East Carolina University, NC

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Sup Dogs, the newest restaurant at a popular downtown Greenville location, the corner of Fifth and Reade streets, specializes in chili dogs, as its name suggests.

The fast casual restaurant and bar with all ABC permits serves 100 percent beef hot dogs and burgers but also has some vegetarian options. Everything on the menu is under $6.

The Sup Dog ($4.99) is topped with 16-ingredient homemade chili that's simmered for four hours; add slaw or cheese for 50 cents more. The Sup Burg ($5.49) is a hamburger topped with lettuce, tomato, onion, dill pickle and special sauce. The Slaw Burg ($5.99) features slaw and chili. The menu also includes BLT on a hot dog bun ($5.49) and the Sup Melt with turkey and ham on a hot dog bun ($5.99). The Veggie Burg is made with a slightly spicy black bean burger ($5.99). All sandwiches are served with thin shoestring fries.

Appetizers include chili cheese fries ($5.99), beer-battered onion rings ($5.49) and Pigs in a Blanket (fried corn dog nuggets served with syrup for $4.99).

Old-fashioned milk shakes ($3.49) and Itty Bitz small ice cream balls ($3.49) are available, along with the Sup Ball ($4.49), a ball of ice cream rolled in toasted coconut and covered in caramel and whipped cream.

Specialty cocktails and Sup Tinis are served, along with draft beer, 14 bottled beers and Coca-Cola products. Drink specials are offered nightly.

Hot dogs are available for $1 on Sundays, and jumbo hot wings are 49 cents each on Sundays.

Owner Derek Oliverio said he searched the East Coast for the perfect spot for his first restaurant - and thinks he's found it, just steps from the East Carolina University campus beside The Stop Shop convenience store.

Extensive renovations to the location - which formerly has housed such restaurants as La Vista Pizza and The Back Porch - have included revamping the dining room with wood paneling and booths to seat 40. There are four small flat-screen televisions in the dining room. The popular outdoor deck, a prime people-watching spot which seats another 40 people, has been upgraded and adorned with tiki torches.

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Around Greenville and beyond, the Pirate Nation has shown its pride this week in a football team that's already made two ranked opponents walk the plank.

After victories against Virginia Tech and West Virginia, East Carolina University's football team hopped up to No. 14 in the Associated Press' weekly football poll. Enthusiasm is building as the Pirates travel to New Orleans to play Tulane today.

"Any time you have a winner, this always brings positive attention to your city," Greenville Mayor Pat Dunn said. "Our football team certainly has done that.

"When you get underestimated, and you achieve more than people think you can, then people pay attention. I certainly think we have a great coach with Skip Holtz and a great team. It's good for the university, and it's good for our city."

The team's success brings the national spotlight to the community, as well.

"This is better exposure than what we could buy from paid advertising," said Debbie Vargas, executive director of the Greenville-Pitt County Convention and Visitors Bureau. "It really helps put Greenville, North Carolina, on the map,"

Around Greenville, purple and gold banners fly in front of local businesses that are part of the Pirate Club's Pirates Supporting Pirates initiative. And electronic signs spell out support for the team; spotted at the Bell's Fork Walgreens: "ARRGH. Beat Tulane."

"The business community is super proud of our ECU Pirates - always have been and always will be," said Greenville-Pitt County Chamber of Commerce President Susanne Sartelle. "And it sure is fun when we're winning! This community is Pirate Family."

Excitement is spilling over from the gridiron to the entire community.

"I definitely think the community has had a renewed sense of energy lately," Vargas said.

"There's a buzz in the air. People just seem like they are rejuvenated and want to be out around people."

This week, the Pirate faithful have been decked out in purple and gold. Skull-and-crossbones flags - usually most apparent on game day - have fluttered from car windows around town.

"We have noticed a dramatic increase in the sale of car flags and car magnets," said Don Edwards, owner of university-merchandiser UBE. "They want to say ‘East Carolina' loud and clear and display it for all to see. And sales of house flags have been really big this year."

On campus, students are showing their true colors, as well.

"Students are wearing more purple and gold, which means less Carolina Blue and State Red is being seen," said Student Pirate Club President D.J. Fussell.

And the buzz on campus is all about the Pirates.

"In the past, a football game would come and the excitement of it would pass by the end of the week, but not anymore," Fussell said. "The absolute thrill around campus is something that has not been seen here in my four years."

He noted that students - and even professors - have been discussing the big wins against Virginia Tech and West Virginia before classes and during breaks.

But Greenville residents aren't the only people cheering for the Pirates.

"One of the things we've noticed is the support is from all over everywhere," Edwards said. "We have seen more people in our store than ever before. It is bringing out a whole new set of fans. Everybody loves a winner. We have never seen the likes of this - since the Peach Bowl (victory in 1992).

"And people from throughout the nation are supporting East Carolina. When we look at our Internet sales, we are still getting business from throughout the state - but we also have orders from Florida, from Virginia, from the Northeast.

"Our niece lives in New York and she and her friends have adopted the Pirates. They were watching the game on ESPN and, even though her friends don't have any connection to ECU, they have decided they are Pirate fans."

One of the most famous new members of the Pirate Nation is talk show host Regis Philbin, who voiced his support for East Carolina during the Thursday broadcast of "Live with Regis and Kelly."

Philbin, a vocal Notre Dame booster, said that he's a game behind the other panelists participating in Yahoo.com's "College Football Pick'em."

