Friday Ramblings: Political Speak and Blocking Birdsong
As the old saying goes, be careful what you wish for because you just might get it. After months (years?) of fans begging JMU to provide some sort of communication about conference realignment and a potential FBS move, the school finally released a statement from President Alger this week. Said statement was met with a certain degree of frustration. And it was made public the very same day that Karl Benson, the Sun Belt Commissioner, spoke to reporters about JMU and said “it appears they made a decision to stay FCS.” Taken as a package, the two pieces of “news” sort of sent a vocal portion of the fan base over the edge. And I honestly have no idea why.
If you haven’t read the entire statement, I’d encourage you to do so. The part that seems to have caused the most visceral reaction is related to Alger’s explanation of his vision for JMU, his confirmation of the school’s core values, and how they relate to a potential conference move. Alger states:
JMU will not pursue or accept an invitation from a conference that does not meet our criteria. If we do receive an offer consistent with our established values, we are prepared to review it and make a recommendation to the Board of Visitors. This process is ongoing and will require continued support on the part of the university, students, faculty, staff, coaches, alumni, and fans.
Well, duh. The President of the university doesn’t want to make a move to a conference that isn’t aligned with the greater interests of school. That’s not news. That’s nothing more than political boilerplate. Contrary to what many of us think, the school doesn’t revolve around athletics. The administration probably isn’t going to delay the release of Alger’s new Madison Plan to sync it up with a potential conference move. While none of us know if a move might be happening, was ever close to happening, or will actually happen down the road, very few of us ever expected anything to happen prior to the spring sports wrapping up. This was nothing more than paying the obligatory lip service to athletics while revealing absolutely nothing new. Or binding. Or even interesting to be frank.
Now it’s a little easier to understand how seeing it in writing that JMU has decided to stay in the FCS would set folks off. But it was Karl Benson saying that. If we want to get nit-picky, he also said “appears”, which implies that he is offering his assessment of the situation not relaying an actual report from JMU. Plus, it was Karl Benson. Michael Silve he is not. Benson and his league haven’t exactly been huge winners in the conference realignment shuffle.
One of the worst kept secrets in college sports has been the Sun Belt’s interest in JMU. And JMU has never really reciprocated the interest. So maybe Benson is just doing his job and attempting to spin the fact that he can’t convince JMU to join up. Or maybe Jeff Bourne, President Alger, and the JMU administration did tell him that they decided JMU is going to remain in the FCS. Somehow I doubt they’d be so direct with Benson and then continue to be so vague with the JMU community. If that’s what they decided, they’d have no reason not to own it.
So that’s how I see it. I understand how fans who were convinced JMU was definitely moving might be losing confidence. Unlike some folks though, I’ve never believed a move was imminent. But I’ve always thought a move was possible. Provided of course that JMU had an invitation from a league that was a good fit. And maybe I’m naive, but I actually believe that Bourne, Alger, et al are still actively working to analyze the situation and figure out the best way forward. If there’s an opportunity to join a league prior to June 1 and it’s a fit, they’ll pull the trigger. If not, we’ll deal with it then. Maybe the appropriate reaction at that time will be to get the pitchforks and torches (maybe not though…it’s just sports). But we might be jumping the gun this week.
Blocking Birdsong
Michael Birdsong says Everett Withers, after they both agreed MB wouldn’t transfer to a CAA school, now is blocking UNCC, ODU, Lib. & App St
— Matthew Stoss (@MatthewStoss) April 17, 2014
This news broke earlier today. Everett Withers isn’t the first coach to block a player from transferring to a number of schools and he surely won’t be the last. We don’t know Wither’s reasoning and it’s unlikely we ever will. But this seems unfair and unnecessary. Withers brought in his guy to run his system. Birdsong saw the writing on the wall and decided he’d rather go try to play somewhere else. As far as we know, he hasn’t said a bad word publicly about JMU, Withers, or anyone associated with JMU football. He seems to just be moving on. So just let him go.
Again, this isn’t a knock on Withers. I’m sure he’s got his reasons and maybe they’re perfectly logical. In this sort of situation though, the deck seems horribly stacked against the student athlete. And if Withers and JMU aren’t going to explain their reasoning, the risk of losing in the court of public opinion by blocking Birdsong, might be greater than the risk of losing on the field to UNCC with the Ginger Giant behind center down the road.
