If you happen to be a Skins fan around my age, then you’re one of the few people on the planet who understand how an old, bald, bitter, condescending, and orange man like Tony Kornheiser became a national sports pundit despite obviously not having watched an actual game he wasn’t paid to cover in the last decade: The Bandwagon! This weekly column served as one of the true highlights of the magical 1991 Season when the Skins ruled the world and Chainsaw Dan Snyder was nowhere in sight and was definitely the first sports “column” I followed religiously.
All Aboard!!
Just wanted to give credit where it’s due as after tonight’s beatdown of fellow CAA “hot” team UNCWilmington despite losing Andrey Semenov to injury (we’ll update on Twitter @jmusportsblog when we hear more), the Dukes Bandwagon is now not only rolling, but absolutely smoking! Time for all you alums who have been wishin’ this would happen to start believin’ and climb on board The Dream Express!
The picture on the left says it all and the biggest week of JMU Men’s Basketball since Lefty left the ‘Burg is upon us. And the Dukes enter this week’s massive tilts @ Old Dominion and then hosting George Mason in FIRST PLACE IN THE CAA! We’ll update viewing party info for the ODU game as soon as we have it and we encourage everyone who can to make an effort to find your way to the Convo next Saturday morning. GMU game is now a rare 11 a.m. tipoff so that it can be broadcast nationally on ESPNU and it’s time to spread the word and bring back the Electric Zoo! Seriously, if nothing else, start spreading the word to climb aboard the bandwagon!
If we learned anything from the 2010 Football season (other than that the Dukes’ version of The Pistol is more of a supersoaker), it’s that you have to enjoy the good times when they come and not spend all your time betting on bigger things down the road. With that in mind, it’s officially been a banner week in JMU Athletics this week! 2011 has arrived with an almost unimaginable sports explosion of Dukes highlight moments and, as student’s returned to the ‘Burg, this week quietly became one of the sneaky-best in JMU Sports History! This week has actually been so solid it’s hard to know which story is the lead.
Charles Haley a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame – The former Dukes D-Linemen and 5-time Super Bowl Champ has again made it into the final 18 for this year’s class. Would be an interesting year for the HOF ceremony given the likelihood there won’t be a HOF Preseason Game due to the looming NFL work stoppage. For the record, ex-Duke and Redskin WR Gary Clark did not make the finals, but was among the preliminary nominees for this year’s class! Now that’s the one I’d attend for!
CJ Sapong selected 10th Overall in the MLS Draft by Sporting Kansas City. The former Kansas City Wizards, one of MLS’ more storied clubs and an original league member, is attempting to reenergize it’s supporters by rebranding the Club “Sporting KC”, playing in a new stadium, and selecting the offensive dynamo from JMU who was the darling of the league’s scouting camp/combine. He’s literally all over the KC website with videos, a new twitter account, and lots of mugging for the camera!
Teresa Rynier selected 24th Overall by Philadelphia Independence! Sticking with the footie, JMU Women’s Soccer standout Teresa Rynier was also selected in the WPS draft this week. Huge congrats to Both CJ and Teresa! They’re going to be exciting reps for all of us in JMU Nation.
CJ Sapong with his new Manager for Sporting KC of the MLS
Finally, and most importantly, it’s officially time to sing and shout and go a little nuts about Men’s Basketball! I know, I know, you haven’t heard those words since Lefty was pretending to Coach the team and Kent Culucko was delighting fans and ruining the social lives of coeds everywhere. But I really can’t say anything else except this line from the official JMU Sports storyabout yesterday’s victory of Georgia State which avenged the second of JMU’s three losses this year (also split with Marshall and we can only hope we get another shot at Kansas St.): JMU improved to 14-3 overall and 4-1 in the CAA. The Dukes maintained a tie with the 1981-82 team for the best start in school history and registered their longest winning streak since eight in a row in the 1992-93 campaign. JMU also improved to 8-0 at home for the fourth time.
