Guest Post: The Power & Benefits of College Athletics

Sean Petrizzi is a long time reader and guy we’ve gotten to know through JMUSB. He won the late prediction contest. Here’s are his thoughts on the power of college sports.

First off, thank you Todd and Rob for their continued coverage of JMU. I was a freshman on campus when they first started. I quickly discovered that college football message boards are not a place I want to be (no shame to those who frequent the boards, just not my cup of tea). I applaud the two of you for always keeping things positive and for, bluntly, covering JMU sports before many others would. JMU has a lot that we are spoiled by and take for granted (something I thought about writing about) and having multiple outlets for JMU Sports news is certainly one of those ways. Congrats on 10 years!

I also want to point out how crazy it is that I last guest wrote 8! years ago and it’s crazy to look at those posts now. First of all, I hadn’t realized I wrote the first guest blog ever and talked about a need for JMU traditions  and later that same season talked about how great it will be to have a true rival in ODU. Somethings have obviously changed. ODU has passed and then been repassed by JMU as a football school (wink wink), I stay in most Thursday nights with my wife and dog, and I graduated from JMU and now work in college athletics. It is from that interested perspective that I think JMU marketing team has done a phenomenal job with building a great game day atmosphere and true-to JMU traditions. A JMU game day is a special event that I do think we take for granted. MOST FBS and nearly all FCS schools would kill to have our tailgating atmosphere, an incredible pep band with a fan favorite signature song like “Start Wearing Purple” and roll out 6-8,000 students every Saturday like clockwork (I don’t care if they leave at halftime.) That is all thanks to the JMU Athletic Department.

BUT until the day it either comes to be or I die, I stand by the need to have purple smoke raise from the smokestack by the stadium after every JMU football victory! It’s perfectly located, and I think it would be just as signature JMU as our streamers. It doesn’t have to be New Pope level smoke. Just get a bunch of those smoke bombs, place it in the bottom, and light em off! The first rules of sports marketing is 1. Everyone loves free tshirts and 2. Everyone else thinks their idea is the best and easy to do but I am CONVINCED we can make this work somehow! Call me.

I digress. What I really want to write about today is the unbelievable power and the positive effects of College Athletics in America. Forgive me for the length of this article, but there is nothing that I am more passionate about than college sports. My angelic wife has been a trooper on every trip we have ever taken because my special brand of geek is visiting college campuses and seeing their sports venues. That has meant taking side trips to Cheney, Washington to see red turf, Yale, Dartmouth and Brown in one trip (not exactly a straight shot from Richmond to Portland, Maine and back) and both Bozeman and Missoula to name just a few. 

Now, there is plenty to be said about the negative side of things and there is plenty I would change if I had the ability. Paying athletes, academic reform and health effects are all things I think people should and will continue to look into. But all you have to do is visit Harrisonburg or any other great college town on a Saturday afternoon in the fall, take off your glasses that takes American College Sports fandom for granted, and realize nothing else other than college athletics can move people in the same way. Bring a European friend to a game as I have, and they will be blown away. One of the few possibly comparable sport is European Soccer in terms of passion, pageantry and ability to unite fans and divide rivals. 

The word pageantry is the best word to sum up what is different to me about college athletics than pro. It is rare that a pro team can match the marching and pep bands, team entrances and traditions each school has. I have worked at or with 6 different universities and been a die hard fan of two others, and each school no matter how big or small, has multiple things that make it their own and endears their fans to not just the sports teams, but the university and the town as well. Wake Forest has their motorcycle, W&M has “The Delis” for your postgame enjoyment, VCU has “You Don’t Wanna Go To War,” and Navy has more incredible traditions than I can count. You can’t tell me many things in life give you chills more than singing the fight song and throwing streamers after a touchdown. It doesn’t get any better than that. I grew up raised on the Giants and Mets (shout out Rob) but it is just not the same level of devotion that I have to JMU.

