Probability: 70%
SAT/11.2 v. Southern Miss 1p
I personally don’t care if second year USM coach Larry Fedora has a ‘high-flying’ no look, no hands, no huddle offense or if Golden Eagle QB Austin Davis throws 200 hundred TD’s…. through game 11.
For game 12, it better be all about defense. For a season-ending grand finale against what amounts to our biggest rival, I want a slobber knocker. It’s our only hope to escape the grip of the Golden Talon.
ECU Winning Probability: 40%
SAT/12.05 Conference USA Championship Game TBA
According to the above probabilities, East Carolina should expect to have a solid season, going 8-4 and putting themselves in position to perhaps play in the CUSA Championship Game and most definitely a bowl of some description. But figuring what our team will do in the upcoming months is difficult enough, without adding on the calculus of what our opponents and our opponent’s opponents will do. So the Championship remains all TBA for now. Your assignment is to state your prediction in the space provided below, and we’ll leave it at that for now.
Just remember class that it’s the preseason, and while the probabilities may curb our enthusiasm, the possibilities are indeed endless…
Class dismissed.
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Pirate Football Prologue….
If there’s one thing a long hot summer in Greenville leads to, it’s football.
You get occasional reminders (not that you need them) on ecupirates.com. They have a countdown clock that reads things like 42 days, 12 hours, 18 minutes; 30 days, 0 hours, 55 minutes; 1 day, 7 hours, 12 minutes, etc… until you stop paying attention to the clock and start loading up the truck.
Along the way other reminders make their way into your life. Unavoidable and unyielding, the parking pass arrives in the mail. The tickets (in my case a veritable suitcase full of tickets) arrive in the mail. The ads in the paper are purple, more times than not.
When my favorite season begins, I usually cringe because apparently I have a supplemental internal clock that marks the inexorable march to the end of my favorite season to the beginning of my other favorite season, with or without the help the internet clock.
I don’t suppose it’s any surprise to anyone who regularly reads this column that I have been a season ticket holder for Pirate football games for as long as I can remember. Well, not exactly as long as I can remember, because I remember things like kindergarten, my first kiss and the time I threw up on Catherine Conway at Blimpies in High School, but for a long time anyways. I figure that I have been a season ticket holder for at least 20 years or so, but I don’t exactly recall when I first started paying for tickets. And for that same exact period of undisclosed time, I haven’t missed a home game at the ‘Fick.
If you notice I qualified my claim with ‘at the ‘Fick’ which is perhaps a necessary distinction. If I recall correctly, there was a game that was considered a ‘home’ game, but was played in Charlotte, NC. The year was 2004 and the opponent was some ACC team, but I did not attend.
I was living in Edenton at the time, and my family was visiting for the weekend. While I suppose that I could’ve invited my family to come down the “South’s Prettiest Little Town” any old time, I allowed this scheduling conflict to occur, at least subconsciously, because I had no intention of going to the game. For the first time since I was graduated from our Dear Ole’ Alma Mater, I had virtually no interest.
That was mostly because our team, Heaven help ‘em, was not very good. I don’t have any doubts that we had capable players in terms of size, speed and athleticism (athleticism is the new five syllable rough equivalent of ‘fitness’), and I know better than to question any football team’s heart, because (I would assume) that even the worst team to ever play the game has more will, more guts and more heart than I could ever hope to have. For anything.
So while Mom and Sisters and assorted and various kinfolk paid their respects to the Chowan County Fair, Dad and I marinated a half-fridge full of steaks, peering only occasionally at the kitchen TV. The game was as abysmal as I had anticipated. I naturally rationalized all that game away because it wasn’t really a home game, and one could argue that it wasn’t even a game, just a collection of people in purple who had lost the will to win. But the dinner was tasty.
So in spite of the rationalizations and the perhaps almost imperfect attendance record, and despite the reminders, the mailings, the internet clock and my useless and superfluous internal football-season clock, the first football game of the year hits me like a hot brick in the back of the head. When the Pirates run out onto the field for the first time, it’s hard for me to realize that I’m actually there or to deal with the notion that this much time has passed since the last time I dealt with those same uncanny feelings - so fast.
Without consulting my trusty media guides and doing what I consider to be unnecessary math, I reckon I’ve been to a hundred straight ‘home’ ECU football games, more or less. In those roughly 300 hours of quality entertainment, I’ve transformed myself from obnoxious young punk to philosophical ex-punk and witnessed feats, both and off the field, that alternately stagger the mind and turn the stomach. I’ve sweated, frozen, cheered, jeered and occasionally thrown in the towel.
During this time, I’ve followed the Pirates across the USA as well, from Miami to Seattle. I don’t dare claim to set any marks in this regard, because I know there are many more venerable Pirates that have racked up more flyer-miles than I have. But by my count, I’ve seen the Pirates play in ten uniquely American states.
Throughout most all of that time, I’ve had my Pirate mates, sixteen of them, that have graciously agreed either through pity or convenience, to hang out with me and mine through all those years. We lost one along the way, God rest his soul. It seems more so each year, that they are a big reason for coming back. We’ve got a heck of a roll going on, and Lord willing and the Tar River don’t rise, we’ll keep up for a long time to come.
I guess the point of all this inane rambling and Piratical chest-beating is that yes, I am a Pirate. Maybe not for all the same reasons that I used to be. Definitely older, not necessarily wiser.
I wrote my first published column on Pirate football in 1991 and as a nascent prognosticator did pretty well for myself. But like a first-time gambler who wins big on his first night at the craps table and spends the rest of his life in a painful, cash-zapping series of attempts to regain his former glory, I don’t know if I’ll ever pick that many winners again.
But I will roll the dice just one more time, again.
The clock on the internet wall says 30 days, 11 hours and 28 minutes ‘til kickoff. Over that assuredly short period of time I’ll try, as best I can, to savant my way to picking the winners for this year’s Pirate football squad. And while it’s easy to predict that Skip & Co. will field a solid football team (that much does seem a given), I’ve learned the hard way that it’s midseason variables that can kill any soothsayer’s street cred.
In the meantime, my good web-friend Den Dickerson has whipped up enough statistical batter (see below) to fry up this year’s batch of Pirates up any way you like.
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... read the full comment by БaйaчaБeбe | Comment on Game 31: UNC-CH 3 - ECU 1 Read Game 31: UNC-CH 3 - ECU 1
I am sure that Bono will feel right at home up there among all those bleeding heart liberals.
... read the full comment by Chalres | Comment on Non-ECU: U2 asked to perform outside Keenan... Read Non-ECU: U2 asked to perform outside Keenan...
I love how an ECU blog has nothing better to talk about than the Tarheels. Check which direction your ship is sailing :)
... read the full comment by Tarheel | Comment on Non-ECU: U2 asked to perform outside Keenan... Read Non-ECU: U2 asked to perform outside Keenan...
Having an ECU, a Boise State, TCU, and / or etc play in the National Championship game will open up a lot of eyes. Boise State and TCU have a shot this year. Boise is already at #5, and more than likely they will be #2 at the end of the season.
... read the full comment by NCAA | Comment on Fixing the BCS in an afternoon... Read Fixing the BCS in an afternoon...