How Come JMU Sucks at Online Voting Now?

There was a time when you could virtually guarantee that any online poll, contest, or competition that included JMU was a done deal. JMU was going to win and win big. Sure, sometimes the powers that be pulled a fast one and rendered said poll results meaningless in the end (cough, Capitol One Mascot Bowl), but the point is that the JMU community absolutely lapped the field in every online vote. But that’s no longer the case. Because for the past 2 years, we as Dukes with viable internet connections have completely failed some of our own.

We’re talking of course about our collective failure to get out the vote for a group of JMU hoops alums in their attempt to gain entry into The Basketball Tournament (TBT) in 2016 and 2017. Thankfully, we have a chance to make amends. This year, the team, called “The Founding Fathers,” is back and trying to get enough fan votes to earn a slot in the 64 team tournament with a $2 million prize for the winners.

TBT was started in 2014, and is an “open application, 5-on-5, single elimination, winner-take-all basketball tournament”. Teams can be composed of a general manager, coach, booster and up to nine free players. Former JMU Men’s Basketball managers, Sean Wheeler, Camden Butler and Joe Kuykendall and former JMU Basketball Video Coordinator Kevin Albright formed The Founding Fathers two years ago, but have been able to secure enough votes for a bid. This year though, JMU is gonna get it done and provide the votes they need. They’re hoping to play in the South Region and can secure an entry if they’re one of the top 9 vote getters. This is a fun tournament that will be broadcast on the ESPN family of networks. Before you do anything else, go vote for The Founding Fathers now!

Thus far, the team has an impressive roster, including former JMU studs such as AJ Davis, Dimitrije Cabarkapa, Joey McLean, Shakir Brown, Kyle Swanston and James Millen. The team is in talks with other former Dukes to fill the final three roster spots. This should be a home run. It comes down to online votes. Like we said, stuffing online ballot boxes used to be somewhat of a JMU specialty. We’ve come up short the past 2 years though. And by doing so, we’ve been forced to watch the likes of VCU gain entry and make a run. This year is our year though. So go out and vote for The Founding Fathers and encourage all your JMU friends to do the same.