In only their second year of competition (last year the team went 9-1), the ECU men’s ice hockey team sits in first place in the Blue Ridge Hockey Conference Southwest division and are on pace to not only win the league championship, but might even go to nationals.

Head Coach Wayne Cox thought the first half of the season was a success and that the team is in control of its own destiny.

“The first half of the season was a success,” said Cox. “The only thing we can really control is our own future in respect to winning hockey games. We are 9-0 in the Blue Ridge. The initial goal is to win the Blue Ridge. From there is to get to nationals and compete well in nationals.”

Cox also thought the Pirates’ success in the first half of the season set the team up for great things in the second half, even though he admits that there are still some tough games ahead.

“If you look upon our season as like playing a golf hole, what we have done over the first half of the season, basically, is to put the tee shot 300 yards down the middle,” Cox said. “We have 150 yards in but we still got a couple of traps around us. But we’re in pretty darn good position right now.”

The first half of the season wasn’t without a low moment, however. The Pirates dropped a 5-4 decision to Loyola College in which junior forward Corey Fleitz thought they should have won.

“We’re 9-1. We had a tough loss against a team we should have beat [Loyola]. Other than that, we had a great first semester” said Fleitz, who had five goals and eight assists in first semester play.

As far as statistics are concerned, the Pirates were very dominating, tallying 18 points in BRHC action. The team scored 80 goals, while only allowing 31. Freshmen Kyle Johnson tallied eight goals and five assists over the 10 games played. Freshmen Dan Duda and Mitchell Sears, scored six goals to go along with an outstanding 11 assists each. Brent Flacon, the team president as well as the main goalie, totaled 222 saves to go along with only 28 goals aloud on 250 shot attempts.

Assistant coach Todd Carter didn’t think the team needed to change a thing in the second half of season. He thought they should continue playing in the exact same fashion.

“You certainly don’t have to reinvent the wheel,” said Carter. “If we were 3-7, we would certainly have to change something, but right now, like Coach Cox said, we just keep building on our successes and grow from there.”

Coach Cox agreed with Carter, but he would like to see the freshmen play to their own level.

“If there is one thing that I would like to see changed, and it’s very minor, is that we have a lot of freshman that contribute significantly to the team,” said Cox. “I’d like to see the freshmen play to their own level and not necessarily to the level of competition we are playing against. If this team plays at the level they are capable of playing, we shouldn’t lose hockey games. If we play at 85 percent of our capacity, we would beat teams in the top two or three in the South easily. We have that kind of talent.”

Even with all the success the Pirates have had in only their first two years, team president and goalie Brent Falcon admitted that he did not envision success this fast.

“Going into our first season we were excited just to have a team, and by our estimation a much more talented team than we have ever anticipated for the first year,” said Falcon. “We were absolutely blown away when we had between 300-400 fans at every home game that year. We knew we would win games, but we had no idea that anyone would care about ice hockey in eastern North Carolina. The response the media, university and community showed was unimaginable. It feels great to know that we have created something that will be a part of ECU for years to come. It’s clear to us that an ice hockey team is something ECU and the Greenville community wanted and has embraced, and we will continue to do everything we can to put the highest caliber hockey team on the ice year in and year out,” Falcon said.

In a sign of just how big the hockey craze has become over the last two years here at ECU, Pirate Radio 1250 is doing a promotion in conjunction with the men’s basketball team calling for a “blackout.” UBE will be selling special black “Arrrrrgh!” T-shirts sponsored by Pirate Radio 1250 in hopes that those in attendance at both events will wear the shirts creating the “blackout.” Pirate Radio will also be broadcasting the six home hockey games this semester.

The Pirates return to action this weekend as they compete in the Canes Cup in Raleigh. They will be facing stiff competition against Duke, N.C. State and Virginia Tech in three straight days of action. The team returns to Bladez on Ice on Jan. 19 to play a huge two game divisional series with Appalachian State.

In only their second year of competition (last year the team went 9-1), the ECU men’s ice hockey team sits in first place in the Blue Ridge Hockey Conference Southwest division and are on pace to not only win the league championship, but might even go to nationals.

