START WEARING PURPLE!

So Rob and I have an odd relationship with the CAA Zone JMU message boards.  We learn a ton from some of the most passionate JMU fans around sometimes and are incredibly grateful for the support and friendship we have received from some posters, but at others times we feel like outsiders due to our old age, our inability to follow and/or post daily, and our relative unwillingness to inject actual seriousness into the times we are criticizing a coach or opposing fanbase  (unless it involves George Mason Community College or the overpolicing of tailgating at JMU of course), not to mention our unwillingness to eviscerate fellow JMU fans for not knowing enough to properly discuss the backup left guard in the Godwin parking lot. 

But there can be no doubt the message boards have served as a source of some GREAT ideas related to starting traditions at a school that doesn’t exactly have a century’s worth of athletic tradition to build upon.  The streamers we all love (and UR keeps trying to steal) came from one of the posters and certainly the support for that incredibly unique tradition (which is going to look amazing coming from the upper deck this year by the way) was largely built through the hard work of the CAA Zone participants.  The viewing parties around the state and the country we’ve all come to love have ben mainly publicized and spread through the boards.  And the traveling circus JMU has begun to bring to road games (ODU Halloween will be Vegasesque!) is mostly coordinated there.

But one tradition that has been suggested and batted around that’s never quite taken off is the use of a signature introductory song when the Dukes take the field ala that team we own down in Blacksburg.  Admittedly, the Tech intro is flat-out awesome, even if the song itself is a bit cliched.  The Marching Royal Dukes (boards folks are killing me now for going longhand instead of a simple MRD’s) started doing a very solid version of the highly underrated White Stripes’ tune Seven Nation Army a couple years ago, but it really works better for in-game crowd-hyping.  But with the new stadium opening and the opportunity for visiting-team intimidation truly materializing in the ‘Burg this fall, it’s time to take a cue from the Boards and go with something that would be signature JMU and COMPLETELY unique, not to mention bewildering to opposing fans and white-haired CAA media folk.  So, in the spirit of the upcoming Late 90’s JMU Music bracket…

We give you, via the message boards, the fabulously ridiculous group Gogol Bordello and their classic Start Wearing Purple!  Serioulsy, you’ll have to bear with the lengthy (1:25) intro, but if you can’t quite make out all the lyrics in this crazy live performance from Coachella ’08, look ’em up and tell me this isn’t perfect for a Mickey-coached team!

So spread the word, comment if you agree or disagree, and bug anyone you know with JMU media.  This is exactly the kind of thing the new stadium needs to add to the vibe (and get people to get their ass in their seat at gametime)!

Lastly, if you get some odd thoughts from @jmusportsblog this weekend, I’m doing a little cross-promotion and will be tweeting during a race I’m doing so just bear with us and feel free to mock if my sleep-deprived mind goes a little sappy and haywire.