Look what arrived in the mail today. Only 9 more days until kick-off. It’s all happening.
Thanks to the DNR’s Mark Selig, the cat is out of the bag. JMU hoops will have ten non-conference games this upcoming season. Only two of those games will be in the friendly confines of the Convocation Center. That’s right. Ten non-conference games with eight of them on the road or at neutral sites. Due to recent departures, the CAA conference schedule will only consist of sixteen games. With eight of those games at home, the Dukes will play a combined ten home games in 2013-2014. That’s the fewest in JMU history.
There are different ways you can view this news as a fan. If you’re part of the CAA sucks/JMU admin is clueless group, you’re probably foaming at the mouth right about now. If you’re one of the more optimistic fans, then maybe you think it’s a great way to toughen up the team before conference play. In all likelihood though, most of you are positioned squarely in the third group however. The group that really just wants to fast forward 10 days until football season.
I’m definitely in the fast forward to football season camp right now. But, I love hoops and I can’t wait to see last year’s freshmen defend their CAA title, so here’s my take. Realistically, the CAA is a one-bid league for the foreseeable future. So there’s a strong argument to be made that only thing that matters is peaking in Baltimore for the conference tourney. If going on the road to develop toughness helps JMU do that, great. And games at Richmond and at UVA, which are both parts of home and home series by the way, are terrific for the program. And while avoiding the travel is probably nice for the players, playing a few more home games while the students are on break isn’t much of an advantage. What really matters this year is packing the Convo, holding serve at home, stealing a few on the road, and then getting hot in Baltimore.
…and thank goodness. With Field Hockey’s trip to Duke for a preseason scrimmage yesterday, the 2013-14 year in JMU Athletics (at least the portion that shows up on the “upcoming schedule” portion of JMU Sports) is officially underway! And for those of you suffering through our flailing attempts to avoid constantly falling back to conference realignment arguments the last few weeks, I’m sure you agree that the fact we only have 12 days left till tailgating at Bridgeforth kicks off is welcome news. (Note for B’More Dukes: Men’s Soccer opens competitive play Tuesday at UMBC)
Speaking of good news, QB1 Michael Birdsong, the Ginger Giant himself, was back on the practice field this weekend just ten days after an unexpected appendectomy. Still doesn’t answer the age-old question “who is the backup?” but let’s all hope we don’t have to find out anytime soon.
Since we’ll be previewing football in detail (JMU, CAA, FCS) over the next two weeks leading up to the opener we thought we’d first make a list of non-football items we’re most looking forward to in the fall season. Let us know if we’re overlooking something good from your own list in the comments:
1) Field Hockey making the NCAA tournament under Coach Lucas
2) Men’s Soccer and Women’s Volleyball, both picked 5th in the preseason CAA poll, exceeding expectations and surprising the league one last time.
3) Promoting our first non-football JMUSB tailgate. We’re open to suggestions on which event but it would help if it’s either Homecoming weekend when we may have an extended ‘Burg trip or anytime in the DC area.
4) Getting a look at the new Volleyball floor in Godwin and the new court in the Convo!
5) Akeem Jordan, Arthur Moats, and Earl Watford all making plays in the NFL.
6) And of course, hopefully some concrete direction one way or another for the future of JMU Athletics following the completion of the Carr Report and however long it takes to explain it to the Board of Visitors.
Arthur Moats, the JMU alum and Buffalo Bills linebacker, befriended a severely injured police officer and inspired him to get well. Because of course he did. He’s Arthur Moats and that’s just the sort of thing he does.
This is just the latest action by Moats that should make us all proud to call him a Duke. He’s done some pretty great things in his young NFL career. Off the top of my head here are just a few:
- Returned to JMU after his rookie season and earned his degree during the NFL lockout
- Handled countless interviews with class after delivering the hit that ended Brett Favre’s consecutive games streak
- Helped a family that lost everything in a fire get back on its feet
- Gave his time to the United Way to help raise awareness and thank the givers
- Attended a seemingly endless number of events helping the greater Buffalo community
- Visited schools, hospitals, and basically anywhere else where he could make a positive impact on kids
- Prepared for life after football by completing an internship at the University of Buffalo last offseason
- Followed up the internship by applying and getting accepted to a master’s program focused on community and economic development
- Earned his own hashtag
- Helped raise money to fight cancer
- Further endeared himself to the Buffalo faithful by embracing the Sabres (even as a Caps fan, it’s pretty cool to see him mix it up on Twitter with Sabres fans during games)
- Basically blended right in by becoming the football player next door
The point is that Moats is pretty great. We’re all too familiar with the stories of pro athletes doing dumb things. Most of us like to believe that if we were blessed enough to play sports professionally, we’d have the perspective and wisdom to appreciate it, make a positive impact on the community, and plan for a life after the game. Obviously, wealthy and talented 20 something placed in that situation don’t always do that though. I probably wouldn’t have. But Moats does. And the NFL, greater Buffalo, and our own JMU community are better off as a result.
The Sports Network released its preseason Top 25 for FCS yesterday and the JMU finds itself at a “yeah, sounds about right” #19. As all FCS fans know, preaseason polls are mostly meaningless, especially given that of the four “somewhat known” national polls, two of them seem to include voters who’ve never watched an FCS game. But while TSN has had it’s ups and downs in terms of quality, it’s the first poll we’ve seen this year that seems to have some clue about this year’s landscape. As noted in the article, many voters in this poll at least did us all the courtesy of leaving off Georgia Southern and App. St. who are ineligible for the SoCon title or the postseason (for that matter ODUh has even shown up in some other polls and they are in the same position), though real GSU did end up in the Top 25.
