Interesting remarks and while only one man's opinion I do think that it's clear that ECU's main issue is merely perception because when it comes down to substance there's a lot to like. Perception issues are much better than a substantive issues because "you can deny the lies but you can't deny the truth." - See An Honest Liar on Netflix right now (great documentary)

http://newsok.com/berry-tramel-emails-in...le/5432917

"East Carolina is the second-strongest fan base among mid-majors, trailing only Brigham Young. East Carolina’s only problem is the directional school designation. Like Central Florida. It just sounds less exalted. However, the 'East' Carolina is kind of cool. Eastern Carolina sounds hokey. East Carolina sounds almost like a new state....

East Carolina is growing on me. I think East Carolina's biggest problem is mostly perceptual. The Pirates aren't a big TV brand. I would advise East Carolina to keep on keeping on; I'm told that ECU’s stadium is expandable. Make it necessary to expand that stadium and fill it up. Start drawing 58,000 fans per game, and you can't be ignored. I don’t think the Big 12 wants to add a school with a direction in its name. But I don’t think the Big 12 wants to add a school that draws 30,000 fans on a good day....

Quality over quantity. That’s why I’m more and more getting dogmatic about what I said after the East Carolina email. Don’t ask the Big 12 to take you on faith. You have the faith, build up your program and make the Big 12 take you on substance....

Hey, I’m officially on the East Carolina bandwagon. Not that I endorse an invitation to the Big 12, but I endorse having the Pirates high on the watch list. Let’s see. If I would just rank the schools right now, regardless of travel partner or anything, I’d go 1. BYU; 2. Cincinnati; 3. Boise State; 4. UConn; 5. East Carolina; 6. Central Florida; 7. Houston; 8. Memphis. I would not want anyone else on the list."

ECU winning a big time bowl would do wonders for them IMO. Tv brand is the biggest hurdle they have as budget and fan turnout is as good or better than any other G5.

How about call it North Carolina Tech or just Carolina.

(07-10-2015 02:52 PM)Big Frog II Wrote:  How about call it North Carolina Tech or just Carolina.

one of the biggest things holding ECU back is the name. I wish it was simply "Carolina" to be honest. I realize that the schools with the states name in it only perceive a "direction" as bad. I was like that too. Growing up as an Iowa fan the idea of UNI (Northern Iowa) ever being in the same category as Iowa was simply unthinkable. Drake would've had a better chance in this perception is reality world. Its ironic to think I'd ever be a fan of a school in what makes up a "G5" but we have to root for our schools. P.S. I have no insider information, if I did, I wouldn't know this board existed and wouldn't even consider posting on it to screw with peoples heads. Cheers!

(07-10-2015 01:47 PM)Indiana Bones Wrote:  Interesting remarks and while only one man's opinion I do think that it's clear that ECU's main issue is merely perception because when it comes down to substance there's a lot to like. Perception issues are much better than a substantive issues because "you can deny the lies but you can't deny the truth." - See An Honest Liar on Netflix right now (great documentary)

http://newsok.com/berry-tramel-emails-in...le/5432917

"East Carolina is the second-strongest fan base among mid-majors, trailing only Brigham Young. East Carolina’s only problem is the directional school designation. Like Central Florida. It just sounds less exalted. However, the 'East' Carolina is kind of cool. Eastern Carolina sounds hokey. East Carolina sounds almost like a new state....

East Carolina is growing on me. I think East Carolina's biggest problem is mostly perceptual. The Pirates aren't a big TV brand. I would advise East Carolina to keep on keeping on; I'm told that ECU’s stadium is expandable. Make it necessary to expand that stadium and fill it up. Start drawing 58,000 fans per game, and you can't be ignored. I don’t think the Big 12 wants to add a school with a direction in its name. But I don’t think the Big 12 wants to add a school that draws 30,000 fans on a good day....

