Book chronicles travels around country to watch Pirate football

Carl Davis’ seats in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium inspired the title of his first book, but it was the trips to away games that provided many of his stories.

Carl Davis ’73 has published My View from 20 Rows Up: Once Pirate Fan’s Story of ECU Football.

Davis ’73 has followed football for 60 years. He published \\My View From 20 Rows Up: One Pirate Fan’s Story of ECU Football in December.

Davis and his wife, Martha, sat near the 50-yard line for more than 30 years as season ticket holders. Not wanting to miss a game, the Davises started traveling to away games in the mid-’90s, logging close to 200,000 miles.

“Back then, you had to get in a car and drive or fly. Those were your two choices. And I wanted to see the game,” he said. “There’s a huge, long list — hundreds of games. We made them mini-vacations.”

Davis’ first football road trip was from his hometown of Hickory to Greenville with his grandfather, a huge Lenoir-Rhyne University supporter. Clarence Stasavich coached there for 15 years before joining the Pirates in 1962.

Davis eventually became a student at ECU, where he majored in sociology and graduated in 1973. He spent his professional career in the radio and television industry, including 14 years as assistant general manager at UNC-TV. He is a member of the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame.

Davis started writing My View from 20 Rows Up about five years ago. Chapters are organized by opponents followed by superlatives — such as “best stadium” or “best logo” — to try and answer dozens of questions he’s received, followed by a list of Pirate leaders.

“These are people you don’t think of on a regular basis who have been important to the program. These are the unsung heroes,” he said. Book chronicles travels around country to watch Pirate football.

The foreword was written by the late Jeff Charles, longtime play-by-play announcer of the Pirates. Stephanie Dicken ’99 designed the book, which is available on Amazon or at UBE and Stadium Sports in Greenville. All proceeds go to an ECU Access Scholarship that Davis and his wife set up in October.