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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
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Sports

Wednesday, December 27, 2000

Tech's fans in cold storage before bowl

 HOUSTON, Dec. 27, 2000 (AP) - Promoters of the galleryfurniture.com Bowl have done their best to make a success of the first bowl game played in the Astrodome since 1987.

Now it's up to Texas Tech and East Carolina to put on a good show and the fans to show up to see Wednesday night's game.

"If we do a good job marketing this, we should have between 30,000 and 40,000 people at the game," sponsor Jim McIngvale said. "I think 40,000 would exceed my wildest expectations."

That might be a stretch since icy weather threatened to sock in Tech fans from West Texas and East Carolina fans purchased only about 3,000 tickets, well below expectations.

Early on, there were misunderstandings over the progress of ticket sales. Promoter Jerry Ippolito said in early December that 28,000 tickets had been sold. In reality, only 4,200 tickets had been sold at that point.

Despite the early overstating, McIngvale expects a good first year after giving away 250,000 memorabilia items and heavy advertising to promote the game.

"Houston is a football town," McIngvale said. "We have been without the NFL for several years now, and it's coming back. The college bowl game is coming back."

Texas Tech (7-5), the No. 7 from the Big 12, and East Carolina (7-4), Conference-USA's No. 3 team, have their energies focused on the field.

Both teams offer potentially high-scoring offenses with Tech led by quarterback Kliff Kingsbury and East Carolina's more balanced offense, led by junior quarterback David Garrard.

"We have to step up and play like it's our last game," Garrard said. "It is the last game of the season but we've got to play like it's the last game you'll play in your life.

"We are kind of known as a slow-starting offense but we can't do that in this game. Once you put yourself in a hole it's hard to come out of it. We've had that happen to us this year."

Garrard completed 164 of 312 passes for 2,332 yards and 19 touchdowns this season and ranked 32nd nationally in passing efficiency. He was East Carolina's second leading rusher with 358 yards.

"The main thing we have to do is swarm to the ball and gang tackle him, don't let him get loose," Tech defensive tackler Kris Kocurek said. "We can't give him time in the pocket to set up and throw the ball. We have to get heat on him and make him throw the ball quick."

Rec hoops skills class deadline Friday

PECOS, Dec. 27, 2000 -- Friday is the final day for boys and girls to register for the Reeves County Community Sports and Recreation Department's youth fundamentals classes, before the start of the winter youth basketball league.

The RCCRC will be enrolling boys and girls for the winter Pee Wee Basketball league until Jan. 5, but those wanting to have their children participate in the pre-season fundamentals program have to sign up at the RCCRC office in the old Pecos High School gym by Friday.

The program is open to all boys and girls between the ages of 5 and 12. A birth certificate and signature from both parents is needed at the time of registration, along with the $10 entry fee per player.

Registrations can be done at the RCCRD between 5 and 10 p.m. today through Friday for both programs, and through Jan. 5 for the Pee Wee league only. For further information, call 447-9776.



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Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
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