Category: East Carolina

ECU Athletics Director Terry Holland regarding the Virginia Tech game:

Think back to September 6, 2008 and the Pirates vs. No. 8 West Virginia.

That was the most electrifying game atmosphere I have personally witnessed in my 50 years in intercollegiate athletics. The Pirate Nation in the stands and the players on the field were in total sync the whole game. It was a truly magical environment that gave us all goosebumps. Every cheer was part and parcel to what was happening on the field at that point of the game. At no time did the crowd retreat to self-entertainment like “the wave”, which is fine at halftime, but when the ball is in play, the Pirate Nation’s focused support makes the difference for our team.

There are some similarities for the Thursday night game against Virginia Tech, although for different reasons. The parking lots will not be available until shortly before game time, so the focus will be on getting parked and getting into the stadium, and Pirate fans will be anticipating that something special will happen and will be ready to be a part of making it happen!

Pirate fans have come up with two initiatives for this game and the athletics department does its best to support fan initiatives out of respect for what the Pirate Nation means to our success. Therefore, athletics supports the fan initiative to have an official black shirt for this game as well as encouraging all Pirate fans to consider dressing as a Pirate for this game.

It is always proper and important to show our PURPLE and GOLD. Therefore, we encourage everyone on the South Side (behind the ECU bench) of the stadium to bring something GOLD and all on the North side (behind the VT bench) to bring something Purple to wave as the Pirate Nation welcomes a national television audience with a PURPLE/GOLD cheer that will rattle windows in the Triangle. Hats, towels, T-shirts, whatever you have to show the colors.

ECU Football is at its best when the Pirate Nation is focused on what is happening on the field because that is the one thing that is important to all of us. So dress like a Pirate, wear PURPLE, BLACK, GOLD or POLKA DOTS if it helps you get focused on the game … but don’t be distracted by what other good Pirates decide to wear.

And remember to treat our guests from Blacksburg as well as they treated us in Blacksburg in 2007. This has been a respectful rivalry that could develop into something special as evidenced by the game played in Charlotte last season and the camaraderie of both fan bases as they tailgated together.

As always, the best thing we can do as Pirate fans at any game is to treat visitors, visiting teams and other ECU fans with respect, while loudly and passionately cheering in support of our Pirates.

GO PIRATES!

TH

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Thank you TH for finally coming out against the wave!

Me, Kyle Holliday, and the serious members of the student pirate club thank you!

I don’t know about people wearing all sorts of colors to the game… but we will see.

Argh…

Awesome day yesterday. I did not think that last weekend could be topped. The energy and awesomeness in Charlotte was amazing, but yesterday took everything to a whole notha’ level! I am amazed at all the media coverage that we are getting… its pretty cool. Just check out the front page of espn.com’s college football tab.

Here is a pic from the game…

Thank you to all the people who came out to DC set up last night after the game!

Tonight I used my friend Alex’s guest meal at West End Dining Hall on ECU’s Campus. Free food is amazing to me… well… because I am a poor college student! While I was there I was offered a box of Aviv Passover Matzos to take home with me. I danced the Jewish Wedding Dance in celebration as I took my free box of Matzos. They are packed and baked in Benei-Brak Israel – so you know they gotta be good! Who knows why ECU is passing out free passover food… Anyway I soon found that this Kosher treat is only flour and water. So basically they are unsalted saltine crackers but very pure. So tonight I decided on a late night snack. The Maltzos are a little bland so I colleged it up by breaking out some marinara sauce. Marinara sauce plus Maltzons equals amazing. So tonight I celebrate passover in the Pirate Nation. Is it even Passover?

I did not realize how gullible I was…

I saw this commercial during the superbowl…

Sobe also has HUGE display set up in ECU’s Student Union.

Tonight I was in the student union and wanted something to drink. I have had over 5 gallons of Mellow Yellow today, so I was looking for something different. I saw the Sobe Life Water sitting there and it was in very nice packaging – so I thought I would give it a shot.

I bought the beverage, and took a sip of it. As soon as it hit my tongue I could tell that something was wrong. It tasted HORRIBLE! I thought maybe I could get used to the taste, but it just didn’t happen. I gave it to one of my friends and went back and got something a Gatorade.

Just goes to show you that you might have fantastic advertising but if the customer doesn’t have a positive experience once they finally buy in… then it defeats the purpose of advertising.

Tonight I got an early Christmas Present!

The Pirates beat #24 Boise State!

Here is the summery from ESPN.com –

HONOLULU (AP) — All Chris Johnson could think about after his record-setting night was how let his team down.

Johnson set an NCAA bowl record with 408 all-purpose yards, and Ben Hartman kicked a 34-yard field goal as time expired to give East Carolina a 41-38 victory over No. 24 Boise State in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl on Sunday night.

Johnson ran for 223 yards, caught three passes for 32 yards and returned six kickoffs for 153 yards. But he committed a costly fumble late that almost sent it to overtime. It was his first fumble of the season.

“I let my team down,” he said. “But when I got back to the sideline, they told me they had my back and they loved me.”

Johnson made up for it with his big night.

“It feels good to end my career like this. I wanted to come out here and show the country that I am the best back in the country,” he said.

Hartman’s kick gave the Pirates (8-5) their first postseason victory since the 2000 Galleryfurniture.com Bowl.

