It’s gameday. In the knockout round. Of the 2014 World Cup. Let’s do this boys. Beat Belgium. And oh yeah, that’s a real jersey.
The brand new and improved JMUsports.com website officially launched today. We’re not going to offer a fully detailed review, but we will say it gets two enthusiastic thumbs up from us. It features a simple and clean design and it includes some great new information. We particularly like the football results going back 42 years. While we were checking it out today, we came across an article on the current state of football season ticket sales. And it turns out those who forecast gloomy times for fan support appear to have misread the tea leaves. Football season ticket sales are ahead of last year’s pace.
There was a great deal of handwringing over JMU’s failure to make a move to an FBS league this year. While we have no interest in rehashing the “should we stay or should we go debate”, it’s obvious that there were some very vocal members of the pro-FBS segment. Some of whom might have even predicted that the the majority (or at least significant portion) of the fans would voice its displeasure by abandoning the football program, leaving Bridgeforth with scores of empty seats this Fall. Well, as of the May 15 season ticket renewal deadline, 500 more season tickets had been sold than at last year’s deadline. And more tickets have been sold since then, bringing the total season tickets sold to 6,100. That’s on pace to surpass last year’s total of 7,002.
We’re not pointing this out in order to convince you that everything is perfect in the world of JMU sports or JMU football. The football program is headed by a new regime, desperate to break free from the mediocre plateau the former coaches had settled on. And the FBS question will continue to loom over us for at least another year. But this uptick in football season ticket sales might indicate that the excitement about what Coach Withers is doing with the program, trumps any sort of disappointment lingering over the lack of a conference move. Which would be awesome.
Withers and his staff haven’t even coached their first game, but they’ve already put their stamp on the program. From a completely revamped academic program, to improved student outreach, to a player strong man competition, to on overall injection of enthusiasm. They’re breathing life into a program that really needed it. And they’re pulling in talented players and recruiting like it’s their job (side note: it is their job). The enthusiasm, or “juice” as Withers puts it, is contagious. And these latest season ticket numbers are evidence of that.
Todd and I have been a little preoccupied in general lately and more than a little distracted by the World Cup. While we might be distracted, it’s pretty clear Coach Withers and the Dukes are working hard and are zeroed in on the upcoming football season. The video above proves that. It also might prove that high tech moisture wicking shirts are the new Bike coaching shorts. In any case, the relaunch of the new (and hopefully improved) JMU Dukes football program will take place on August 30 against Maryland. It will be here sooner than you think. Thank God.
Andrew Vanderhoeven is in Brazil with the American Outlaws cheering on the United States Men’s National Team. He graciously agreed to share a few words and pictures with us about the experience. Here is the first installment of his World Cup Diary. Give him a follow on twitter at @Vanderhooooov
As for the US game I’m not even sure how to describe the experience it was. All the time and money I poured into this trip was worth it just walking to the stadium. Beating a team that has been our kryptonite for years was just an added bonus. To be honest I was so caught in the moment of attending a cup and everything I was barely able to see the Dempsey goal. That was truly a rush as I hugged every man, woman, and child in proximity whether American or Brazilian. Fast forward through 80 odd minutes of parking the bus, one blown hamstring (of my favorite player), one broken nose of the team captain, and one blow lead and we were at a moment I’d always imagined. Watching the 2010 World Cup and the “Goal Heard Round the World” I’d imagined what it would have been like to see it live. The John Anthony Brooks goal is as close I’ll ever get I imagine. It was the most insane feeling in the world. From the depths of despair to the highest of highs, it’s the type of moment you never forget and everything that makes sports good. I truly don’t know if I’ve ever been happier, I’m still smiling.To be honest, we’re anxiety-ridden messes about tomorrow evening’s USA game against Ghana already and not entirely in the mood for gnashing our teeth about JMU offseason fodder. We’ve also watched every critical USMNT game over the last twelve years or so together and this year life has contrived (for good reason this time) to split us up and I think we’re even more nervous not to share our nail-biting afternoon tomorrow. (Wait – has the blog turned us into a bitter old married couple? guess so).
