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East Carolina’s return to
bowl competition wasn’t the most encouraging sign from the 2006 season.
The 41,000-plus who witnessed the Pirates pound Marshall was.
That importance of a
near-capacity crowd attending a late season match-up with a Conference
USA opponent can’t be overstated. Now the challenge is for that November
day to become the norm.
With ECU quickly
approaching a sellout of its
season ticket allotment, fans have little excuse for that development
not to become a long-time trend. And considering East Carolina’s desires
to eventually secure a
Big East football invitation,
the last thing it can afford is for Marshall to be an isolated event.
Because thus far that’s
been the case.
Traditionally, C-USA
contests have been a proven recipe for no-shows and unsold tickets. Even
when the Pirates faced reasonably high stakes, overwhelming interest
just wasn’t there for showdowns with conference opponents.
That was the case in 2001
when the Pirates faced nationally-ranked Louisville in what amounted to
the league championship game. Not even 40,000 attended
that ESPN Thursday night showdown,
a dramatic matchup that should have produced nothing short of a sellout.
And hold those gripes
about the burden weeknight games present to fans. An overflow crowd of
45,123 showed up
one year earlier against
Virginia Tech.
No doubt, one of East
Carolina’s strengths has always been its devoted throng of die-hards.
That group doesn’t miss a home game, is good for at least two road
trips, and would travel to Taiwan to see the Pirates in a bowl.
Weddings, funerals, and
family reunions are strategically scheduled around ECU football.
Last season that group was
joined by the most faithful student support the Pirates have experienced
to date. With the exception of ECU’s fall break match-up with Tulsa, the
student section provided the type of 12th-man effort that is commonly
associated with Texas A&M.
That’s not the issue.
What’s been sorely missing
over the last decade is the presence of fringe fans at games against
less-glamorous opponents. That group is quick to purchase tickets for
West Virginia, North Carolina, or N.C. State, and quick to choose
weekend golf holidays in lieu of attending ECU versus Tulane.
It’s a perplexing
scenario, really. Despite the steady rise in ECU’s alumni population
over the last decade, the committed fan base hasn’t made a parallel
increase.
If that were so, AD Terry
Holland would have already put the expansion plans for Dowdy-Ficklen
Stadium into full motion. That includes all architectural drawings,
fundraising, and the selection of a contractor.
But that isn’t the case.
Instead ECU’s football home rests in the same stagnant state it has been
since the completion of the club level prior to the 1999 season.
Meanwhile N.C. State has
made significant upgrades to Carter-Finley Stadium. Much of that can be
attributed to the Wolfpack faithful’s commitment regardless of the
opponent or the antics of State's former coach.
Care to guess how many
will attend Tom O’Brien’s debut against Central Florida? Or how about
two weeks later when the Pack hosts Wofford?
My money’s riding on a
sellout.
That should also be the
case at East Carolina, regardless of the opponent. Even if Campbell or
Coastal Carolina came to town, ideally the only available tickets on
gameday would be those obtained on the street.
For years, East Carolina
has been one of the torch bearers in C-USA for attendance. But at some
point its fans must raise the bar higher than measuring itself against a
league in which most programs command marginal interest.
If there isn’t a sense of
urgency within the constituency to fill Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium
this fall, there never will be.
With few chances remaining to impress the Big East, fans should view
every empty seat as a gigantic strike against ECU’s possible admission.
That won’t be an issue
when the Pirates host UNC-Chapel Hill or N.C. State. But will it against
Southern Miss, Central Florida, UAB, or Tulane?
Approaching sellouts for
those four opponents would reflect a trend in the right direction.