“I felt good going out there. I felt real confident,” Hartman said. “I just knew if I did my thing, it was going to go in.”

With East Carolina trying to run out the clock near midfield, Marty Tadman scooped up Johnson’s fumble and returned it 47 yards for a touchdown to tie it at 38 with 1:25 left.

The Pirates took possession at their 39 with 1:16 left and drove to the 17 to set up Hartman’s kick.

The Pirates stormed the field in celebration and chased after Hartman, who dashed toward the locker room.

Hartman said he took off because he was scared about get squashed underneath a pile of teammates.

The Broncos (10-3), making their sixth straight bowl appearance, almost repeated their last-minute magic from a year ago when they stunned Oklahoma in overtime in the Fiesta Bowl to finish 13-0.

But this time, it was the Broncos who fell a little short without any trick plays and an ailing Ian Johnson.

Johnson, who was nursing a sprained left ankle, carried the ball just once for 1 yard in the first quarter and finished with 11 yards on four carries.

It was Chris Johnson who stole the show.

He was selected the Most Valuable Player for the Pirates. Jeremy Avery, who rushed for 68 yards and caught four passes for 43 yards was Boise State’s MVP.

Taylor Tharp was 30-of-44 for 266 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions for Boise State.

“It was weird for us to start slow,” Tharp said. “I think it was a combination of not being ready to go and missed assignments.”

Patrick Pinkney threw for 117 yards and also rushed for 53 more for East Carolina.

The Pirates appeared to have the game in hand when they took a 38-14 lead early in the third quarter on Brandon Simmons’ 3-yard TD run. The Broncos, however, hung in and reeled off 24 straight points.

D.J. Harper’s 1-yard TD plunge cut East Carolina’s lead to 38-31 with 7:09 left.

Most of the crowd was headed out of the stadium after Titus Young fumbled the ball, setting up the Pirates at their 39 with 1:45 left.

But East Carolina’s star couldn’t hang on to the ball as he struggled to add a few more yards to his record, which was previously held by Alabama’s Sherman Williams 359 yards set against Ohio State in the 1995 Citrus Bowl.

“I was trying to run hard and get the first down,” he said. “I cut up field and I just didn’t put two hands on the ball. I had the first down and it just popped out.”

Johnson had 181 rushing yards in the first half alone, including a 68-yard TD run that put East Carolina ahead 10-7. He also caught a screen pass from Pinkney and went 18 yards for a score to make it 24-7.

Third-year Pirates coach Skip Holtz said he was proud of his players, especially Johnson.

“What rest of country saw is what we’ve been watching for three years,” he said. “I’m the president of the Chris Johnson fan club. I am his biggest fan. He is one of the hardest workers on this team. He’s humble. He works his tail off.”

Dominique Lindsay had a pair of 3-yard TD runs in the first half for East Carolina. His second touchdown gave the Pirates a 31-14 halftime lead.

The usually explosive Broncos looked rusty and unprepared in the first half. They went three-and-out on their first four possessions, followed by an interception, touchdown and fumble.

“That first half was very frustrating,” second-year Broncos coach Chris Petersen said. “You have to come through when the money is on the line. It is some hard lessons for us, but we will learn and get better.”

Boise State, a 10 1/2-point favorite, managed just 3 yards of offense in the first quarter while East Carolina racked up 181 behind Johnson’s 106 rushing yards.

The Broncos’ lone highlight in the first quarter was Austin Smith’s 89-yard kickoff return for a TD. In the second quarter, Ryan Putnam caught a 3-yard pass from Tharp to cut East Carolina’s lead to 10.

Boise State was without its top receiver, Jeremy Childs, who didn’t make the trip for violating team rules.

Big surprise! No its not on ESPN about the Pirate going to Hawaii!

Last night on The Late Late Show with Craig Furgusun ECU was well… mention. With the writers strike still going strong… the late late show dipped into the vaults and brought out a Christmas show from two years ago. This show followed App State’s first national championship (division II may I add). Craig had a guy on by the name of Brain Stokes. He was like a third string player, but he did a lot on special teams. The reason they had him on is because he was playing football for App after joining the Marine Core and serving two tours in Iraq.

Now how ECU gets involved in this…

While explaining why he was so old and still playing he talked about why he joined the marines. Basically he said that he spent his first year of college at “ECU” but the partying and drinking made him flunk out. He joined the marines to get his life back together after ECU. Then he decided to try football again at App after serving the Marine Core for two Iraq Tours.

Great Job ECU! I’m just glad he didn’t say East Carolina… Maybe there is a chance when people see this on the west coast or australia they thought ECU was Edith Cowan University…

ECU will always be thought of as a party school… period. I don’t care if we make Playboy’s list or not.

Hey at least we made #9 on Trojan’s Sexual Health Report Card!

1 Big 10 University of Minnesota 3.91
2 Mountain West University of Wyoming 3.91
3 PAC 10 University of Washington 3.73
4 Big East Rutgers University 3.68
5 Big 10 Purdue University 3.64
6 SEC University of South Carolina 3.64
7 MAC Western Michigan University 3.64
8 Big 12 University of Nebraska 3.64
9 C-USA East Carolina University 3.59
10 Ivy League Harvard University 3.55

ECU beats not only Duke (#24) and Carolina (#102 – Anybody heard the legend of silent sam?)… We beat Harvard!

Go Pirates…