Head Coach Wayne Cox thought the first half of the season was a success and that the team is in control of its own destiny.

“The first half of the season was a success,” said Cox. “The only thing we can really control is our own future in respect to winning hockey games. We are 9-0 in the Blue Ridge. The initial goal is to win the Blue Ridge. From there is to get to nationals and compete well in nationals.”

Cox also thought the Pirates’ success in the first half of the season set the team up for great things in the second half, even though he admits that there are still some tough games ahead.

“If you look upon our season as like playing a golf hole, what we have done over the first half of the season, basically, is to put the tee shot 300 yards down the middle,” Cox said. “We have 150 yards in but we still got a couple of traps around us. But we’re in pretty darn good position right now.”

The first half of the season wasn’t without a low moment, however. The Pirates dropped a 5-4 decision to Loyola College in which junior forward Corey Fleitz thought they should have won.

“We’re 9-1. We had a tough loss against a team we should have beat [Loyola]. Other than that, we had a great first semester” said Fleitz, who had five goals and eight assists in first semester play.

As far as statistics are concerned, the Pirates were very dominating, tallying 18 points in BRHC action. The team scored 80 goals, while only allowing 31. Freshmen Kyle Johnson tallied eight goals and five assists over the 10 games played. Freshmen Dan Duda and Mitchell Sears, scored six goals to go along with an outstanding 11 assists each. Brent Flacon, the team president as well as the main goalie, totaled 222 saves to go along with only 28 goals aloud on 250 shot attempts.

Assistant coach Todd Carter didn’t think the team needed to change a thing in the second half of season. He thought they should continue playing in the exact same fashion.

“You certainly don’t have to reinvent the wheel,” said Carter. “If we were 3-7, we would certainly have to change something, but right now, like Coach Cox said, we just keep building on our successes and grow from there.”

Coach Cox agreed with Carter, but he would like to see the freshmen play to their own level.

“If there is one thing that I would like to see changed, and it’s very minor, is that we have a lot of freshman that contribute significantly to the team,” said Cox. “I’d like to see the freshmen play to their own level and not necessarily to the level of competition we are playing against. If this team plays at the level they are capable of playing, we shouldn’t lose hockey games. If we play at 85 percent of our capacity, we would beat teams in the top two or three in the South easily. We have that kind of talent.”

Even with all the success the Pirates have had in only their first two years, team president and goalie Brent Falcon admitted that he did not envision success this fast.

“Going into our first season we were excited just to have a team, and by our estimation a much more talented team than we have ever anticipated for the first year,” said Falcon. “We were absolutely blown away when we had between 300-400 fans at every home game that year. We knew we would win games, but we had no idea that anyone would care about ice hockey in eastern North Carolina. The response the media, university and community showed was unimaginable. It feels great to know that we have created something that will be a part of ECU for years to come. It’s clear to us that an ice hockey team is something ECU and the Greenville community wanted and has embraced, and we will continue to do everything we can to put the highest caliber hockey team on the ice year in and year out,” Falcon said.

In a sign of just how big the hockey craze has become over the last two years here at ECU, Pirate Radio 1250 is doing a promotion in conjunction with the men’s basketball team calling for a “blackout.” UBE will be selling special black “Arrrrrgh!” T-shirts sponsored by Pirate Radio 1250 in hopes that those in attendance at both events will wear the shirts creating the “blackout.” Pirate Radio will also be broadcasting the six home hockey games this semester.

The Pirates return to action this weekend as they compete in the Canes Cup in Raleigh. They will be facing stiff competition against Duke, N.C. State and Virginia Tech in three straight days of action. The team returns to Bladez on Ice on Jan. 19 to play a huge two game divisional series with Appalachian State.

John Bunting entered the 2006 football season proclaiming his team “the new blue” and also that his team would be competitive in every game . It didn’t take long for fans and analysts to realize that UNC was down right terrible, and that maybe “the new blue” held another meaning.

UNC hasn’t been this bad in football in a long, long time. Even back in Bunting’s second and third seasons, things weren’t this bad for the Heels. Under Buntings helm, Carolina has gone 25-45 with two games left to play.

