ECU’s Top Fan Gets the Boot: The Inside Story
May 25, 2024
At 2 a.m. Saturday, Brian and Bryson Dilday were covering the final miles of the twelve-hour drive from Greenville, N.C. to Clearwater, Fla., pushing through to check into the hotel by 3 a.m. so their reservation wouldn’t get canceled. Just nine hours later, Brian Dilday—the most vocal and visible fan in the Pirate Nation—was the latest casualty in the escalating conference tournament battle between East Carolina and the AAC.
As they entered the gates of the elimination game between ECU and Wichita State Dilday and his fourteen-year-old son Bryson tried to bring in the megaphones they always use in left field at home games, but they were told in no uncertain terms to put the megaphones back in the car. So they posted up behind home plate, an area that had already been the site of controversy in previous games as stadium officials banned young ECU fans from holding signs or flags that could be picked up by TV cameras. The pair planned to go to the left field area, their regular haunt in the Jungle at Clark-LeClair Stadium, in the eighth inning, but when the game was tied 2-2 in the seventh they decided to head for the outfield a little early, in the hopes of sparking some offensive firepower.
They found an ideal spot just behind the Wichita State dugout and took advantage of that placement to engage in a little creative ribbing of the Shockers pitchers who were warming up, aided by a poster board rolled into a makeshift megaphone. In typical Brian fashion, the remarks weren’t profane or crude; he hollered to pitcher Hunter Holmes, who has long blonde hair, “Hey Goldilocks, where are the three bears?” Nothing different from the banter the left field megaphone crew engages with opposing left fielder during every CLS home game. But a stadium official made a beeline for Brian, just as the Pirates collected their first out and he started ECU’s traditional “one-up, one-down,” cheer.
“We were on the ‘fans in the stands’ part when he came over and asked to talk to me, so I told him, ‘just a second,''“ Dilday said. “I finished the cheer to the bullpen and the dugout, and then I said, ‘OK, now I can talk to you.’ He didn’t like that. I should have turned around and talked to him right away.”
The security guard told Brian that he had to follow three rules if he was going to watch from the left field area: He couldn’t hang over the wall, he couldn’t engage with the opposing players in the bullpen, and he couldn’t stand in that spot. Brian had no problem adhering to the first two guidelines, he said, and he and Bryson even found a new place to stand. But then Wichita State scored to take the lead, and they felt like they had abandoned their lucky spot. They went back and stood there again, and the official promptly returned and told him, “You’re gone. You’re not following the rules.”
As the Pirates fans in the tiki bar called Frenchy’s hollered insults at the security staff, Brian was escorted out of the ballpark, and Bryson stayed in the game with some ECU friends. The boys walked back over to the ECU bullpen, which is directly next to WSU’s, and told the players what had happened to Brian. The players from both teams were in disbelief, he said, and the Shockers players said, “That’s so soft.” They told Bryson that they liked the trash talk, that it motivated them.
As Brian was ushered out to the parking lot, the security guard told him that he had to stay out all day, which ended up meaning, after Dixon Williams’ historic and electrifying walk-off steal of home plate to keep the Pirates alive, that he also has to miss the second game against the Shockers this afternoon. The official also told him that AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco was the one who wanted Dilday removed from the game. Dilday tried to explain the way fans in Pirate Nation operate and apologized for breaking the rules, even if they seem to have been made specifically for him.
“I told him, ‘I teach kids every day. I’m trying to teach kids to follow directions.,’” he said. “Now do I think your rules were ridiculous? Am I really being kicked out because I was standing in an area that was open to any other fan? Was I being mean to the players in the bullpen? I know I’m pushing the limits. Everything I do, I push the limits when it comes to baseball. Really, I’m just cheering for my team.”
Unlike the other ECU run-ins with umpires and officials in Clearwater, the Dilday story has a happy ending. As baseball fan accounts from at least half a dozen other schools tweeted #FreeBrian Saturday afternoon, ECU executive associate athletic director J.J. McLamb was working the phones, talking to officials from the conference. At about 2:30, Brian received a call notifiying him that he will be permitted to attend the rematch with the Shockers Saturday afternoon. Even better, he and Bryson can bring their megaphones.