Rumor is the Convo was rocking and a few JMUSB friends began to dream of headier days, zoocages, upsets of Big Dog, and maybe, just maybe avoiding Day One of the CAA Tourney, the Dukes long-time home. But again, no need to get ahead of ourselves and let’s celebrate like it’s 1995. Since Ga. St. was stuck in Atlanta’s ice storm, the game had been postponed to Thursday which allowed for the first women’s/men’s doubleheader since 1988, bumped up the crowd, and injected some real excitement into this season. Also didn’t hurt the women kicked off the night with a thrilling overtime victory over Drexel.
The Men host Northeastern tomorrow (Women travel to Mason on Sunday) night at 7 and we can only hope the student’s realize the opportunity this season is presenting them to enjoy some nearly forgotten hoops mania at ye’ ole’ Convo!
p.s. Nearly lost in all the excitement a couple of other items we’ll try and get back to postgame tomorrow or Sunday. 1) NoVa/DC Viewing party for the ODU game next week is tentatively being hooked up at Bailey’s! 2) Football got a potentially big-time QB transfer from Kansas St. this week, and 3) YOU HAVE TO CHECK OUT THE BRIDGEFORTH WEBCAM DURING THE DAY!!! Trust us, just do it. Words cannot adequately describe the excitement here! Hopefully the replica arrives soon!
JMU alum Bill Butcher and his wife Karen founded the new Port City Brewing Company in Alexandria, VA. Readers of the blog know that the love that Todd and I have for craft beer rivals our passion for the Dukes. We were fortunate to do a Q&A with Bill last year and have following Port City Brewing’s progess since then. They are putting the final touches on the brewery and gearing up to brew this week, but Bill was gracious enough to give me a peek behind the scenes last weekend. The first batch of beer should be availabe in a few weeks. In the meantime, here are a few pics to wet your appetite.
Mike Barber from the Harrisonburg Daily News reported that QB Bill Cosh is transferring from Kansas State to JMU. Mickey Matthews had indicated that he’d be open to bringing in a transfer QB in the offseason and I guess he was serious.
As Barber points out, the move leaves JMU with 4 QB’s on the roster. Former CAA Offensive Rookie of the Year, Justin Thorpe, wild-cat wonder Dae’Quan Scott, Jace Edwards, and now Cosh. Thorpe has the most experience, but has yet to throw the ball consistently on the college level. He’s an outstanding runner though. The same can be said for Dae’Quan Scott. Edwards is a dual threat who supposedly throws the ball a bit better than Scott or Thorpe. Cosh on the other hand, sounds like a pure passer. He set all sorts of records in the state of Maryland, tossing for over 3,900 yards and 56 touchdowns in 2009!
This certainly makes things interesting for JMU. Obviously after struggling on offense this past year, changes had to be made going forward. We could be looking at a complete change in the offensive philosophy however. Rumor had it that Edwards was in the running for the starting job and that he has the arm to be a real passing threat. He ran for over 900 yards his senior year in high school though, so chances are he’d fit with the Dukes typical offense. This Cosh kid sounds like he can just sling it though. Even Mickey Matthews wouldn’t bring him in and not air it out, would he?
I know recruits always sound great on paper, but I’m beyond excited for Cosh anyway. Watching JMU’s offense was just brutal last year. The team had so many weapons that they just couldn’t utilize consistently. Thorpe has the most experience of the four QB’s on the roster, but Todd and I have long been in favor of playing more a slash role. He’s such a talent that he could play tailback, wide receiver, or QB. Same thing with Dae’Quan Scott. Maybe now Mickey can let Edwards and Cosh battle it out at QB and utilize the other two elsewhere. The Dukes could be awfully tough to prepare for and even harder to stop, if Matthews gets creative with all these weapons.
