Guest Post: The JMU Football Gameday Experience

First and foremost, thanks to Rob and Todd for the opportunity to post. I know these guys run this blog for the fun of it but they really do a great job providing insightful commentary and capturing the voice of all the passionate Dukes fans out there. I know for me personally, I’ve really come to appreciate kicking off my week with their game recaps on Monday mornings. So, thanks guys.

On first thought I considered using this post as an opportunity to write a cliché pump-up for the big game next weekend. But rather than demanding students show up and stay for four quarters, I’m going to put my COB Marketing hat on and go a little bit different route.

Since I arrived on campus in 2009, it’s safe to say that the state of the football program has changed dramatically. And while a new coaching regime, new uniforms, and a ESPN College Gameday appearance in our back pocket has certainly raised the bar in terms of national brand and relevancy, I’d argue the single biggest impact on the program in the last 6 years (and moving forward) has been the addition of *new* Bridgeforth Stadium. There’s no denying the impact athletics has on a university’s reputation and for a program looking to make that next big leap, making sure our football stadium and gameday atmosphere looks and feels the part is without question a huge part of the equation. And while I think we can all agree finishing off the “smaller side” of the stadium would be nice, in the meantime I think there’s still plenty of opportunities for us as an athletic department and fanbase to improve upon in terms of what occurs inside that stadium.

More Streamers

The streamers are by far my favorite part of JMU gamedays and not just because it looks so damn cool on a windy Saturday afternoon in November. What I love about the streamers is that it’s OUR thing. Some schools do rally towels, some do shakers (please don’t call them pom-poms…), some do cowbells—James Madison University does streamers. And because it developed organically and isn’t something we ripped off from another school (looking at you Ticks…), I truly believe it’s one of the most unique traditions in all of College Football. With that said, I challenge the JMU fanbase to take complete ownership of it. And in general, we do a pretty good job. I commend the JMU fans and alums that hit the Party City the week before the game and make sure they don’t walk into that stadium empty handed. But unless the athletic/marketing department is handing out streamers from a trashbag in the concourse, how many fans and students realistically make it a point to bring streamers with them? Also, and I could be wrong, I believe I read recently that this year the university was forced to cut back on the number of employees on the post-game cleanup crew, and to prevent more work, less streamers were being handed out by the athletic marketing department. Not only do I think that’s a sorry excuse from JMU (if it is in fact true), but it just means that as a fanbase and student body, we have to put in the extra effort to make this tradition as great as it can be. I have a dream of every single fan in Bridgeforth with a streamer in hand for a Brandon Ravenel TD catch.

Death to the Thunderstix

Thunderstix were cool back in 2002. In 2015, not so much.  For those sports fans that remember, Thunderstix jumped into the sports world back in 2002 during the Anaheim Angels World Series run. At the time, they were unique, loud, and paired great with a rally monkey. Now, every game I attend at Bridgeforth I say a quick prayer before entering the student section that those damn thunderstix won’t be waiting for me in my seat—and every time they are. Look, I realize I’m probably in the minority here. And while I must concede that about four airplane bottles into the second quarter those things turn into a great way to pick on your buddy that tailgated too hard, I still think they’re lame. Growing up in SEC country, I’ve always been a “shaker” guy. Can you imagine Bridgeforth with 25k purple/gold shakers doing this? The “thunderstix add to the noise level” argument is certainly fair, but count me as a guy that thinks we need to ship our supply back to Korean baseball stadiums where they belong.

Singing of the Alma Mater

The singing of the JMU Alma Mater by the football team in the north endzone following each home game at Bridgeforth is one of my favorite things Coach Withers brought with him last year.  And while it’s a pretty common tradition across College Football these days, I can appreciate the players heading over there, win or lose, and sharing a moment of school pride with the MRDs and the large amount of students and fans pouring out of their seats. But see, that last part is the problem. As a good buddy of mine pointed out last month in the JMUSB comments section following the loss to Richmond , and to quote him, “if the players had the balls to go over to the stands after that loss, then we should have had the balls to stand there to support them.” Win or lose, I’d like to see all JMU fans, not just students, make an effort to head over to the north endzone before exiting the stadium. Let’s show those players one final time each Saturday how much we appreciate the hard work they put in around the clock to represent our great university.

I Can’t Help Myself

Alright, I lied. I didn’t want to go down this road, but for anyone that was fortunate enough to make it to the Homecoming “Gameday” game last month knows that was probably the best atmosphere we’ve ever seen at Bridgeforth. The tailgating scene was great, the student section was rockin’, and that day our fanbase showed JMU Football can be fun. Imagine that. Look, we aren’t Tech and we may never be—and that’s fine! But instead of complaining about how JMU “isn’t a football school”, let’s do something about it. Let’s ride the momentum that Gameday brought us and support our team on their national championship journey these next couple weeks. Get to Harrisonburg next weekend. Tailgate hard. Root fer Dukes.