Quality over quantity. That’s why I’m more and more getting dogmatic about what I said after the East Carolina email. Don’t ask the Big 12 to take you on faith. You have the faith, build up your program and make the Big 12 take you on substance....

Hey, I’m officially on the East Carolina bandwagon. Not that I endorse an invitation to the Big 12, but I endorse having the Pirates high on the watch list. Let’s see. If I would just rank the schools right now, regardless of travel partner or anything, I’d go 1. BYU; 2. Cincinnati; 3. Boise State; 4. UConn; 5. East Carolina; 6. Central Florida; 7. Houston; 8. Memphis. I would not want anyone else on the list."

ECU has 4 big problems. They are all in the ACC.

Thankfully, Tramel isn't in charge of actually choosing expansion candidates or the B12 might be in even more trouble right now. His comment about Ohio State's "draw" in Cincinnati for a spring game is apples to oranges. While in the Big East, Cincinnati filled their own stadium for quality conference rivals such as Louisville and WVU and went downtown to Paul Brown Stadium to host Oklahoma with 55,000 attending.

Of course later on he comments that Cincy is his #2 choice from the candidate list...to BYU. So explain again how BYU helps with an eastern expansion the B12 commissioner and others have suggested is first priority?

ECU still being left out just shows me how crazy all this realignment stuff is. On the field, meh. Market, well they draw more than just their market area.

Look at the attendance they average every week with a G5 schedule. They'd put up 65k+ with a Big 12 schedule.

(07-10-2015 02:52 PM)Big Frog II Wrote:  How about call it North Carolina Tech or just Carolina.

Actually--putting them together sounds best--Carolina Tech.

(07-10-2015 04:11 PM)FlyHawk98 Wrote:  ECU still being left out just shows me how crazy all this realignment stuff is. On the field, meh. Market, well they draw more than just their market area.

Look at the attendance they average every week with a G5 schedule. They'd put up 65k+ with a Big 12 schedule.

Realignment certainly is mostly about football but it's not all about football. Look at how late they were even called up to the BE/AAC.

(07-10-2015 04:24 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(07-10-2015 02:52 PM)Big Frog II Wrote:  How about call it North Carolina Tech or just Carolina.

Actually--putting them together sounds best--Carolina Tech.

I agree. As much as fans from schools with directions in the name say the directional tag doesn't hurt them, clearly it is a part of the perception of those institutions. It makes them seem like mere regional draws in their own states not the national brands that the conferences are looking for. Carolina Tech or NC Tech, now that sounds like it could be a national school.

(07-10-2015 03:39 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(07-10-2015 01:47 PM)Indiana Bones Wrote:  Interesting remarks and while only one man's opinion I do think that it's clear that ECU's main issue is merely perception because when it comes down to substance there's a lot to like. Perception issues are much better than a substantive issues because "you can deny the lies but you can't deny the truth." - See An Honest Liar on Netflix right now (great documentary)

http://newsok.com/berry-tramel-emails-in...le/5432917

"East Carolina is the second-strongest fan base among mid-majors, trailing only Brigham Young. East Carolina’s only problem is the directional school designation. Like Central Florida. It just sounds less exalted. However, the 'East' Carolina is kind of cool. Eastern Carolina sounds hokey. East Carolina sounds almost like a new state....

East Carolina is growing on me. I think East Carolina's biggest problem is mostly perceptual. The Pirates aren't a big TV brand. I would advise East Carolina to keep on keeping on; I'm told that ECU’s stadium is expandable. Make it necessary to expand that stadium and fill it up. Start drawing 58,000 fans per game, and you can't be ignored. I don’t think the Big 12 wants to add a school with a direction in its name. But I don’t think the Big 12 wants to add a school that draws 30,000 fans on a good day....

Quality over quantity. That’s why I’m more and more getting dogmatic about what I said after the East Carolina email. Don’t ask the Big 12 to take you on faith. You have the faith, build up your program and make the Big 12 take you on substance....