The Dukes' Humpty Hitchens
After last week’s crushing defeat of Towson, I was looking forward to an easy victory over a rather weak William & Mary team yesterday. I was actually hoping it would be a laugher that I could turn off early to be honest. The Dukes did not deliver. Instead they provided a game that had me on the edge of my seat until the very end. JMU rallied late, really late, to beat the Tribe 84-79 in Williamsburg. JMU trailed practically the whole game and didn’t take the lead until 1:41 to go.
To say that this game was an emotional rollercoaster would not be accurate. It was more like 38 minutes and change of consistent frustration, followed by about a minute and half of excitement. JMU shot the ball well all night, but couldn’t contain William & Mary and trailed almost the entire game. Every time the Dukes made a run and looked poise to take control of the game, the Tribe would regain compusure and hold the lead. JMU trailed by as many as 10 in the second half. Down 77-70 with 3:29 to go, the Dukes woke up and finally took control of the game. JMU finished with a furious 14-2 rally to secure the win.
There are two ways to look at this game. You could say it’s just evidence that this JMU team isn’t as good as it’s 13-3 record. You could also say that it was a gut check win and proof that this Dukes squad has the toughness it needs to compete for the CAA crown. I’m choosing to go with the latter.
There is no debating that JMU’s defensive effort was disappointing in the first half. They lacked intensity and let another team light them up from long range. William & Mary went 6 for 12 behind the arc in the opening 20 minutes. It’s troubling for JMU that slow starts like last night’s have almost become the norm. It might be troubling for the rest of the CAA that JMU seems to be able to regularly recover and win without their A game.
The refs did JMU no favors last night, calling the game extremely tight. Five JMU players had at least 4 fouls. Somehow JMU was still able to physically dominate the Tribe on the glass. JMU outrebounded the Tribe 42-22. The Dukes’ foul trouble also forced Coach Brady to juggle the line-up throughout the game. Players took advantage of their minutes and 6 Dukes scored in double-figures. Humpty Hitchens led the way with 17 points, including 5 three pointers.
After a few relatively quiet games, Denzel Bowles appeared to get his mojo back in the second half. He had a rebound a put back to give JMU the lead with 1:41 to go and controlled the boards down the stretch. Denzel’s final line was 14 points, 12 boards, 2 assists, and 2 blocks.
I would have preferred for JMU to run away with it, but I came away from the game more impressed with the team’s toughness than I’d ever been. It’s still frustrating that JMU can’t seem to play a full 40 minutes, but at least they don’t give up. There were countless times last night where a lesser team would have. They also refused to panic. They trailed the entire game, but hung in there and finally took the lead with 1:41 left. Not at all what I expected, but a great result.
I received an email from the Alumni Association this week. It said “Have you ever imagined how you might improve the quality of student learning at James Madison University?” Well, umm, no. Not even once. I mean, I suppose it would be nice if JMU students continued to have as great an experience as I did in college, and I’d certainly prefer it if the cops could refrain from tear-gassing them. I don’t think I’ve ever wasted one second pondering how the quality of student learning could be improved though. However, as a management consultant with an MBA this little challenge is perfect for me. My entire existence centers on my ability to come up with random ideas that I will not take responsibility for implementing. So I thought about it and I’ve got a good idea.
One word. NERDS. JMU needs to nerd it up. Majorly. Just fill the campus with a bunch of high SAT nerds. I’m talking wall to wall nerds focused on nothing but academic achievement and inventing all sorts of crazy stuff that will blow people’s minds. Nothing but publishing papers, breakthroughs in the labs, and programming computers. How will this help the student learning experience you might ask. I have no idea. It probably won’t. But it will help me by making others think I’m way smarter than I actually am. Then I can ride those inflated credentials into big money and just coast through life. And you can to.
I know JMU is a good school. JMU grads are known as hard workers and fun people to be around. That’s got to change. I want the campus to be so filthy with nerds that everyone assumes all JMU grads are off the charts geniuses best left to themselves. Then some company can grossly overpay me, give my own office, and leave me alone to “think”. I’ll hide in my office all day goofing off, only emerging to tell my coworkers that I’m close to a breakthrough on something they couldn’t possible understand. And they’ll believe me.
