The unofficial online home for fans of the Old Dominion University Monarchs. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

Hey guys, first off if it's inappropriate to either create a thread or post this a link to this content then please Mods, move it.

Okay, I had a pretty good Q&A with Nathan Summers of The Daily Reflector.

I hit him with nine questions and despite being swamped with his preseason work....He knocked it out of the park.

http://odubleedblue.com/interview-with-e...at-writer/

Great article. Probably true on the anticipation level for ECU fans, just wait a few years into the season; the schools are close enough for a good bit of hate to build.

It's not directly competing but to be in even better good graces a reciprocating link back to the boards on the site goes a long way. =]

Good job on the work btw.

(08-21-2013 02:47 PM)Cr8n Wrote:  It's not directly competing but to be in even better good graces a reciprocating link back to the boards on the site goes a long way. =]

Good job on the work btw.

I'll do whatever is requested. I do have a link to this board, monarchfans, Minium, Miller, Radford already but I can do more if needed.

I think that's plenty and your contributions are outstanding.

Great job ODUR8R. I enjoyed it.

That said, Like almost evey Pirate fan that has posted on the C-USA forum, this writer locks on to the Pirate record last year (7-1 in conference), but none seem to want to acknowledge that none of the teams they beat had a winning record. I would love to see someone like their beat writer realistically address that.

A rarely mentioned point about next weekend's game was brought up:

This is ODU's first true road game. They've never played in a hostile environment before, and the biggest road game they've had was Ga. Southern, which holds about 20k. Dowdy-Ficklen holds 50,000, and as the interviewee noted, it will be a madhouse on opening night. So not only is this our first FBS game against a tough matchup (stylistically and athletically), but it's our first game playing in front of more than 20,000 fans. Add in the fact that most of our roster has never played a down of ODU football together, and the results could be undesirable for the ODU faithful.

I'm not saying our boys can't handle it, but they sure as hell have never seen it. I am fully-expecting a culture shock. If we come out slow, I have zero confidence that our defense can keep us in the game long enough to let us recover. I'll say it again--this isn't UNH.

Nonetheless, I'll be cheering my ass off, hoping for what would be a HUGE upset.

All reasons why ECU wins by 3 touchdowns. My hope is we play competitively for the first half, give us something to build on. Our chances of beating UMD are much better than ECU. No one at UMD gives a rat's about football, not anymore.

(08-22-2013 08:55 AM)Monarch Maniac 10 Wrote:  A rarely mentioned point about next weekend's game was brought up:

This is ODU's first true road game. They've never played in a hostile environment before, and the biggest road game they've had was Ga. Southern, which holds about 20k. Dowdy-Ficklen holds 50,000, and as the interviewee noted, it will be a madhouse on opening night. So not only is this our first FBS game against a tough matchup (stylistically and athletically), but it's our first game playing in front of more than 20,000 fans. Add in the fact that most of our roster has never played a down of ODU football together, and the results could be undesirable for the ODU faithful.

I'm not saying our boys can't handle it, but they sure as hell have never seen it. I am fully-expecting a culture shock. If we come out slow, I have zero confidence that our defense can keep us in the game long enough to let us recover. I'll say it again--this isn't UNH.

Nonetheless, I'll be cheering my ass off, hoping for what would be a HUGE upset.

The change from 20,000 to 50,000 just means there will be a ton of adrenaline flowing on the Monarch side and this will enable us to play much faster. Our team will be fired up and ready to play this game. The key will be getting the plays off properly.

(08-22-2013 10:54 AM)odu83alumni Wrote:  

(08-22-2013 08:55 AM)Monarch Maniac 10 Wrote:  A rarely mentioned point about next weekend's game was brought up:

This is ODU's first true road game. They've never played in a hostile environment before, and the biggest road game they've had was Ga. Southern, which holds about 20k. Dowdy-Ficklen holds 50,000, and as the interviewee noted, it will be a madhouse on opening night. So not only is this our first FBS game against a tough matchup (stylistically and athletically), but it's our first game playing in front of more than 20,000 fans. Add in the fact that most of our roster has never played a down of ODU football together, and the results could be undesirable for the ODU faithful.

