Spring Break
ECU continued to overcome a growing list of inactive players with an impressive regular season finale. With the Conference USA East Division title already in its possession, the Pirates jumped out to a 24-0 lead and never looked back in a dominant 53-21 win over UTEP on Friday.
When coach Mack McCarthy took the reigns of the ECU men's basketball program, wins over VCU and Winthrop were anything but a given. Just one season into his regime, McCarthy's team continues to prove things aren't what they used to be. After losing a closely contested battle last Saturday with George Mason, 77-71, the Pirates bounced back with victories over the Rams and the Eagles.
A week before the final standings are released, and the Bowl Championship Series is already ticking people off. Oklahoma - not Texas - is headed to the Big 12 championship game with an inside track to the national title game by moving ahead of the Longhorns in the BCS standings Sunday.
In the days before East Carolina's final home football game of the 2008 season, I couldn't help but feel like the crowd was not going to be impressive. Since, the showdown versus UTEP was scheduled for the Friday after Thanksgiving and the game was meaningless as far as conference standing, attendance would be down. I was wrong.