Warning: Serious post. No pictures and few jokes. Read at your own peril.
It has recently been brought to our attention through a number of sources, most notably the overzealous Rockingham Policeman who gave commenter Uncle Ron, his wife, and myself, all graying mid-thirties marrieds developing a bit of a paunch, the full on going over for quietly enjoying an adult beverage (in a Solo Cup directly behind our parking spot by the way) prior to the Morehead St. game, that the administration has apparently decided to issue a fatwa on even responsible tailgating. For a guy who’s version of heaven is packed with lawn chairs and parlor games and who believes wholeheartedly that angels singing will sound like ice rustlin’ in a Coleman Wheelie, this just WILL NOT STAND.
Here’s the story, Dr. Linwood Rose remains President of the University, a position he has held since we were in school, when he replaced the legendary Ron Carrier. Dr. Rose has often been accused of being anti-fun on every level, but then again, who wouldn’t be after the ultimate tippler and supreme supporter of JMU’s country club lifestyle, Uncle Ron. He’s also been seen at times as particularly closed-minded about athletics, having presided over the firestorm of Title IX program shutdowns and never truly supporting the party atmosphere at many JMU games. That said, it’s become tough even for me to cling to this viewpoint when you look at the meteoric rise of the football program, the contacts awarded to the coaching staff, the almost impossible-to-believe magnificent stadium expansion, and most important of all, the absolute 180 on gameday atmosphere that’s taken place since the 2004 Nat’l Championship and the Dark Days when we attended JMU. Back then, you could casually stroll through even the Richmond game on your way to D-Hall just to check out the Band and Dukettes and hardly even notice there was a sporting contest going on. “Tailgating” consisted of me convincing four or five friends to show up at my place, grilling a few hot dogs, and then two of us actually walking to campus, frequently distracted by better options like watching grass grow on Hanson Field.
Beginning with the run in ’04, the JMU gameday experience has completely transformed into my all-time favorite tailgating experience. The two most important factors in my, and by antedoctally most other post-04 season ticket holders, frequent returns to the ‘Burg and renewed obsession with JMU Athletics are the play of the football team and the laid-back, idyllic tailgates.
Bu apparently last year’s out-of-control SpringFest Riots and the resulting shitparade of bad publicity has turned the adminstration into a bunch of teetotaling temperance advocates straight from the Dean Wormer school of dick.
Look, I’m going to give it time and see what happens, and to be honest, old man that I now am, I really don’t care if they’re cracking down on underage drinking in the student parking lots. But a distinction must be made between underage hooligans with no interest in the game and alumni (even young alumni) and friends who are making a significant investment (ticket costs, drive to the game, food and bev before and after, hotel room, sweatshirts, Hello Duke Dog books for the kids) in Harrisonburg and JMU Athletics by attending the events and would like to be treated as responsible ADULTS.
Lastly, you CANNOT have it both ways. If you want 25K Strong in the stands at the monster new stadium and to entertain dreams of FBS football and the accompanying rise in school prestige, you have to allow your alumni and fans to enjoy themselves. NO one, not even Rob, who now that he brings his boys is often limited to a solitary cold one, is going to make that type of commitment to be treated like a criminal and have the letter of the law enforced at all costs instead of the spirit of friendship and goodwill I’ve found the JMU experiece to be full of the last few years!
So THIS is a self-indulgent post. We’ve tried to avoid these, but occasionally we’ve got to throw a bone to our old-school readers. And what better time than a JMU bye week! One little intoxicated TD post tonight and aonther tomorrow! If you don’t get the references in this post, check back later this week.
Most of you are probably trying to catch a little Stanford/Wake Forest or MSU Spartans throwing fabulous fake FG’s in OT to knock off the Irish, but here at the sentimental side of JMUSB, the side that appreciates random bowl games in late December between 7-4 west coast teams with fired coaches, Johnnie Walker Blue and the subtle pleasure of ditching family for a Marlboro Light, we’re flipping between UNLV/Idaho on the U and W&M/ODU on DVR, putting back a few more (than appropriate) Bell’s Two Hearteds, and prepping for JMU @ American Field Hockey tomorrow with possible sightings of JMU legends Karen Zarchin and Amy Brew!
I meant to write about the Fourth Reich (Linwood Rose directing the VA State Troopers, the Rockingham County Sheriff’s, the Harrisonburg PD, and the Campus Cadets) cracking down on tailgating, but then I decided an anti-ODU rant was perfectly in order!
First, around the CAA today. Watched the end of Rhode Island’s upset of New Hampshire today. Great to see the RhodeI Rams whooping it up, proving UNH (and all of the former CAA North) is overrated, and announcers going off about how tough the CAA is week to week on the road.
Richmond Ticks beat Elon Fighting Chrisitans in OT. Good! Lots of folks predicting this is finally the year Elon dethrones (cr)App. St. in the SoCon so the fact the fifth or sixth best team in the CAA took the favorites down “should” speak volumes to the FCS selection committee (a committee that should start paying attention by the way).
UMass damn near took out the Heisman trophy favorite in the Big House. 42-37 Michigan. I’m now outright scared of the Minutemen and you’d think Michigan would figure out scheduling top-level FCS teams is NOT a good idea.