Hey, I’m officially on the East Carolina bandwagon. Not that I endorse an invitation to the Big 12, but I endorse having the Pirates high on the watch list. Let’s see. If I would just rank the schools right now, regardless of travel partner or anything, I’d go 1. BYU; 2. Cincinnati; 3. Boise State; 4. UConn; 5. East Carolina; 6. Central Florida; 7. Houston; 8. Memphis. I would not want anyone else on the list."

ECU has 4 big problems. They are all in the ACC.

ECU has done a tremendous job with football over the past 40 years - but they compete against NC State, UNC, and Duke for football ticket sales in Eastern NC.

State/UNC/Duke have about 155K seats all together. ECU has 50K. How many can ECU draw from NC State, UNC, Duke, and soon to be ODU in their general area?

ASU and Charlotte contribute another 40K.

There are a lot of P-5 and G-5 seats for sale in North Carolina as compared to the total population. In addition to that you have the Carolina Panthers.

If you include the Panthers, there are a total of as many as 310,000K football seats for Pro/P-5/G-5 for sale any weekend in NC - that's one seat per every 32 people in the State.

I don't think ECU can get much larger given media technology changes, but they will maintain what they have and they will sell out for any home football game with an ACC/SEC/B12 opponent.

(07-10-2015 04:49 PM)HartfordHusky Wrote:  

(07-10-2015 04:24 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(07-10-2015 02:52 PM)Big Frog II Wrote:  How about call it North Carolina Tech or just Carolina.

Actually--putting them together sounds best--Carolina Tech.

I agree. As much as fans from schools with directions in the name say the directional tag doesn't hurt them, clearly it is a part of the perception of those institutions. It makes them seem like mere regional draws in their own states not the national brands that the conferences are looking for. Carolina Tech or NC Tech, now that sounds like it could be a national school.

The UCLA route is also closed. The UNC-G route is closed to ECU as their is a UNC-Greensboro. NC A&T also exists, and fundamentally ECU is not a STEM like NC State or UNC-Charlotte. Perhaps the Virginia Polytechnic and State University option would work - something very wordy that become an acronym, but I will tell you that will piss off a lot of ECU alums.

I've always respected ECU. Maybe not some of your fan base, but I digress. If the Big12 goes with 4 schools, I hope ECU is one of them. Honestly think ECU is more of an SEC type program, but you take what you can get.

Back when there was an actual chance of the big 12 expanding with two mid majors, I was on board with them grabbing up ECU and UCF for a nice spaced out footprint along the part of the East Coast that matters for football.

Too much time has passed though, any talk about expansion now is just talk. ECU being deserving though isn't news simply because Tramel is talking about them.

He is just attempting to add more confusion to the mix.

(07-10-2015 05:14 PM)lumberpack4 Wrote:  

(07-10-2015 04:49 PM)HartfordHusky Wrote:  

(07-10-2015 04:24 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(07-10-2015 02:52 PM)Big Frog II Wrote:  How about call it North Carolina Tech or just Carolina.

Actually--putting them together sounds best--Carolina Tech.

I agree. As much as fans from schools with directions in the name say the directional tag doesn't hurt them, clearly it is a part of the perception of those institutions. It makes them seem like mere regional draws in their own states not the national brands that the conferences are looking for. Carolina Tech or NC Tech, now that sounds like it could be a national school.

The UCLA route is also closed. The UNC-G route is closed to ECU as their is a UNC-Greensboro. NC A&T also exists, and fundamentally ECU is not a STEM like NC State or UNC-Charlotte. Perhaps the Virginia Polytechnic and State University option would work - something very wordy that become an acronym, but I will tell you that will piss off a lot of ECU alums.

The Texas State option was available to the University of Houston and was seriously considered in the 1990's. I think its a better name, but the school had so much significant athletic history logged under the UH name (things like the UH vs UCLA "basketball game of the century" in the Astrodome, SWC/Cotton Bowl championships, "Phi Slama Jama", Andre Ware's Heisman, Carl Lewis, etc) that it was deemed better to stick with the current name.

