Dec. 15, 2008

CALLING ALL PIRATES...

The 2008 Pirate football team has done its job on the field and the Pirate Nation has done its job creating a great game day atmosphere in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. Our program stands in a position envied by most of our rivals from all conferences.

The matchup with an SEC program provides an opportunity for the 2008 Pirates to defeat teams from three different BCS Conferences in the same year as well as an opportunity to win 10 games in one season for only the second time in ECU football history.

The game with Kentucky is important on many fronts. The Wildcats have been regularly ranked in the Top 25 in football attendance and UK fans are considered some of the most loyal in the country.

Many of you remember that a key piece of the game plan to restore our football reputation was to show the football world how the Pirate Nation responded to bowl opportunities. Normally, the Pirate Nation has kicked butt in fan support at bowl games no matter where those games have been played.

The challenges for the Liberty Bowl are clearly substantial. We are competing against an SEC school located 423 miles from Memphis whereas the mileage from Greenville to Memphis is 837 miles. The economy certainly makes everyone think twice about traveling that far even though the price of gasoline has returned to normal.

This is just a reminder that this team and this program need all the support you can provide if we are going to continue our journey to compete against the best programs in the country. East Carolina had over 10,000 fans in Memphis in 1994 and 1995. A similar showing this year, in today's economy, would certainly send a strong message to all of college football. With that said, I encourage you to contact the ECU Ticket Office to purchase your tickets and we will see you in Memphis.

Thank you for all you have done to get us this far. Pirate Pride and Passion have been more important than any other single factor.

GO PIRATES!

Terry Holland