classic rewind

The weekly Classic Rewind is part of the fan engagement ECU Athletics is maintaining during the COVID-19 pandemic (ECUPirates).

It has been nearly a month since spring break was set to end for East Carolina University students, faculty and staff. Since most students packed their belongings and left campus, a lot of tragic events have transpired in the United States and around the world stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.

What was a relatively small outbreak in mid-March has blossomed to over 500,000 cases in the U.S. and nearly two million world-wide. Close to 120,000 people have died from the virus, with 23,000 succumbing to their symptoms in America alone.

In a bit of good news, the curve seems to be flattening thanks, in part, to social distancing measures that have kept people in isolation for the better part of 30 days.

On a smaller scale, collegiate athletics departments around the country are learning how to operate without sports. At the outset, the NCAA canceled spring championships, a decision that was quickly followed by conferences across the nation suspending and later canceling all competition.

For ECU, that meant no conclusion to a promising 13-4 start from the baseball team, and knocked sports like golf, lacrosse and softball out of full seasons. While student-athletes will be given an extra year of eligibility by the Division I Council, athletic departments were still left with sports-hungry fans and no live content to give them.

With a captive audience, however, ECU’s athletic team has been rolling out new programs and activities across its social media platforms.

“This is a time when there are no sports going on and people have some time on their hands,” ECU Athletics Director Jon Gilbert said. “I want to make sure we continue to engage with them to make sure the Pirates stay at the forefront of their thoughts.”

Unable to visit Clark-LeClair Stadium to watch the Pirates in person, fans can watch virtual matchups between the ECU baseball team and its would-be opponents on Twitter, complete with real-life play-by-play from Corey Gloor.

Decades old football games are now available to stream and include some of the Pirates’ biggest victories in years past while Gilbert himself hosts a podcast-like show called “Social Distancing.”

“It is a collaborative effort,” Gilbert said. “I would tell you our entire external team plays a part. Certainly we’ve got creative folks but I would tell you, given this time, our technical people are probably the MVP’s right now. Making sure that we all are connected and set up.”

Needing a team of technical staff to keep virtual meetings running smoothly, ECU’s athletic department leans heavily on its creative minds to produce engaging content. In the last month, fans have seen a slew of graphics on the department’s Twitter page with links to fun activities like Pirate Bingo or activity sheets for the younger members of Pirate Nation.

Right now, fans can vote for their favorite ECU baseball team of all-time in the “Best Team Of All-Time Challenge.” A 32-team bracket that includes squads from years like 1961, 2001 and 2019, the 2015, 2002 and 1999 teams have already been voted through the first round in a Twitter poll.

In what are uncharted waters for all, the content being rolled out by ECU is providing fans a lifeline of entertainment. With all spring sports canceled, the next athletic Pirate athletic event on the schedule is a season-opening football game against Marshall on Aug. 29.

At that point, the hope is things will be as close to back to normal as possible in time for students and staff to return to campus and fans to return to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in the fall.

“Well the biggest thing I’m looking forward to is getting back to normal and having faculty, staff and students on campus,” Gilbert said. “I love what I do and I get energized by our students and our student-athletes and I’m just looking forward to having everyone back on campus.”

(1) comment

PDennis14

ECU Athletics continued to engage and interact with fans through its social media outlets during recent influenza/pandemic scare in Eastern North Carolina, despite being forced to cancel a basketball game and eliminate several ticket options for an eight-game football package. Need to visit here rv extended warranty companies and get more new tips about warranty plans. One week into the 2010 season, Eastern Carolina University Athletics was faced with a serious situation as a state-wide influenza outbreak led to the cancellation of three football games.

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