This is not a plan for the faint of heart. I’ve already heard all the complaints. “What about all the fun parties?” Gone. Parties are a senseless distraction. Students will be granted one hour a week to play World of Warcraft on the computers they build with their bare hands. “What about all the hot woman?” They’re way gone to. Here’s the thing though. I don’t care. I’m already married to a lovely JMU gal. You snooze, you lose suckers. “What about the humanities and performing arts programs?” You ever take a ride on a sociology major’s yacht? No, right? Cause they don’t have yachts. Those programs are slashed. Math, science, and computers only.
I know it sounds tough. It is. I’ve carefully analyzed it though and it’s absolutely worth it. Sure, thousands of 18-22 year old kids will need to trade the social experience of a lifetime for a few years of unbelievable stress and pressure. But doing so will enable me and you to ride the coattails of their academic achievement to plush gigs and easy living. It’s a sacrifice worth making.
And if the administration doesn’t like it, then my other idea is to just dump a ton of money into sports so I can watch the Dukes on TV every week.
The Dukes absolutely destroyed the Towson Tigers by the score of 99-68 in the Convo tonight. JMU started off slow with a couple early turnovers and sloppy mistakes. Fortunately Andrey Semenov sparked a run and the Dukes never looked back. The starters built up a lead and then the back-ups came in and picked up where the regulars left off.
What a difference a year makes, huh? Last year, heck for most of the past decade, JMU fans clung to moral victories and praised the Dukes for keeping it close in CAA play. The Dukes entered tonight 11-3 and yet lots of fans were still waiting to see this team wake up and play up to its potential. Well, this victory probably gave those fans a little bit of what they were looking for. It also might raise expectations even higher.
Towson is by no means a power program, but JMU just blew their doors off. About the only disappointment tonight, was the fact that the Dukes fell 1 point shy of the century mark and thus denied fans in attendance free ice cream from Klines. How dominant were the Dukes? Well, the team shot 66% for the game, shot 85% from the line, hit 12 threes, every player on the roster scored including Freshman walk-on Andre Pierce, and the team had 26 assists. It was really just a total beat down.
So this was an outstanding result, but there is a lot of basketball to play. The win puts the Dukes at 12-3 (2-1) and tied with a whole mess of teams a game behind George Mason in the CAA standings. The league is as good as it’s been in years and could earn multiple bids. No reason to think that the Dukes couldn’t earn one if they play up to their potential.
Julius Wells hit 9 of 11 from behind the arc and scored 28 points to help the Dukes avoid an ugly loss to Northeastern. The Dukes narrowly defeated the Huskies 75-69. JMU looked sluggish for much of the game and had to come from behind again. Wells hot shooting and some clutch play from Denzel Bowles and Devon Moore down the stretch, got the Dukes over the hump and back to .500 at 1-1 in CAA play.
Here’s our quick take on some of the highs and lows of the win.
Thumbs Up
Julius Wells: We’ve been tough on Julius for his shot selection in the past. At times, he’s seemed to be a guy who earned the label of “shooter” purely because he took a lot of shots, and not because he made a lot. Tonight he was brilliant however. Again, he hit 9 of 11 from downtown. He was 21 of 71 from 3 point range for the season heading into this game. He also had some big boards and played tough D down the stretch. Just a great game from a guy who’s done a pretty good job lately adjusting to his role on this year’s team. It’s nice to see him step up and shoulder the scoring load on a night when his team needed him to. I vote no on the “Ju Ju” nickname however.
Denzel and Devon: I’m lumping these two together, because Brady relied on them to close out the win. Devon handled the ball down the stretch, and Denzel hit a clutch shot to help seal it. Moore plays like a veteran despite the fact that he’s technically only a sophomore. Some nights he’s a scorer and other nights he just facilitates things. Tonight Devon let Julius shoot the lights out, got Denzel the ball when he had to, and calmly finished with 12 assists. Denzel is clearly the Dukes best weapon and it’s comforting to know that he can step up to hit the big shot, even when he isn’t at his best for much of a game. On Julius’s big night, Denzel got fewer looks, but still managed to score 19 points. He also grabbed 5 offensive rebounds.