On the flip side, NC State is 3-7. The Wolfpack have lost five straight since starting the season 3-2.

With Bunting already fired, and Amato’s seat getting hotter and hotter after every game, there is a lot to play for in this battle of bitter rivals.

Bunting would like to go out on a high note, and what’s a better way to do so that to beat the team you hate the most?

Amato is trying to beat UNC for the first time in two years, and to also cool down the Wolfpack fans that are calling for his head in Raleigh.

For the team’s to be successful, quarterback play is the key. NC State quarterback Daniel Evans has thrown for six touchdowns and eight interceptions. The quarterback that Evans took over for, Marcus Stone, threw four touchdowns and four interceptions in the first few games he was starter.

Who would have thought that UNC’s quarterback stats would make State’s look like national championship contending numbers. Cam Sexton has thrown only four touchdown passes and eight interceptions. Not to outdo that however, recent starter Joe Dailey has thrown for five touchdowns and nine interceptions.

The game rides on the arms of the quarterbacks, and also on the playmaking ability of the receivers on both sides

UNC wide receiver Jesse Holley spoke about the circumstances surrounding this bitter match up.

“The bottom line: they don’t like us, we don’t like them,” Jesse Holley said. “We’re going to go out there and play football to win our last home game – for our seniors, that’s our last home game, that’s Coach Bunting’s last home game. It’s a game that we want to win. You don’t want to lose to State. Despite whatever the circumstances are, you just don’t want to lose to State.”

NC State coach Chuck Amato toned it down a little and said the following about this weekend’s game.

“It’s an ACC game against a team that’s a rival and we all want to win it,” Amato said. “We do, they do, our fans do and their fans do.”

When these two teams meet it’s always worth watching no matter the records involved. In what should be a highly emotional game for UNC on Saturday, look for a defensive battle in which a touchdown or two could mean victory.

After coming off an emotional and down right huge win againt Marshall to become bowl eligible for the first time in five years’, the Pirates of East Carolina(6-4) return to action on Saturday to play Rice(5-5) in Texas.

Many thought coming into the season that this would be an easy win for ECU, but alot is riding on the line for both teams.

Rice enters the game searching for one more win to become bowl eligble. The Owls took a huge step towards bowl eligibilty last week when they pulled an unthinkable upset of Tulsa in overtime.

Rice is lead by quaterback Chase Clement who has completed 136 pass attempts on the season for 1525 yards and 20 touchdowns and only four interceptions. Clement is not only a great passer, he is a great rusher as well. Clement has carried the ball 100 times for 455 yards and four touchdowns.

Clement will look to utilize his best play maker in wide receiver Jarett Dillard. Dillard has 71 receptions for 958 yards and 16 touchdowns on the year.

ECU Head Coach Skip Holtz had the following to say about Dillard in his weekly press conference.

“He is powerful, elusive and he runs extremely hard said Holtz. He is very hard to tackle. He has got an awful lot of talent. I have really been impressed with every time he gets the ball. He is running with a great attitude right now.”

With bowl eligibilty already obtained, ECU is looking to compete for a C-USA championship. A win on Saturday would cement ECU the C-USA east title, as well as a berth in the championship game. Who would have thought at the beginning of the season, or even a month ago, that this game would have major impacts on the C-USA race?

Coach Holtz had the following to say about the approach to playing Rice.

“It is what we say going into every game said the second year coach. We need to stop them on defense and we have to be able to score on offense, but then you get into the flow of the game and you make a determination on how you are going to play it. Right now it is too early to say what approach we are going to take or how we are going to do it.”

Scoring on Rice could be diffcult. Their defense has really stepped up of late. Holtz also commented on Rice’s stellar defense.

“They are very aggressive said Holtz. They are second in the league in sacks. They are really doing a lot of great things to create pressure. They are not just sitting back and reacting they are the ones that are turning and they are trying to take the fight to the offense. Their linebackers are very active and very athletic. They are not dropping them into pass coverage they’re locking up man coverage on the back. They are trying to get in your Quarterback’s face and create sacks. They take a very aggressive approach and changing the field with the number of turnovers they have.”

