Guest Blogger: Top 5 Favorite JMU Football Moments

Being a JMU Alum and sports fan in SEC country can be rough. Let’s not mince words, their fans are obnoxious. My wife and I (class of 09) live in Atlanta, GA. Football is religion down here. The kind of religion that has followers so blind, they ignore the dirty side of college football, and instead argue over schools based on athletic standings instead of what matters; academics and community outreach. JMU just happens to do all of these things well. Sure, we may not be a huge national name, but we have multiple sports that do well year in and year out.

It makes it exciting to be an alum living outside of Virginia to watch your team compete for a title, even if statistically, they may not stand a chance. Because I flaunt my purple often, people notice when JMU is competing. Whether it was basketball a few years ago in the tournament, women’s basketball nearly every year, soccer, field hockey, or football beating Virginia Tech, conversations arise.

After graduating, my wife and I lived in Portland, Oregon for a year. I rocked my Purple Out shirt to the farmer’s market and a farmer asked me if I went to JMU. Apparently, his friend was an alum from the early 90s and tried to petition for a change to the mascot name! I looked it up, the story was true. My wife also worked with a guy who went to JMU. One of my student’s mom was a JMU alum. Everywhere we’ve lived, we’ve seen connections. I’m sure some of you have had the same reaction when driving somewhere outside of Virginia and seeing a JMU decal on a car. It always makes my day!

Now the most embarrassing moment, not on my part, was when I was wearing the “Once a Duke, always a Duke” shirt. Multiple times, someone has asked me, “Did you goto Duke?” I know what you’re thinking. When did Duke switch from blue to purple and when did they become the Dukes?! The Duke Dukes. Makes sense. After I regain consciousness from being knocked out by their stupidity I realize, JMU is somewhere between obscurity and being a household name. Not quite there yet.

In football, Withers is doing an excellent job. He’s an exciting person and I can only imagine what that does for the players. I loved his quote earlier when discussing the recent suspension. He wants to teach them to become respectable men. Not just keeping them on the team based on talent, but being an active disciplinarian. He’s done little things like change the uniforms and we have him to thank for those crazy good-looking helmets. Even if you don’t think that matters, it matters to players or high schoolers who are interested in playing for JMU.

The new traditions surrounding football Saturdays build excitement for the fans who carry it with them into Bridgeforth. I know people like to rag on the attendance, but every school has an issue with students staying or coming on time. I hear it on the radio down here all the time. It’s a sign of the times. Our attention spans aren’t what they use to be. But I believe that when there is a huge game or if we began to schedule big name FCS foes (think App State in 2008), the crowds will come and be insane. It certainly wouldn’t hurt if The Breeze worked on building the anticipation and pumping up certain games. Or if they held smaller pep rallies on the Commons on Fridays. I’ll always remember that feel on Fridays just waiting for the games to come. Now, I just celebrate differently. Instead of tailgating and seeing how far I can throw a streamer, I high five my dog and get giddy when Curt Dudley reads my email during the game!