If Whithers thinks that Vad Lee is the answer, why does he even care if the Ginja Ninja goes to a CAA school, let alone other schools that we don’t even play?
Withers looks like an idiot here. He better explain himself. In a wierd way, I feel infinately more loyalty to Birdsong than I do to Everette Withers.
Weak statement from a weak president that is presiding over a university that is growing continually weaker. Lin Rose was a horrible president, Alger is an absolute disaster. Ronald Carrier’s legacy is going up in flames. I am past the point of anger and now I am just sad watching the slow death of the university that I once loved.
Conference Realignment:
Let me start this by saying I love JMU! I love the school, the town, the sports programs, and of course, I love the football program. I don’t know why everyone is so motivated to join a conference such as the MAC and Sun Belt. Why should we make a move just to be considered FBS? If we were to join one of those conferences, I would not be very excited to go watch my team play Akron, Kent State, Western Kentucky or South Alabama. To me, those schools might as well be FCS schools. I attended the Akron game last season, and let’s just say the attendance was horrible. The MAC and the Sun Belt conferences both compete for lowest attendance out of all the FBS conferences. How does that get you excited?
As I was watching the Akron game, I noticed a couple of things. The Akron fans appeared to be content with being beat by a FCS school. Of course they were, until that point they had not one a home game in two years. But when they did win the game, the Akron players stormed the field. They really got my blood boiling! You just beat a FCS team on your home field, have some more respect for your program. To me, I’m not excited to join a conference and schools that have this mentality, the mentality that “YES, WE FINALLY ONE A GAME ON OUR HOME FIELD AND IT WAS TO A GOOD FCS SCHOOL”. I like being part of a Dominant football conference even if it is in the FCS level.
Now, let’s talk about the sports. I want to make sure the conference move is a great fit for all of our sports, not just football and basketball. We have great sports at JMU, and for the majority of them, we are extremely competitive. I’m glad our administration is waiting for the right move, this is a game of chess, not checkers. I’m confident they will make the best decision for our university overall that will benefit the UNIVERSITY for the next 100 years, not the decision that will satisfy the urge to be considered FBS and jump on the band wagon.
Coach Withers:
From what I can tell, I like what coach withers is doing thus far. I don’t care that ginger giant is transferring. I really like the kid, and thought he has played well over the past two years. If coach withers wants to bring in a starting QB from the ACC to help jump start our program, GREAT! He is getting paid to win, and bringing in the talent of a ACC QB is a great thing. Once of my friends and fellow JMU teammate watched the springs game, and said that our new QB looks pretty awesome. I value his opinion as he blocked for two of the greatest QB we have ever had in Justin Riscotti and Rodney Landers. The last time we brought in a FBS QB, we did pretty well and went on to have the best 4 seasons in our programs history. I’m excited and ready to see what this coach will do for us over the next few seasons. He is a young coach who brings excitement to our program and players.
P.S. I love reading this blog! I don’t post often, but I wanted to share my thoughts on the subject. Keep up the great work guys! Go DUKES!
Nowell 81- Here, Here! I couldn’t have stated it better! And, Rob, I appreciate the tone of your entry today- it’s much more thoughtful and less reactionary than usual regarding the topic. Unlike FDB, I have not lost faith in the administration of JMU. This is a difficult decision that needs careful consideration before a move is made. I am confident that no statement would have been made by Alger had the Sun Belt commissioner not have spoken publicly about JMU. I am also sure that the administration is actively weighing all of its options (including staying put) carefully before taking action.
The FBS/FCS dynamic is a great example of one of the disconnects between reality and perception. Nowell81 makes excellent points and it is hard to deny that JMU has a better program/more support than at least 30 FBS programs. Unfortunately, the perception of the FCS is that the competition is weak and that the fans don’t even care. It’s hard to argue that as well when you see how little support a tremendous New Hampshire team gets or the tiny little stadiums that much of FCS fails to sell out.
However, roughly 20 teams have left FCS to pursue FBS in the last two decades while 0 FBS teams have transitioned back to FCS. FCS football isn’t what it was 5 years ago, let alone 20 years ago. It has now become so watered down and there is so little interest outside of a handful of schools that many people question if it’s even worth it to sponsor anymore.