I'm not saying our boys can't handle it, but they sure as hell have never seen it. I am fully-expecting a culture shock. If we come out slow, I have zero confidence that our defense can keep us in the game long enough to let us recover. I'll say it again--this isn't UNH.

Nonetheless, I'll be cheering my ass off, hoping for what would be a HUGE upset.

The change from 20,000 to 50,000 just means there will be a ton of adrenaline flowing on the Monarch side and this will enable us to play much faster. Our team will be fired up and ready to play this game. The key will be getting the plays off properly.

Yes, the key is executing the plays. However, adrenaline doesn't equal execution. What happens the first time ECU makes a big play or we make a mistake and the crowd goes nuts? How will we respond? It's something we've never encountered, and it can cause momentum to shift on a dime if we allow it.

It's the first game of the season, and both teams will have some pretty good pre-game jitters. I expect it will take a series for each of them to settle down. If we can avoid that, it will go a long way toward making the game competitive and possibly getting an early lead.

(08-21-2013 04:11 PM)ODU AGGIE Wrote:  Great job ODUR8R. I enjoyed it.

That said, Like almost evey Pirate fan that has posted on the C-USA forum, this writer locks on to the Pirate record last year (7-1 in conference), but none seem to want to acknowledge that none of the teams they beat had a winning record. I would love to see someone like their beat writer realistically address that.

I really do not understand the point you are trying to make about the 7-1 record in conference. Those games are against our peers and the teams we try to beat each and every year...Sure, CUSA was down last year but if we think we have a decent program then we should have beat those teams, which we did.

As far as a prediction for the game next Saturday night....You know I am going to pick my Pirates but I honestly do not have a good feel how the game will play out. The only outcome that would shock me would be a loss...I can see scenarios where it could get ugly but I think your team will represent themselves well...Your players know how to win and have winners mentality, that means something in football.

(08-22-2013 07:31 PM)ECU-DMB Fanatic Wrote:  

(08-21-2013 04:11 PM)ODU AGGIE Wrote:  Great job ODUR8R. I enjoyed it.

That said, Like almost evey Pirate fan that has posted on the C-USA forum, this writer locks on to the Pirate record last year (7-1 in conference), but none seem to want to acknowledge that none of the teams they beat had a winning record. I would love to see someone like their beat writer realistically address that.

I really do not understand the point you are trying to make about the 7-1 record in conference. Those games are against our peers and the teams we try to beat each and every year...Sure, CUSA was down last year but if we think we have a decent program then we should have beat those teams, which we did.

As far as a prediction for the game next Saturday night....You know I am going to pick my Pirates but I honestly do not have a good feel how the game will play out. The only outcome that would shock me would be a loss...I can see scenarios where it could get ugly but I think your team will represent themselves well...Your players know how to win and have winners mentality, that means something in football.

I think we probably see the game pretty much the same. As I stated in a post a little earlier, ECU should win this game, but I also feel ODU can win it. I really just do not have a good strong feel for how this game is going to play out.

The point I am trying to make about ECU's record last year is that the 7-1 record appears excellent at first blush, but the quality of ECU's 7-win record becomes at least somewhat suspect when one takes into account that not even one of those wins came against a team with a winning record; i.e., was ECU truly a very good team, or were they simply a kind-of-good team that played what turned out to be an easy schedule?

I'm not saying I know the answer to that question, I am only saying that the apparent weakness of the schedule begs the question of the true meaning of the ECU 7-1 record. How well would ECU have done if 3 of their opponents had ended the season bowl eligible?

The answer is, I don't know. But I have to wonder if the team is as good as it's loyal fans think it is. It helps put the ECU / ODU game into a real big unknown -- at least for me, and I would think many others might also have some reservations as to just how good ECU is.

This I do know. I am looking forward to it, I believe there is reasonable hope that the Monarchs can hold their own, and I will be pretty darn happy if the Monarchs can pull off what would clearly be an upset and come home as winners.