Oct 16 / jmusport

Guest Post: Keep on Rootin’

Jonathan and Melissa-2

 

Jonathan won last week’s prediction contest and earned the right to guest post. You can follow him on Twitter at @JBear8990. Here’s his story about being born into a JMU family and rootin’ fer Dukes.  

First of all – thanks to Rob and Todd for writing the blog. It’s been a source of information, entertainment, and distraction from school over the years and I’ve really enjoyed it. Also thanks for the opportunity to post!

Starting out I didn’t want to tell my ‘JMU Story’ necessarily – because well we’ve seen plenty of that here, and people do love lists/countdowns – but I’m not any good at that stuff.  At the same time – we all have a JMU Story, and it’s a large part of why we root – so I’ll add some conference realignment thoughts in at the end to spice it up.

I grew up in a JMU household – my dad (Grover) finished in ’80 at JMU and my mom (Terry) attended VCU (which was essentially irrelevant when I was growing up) so we pulled for the Dukes in all things. But having the VCU influence did give us 2 great reasons to hate the University of Richmond. When I was 4, I made my dad miss Kent Culuko’s ‘shot’ in 1994 at the Richmond Coliseum because I had to go to the bathroom. My dad was kind enough to take me to the bathroom. I would probably have let my kid pee in his pants with the game that close. (We both attended and enjoyed the 2013 CAA Championship, which somewhat atoned for my bathroom mishap) We attended 1-2 home JMU football games a year and I always enjoyed my trips up to Bridgeforth as a kid. I even attended 2 of Mickey Matthews’ football camps. After the National Championship (!) we committed to season tickets and tailgating at JMU has been a weekly fall tradition for my family ever since.

I attended JMU from 2008-12 and pretty much attended all of the home and relatively nearby away football games in that time. CrApp St, VT, UNC, Duke, MD, ODU, even went to the Men’s CAA basketball champs in Richmond (when we lost in the first round to the Nerds – yikes)…I attended as much as I could. But greater than the sports at JMU were the times I had and the friends I made. I met my wonderful wife (Melissa) at JMU and made some of my best friends there that I wouldn’t trade it for anything. My family hosted a big tailgate every home game in college and we’d all come eat, and then go destroy our throats screaming at the game. It was a fusion of my family tradition with my best friends from college. My sister (Emma) still attends JMU for her Masters in Education, but we don’t really need an excuse to head up to the ‘burg.  My experience at JMU had a tremendous influence on who I am today, and that’s one aspect of why I root for the Dukes. Sure – it gives me something to talk about with my med school friends who went to UVA or Tech. But greater to pull for JMU as a community to influence lives the way mine has changed – and be proud of it. It is also a rallying force for my family – to spend quality time together and bond over Jimmy “Effin” Moreland with a pick 6, or even Scotty McGee returning that punt for a touchdown at Richmond in 2008. I root because I love football and want to be proud of how it represents our university.

Something that’s been frustrating me recently is people pulling their donations, or saying ‘JMU isn’t worth my time or money to root for because they’re not moving up’. Do I think we should be in CUSA/MAC now? Yes, probably. Should we have gone with ODWho? Yes. Our administration has certainly made mistakes, I agree. But that’s not a reason to stop rootin’ or stop cutting those checks that you really don’t know what else to do with. In the wake of all of the crap that has happened over the past few years- JMU needs our support now more than ever. (And I know I’m the optimist who will pick us to win 42-21 over Towson when we are a 7 pt favorite and almost lost to Albany)

 

We need to continue talking to the administration, continue giving gifts, and not base our support on what JMU is doing for us when our buddy from Tech is busting our chops about still being FCS (21-16 SON!). We keep on rootin’ for the Dukes – in good times and in the bad, and always hope that a better team or season is around the corner. We need to treasure the great wins (I made my family stay till the end of the Towson game to enjoy the beatdown on Ambrose’s gang) and times we have with other JMU fans.

I do believe we are on the right track with Withers – even though it didn’t start exactly how we dreamed. The team has gotten better every week and the defense is starting to come together. Bourne has realized some of his past mistakes cost him (EKU playoff game – 8 hr drive that my family made the day after Thanksgiving) and is pressuring coaches for wins now, not just doing okay in the mighty CAA. I don’t know what to think of sandwich Alger, but time will tell. I see the glass half full for JMU Sports (minus Men’s basketball) and am excited for what the future holds.

So – I press on rootin’ for JMU with my med school buddy Matt – talking about JMU sports in between classes. Rootin’ with my college friends Craig (@cremedelacrm) and Michael (@Michael_2Clutch) –with group texts about recruits. And rootin’ with my family that keeps on tailgating hard, and making a lot of noise from section 310.

Keep on Rootin’ JMU Dukes.

9 Comments

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  1. Michael / Oct 16 2014

    +1 well said brosef

  2. Matt / Oct 16 2014

    Could not have said it any better. Great post man. Go Dukes.

  3. Deacon Danny / Oct 17 2014

    Well done. Thanks for your post!

  4. Hittie / Oct 17 2014

    Preach!

  5. M@ / Oct 17 2014

    “I’m a big fan so I don’t support the team” always seems a bit of an odd sentiment. And for the record, I like hearing people’s JMU Stories. Well done.

  6. jmuparent / Oct 17 2014

    Great job!

  7. Diane Mapp / Oct 18 2014

    Johnny so proud of you . love ya Granny

  8. Steve / Oct 18 2014

    Great post. Go Dukes!

  9. MB / Oct 20 2014

    Love your passion for the Dukes! Keep rootin!

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