So this post isn’t for everyone, but we do want to send some big “best wishes” out to two former Dukes. First, to soon-to-be-former Daily News-Record JMU beat reporter Matthew Stoss (@MatthewStoss)! Stoss had the unfortunate duty of taking over for Mike Barber at a time when pretty much the entire fan base has been, and continues to be, justifiably pissed off with JMU’s position re: athletics as a whole. Matt was funny, smart, and generally gave a great effort covering a thankless and paranoid end-of-Mickey era and the women’s hoops run of glory. We might be the only ones, well of course our guy Dukie95 too, who really enjoyed he and Marc Selig’s short-lived Dukes of JMU Modcast and we always appreciated that Stoss seemed to have interests outside of just athletics. We have no idea what the journalism world pays, but for anyone with a complaint about his time, we’d just like to postulate that it just might be fairly difficult living in a small, old-boys club town when the old boys you cover make a generous, but tenuous living off the performance or lack thereof of a group of 19-year-olds.
Second, word is former JMU QB Drew Dudzik has been hired as an offensive assistant at Duke. Nearly saved our ass in the Montana semifinal and of course, 21-16. Good luck Drew!
For our fellow fanatics, @MattJones36 is taking over the football beat. He’s a VT grad so chances are he’ll be toeing the line on unwarranted condescension soon. Hope not.
So normally we do some kind of gimmicky bracket to get us through the summer/college sports offseason. We’ve done a late 90’s/early aughts Virginia bands bracet, a late 90’s H’Burg food bracket, and various other nonsense to keep the site going through the dog days. But this year we’re both watching the World Cup. Pretty much every game. And we don’t really care about trying to write about anything else.
So whether you love the beautiful game like we do or are a soccer hater, we know you love wagering and beer if you love this site, so feel free to join our first ever World Cup Pick ‘Em Fantasy League over here at ESPN. The Group name is JMU Sports Blog and the password is “Bridgeforth”. Yes, it was going to be #CAA4Lyfe, but we’re trying to enjoy our summer.
Winner gets free beer at a JMUSB tailgate this fall. Winner and 2nd place get to guest post on anything you want JMU related in August. You only have to pick the opening round and then you can go back in and make new picks once pool play is over. Wonder if we can get 10 entries on 24 hours notice.
Good luck and U! S! A!
The Diamond Dukes might have had a disappointing season, but that doesn’t mean the roster lacked talent. Senior third baseman Ty McFarland and Junior pitcher Chris Huffman were each selected in the 2014 Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft. McFarland was chosen in the 10th round by the Evil Empire New York Yankees. The San Diego Padres took Huffan a few rounds later in the 14th. They were the 75th and 76th MLB draft picks in JMU baseball history.
Ty, son of JMU head coach Spanky McFarland, was the 302nd overall pick. He led the Dukes in practically every offensive category. This past season he had a slash line of .317/.390/.507 and picked up All CAA first team honors. He led the Dukes with 9 homers and had 23 extra base hits overall in 53 games. Additionally, he finished 3rd in the CAA in total bases with 115. He previously had earned All CAA third team honors twice and earned Freshman All America in his first year at JMU. He showed increasing power at the plate throughout his JMU career, with his slugging percentage rising each year. If the trend continues in the minors, he could make some noise in the Yankee organization.
Unlike McFarland who already graduated, Chris Huffman has the option to return to JMU for his senior season. He is reportedly negotiating with the Padres and has until July 18 to decide if he will sign and forego his final year of eligibility. The right hander has a big arm with a fastball that has been clocked in the mid-90s. Baseball America had him as the 3rd best draft prospect in the CAA prior to this past season.