"I didn't pick East Carolina, and I'm never going to do that again," Philbin said on Thursday's live broadcast. "East Carolina is the coming team in college football ... coached by Skip Holtz, Lou Holtz' son, who has been coaching for a long time and is finally coming into his own. And this is the team to watch.

"Remember what I am telling you. East Carolina may go unbeaten this year. I can't go on, 'cause I signed with Yahoo."

For this week's picks, Philbin selected East Carolina to beat Tulane - but so did the other experts on the Yahoo panel.

Sartelle said the team's success is inspiring.

"I'm a firm believer that good things don't just happen," she said. "Good people make them happen. We are blessed with dynamic coaches and athletic leaders who not only want to win but who genuinely care about the players and their success on and off the field. And these young men team members are motivated to work hard which is bringing great results. We are indeed proud of them and grateful for their commitment."

Fussell said he thinks this football season will be a memorable one for ECU students and fans.

"To say the least, this is going to be a season to remember," Fussell said. "We believe!"

Perhaps no one on the East Carolina football team was more upset than Brandon Simmons to hear that his camp roommate, Dominique Lindsay, was injured last week and likely lost for the 2008 season.

A fellow senior and close friend to Lindsay, Simmons did the only thing he could. He picked up the football and kept on going. While Lindsay sat in the stands for the Pirates' second scrimmage of August camp Saturday, Simmons electrified the ECU running attack.

The running back carried the ball five times in the early sequences with the top offense and barreled his way to 59 yards.

"When he went down it kind of hurt me," Simmons said of Lindsay after the scrimmage. "I'm not going to sit here and say I can carry the load (at running back) by myself. We have so much talent, so the faster some of the younger guys can pick it up, the more explosive we can be as an offense."

Simmons said he kept Lindsay posted with text messages and calls when he was having knee surgery.

Lindsay was poised to lead a crew of running backs this year all bent on trying to replace last year's superstar, Chris Johnson.

The knee injury halted that plan, and immediately changed ECU's offensive planning for the season, which starts Aug. 30 in Charlotte against Virginia Tech.

"As a whole, we're starting to do much better things," said Simmons, who transferred along with younger brother Jason from Elizabeth City State in early 2006. "The offensive line is starting to solidify, we have a lot of experience. Guys are starting to do what they're supposed to do."

Head coach Skip Holtz had hoped to try a two-back system this year, mainly featuring the bruising 6-foot-1, 225-pound Simmons and the speedy 5-10, 210-pound Lindsay. On Saturday, sophomores Norman Whitley and Jonathan Williams and junior J.R Rogers carried a good deal of the load along with Simmons.

"Brandon Simmons is really playing like a workhorse right now," Holtz. "He's doing a great job for us and he's having a phenomenal camp. We were looking at Dominique Lindsay and him carrying the weight of the running back position. With Dominique out of there, he's really going to have to step up and carry a bigger part of the load."

As for the other backs, Holtz said playing time would be based on who did the little things, mostly without the ball, the best.

The other early explosion Saturday came from senior safety J.J. Millbrook, who picked off a Rob Kass pass intended for tight end J.R. Kraemer on his own 8-yard line, spun up field and dashed 92 yards behind great blocking for a touchdown.

It was one of the few flashes of brilliance in what was, at times, a grueling afternoon in a largely situational scrimmage.

"That was awesome. The whole defense pushed," Millbrook said of the play. "The defensive line and the linebackers pressured the quarterback, and I made the play. I was tired but I made the play and got into the end zone."

The offense - which was flagged for a costly 13 penalties - accounted for a pair of touchdowns later in the scrimmage.

First-team quarterback Patrick Pinkney zipped a pass over the middle to Williams, who picked the deflected pass out of the air and rumbled into the end zone for a 34-yard score. In the late minutes, T.J. Terrell reeled in his third catch of the day and leapt over the goal line for a 30-yard touchdown.

Scrimmage notes: The Pirates spent much of the day working through kicking sequences, featuring both junior Matt Dodge and redshirt Ben Ryan. Both connected on field goals from 25 yards, then Dodge had a 42-yarder blocked and another tipped before Ryan connected from the same distance. Dodge later stroked one from 50 yards. True freshman Leonard Paulk teamed with redshirt Michael Bowman on punt returns behind starter Dwayne Harris. Kickoff return tandems included Williams and corner Jerek Hewett, Whitley and Harris, Whitley and Rogers and Harris and Rogers. The top defensive unit had one surprise, as redshirt cornerback Emmanuel Davis spent the day as a starter ahead of Hewett and across from sophomore Darryl Reynolds. True freshman defensive lineman Robert Jones spent time with the second team and was also credited with a field goal block. At linebacker, the Pirates started senior Pierre Bell in the middle, senior Quentin Cotton on the left and junior Jeremy Chambliss on the right. Junior receiver Alex Taylor spent most of the day as the No. 3 receiver on the top unit, joined by starters Harris and junior Jamar Bryant. In four-receiver packages, they were joined by senior T.J. Lee, who made a 46-yard reception, one of four grabs. Redshirt linebacker Matt Thompson was credited with a sack. Pinkney spent much of his day trying to find junior Reyn Willis, but had more success finding senior tight end Davon Drew, who also had four catches.Fullback/tight end Kevin Gidrey made his presence felt, making a handful of catches on the right sideline and delivering some crunching hits with the ball.

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Nathan Summers can be reached at nsummers@coxnc.com, or at (252)329-9595. Once a Pirate, Always a Pirate! Deryck & The Wilson Group - Team East Carolina extremely support the ECU Pirates - for local information, real estate and everything ECU - visit www.1SearchMLS.com!