From a JMU perspective, #19 sounds decent but it’s important to note they are the fifth of five CAA teams in the poll so this accurately reflects at least what the CAA coaches believe. (on that note, we’ve also enjoyed the nugget out of Dukes camp that the boys are breaking the huddle with “FIVE” every time to remind themselves where the so-called experts have placed them). Villanova is the only CAA team in the Top 10 but Towson, Stony Brook, and Richmond are all picked ahead of JMU. Surprisingly, UNH, off 7 straight playoff appearances, is unranked, but the recently underwhelming CAA is already fortunate to be riding the coattails of its own faded glory to the most ranked teams.
Not surprisingly, back-to-back national champion and FCS’s newest dynasty leads the way with North Dakota St. at #1. Montana St., Sam Houston St., and Eastern Washington show the recent power shift to the west by rounding out the Top 4. With their soft schedules aside from their FBS games, these folks aren’t likely to move too much for a while so get used to it.
Whatever the ranking, the Dukes have a TON to prove before being taken too seriously either here or in the polls. We’re certainly hoping they do it!
Yes, that’s a table card from a wedding indicating that the table was named “Bridgeforth Stadium.” A table that I had the pleasure of sitting at with a large contingent of JMU alums while we celebrated the nuptials of a really great couple last night. There was plenty of good cheer, good drinks, and even some dancing by yours truly that could not be described as good. There may or may not have even been a JMU celebrity sighting. And while some of us might be getting a bit older than we were back in college, it was a lot like some of the late nights back in the ‘burg years ago. Provided of course that those late nights included a mutually agreed upon moratorium on shots and some visible sighs of relief when we returned from the reception to find the bar closed freeing us to go to bed before midnight. Just like the old days I tell you.
And now, here are a few links to some JMU stories you might have missed.
You don’t need an appendix to lead a football team. Birdsong might be back by the opener.
With plenty of changes for this year’s Dukes, things are looking good so far.
Dae’Quan Scott, JMU’s 10th leading rusher all time, should be a focal point of the offense.
The Newark Post takes a look at Taylor Reynolds, one who got away for his hometown Delaware Blue Hens.
View your daily video highlights from camp here.
Nice showing for the Dukettes at NDA camp last week.
Yeah. This made me feel indescribably old.
So you’ve heard the rumors like we did that the fantastically busy W&M blog Shades of 48 has a big story involving some serious FOIA requests, some clueless admins at CAA HQ and a few other schools (really?! you thought the CAA was going to raid the A10?! Really?!), and apparently a very laid-back (or completely unconsulted) general counsel at UNCW. Well, we’re going to leave commentary to others on this one, but read it for yourself and then remember the status quo for JMU has already changed with the Carr Report.
Cheer up, this still exists!
Unfortunately, there was even bigger on-field news today as Day 2 of Dukes’ camp left QB1 Michael Birdsong in the hospital. This sounds weird, but thankfully it was just an emergency appendectomy (no burst according to @MatthewStoss), not a “major” injury. In other words, Roethlisberger played again in 9 days and even with an enormously more conservative approach for a young collegian, there would seem to be reason to be hopeful that Birdsong will be back on the field very soon, possibly without missing major game action. However, this does bring back up the age-old Mickey problem that he once again doesn’t have two QB’s who can run the same type of offense in a given year. Oh well, can’t have everything all at once, we guess.
The JMU football team reported to camp today and we’re only 27 days away from the season opener versus Central Connecticut State. Not only does that mean we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, I think it gives us the right to ease ourselves into some real football talk. And while there is no shortage of stories heading into the 2013 season, let’s take a look at a few of the big ones on our minds. read more…
Buzzfeed can be a sports blogger’s best friend in the offseason. Tonight we had the good fortune of stumbling upon this 20 Signs You Went to JMU listicle on the site while we were waiting for football season to get here. (Seriously, that’s what we do now. We just…wait for it.) Against all odds, our tired old asses could actually relate to the overwhelming majority of the items. And it warms our heart to know that 12 is still true. Of course we had a slightly different take on few of them. Regarding 16 for instance, we never called it Rose Library back when we were students either. We just called it a big empty hill across 81. But I digress.
It’s a fun list. And it gives us the chance to date ourselves by pointing out that any list of signs you went to JMU during our time, would have to include a few modifications. In no particular order the following things would absolutely have to make an appearance: dime drafts, Luigi’s pizza, waiting forever for Luigi’s pizza because your waiter was hotboxing in the walk in beer cooler behind Luigi’s, homecoming on the Row, the VAX, Gus’s/Dave’s, Puddleduck, the steakhouse, Mike’s Chevron, Blimpie, Uncle Ron, blue JMU baseball hats, hacky sack on PED, Blue Fox, Door Four Subs, and well, that’s all I’ve got. Because we’re old and can’t remember much you see. And we’re sure you’ve got your own list to share anyway.
We tweeted this pic the other night, but figured it was worth sharing with those of you who aren’t on Twitter. It was taken by Marcus Seiler, JMU alum living in Phoenix, Arizona. We contacted Marcus and he explained that he just rolled up to Cardinals practice with the flag that he hangs in front of his house. Earl Watford, like any good Duke, gladly agreed to pose for a photo showing his JMU pride. And there you go.
Watford is attempting to make the Cardinals after being drafted in the 5th round. He’s not the only Duke trying to make his mark on a NFL team. Veteran linebacker Akeem Jordan signed with the Kansas City Chiefs after playing 6 years with the Eagles. Arthur Moats and Mike Caussin are both back with the Bills. And former Duke highlight machine Scotty McGee has big plans off the field, but is still hoping to find his way into a NFL camp.