Chris began his JMU career pitching out of the bullpen, serving as the Dukes’ closer his first two years. In 2014 however, he transitioned to the starting rotation and was JMU’s ace and Friday starter. He finished the year with a 6.43 ERA in 91 innings of work. He racked up 69 strikeouts against 31 walks in the process. Huffman showed the ability to throw a lot of innings and pitch deep into ballgames, notching 3 complete games. With a career ERA north of 5.00, we’re assuming that the Padres believe they can take Huffman’s raw power and ability and develop him into more of a complete pitcher.
So apparently Everett Withers and the football team aren’t the only ones pulling in transfers from bigger schools this year. Matt Brady managed to land Butler Guard Devontae Morgan this week. Morgan certainly didn’t play much (think walk-on minutes) for the Bulldogs the last two years, but he was a Brad Stevens recruit and we’d say that speaks well of him in addition to the fact he’ll have a year to develop his game while sitting out and then still have two years of remaining eligibility. In any case, it’s another decent addition to a quietly encouraging offseason after the sting of losing Charles Cooke.
Secondly, on a personal note, I have accepted a new job in Greensboro, NC, and have been busy getting started and moving so we’ve been a bit sporadic, but with the World Cup cranking up next week, we’ll be all over place on Twitter and FB. Also, the move still doesn’t convince us there’s anything even remotely resembling a silver lining about a conference with Elon in it.
Charles Cooke officially committed to play basketball at Dayton yesterday. Cooke was said to also be considering Rhode Island and Penn State. He will sit out this upcoming season and then have two years of eligibility remaining.
Cooke averaged 14 points and 5 boards a game for the Dukes last season. He carried the load when Andre Nation was out due to suspension. He joined a Dayton program that upstate cross-state rival Ohio State in the NCAA tournament and made a run all the way to the Elite Eight. The Flyers finished 6th in the A10 and went 23-10.
NCAA basketball has March Madness. FBS football has the bowl games and a kinda sorta four team playoff thing. The FCS however, has a real honest to God playoff system in which 24 of the top teams in the country face off to determine a true National Champion. Which means that the polls are thankfully not all that important. And the preseason polls are even less so. But the publication of said preseason polls are a welcome sign that football season is fast approaching. JMU has often been the beneficiary of some sort of historical former champion bias with preseason polls. This year, not so much. Lindsy and the Sporting News football preview magazines hit the shelves and neither publication has JMU in its FCS top 25 preseason poll.
The polls aren’t available online, but Eastern Washington took the top spot in each. Despite losing over 20 starters and its head coach, North Dakota State found itself in the top 3 for both polls along with Southeastern Louisiana. Villanova checked in at a CAA best fifth for the Sporting News. The Sporting News has New Hampshire as its top CAA team, also at fifth. Richmond, William and Mary, and Towson were also ranked in both polls. .
Should we be worried? Well, no. Preseason polls are notoriously suspect and we’ve never put much stock in them. While we don’t know for certain, it sure doesn’t seem like these things are rooted in any rigorous analysis. It’s more like taking last year’s final poll, seeing which teams lost marquee players, and then shuffling the order slightly, add a few perennial playoff teams, and filling in the remaining slots with teams finishing near the top of power conferences. And if you do that, presto, no Dukes!
Despite its significant advantages in terms of resources and fans support, JMU has not lived up to expectations in recent years. You could say it’s been one of the most underperforming programs in the FCS relatively speaking. We all know this. It’s why Mickey Matthews was fired and Everett Withers was brought in. Withers is putting his own stamp on the program. He’s bringing in new blood in the form of transfers and forcing every returning player to earn his spot on the field. We happen to think the future is very bright. But to the outsider JMU is just a program that has underachieved since 2009 and entering the 2014 season attempting to replace Michael Birdsong, a record setting QB, and its all time winningest coach. To the outsider paying casual attention, things might look dicey. To some of us though, the ship finally has a chance to be righted. And we’re optimistic Withers and his staff have assembled the talent to do just that.
