Spring Break
Liberty Bowl Blog
Addison Harvey
Issue date: 12/4/08 Section: Sports
Staff writer Addison Harvey is on the road with the Pirates as they prepare to face Kentucky in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl on January 2nd.
12/30
Day 3 in Memphis:
After a 10-day break for Christmas break, ECU had four practices in three days this past weekend. After Sunday morning's practice, the team boarded the plane to head to Memphis, TN to take on the Kentucky Wildcats in the 50th AutoZone Liberty Bowl.
The Liberty Bowl is the biggest game the team has played in since their last appearance in the Liberty Bowl in 1995. The Pirates have made appearances in smaller bowl games such as the Galleryfurniture.com Bowl, GMAC Bowl, Sheraton Hawaii Bowl, Papajohns.com Bowl, and Mobile Alabama Bowl.
After settling in on Sunday afternoon, the players had a busy day scheduled Monday. AVIP tour of Graceland, the former home of Elvis Pressley, followed team meetings in the morning. Then they hit the practice field for the first time in Memphis. The Pirates are using the University of Memphis's practice facility, which pales in comparison to ECU's football facilities.
After practice, the team met for a meal at Jillian's and then had free time to do whatever they pleased. Some players and ECU faculty took the opportunity to attend the Memphis vs Cincinnati basketball game at FedEx Forum. I was one of the people that took this opportunity, and it was worth it. Both teams had a group of players there and some were mingling with each other.
The team has practice on Tuesday and Wednesday and finishes up preparation for the Liberty Bowl on Thursday.
The Liberty Bowl will be the first time in years that the Pirates have played in a bowl game with more than just a few years of experience. The Galleryfurniture.com Bowl and Mobile Alabama Bowl no longer exist, but the Pirates did take on good opponents in Texas Tech and TCU.
The GMAC bowl was one of the most exciting bowl games ever, even though the result didn't go the Pirates' way. The GMAC bowl has been around since 1999 and its highlight of its century of its existence was the 2001 ECU vs Marshall game.
The appearance in the Papajohns.com bowl was historic because of the awful stretch the Pirates were coming out of with John Thompson as their leader. The bowl game lacked history and prestige, since the Pirates played in the inaugural game versus South Florida.
Last year's game versus former BCS buster Boise State was a big win for the Pirates and it was their first bowl win since their 2000 win over Texas Tech. The bowl game has only been around since 2002.
The 2009 Liberty Bowl is not only historic since it's the 50th game, but it is the bowl game with the most history the Pirates have played in since 1995. The matchup versus Kentucky marks the first time the Pirates have played an SEC team this decade. Hopefully the Pirates can resist the temptations of Beale Street and focus on the task at hand: beating Kentucky.
This writer can be contacted at sports@theeastcarolinian.com.
12/30
Day 3 in Memphis:
After a 10-day break for Christmas break, ECU had four practices in three days this past weekend. After Sunday morning's practice, the team boarded the plane to head to Memphis, TN to take on the Kentucky Wildcats in the 50th AutoZone Liberty Bowl.
The Liberty Bowl is the biggest game the team has played in since their last appearance in the Liberty Bowl in 1995. The Pirates have made appearances in smaller bowl games such as the Galleryfurniture.com Bowl, GMAC Bowl, Sheraton Hawaii Bowl, Papajohns.com Bowl, and Mobile Alabama Bowl.
After settling in on Sunday afternoon, the players had a busy day scheduled Monday. AVIP tour of Graceland, the former home of Elvis Pressley, followed team meetings in the morning. Then they hit the practice field for the first time in Memphis. The Pirates are using the University of Memphis's practice facility, which pales in comparison to ECU's football facilities.
After practice, the team met for a meal at Jillian's and then had free time to do whatever they pleased. Some players and ECU faculty took the opportunity to attend the Memphis vs Cincinnati basketball game at FedEx Forum. I was one of the people that took this opportunity, and it was worth it. Both teams had a group of players there and some were mingling with each other.
The team has practice on Tuesday and Wednesday and finishes up preparation for the Liberty Bowl on Thursday.
The Liberty Bowl will be the first time in years that the Pirates have played in a bowl game with more than just a few years of experience. The Galleryfurniture.com Bowl and Mobile Alabama Bowl no longer exist, but the Pirates did take on good opponents in Texas Tech and TCU.
The GMAC bowl was one of the most exciting bowl games ever, even though the result didn't go the Pirates' way. The GMAC bowl has been around since 1999 and its highlight of its century of its existence was the 2001 ECU vs Marshall game.
The appearance in the Papajohns.com bowl was historic because of the awful stretch the Pirates were coming out of with John Thompson as their leader. The bowl game lacked history and prestige, since the Pirates played in the inaugural game versus South Florida.
Last year's game versus former BCS buster Boise State was a big win for the Pirates and it was their first bowl win since their 2000 win over Texas Tech. The bowl game has only been around since 2002.
The 2009 Liberty Bowl is not only historic since it's the 50th game, but it is the bowl game with the most history the Pirates have played in since 1995. The matchup versus Kentucky marks the first time the Pirates have played an SEC team this decade. Hopefully the Pirates can resist the temptations of Beale Street and focus on the task at hand: beating Kentucky.
This writer can be contacted at sports@theeastcarolinian.com.
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