That extends to your game day routine. Everyone has one, everyone loves theirs. You love your tailgating spot, you love your tailgating meal and beverage of choice, you love your postgame restaurant and bar. At JMU, game day is an event as Curt Dudley is a fan of saying. It couldn’t be more true. What is more fun than college game days? There is no better way to bring alumni, friends, and family together and link them to their school. You don’t have to be a sports fan and your team doesn’t even have to be good to enjoy it (thought it always helps.) And think about what that routine does for small college towns. Harrisonburg would not have half of what the town can offer if it wasn’t for JMU and I am sure many of those businesses’ best 6 days a year are game days. You just would not have that if it wasn’t for college athletics.

Another immeasurable benefit of college athletics is the notoriety it brings to any school. It’s not free publicity by any means, but it is a major effect. Go back to that European friend. I’d be willing to guess you could not name more than 5-10 European universities. But most Europeans could name several American schools. That is not in small part due to college athletics. They know the Texases, the Bamas, the Carolinas and Dukes of the world because of their athletic success; football and basketball but also more popular European sports like soccer. Ask yourself this, if you had to apply to one college in Idaho, what school would it be? My guess is it wouldn’t be Northwest Nazarene, the top ranked school in the state. It would probably be Boise State. And you only know the existence of Boise State because of their blue turf and successful football program. Similar statements can be said for Gonzaga and even in the commonwealth with VCU. I only know the names Fairleigh-Dickinson, Oral Roberts and what the hell a Saluki is because I have seen them on Selection Sunday when filling out my bracket. William and Mary is one of the best public schools in the country. But why are other schools in the conversation academically with them more well known nationally? Cause UVA and similarly sized Wake Forest are in the ACC. Even the most well-known schools in the country see upticks in application numbers when they have athletic success. Wake Forest has a graphic in their stadium showing the applications increase after winning the ACC Championship in 2006. I’d imagine the Cavaliers are reaping those benefits this year and Villanova assuredly has. 

JMU is no stranger to this effect. Most of my mom’s family is from Montana. They know JMU because of 2004. I still talk to them every time we visit about beating Virginia Tech. I am sure you all have your own stories about wearing JMU gear in airports or Disney World and people knowing JMU because of that single victory and then as the team that beat North Dakota State and won an FCS title. I don’t even have to mention the publicity sparked by hosting College Game Day. Until that show goes off the air, every single week they will show clips of their time at JMU. Imagine how much the school would have to pay to get that kind of national exposure.

These are just the benefits to us fans and our school. The true lifetime benefits extend to the student-athletes. Again, there are things that need to be changed and student-athletes work for every benefit they receive and it very well might fall short to what they put in. Much has been said about the “quality” of education some student-athletes receive. I standby that some of that onus falls on the students themselves. All of this is true and I believe those who make these statements. But there is no denying that many have received an educational opportunity because of college athletics. Many who would not have been able to attend college have because of athletics. President Taylor Reveley, IV, the son of Taylor Reveley, III of William and Mary, who I had the honor to work with at Longwood University wrote a great article on this subject. He speaks about the importance of college athletics both historically and looking forward. I ask you take off your bias of the news outlet where it is written, both positive or negative in your eyes, and read it.

So to FINALLY close, join the Duke Club. The two best ways you can affect the outcome on the field is by joining to support student-athletes and then showing up early and staying the whole game. Recruits care about that A LOT. They want to play in front of a full stadium. And I am not just talking about football. Make as many basketball, baseball, softball, soccer, field hockey, and lacrosse games as possible. We’re so blessed to be nationally relevant in so many sports at JMU. Trust me, not every fan base can enjoy multiple wins over national top-ranked teams, NCAA tournament victories, and so SO many conference titles. The single negative aspect of working in college athletics is not being able to get back to Harrisonburg as much as I want for games since I am often at other college’s games. 

Support your student-athletes who wear your school colors, take in game day and the purple and gold in a renewed light next time you attend a game and share in our fight for glory and honors won while brightening the lights of Madison at your local viewing party this weekend. (Shameless, cheesy plug)