{"id":6234,"date":"2013-11-17T12:36:46","date_gmt":"2013-11-17T17:36:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=6234"},"modified":"2013-11-18T09:30:23","modified_gmt":"2013-11-18T14:30:23","slug":"post-mortem-on-the-dukes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=6234","title":{"rendered":"Post-Mortem on the Dukes"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Thanks!<\/a>

Thanks! Now bye bye.<\/p><\/div>\n

Well, that wasn’t so fun now was it? \u00a0From a season that started with middling expectations to one that finally showed a bit of offensive innovation and hope (at least in first halves till someone emasculated O’Cain whenever the Dukes got the tiniest of leads) to a hope-restoring Homecoming performance against what we thought would be a solid Villanova team, to the last two absolute shitshows to kill the season, only one thing really stands out: It’s time for a change at the HC spot.<\/p>\n

Yesterday I was hopeful enough to rally for one last trip to the ‘Burg. \u00a0I wanted to see some friends I don’t get to see that often in the offseason and I wanted to be there for Robertson’s and Scott’s last game. \u00a0And of course I couldn’t help but think of two years ago when it all seemed lost at this point only for the Dukes to close out the season with two W’s and get all the help they needed in order to earn the chance for the “dynamic” duo of King and Bourne to flub the bidding for a home game. \u00a0So when I left the gray mist of NoVa and made it to a sunny day in the Valley my spirits were high. \u00a0Met some friends, made a holiday shopping stop at the bookstore and settled in for one last tailgate. \u00a0And then what happened? \u00a0Weeelllll, then a current player happened to be tailgating with his family next to some friends of ours mentioned that the team wanted Mickey out, had practiced horribly and half-assed this week, and had no interest in playing hard. \u00a0I didn’t recognize the kid, he wasn’t dressing, and his name barely registered, so I assumed he’s a fringe player. In other words, you never know whether to take these things seriously, especially second-hand. \u00a0(Editor’s Note: this post previously speculated that the player may have been a walk-on and commenters were absolutely correct in pointing out that that was disrespectful and unfair to walk-ons, many of whom are the heart of the program and deserve much better from us fans. For that I apologize. \u00a0As for the second and third hand rumor reporting, maybe we have become as bad as the boards, but we are not, and never have been, a news source. \u00a0All you really need to know is that the only posts that get any real traction involve boybands and suntan-lotion spokespeople but that’s never deterred us from doing this for the last four years because we love supporting the Dukes). \u00a0But…<\/p>\n

…Who knows whether the story was legit or the kid just had a personal axe to grind, but that’s sure what it looked like out there. \u00a0By a wide, wide margin, that’s the worst effort I’ve seen from a Dukes team in a “serious” game (i.e. not Bloomsburg, CCSU, etc.) in many years. \u00a0There’s really no use breaking down the x’s and o’s in this one (other than more horseshit, fraidy-cat FG’s on 4th and short on the first drive of the game and the fact that Stony Brook’s QB and TE seemed amazing) because the only thing that mattered was this game was clearly lost before it began. No matter how much purple Kool-Aid us fans were drinking (thanks UR by the way!) Mickey appears to have lost the locker room and the players had already packed it in for the offseason. \u00a0We’ve wondered about the “soft” moniker on this team all season (no wins over teams with winning records, no road wins, etc.) but maybe it’s even deeper than that. \u00a0Just maybe it really does start at the top.<\/p>\n

In any case, it’s time. \u00a0As we said earlier this week and will always maintain, there’s a difference between advocating for a coaching change (or a conference change for that matter) and acting like an asshat. \u00a0That said, I didn’t blame the “Fi-re Mickey” chanters yesterday, especially after his embarrassing mismanagement of timeouts, again, and his ridiculous behavior with officials, again. \u00a0But when you make your signs for the national at Towson next week, maybe a “Thanks for the memories! Now just don’t let the door hit you on your way out” would strike the right tone.<\/p>\n

As the season finishes ignominiously next week, we’re left with two ENORMOUS questions for the JMU Administration headed into the winter. \u00a0The conference question and now “are you willing to buy out Mickey’s last year or will you continue to be penny-wise, pound-foolish on these decisions?” \u00a0Always the optimists, we’re betting on Alger pulling the trigger on the move and the buy-out, but who knows.<\/p>\n

Finally, a few notes unrelated to this most recent debacle. \u00a0First, Rob may be back with some thoughts on men’s hoops, but we’ll be transitioning to hoops on a more consistent basis very soon. \u00a0Another game tonight, then travel, then the CAA banner-raising home opener on Tuesday!<\/p>\n

Also, thanks for all of the comments on the “End of the MM Era” post this week! \u00a0It’s so rewarding for Rob and I that JMUSB has become a spot for so many thoughtful and engaged Dukes to share their views. \u00a0We all may disagree on any number of issues, just as I’m sure the JMU community at-large does, but that doesn’t mean we all don’t want the best for JMU.<\/p>\n