Grinding: This game was much closer than I expected, especially considering that Northeastern was without leading scorer Chaisson Allen. It’s kind of cliche to say good teams find ways to win when they don’t have their “A-game”, but it’s true. It’s also exactly what JMU did tonight.
Thumbs Down
Slow Start…Again, Sluggish Play, etc: Let’s just go ahead and lump all the bad stuff together. I love the fact that JMU has been able to consistently recover from poor starts and win come from behind games. I do not like the fact that they continue to have these poor starts. Luckily Julius got hot tonight and the Dukes crawled their way back into the game. The game stayed tight right until the end though. And this was a depleted Huskies team playing without its best player. The CAA is a tough league and JMU can’t afford to lose focus or playing sluggish basketball against most teams. Just ask the ODU Monarchs, who got beat by Towson earlier this evening. My bad. Lots of close CAA games tonight, but ODU won. VCU got upset by GA State though.
No need to dwell on the negative though. The Dukes are 11-3 overall, 1-1 in the CAA, and for the first time in ages look they could really contend.
The Dukes traveled to Ohio (the nation’s taint) on New Year’s Eve and polished off their best non-conference start to a season in over a decade with a business-like victory over a tough Kent St. team. The win was even more impressive considering it snapped a 15 game home winning streak for the Golden Flashes, a perennial tough out in the MAC. Here’s the full story from JMU Sports.
Now for the scientific breakdown you’ve come to expect from JMUSB. And by scientifc breakdown, I’m talking the kind of analysis that makes Dan Dierdorf, Jon Gruden, and Dickie V look like a breakout session at TED. This game was low-scoring and not particularly pretty but it provided the most hope for big things to come this season for a bunch of reasons. First, Kent St. took away Denzel Bowles by double-teaming hard in the first half. This created a lot of open looks for the Dukes, but they couldn’t knock them down. Still, they persisted in looking for alternatives and found the answer in Rayshawn Goins, who responded with a big double-double.
Little Big Man!
Second, the Dukes appeared to be gelling defensively and even, gasp, maxing out on the effort scale at that end of the court! Hopefully Coach Brady’s work is beginning to pay off. Semenov and Louis continue to provide great minutes on defense (is Semenov taking Well’s spot for good?), the Dukes are finally starting to limit their turnovers, and most importantly, they’re realizing they can discover ways to win even without heroic efforts from Denzel and Devon Moore.
Dukes open CAA play in earnest with Northeastern coming to the Convo on Monday. The early conference slate is manageable and home-heavy so the Dukes need to turn this momentum into a quick start before they hit the ODU/GMU/VCU/Drexel portion later on. Let’s Go Dukes!
I trust everyone is having a happy holiday season. There really isn’t much going on in the world of JMU sports, so Todd and I are laying low and taking advantage of the opportunity to spend some time with family and friends. Hopefully each of you are able to do the same. And speaking of family, we should probably mention that each of our better halves showed their support for our Dukes sports obsession on Christmas morning. I don’t want to spill the details, but thanks to Todd’s lovely wife the JMUSB tailgate experience is sure to be much better next year. And my wonderful wife got me tickets to the JMU vs GMU game. She also got me 2 seats for the Avett Brothers show in February, making this Christmas pretty fantastic in the ticket department.
The Dukes have a big out of conference test against Kent State this weekend before the CAA schedule kicks in. We’ll be back with our thoughts on the Dukes win (think positive). Until then, enjoy the rest of the holidays and stay safe. And if you got any cash for Christmas, don’t forget to take advantage of the JMUSB match for Autism Speaks donations. We’ll be wrapping things up and making the matching donation before year end. Thanks to all of you who’ve donated already.
Happy New Year!