For either team to win, they are going to have to score points. This game is looking to be a classic. If ECU is going to come out victorious, then James Pinkney will have to bring his “A” game.

1. The Colts are 9-0 after beating Buffalo 17-16. They become the first team in NFL history to start back to back seasons 9-0. Who would have thought they would be this good after losing key defensive players, as well as arguably a top 5 back in Edgerrin James? 10-0 will likely be hard to get to playing the Eagles this week.
2. The Carolina Panthers won on Monday Night Football defeating the Tampa Bay Bucaneers 24-10. It was anything but an easy win for the Panthers who were down 7-0 at half. They sit at 5-4 and must get the running game going to have shot at playoffs. (cue the Jim Mora playoff soundbite if they lose next week)
3. It seems like only a short while ago that the Bengals were just a horrible franchise. Then comes in Marvin Lewis and the team builds up respectability and makes the playoffs last year. This week they lose a 49-41 shootout to the Chargers, but get this, they were up 28-7 at half. They sit at 4-5 and a long shot at making the playoff’s.
4. The Miami Dolphins have become the giant killers. Not to call the Kansas City a giant in the NFL, but they do have a winning record. The Dolphins down the Cheifs 13-10, and put Chiefs at 5-4.
5. For my last reflection, I have to go with the Chicago Bears. They anwsered the loss to the Dolphins perfectly by defeating the Giants 38-20. Rex Grossman threw 3 td’s and 1 int after coming off a down right horrible game last week.

Butch Davis is the next head coach at UNC. One would think that both Ted Roof and Chuck Amato are both on the hot seat. Not so fast,however. According to NC State Athletic Director Lee Fowler, Amato is safe no matter what happens the rest of the seasom.

In my opinion, this is a major smokescreen. If State were to lose to a UNC team who has played well of late (or as well as a 1-9 team can play), State would be 3-8. State would then play ECU at home to wrap up a very,very subpar season.

Imagine if you will, that State lost both of these games. The NC State fan base would be ready to run Amato out of Raleigh. If they were to lose to both UNC and ECU, that means they would have lost to Wake Forest, UNC, and ECU.

Hmmm doesn’t sound so pleasant now if your Lee Fowler or a State fan now does it. It’s my opinion that Chuck Amato will not be back at season’s end.

As for Duke, the situation is not that bad. It’s not bad in the sense that does anyone care about Duke football anymore? I didn’t think so.

If Ted Roof were to resign or be fired from what can be termed “college football hell”, who would they hire. It would not be a smart move to fire Roof. After the number of coaches that have come to Duke and failed, one has to think it’s the players and not the coaches.

What could Roof have done with the talent at State or UNC this year? I believe he would have gave them a couple more wins apiece. It’s not his fault that Duke is so poor in football.

It’s in Duke’s best interest that they keep Ted Roof around or they are in danger of slipping into the (gasp!) Temple level of football hell.

In what has to be the biggest news for UNC football in quite some time, Butch Davis has been named head coach for the Tar Heels. Davis will immediately take over the recently fired John Bunting after the season’s end at Duke.

Davis was 51-20 as the Miami Hurricanes’ coach from 1995-00, then took over as the Cleveland Browns’ coach in 2001 and went 24-35. He resigned in 2004 from the Browns and worked the past two seasons in broadcasting for the NFL network.

The move brings instant credability to a awful UNC team that ranks among the worst in the nation in offense and defense.

The hire was announced at 4 p.m. and Davis released the following statement.

“The timing of my decision to consider coaching opportunities, and the opening at UNC seemed to intersect perfectly,” Davis said. “Dick Baddour made my introduction to Carolina happen in a well-planned, well-organized manner and did an outstanding job of presenting the virtues of UNC — its people, its strong commitment to both academics and athletics, as well as the exciting, active part it plays in the community. Obviously, he succeeded.”

Dick Baddour, the highly controversial athletic director of the Tar Heels commented on his excitement following the hire.

“Butch Davis became our first choice early in the process, although we did not know of his interest in us,” Baddour said. “We were excited to learn of his interest in Carolina and our football program and proceeded from that point. He’s a first-class individual who is committed to preparing his student-athletes for success in all aspects of their lives.”