Founded in Greenville, North Carolina, The East Carolina Pirates is the team representing the intercollegiate professional football team in the National Collegiate Athletic Association for East Carolina. So far, the team has won over 8 bowl games and 5 conference championships. Popular for its Old Gold and Royal Purple combination, the team boasts is perseverance to constantly bag the championships. East Carolina Pirates has been in a total of three conferences so far which includes North State, Conference USA and Southern where they won three times and shared the championship once. Currently, the team has yet to win their first conference championship in Conference USA.

Originally, the team was named after pirates because the North Carolina coasts has been long associated with Blackbeard, one of the most popular pirates in the history, and his men. They have settled in the communities of Bath, Beaufort and Ocracoke. Pee Dee the Pirate, the University's mascot, is actually based on Blackbeard's character. Pee Dee is actually a river that cuts North Carolina and South Carolina. This river is where the pirates have usually set up their camp. In 1934, East Carolina decided to acquire the name Pirates to capture the historical background of their land.

This season, the East Carolina Pirates is yet again a hot item for football fanatics and college patriots alike. After their very good and capable season in 2007, they will surely sizzle again in 2008 and excite the watchers of the game. Current head coach Skip Holtz has worked hard to keep his team in good physical shape and high spirits. With their high-powered offense and undeniably good defense, the Pirates prove to be a competitive contender to reckon with. The Pirates are currently ranked 8th in Conference USA and 9th in total offense. Their defense, however is one of the stingiest red-zone defense and actually lead the conference's total defense.

Their winning streak of three games has allowed just 12.0 points and 233.3 yards of offense per game. This brought about by team effort as contributors have been coming from all over the field. But what has shined recently is the impressive play of the linebackers. Rivals should also watch out for quarterback Patrick Pinkney who moved into sole possession of seventh place on the school's all-time completions list after connecting on 26-of-37 attempts for 287 yards and a touchdown against Marshall. Freshman Emmanuel Davis has been defensive player of the week and is yet another player to look out for.

Surely, the Dowdy-Ficklin Stadium will be filled with raving fanatics and create a pandemonium to cheer for the East Carolina Pirates to break more school records and beat their rivals at their prime. If the East Carolina Pirates win over the Marshall University Thundering Horde on the next game, they will bag the East Division. Winning the east division will be a breeze for the Pirates but rivals will definitely give them something to work on. The next few games is something worthwhile to look forward to.