Usually it’s best for everyone when politicians #StickToPolitics rather than getting involved in sports, but this seems to be the exception.
East Carolina cancelled its trip to Virginia Tech for Sept. 15 of last season due to Hurricane Florence, as did just about every program in the mid-Atlantic. Both teams eventually made the game up; Virginia Tech hosted Marshall on Dec. 1, while East Carolina visited NC State.
So, while neither side ended up worse for the wear, Virginia Tech still decided to cancel its trips to East Carolina planned for 2019, 2023 and 2025. ECU was still welcome to come to Blacksburg for planned games in 2020, 2022 and 2024, though.
At the root of the issue was a $250,000 Virginia Tech said East Carolina owed as breach of contract. ECU argued it was exempt from said contract due to an act of God.
But it’s not as if East Carolina had a history of being a bad partner to Virginia Tech. The schools met on a near-annual basis from 2007 through 2017, and ECU donated $100,000 to Virginia Tech to aid in the school’s relief effort after a school shooting at VT killed 32 students in 2007.
Still, the games remain cancelled, so East Carolina had their dad called Virginia Tech’s dad. North Carolina governor Roy Cooper has sent a public letter to Virginia governor Ralph Northam.
“As North Carolina prepared for Hurricane Florence, I urged residents across our state to stay off the roads and prepare for this devastating storm. Canceling a major college football game means lost revenue, but the safety of players and fans should come first. ECU made the responsible decision and this dispute should be resolved without making Pirate Nation bear additional costs from Hurricane Florence,” said Governor Cooper.
Forty-three people died and $17 billion worth of property was damaged during the duration of the storm.
