Oct. 13, 2003

by Lee Pace, Extra Points

I was against it from the start, going back to the summer of 1995 when word came that Carolina and N.C. State would again play East Carolina in football. The athletic administrations at Carolina and State agreed to setting a home-and-series for the early 2000s before a bill mandating the games was actually brought to a vote in the North Carolina Legislature.

"Most decisions are based on athletic issues," Carolina athletic director John Swofford said at the time. "This particular issue was one we felt we needed to do what's best for the institution. This involved issues beyond athletics. It was important for us to make a decision institutional in nature, not just athletic."

It was never a marriage of equals in scheduling.

For the Pirates, a game against the state's flagship institution would be their Super Bowl. It would be for respect and certification. ECU coaches going back three decades had bemoaned their school's second-class citizenship.

"The ECU folks have long been looked down upon by the Carolina folks," Pirate coach Pat Dye said before the 1975 game. "That makes this game so important to our alumni."

Meanwhile, the Tar Heels have been ebbing and flowing for a century, reaching near powerhouse standards for a few years and then slipping back to mediocrity for a few more. They have at least five "arch-rival" games a year-State, Duke, Wake Forest, Virginia and Clemson-and adding another that would not help them win the ACC nor land a Sugar Bowl bid was a worthless enterprise.

Pirate fullback Vonta Leach put the inequality of motivation in focus after the game.

"This game was not only for us, it was for the entire program," he said. "People here have been waiting for this for 50 years, as long as this school has been in existence. To go out there and lose is very hard to take."

But now that we've lived through the 2001 and 2003 games, I've got to admit--they've been fun. And with another home-and-home exchange in 2010 and 2011, the mix is probably right. Schedule a couple of games a decade and let each school mind its own business the rest of the time.

I will certainly give the Pirates, their fans and their town-and-gown administrations credit for their enthusiasm for the game. Carolina professes to want to be a big-time football power, but the shackles the University and the town of Chapel Hill put on their customers in terms of parking and reasonable and responsible consumption of adult beverages argues the exact opposite.

Anyone wanting a crash course in the art of tailgating could certainly find an education in the parking lots around Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

Among the interesting sights early Saturday afternoon:
* A man stirring a large vat of Brunswick stew over an open flame.

* Three TVs showing football and baseball playoff games under a tent; they were connected to a satellite dish mounted on a pole and temporarily dug into the ground.

* And of course every species of barbecue known Down East, from Parker's in Wilson to Wilber's from Goldsboro to the Skylight Inn in Ayden to Greenville's very own B's. Many Pirates fans cooked their own, wheeling in portable grills and smoking their own pigs.

Of course, John Bunting and the Tar Heels wanted little to do with the revelry. Bunting and staff downplayed the emotional factor of the game, instead keeping the Tar Heels focused on their own game and the quest to improve each week. Bunting actually treated the trip as more of a home game, sending the squad through a light workout in Kenan Stadium late Friday afternoon, then boarding busses at 7 p.m. for the two-hour drive to Greenville. The Tar Heels weren't in their hotel rooms in Greenville more than 15 hours.

All in all, it was a good trip for the Heels. Another one in 2011 will be just about right.