Please Santa!

98 Ornament

It’s Christmas time, so we at JMU Sports Blog headquarters put our heads together and came up with our wish list for Santa Claus. Here are some of things we’re asking for in the coming year.

Even Santa is a Dukes fan

A CAA Tourney Run for Men’s Hoops

Readers of the blog are aware of our developing man crush on Denzel Bowles. We might be a little bit overwhelmed by the big guy’s start to his JMU career, but we honestly think Coach Brady has a squad that is capable of making a little run in the conference tourney. We’re just sick of setting our sights on “hopefully avoiding the play-in game”. Please give us at least a trip to the CAA semis.

Bridgeforth reseating for 2010 to be the same seats as 2009

Confession time: This was the first year that Todd and I bit the bullet and actually got our own season tickets, after years of leaching off friends. We sat in different sections, but both hit the jackpot and would love if we had comparable seats in the new and improved Bridgeforth. Todd has front row seats right next to Coach Lucas of the Field Hockey team, which is a real thrill for him. The jury is still out on how she feels about it.

A CAA Championship and a Sweet Sixteen Appearance for the Lady Dukes

Last weekend I found myself doing something I’ve never, ever done before. Checking the score for a woman’s hoops game to see how the JMU ladies were doing against Duke. You know what? I’m not even embarrassed about it (kidding, of course I’m embarrassed). Dawn Evans is legit and I’ll gladly jump on the bandwagon. We all should. Kenny Brooks is building one heck of a program in the ‘Burg.

95 Ornament

For Justin Thorpe to Grow Up

Let’s clarify this one before anyone freaks out. We think JT kind of gets a raw deal from Dukes fans. He’s not Rodney Landers. We get it. Everyone seems to ignore the fact that he was CAA Offensive Rookie of the Year and that he led the team to 4 straight wins to close the season. With that being said, he’s got great potential and we’re ready to see him show some maturity both on and off the football field. Even if Drew earns back the starting job next season, JMU is going to need Thorpe to contribute and to be the man the following two seasons.

If Cincy, Rutgers, or the ‘Cuse go Big Ten, We Wish to at Least be a Nationally Rumored Replacement for the Big East

We’re definitely not in the camp that believes JMU has to go D-1 as soon as possible. We’d much prefer to stay at the FCS level than to make the leap to a bad conference or at a time that isn’t right. It would be great though for JMU to at least get some recognition for all the resources it’s putting behind football and the caliber of the program it’s built. It’s never to early to star the chatter.

For Charles Haley to Make the Pro Football Hall of Fame

We attended JMU long after Haley was gone. Plus, Todd is a Skins fan and I’m a Giants fan (which made for a tense week here at JMU Sports Blog), so we’d both be lying if we said we were huge Haley fans in the NFL. Also, as readers of Jeff Pearlman’s book will attest, Haley might have had, um, let’s just say the worst locker room presence of all time at best, or some deep rooted psychological issues at worst. We’ll ignore that. Put a Duke in the Hall!

A Girls of Madison Calendar

Yeah. We don’t see anyway this can end badly for these young ladies. We’re sure the tens of dollars they each stand to make from this little venture, will outweigh the blowback from the highly unlikely scenario in which potential employers do something crazy like, oh, I don’t know, Google their names. That would never happen. Bravo ladies. We applaud your decision to put our interests of random guys everywhere above your own. In all seriousness, if you got it, flaunt it and it’s very cool that the calendar is raising money for Madison for Keeps. I think that’s why I’m going to buy one.

For Dave’s Taverna to Launch a Pizza Peddlers-esque Tailgate Delivery System

Admit it. This is friggin brilliant! Someone get on this ASAP. Daves on Demand at all JMU Sports Blog tailgates!

For the ESPN Gameday Crew to Broadcast from an FCS Playoff Site

Calm down. We know that due to stadium construction, JMU won’t be hosting a playoff game next year. However, we still want Fowler, Corso, and Herbstreet to lose their FCS playoffs virgnity next season. That way they can work out the kinks and have things running on all cylinders for the first playoff game in the new Bridgeforth stadium’s history in 2011.

A Trip to Omaha for the Diamond Dukes

Like many of you probably are, I am a huge major league baseball fan. Also like many of you, I’ve never been too big of a college baseball fan. A good buddy of mine went to LSU and got me into the College World Series during LSU’s past few seasons. Let me tell you, the CWS is a great sporting event. It would be a real treat for JMU to get a chance to play in it.

For Another JMU Football Playoff Run

Santa, we know we shouldn’t be greedy. We know how spoiled we are as JMU fans. Yes, this was a down year and the Dukes still won 6 games. We know lots of programs would kill for that sort of “down year”. We’ve been good though. We’re not demanding another trip to Chatty, but please, please, please, help the Dukes get back to the playoffs. If we can only have one thing, get us this.

Ok, we're a tad over the top

Merry Christmas Everyone!