History of baseball team nicknames by calling them "Pirates" for "stealing" their players. The "Pirates" tag stuck and the alliterative name was eventually adopted as Pittsburgh's official team nickname. By the time of the 1903 World Series, the team was commonly known as "Pirates", although the club did not acknowledge it on their uniforms until 1912. Alternate nicknames such as "Bucs" or "Buccos", short for "buccaneer", have been used through the years. "Buccaneer" is typically used synonymously with "pirate", although historically "buccaneer" is a more specific term for pirates who operated in the Caribbean, especially along the Spanish Main coast. The Pittsburgh Steelers of the
2009 East Carolina Pirates football team against the Houston Cougars in Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium. The Pirates were invited to their second consecutive Liberty Bowl where they were defeated by Arkansas 20–17 in overtime. The annual Purple/Gold Spring Game was held in the spring during the PirateFest and Pigskin Pigout weekend activities on April 18 in downtown Greenville, NC and put the "Pirates" team led by Redshirt Freshman Quarterback Josh Jordan against the "ECU" team led by Senior Quarterback Patrick Pinkney. The ECU team defeated the Pirates team 31-10. The Pirates renewed their rivalry with their former Southern Conference opponent for the first time since 1979. The Mountaineers