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Notes, Quotes and Slants
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Pirate
Notebook No. 244
Monday, June 13, 2005
By Denny O'Brien |
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Fans must take ownership in
turnaround
©2005 Bonesville.net
So, what was your reaction to the news that
N.C. State was adding Appalachian as its 12th game for the 2006 season?
Did you immediately fire an angry e-mail to
your state senator requesting an explanation for the hypocritical approach
"Moo U" is taking towards scheduling in-state, non-conference opponents?
Or, maybe you surfed over to your favorite
Internet message board or personal homepage and blogged a dissertation about
the cowardice of those villains from State College for padding their home
slate with another I-AA foe?
Not me. I gave Wolfpack athletics director
Lee Fowler a standing 'O' for penciling in a guaranteed victory for 2006,
while also guaranteeing another sellout.
Because in case you haven't noticed, that
happens a lot in West Raleigh these days. Regardless of the opponent, the
Wolfpack's record, or the day on which the game is played, the only tickets
that are obtained on game day at Carter-Finley Stadium are done so
illegally.
Take note East Carolina fans: The Red
menace has reached the next level. Maybe not on the field — the passion has
far exceeded the results at this stage — but definitely in the area that
gets the most attention of television and bowl executives.
From that angle, it's hard not to
acknowledge the progress State has made in its secondary sport. The Pack
likely could host Millbrook High and still send fans into the type of frenzy
in which they would spend the week leading up to the showdown preparing for
the "Game of the Century."
That's the area in which East Carolina
needs the most immediate success in football, especially at a time when its
administration could use major selling points to woo potential conference
suitors.
It's no secret the Pirates would welcome an
invitation to join the Big East. Since the inception of the Bowl
Championship Series, East Carolina's uphill climb has gotten even steeper,
with its biggest recruiting rivals reaping the benefits that come with
inclusion in college football's aristocracy.
Despite all the obstacles in ECU's path and
the ones it might face in the future, its constituency has always been the
glue that has kept its athletics mission on course. The problem is, the
group's visible purple core has shrunk considerably over the past three
years and needs to regain its old form if the Pirates are to achieve all of
their ambitious goals.
While there is no denying that new coach
Skip Holtz will shoulder a hefty load in this rebuilding effort, East
Carolina can't afford for fans to stay idle and wait for the ship to return
to its traditional course. If that's the approach, the opportunity to join
the Big East could pass the Pirates by before postseason bowls return to the
annual schedule.
Contrary to the strategy Big East
president's used in their first round of expansion, rest assured that any
future additions to the league will include programs with strong gridiron
histories that are supported by faithful fans. Of the three new football
members the Big East will baptize this fall, only Louisville meets that
description.
With some of the league's bowl affiliates
hesitant to renew agreements, East Carolina becomes a more attractive option
for future expansion if it can revive its fan support.
That doesn't mean the occasional game in
which the attendance tops 40,000. The last time I checked, Dowdy-Ficklen
Stadium seats 43,000, a number East Carolina has met or exceeded only thrice
since the facility last expanded before the 1999 season.
As for the explanation for East Carolina's
relatively modest attendance numbers of late, that is twofold: a poor
showing on the field and an unattractive lineup of opponents.
But neither is an excuse that washes by
major college standards. Case in point, South Carolina historically has
taken its share of lumps on the field, but that hasn't deterred its
passionate fans from filling the seats.
You honestly didn't think the Gamecocks
were extended an invitation to the Southeastern Conference because of their
history of dominant football success, did you?
If East Carolina ever needed its fans to
pull together and regenerate the passion that once existed on fall
Saturdays, that time is now. ECU is operating in an unstable climate, and it
shouldn't take some magical quota of wins by Holtz or a creative marketing
scheme to fill the stadium.
That's really the bottom line in this
simple scenario. If ECU wants to retain its niche as a football school, its
fans need to solve their part of the equation.
 Send an e-mail message to Denny O'Brien.
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02/23/2007 02:00:06 AM |