JMU is unfortunately in between a rock and a hard place with this. Staying in the FCS is being left behind at this point. Left behind while we watch ODU host Virginia Tech or Appalachian State play in a bowl game or watch in horror as Georgia State play in a nationally broadcast game on ESPN (shudder)…all the while we play at Elon and host Albany.
There is no perfect conference and no perfect situation, but this is the hand we’ve been dealt. Blame Bourne, King, Alger, Rose…whomever you want, it doesn’t matter at this point. Not taking an FBS conference invite (which aren’t easy to come by) at this point is a mistake for JMU. Even the Carr Report claims that any of the three potential conferences for JMU (C-USA, Sun Belt, MAC) will lead to an increase in donations and a lessened reliance on student fees. I don’t know what else Alger, the BOV and JB are looking for, but all signs point to getting to the FBS and as soon as possible.
These are just the opinions of a rabid college football fan though and I’m not in a position to post a 7 figure check to ease the process along. As always, Go Dukes!
I want to be clear- I want to move to FBS, too… but not just for the sake of moving. Playing against the likes of Texas State (bet you can’t name the town they play in), UL Monroe, AK State, ULALa, GA State, etc does little more for me than playing Elon or Albany- maybe less. (Although traveling to the games would be easier for me since I live in Texas. For the rest of the fans, and worse, for the rest of the teams, travel will be difficult and very expensive. And for what? To play against a bunch of also-ran teams with poor academic reputations? Count me out. I’d rather stay and play against better quality schools until we find the right fit. Villanova, W&M, Richmond, NH, etc. are schools that will probably bring us as much visibility as the Sun Belt schools but don’t detract from our academic reputation. Sun Belt student-athlete graduation rates average 40%! Ours is 65%. Plus, I doubt the Sun Belt affiliation would make it any more appealing for a team like VA Tech to come play in Harrisonburg… but I’m sure we’ll all get really fired up when the Trojans march into town. Oh yeah, that’s Troy not USC!
“the football recruiting classes between 2005 and 2010 half the players wer admitted by a special committee that reviewed the applications of students who did not meet academic requirements. The average SAT score of freshman football recruits fell more than 300 points below the average scores of their classmates.” ~ The News & Observer in Raleigh
So at least we have that to look forward to. Not even going to get started on Withers not allowing Birdsong to transfer to non-conference teams.
It’s hard to understand Withers’ motivation in preventing MB from going to a non-CAA football program. Why draw negative attention to yourself months before the Dukes take the field, for the first time, under his leadership?
As for FBS affiliation, associating with bottom-rung 1-A programs will do little to advance our fan base, reputation, or school pride. Here’s hoping the JMU administration does not hastily make a decision they will regret later …
John – Funny about Texas State. That is one of the Sun Belt opponents that I am very high on. They have everything they need to excel in the Sun Belt. They are a big university, with 30K+ enrollment, in Texas, very near San Antonio and Austin. They have attracted a respectable turnout to most of their games, around 20K. They have a good sized stadium, 30K. They had a decent record last year, and were bowl eligible. Plus I thought I saw that they had 5K people at their Spring game. That is more than many of the ACC teams get. I think they will rise to the top the Sun Belt pack pretty soon, which puts them into a bowl often. They are going to look really good in a couple of years, IMO.
JMU Dad- you may be right- TX state is one of of the better schools in the bunch. I was really just using them for comedic purposes. ( I guess it wasn’t that funny!) With that being said, TX State is the ultimate safety school for kids applying to school in TX. It is known as one of the best party schools in the State because the Brazos River runs through campus. I literally NEVER hear anything about the athletic program in Dallas. In Austin it gets little to no coverage either because of UT and A&M. Have you ever heard the expression, “she looks good from a far, but is far from good”? Or is that a Texas thing? 🙂 I’m sorry, but I feel pretty confident in saying the TX State football program will never amount to anything in this State. It may be about 10 in the pecking order in Texas. And while there exists a great talent pool to draw from here, when the Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama schools are added to the list it falls out of the top twenty. Trust me, its an afterthought at best.