(07-10-2015 01:47 PM)Indiana Bones Wrote:  Interesting remarks and while only one man's opinion I do think that it's clear that ECU's main issue is merely perception because when it comes down to substance there's a lot to like. Perception issues are much better than a substantive issues because "you can deny the lies but you can't deny the truth." - See An Honest Liar on Netflix right now (great documentary)

http://newsok.com/berry-tramel-emails-in...le/5432917

"East Carolina is the second-strongest fan base among mid-majors, trailing only Brigham Young. East Carolina’s only problem is the directional school designation. Like Central Florida. It just sounds less exalted. However, the 'East' Carolina is kind of cool. Eastern Carolina sounds hokey. East Carolina sounds almost like a new state....

East Carolina is growing on me. I think East Carolina's biggest problem is mostly perceptual. The Pirates aren't a big TV brand. I would advise East Carolina to keep on keeping on; I'm told that ECU’s stadium is expandable. Make it necessary to expand that stadium and fill it up. Start drawing 58,000 fans per game, and you can't be ignored. I don’t think the Big 12 wants to add a school with a direction in its name. But I don’t think the Big 12 wants to add a school that draws 30,000 fans on a good day....

Quality over quantity. That’s why I’m more and more getting dogmatic about what I said after the East Carolina email. Don’t ask the Big 12 to take you on faith. You have the faith, build up your program and make the Big 12 take you on substance....

Hey, I’m officially on the East Carolina bandwagon. Not that I endorse an invitation to the Big 12, but I endorse having the Pirates high on the watch list. Let’s see. If I would just rank the schools right now, regardless of travel partner or anything, I’d go 1. BYU; 2. Cincinnati; 3. Boise State; 4. UConn; 5. East Carolina; 6. Central Florida; 7. Houston; 8. Memphis. I would not want anyone else on the list."

ECU is in a similar boat to UConn (but with an easier road). They need to dominate the AAC for a couple years... then they will be in prime position.

(07-10-2015 01:47 PM)Indiana Bones Wrote:  Interesting remarks and while only one man's opinion I do think that it's clear that ECU's main issue is merely perception because when it comes down to substance there's a lot to like. Perception issues are much better than a substantive issues because "you can deny the lies but you can't deny the truth." - See An Honest Liar on Netflix right now (great documentary)

http://newsok.com/berry-tramel-emails-in...le/5432917

"East Carolina is the second-strongest fan base among mid-majors, trailing only Brigham Young. East Carolina’s only problem is the directional school designation. Like Central Florida. It just sounds less exalted. However, the 'East' Carolina is kind of cool. Eastern Carolina sounds hokey. East Carolina sounds almost like a new state....

East Carolina is growing on me. I think East Carolina's biggest problem is mostly perceptual. The Pirates aren't a big TV brand. I would advise East Carolina to keep on keeping on; I'm told that ECU’s stadium is expandable. Make it necessary to expand that stadium and fill it up. Start drawing 58,000 fans per game, and you can't be ignored. I don’t think the Big 12 wants to add a school with a direction in its name. But I don’t think the Big 12 wants to add a school that draws 30,000 fans on a good day....

Quality over quantity. That’s why I’m more and more getting dogmatic about what I said after the East Carolina email. Don’t ask the Big 12 to take you on faith. You have the faith, build up your program and make the Big 12 take you on substance....

Hey, I’m officially on the East Carolina bandwagon. Not that I endorse an invitation to the Big 12, but I endorse having the Pirates high on the watch list. Let’s see. If I would just rank the schools right now, regardless of travel partner or anything, I’d go 1. BYU; 2. Cincinnati; 3. Boise State; 4. UConn; 5. East Carolina; 6. Central Florida; 7. Houston; 8. Memphis. I would not want anyone else on the list."

Nice endorsement for ECU.

As for Tramel's list... I think UConn is ahead of Boise, and probably BYU and Cincy too. UConn has great basketball, and is the flagship of Connecticut. Plus, they are closer to West Virginia. Football isn't at the Big12 level, but hey... pickings are slim. Although, I doubt the Big 12 will expand in the near future. Just my opinion.

East Carolina has an identifiable brand in its state and to college football fans. Whatever benefit, if any, there'd be to a name change would be more than negated by anger from its alum and confusion from the general public. Carolina Tech? Isn't that the school I see advertising during my stories? Meanwhile, the school and athletic program don't change a lick, so whatever pluses and minuses for the Big 12 are still there, except now they're hidden under a name that may or (more likely) may not gain traction.

Leave well enough alone. If East Carolina makes it to a P5 conference, it won't be because it stopped calling itself East Carolina.

(07-10-2015 05:09 PM)lumberpack4 Wrote:  

(07-10-2015 03:39 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(07-10-2015 01:47 PM)Indiana Bones Wrote:  Interesting remarks and while only one man's opinion I do think that it's clear that ECU's main issue is merely perception because when it comes down to substance there's a lot to like. Perception issues are much better than a substantive issues because "you can deny the lies but you can't deny the truth." - See An Honest Liar on Netflix right now (great documentary)

http://newsok.com/berry-tramel-emails-in...le/5432917

"East Carolina is the second-strongest fan base among mid-majors, trailing only Brigham Young. East Carolina’s only problem is the directional school designation. Like Central Florida. It just sounds less exalted. However, the 'East' Carolina is kind of cool. Eastern Carolina sounds hokey. East Carolina sounds almost like a new state....

East Carolina is growing on me. I think East Carolina's biggest problem is mostly perceptual. The Pirates aren't a big TV brand. I would advise East Carolina to keep on keeping on; I'm told that ECU’s stadium is expandable. Make it necessary to expand that stadium and fill it up. Start drawing 58,000 fans per game, and you can't be ignored. I don’t think the Big 12 wants to add a school with a direction in its name. But I don’t think the Big 12 wants to add a school that draws 30,000 fans on a good day....

Quality over quantity. That’s why I’m more and more getting dogmatic about what I said after the East Carolina email. Don’t ask the Big 12 to take you on faith. You have the faith, build up your program and make the Big 12 take you on substance....

Hey, I’m officially on the East Carolina bandwagon. Not that I endorse an invitation to the Big 12, but I endorse having the Pirates high on the watch list. Let’s see. If I would just rank the schools right now, regardless of travel partner or anything, I’d go 1. BYU; 2. Cincinnati; 3. Boise State; 4. UConn; 5. East Carolina; 6. Central Florida; 7. Houston; 8. Memphis. I would not want anyone else on the list."

ECU has 4 big problems. They are all in the ACC.

ECU has done a tremendous job with football over the past 40 years - but they compete against NC State, UNC, and Duke for football ticket sales in Eastern NC.

State/UNC/Duke have about 155K seats all together. ECU has 50K. How many can ECU draw from NC State, UNC, Duke, and soon to be ODU in their general area?

ASU and Charlotte contribute another 40K.

There are a lot of P-5 and G-5 seats for sale in North Carolina as compared to the total population. In addition to that you have the Carolina Panthers.

If you include the Panthers, there are a total of as many as 310,000K football seats for Pro/P-5/G-5 for sale any weekend in NC - that's one seat per every 32 people in the State.

I don't think ECU can get much larger given media technology changes, but they will maintain what they have and they will sell out for any home football game with an ACC/SEC/B12 opponent.

ECU doesn't compete with Duke for football ticket sales. We played at Duke and 75% of the stadium were ECU fans. Most of the Duke fans in the state are Duke basketball fans and they didn't go to Duke. We aren't competing with Charlotte yet, but may be in the near future. Appalachian State has the west locked up.

When ECU played Stanford in the Liberty Bowl their band called East Carolina the 51st state.

Tramel is a clown...