Not the CAA, but the Dukes’ next opponent, Liberty LOST to Robert Morris. So I’ve no idea at all what the Colonials are all about, but I will now officially throw out I expect a full-on beatdown of the Homophobic Falwell’s next week!
Lastly, the most important game of the week long-term to the Dukes, William & Mary 21, Old Dominion 17. Watching right now on DVR. I have “some” love for the Tribe/Griffins thanks to my brother’s attendance and general familiariatiy with the geeks from Williamsburg, but let me just state loud and clear for the very first time, we effin HATE the Monarchs! There’s no halfway on this. No “my father-in-law-used-to-be-the-basketball-colorguy” action and now we sort of like them. They just suck!! Their little traditional “Oyster Bowl” is bush league. The “suites” in the end zone are absolutely “Budget”. The whole program is the college football version of K-Mart. They almost pulled it off tonight, but what a sham:
W&M took them lightly, biggest game of the year for them , 3 turnovers for the Tribe, a fumble in the end zone for the Griffins, 24,000 (nice turnout btw) in the stands, all combined to lead to a closer-than-expected game, but in the end, William & Mary pulled it out and ODU can return to their schedule of has-beens and never-will-be’s. Seriousy, ODU has a good bit of talent already and may only gain in that respect, but they are headed for nothin’ but misery in the CAA. They’re already so high and mighty and proud of themselves and so sure they’re headed for a Miami Hurricanes-type-rise thanks to their proximity to world-class athletes. But in reality, they’re headed for a rude awakening, a TON of weak coaching, mediocre fan support composed mostly of young marines and soon-to-be-controversial racist ole’ fans. Look, W&M’s O-Line is an outright disaster, you had 24k in the stands, they turned it over a bunch, and you still couldn’t beat the fifth best CAA team. What the hell do you think’s gonna happen when the Dukes roll into town?!
Great coverage of JMUSB favorite Coach Antoinette Lucas and JMU Field Hockey, plus a bit of an expose on current donkeydick tailgating policies in the ‘Burg coming tomorrow.
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With all the excitement over the Duke’s big win last weekend, we haven’t had time to address the developing situation with Villanova. For those you haven’t heard, Villanova has been extended an offer to leave the CAA football conference for the Big East. Villanova is the defending FCS National Champion and is currently ranked #1 in the polls. The school plays in the Big East for all sports.
Obviously, this could have quite an impact on the CAA and JMU. How much impact is tough to tell however. First off, it’s not even clear if Nova is going to accept the invitation. That might seem crazy to lots of fans, but as Mickey Matthews pointed out this week, Nova’s facilities aren’t exactly up to par. Their current stadium only holds 12,000 fans, which is below the NCAA standards for FBS programs. The Wildcats would need to make a significant investment to improve their current stadium, build a new one, or venture further off campus for home games to play in another existing facility. Plus, anyone who watched the semi-final game against William & Mary last year, knows that Nova doesn’t exactly pack the stadium they have.
If Nova does make the leap, the loss will be felt by the CAA. Just how much it will be felt is tough to tell. Taking a national championship contender out of the conference has got to be bad right? On the surface, yes. It’s not good to lose a consistently strong program. However, I don’t think it will damage the CAA’s reputation or drastically decrease the leagues level of competition. Plus ODU and Georgia State are ready to join the league in the next few years. It’s unlikely that either school will immediately fill a void left by Villanova in terms of competitiveness. Both schools are situated in fertile recruiting areas and it already seems quite likely that they’ll have more fan support from day one than Nova ever did.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out and how the other CAA schools, particularly JMU, react. I’m fairly certain that just about every JMU fan I know would jump at the chance for the Dukes to be in Nova’s position right now. They’re not though. As Rick Pitino might say, “The Big East isn’t coming through that door folks, the ACC isn’t coming through that door.” Nova has a significant advantage in that it plays its other sports, notably basketball, in the Big East. JMU does not and it’s tough to imagine that a BCS conference would randomly invite the Dukes to join up. I’m not even sure if it’s permissible under NCAA by-laws. If I’m JMU AD Jeff Bourne however, I’m calling every FBS school and conference administrator I can get a hold off and at least throwing the Dukes hat in the ring. I’m firmly against the Dukes jumping to a crappy FBS conference just to move up. It’s time to start seriously exploring the options however.
Needless to say, my Dukes cap is proudly attached to my work bag and likely to remain there at least through Liberty, but we must interrupt this broadcast to bring JMU Nation a reminder courtesy of Jazzie B. and Soul II Soul and do a quick reality check. While it’s nice to have an extra week to celebrate, please remember what frequent commenter Uncle Ron has to say about the formerly lovable, currently insufferable Red Sox fans after their first brush with success in ’04 and not act the fool. (Or at least pace ourselves, secure in the knowledge we’ve got till at least 2015 to lord this over our VT friends and family!)
But more importantly, we’ve also got to capitalize on the momentum by bringing our friends and fellow alums onboard the bandwagon while simultaneously warning them (and ourselves) about the perilous, terrifying, potentially soul-crushing road ahead. What am I talking about, you say? Check out the email list below I am grateful to have gotten today from JMUSB’s senior Richmond correspondents Landeta and Knopper. Here are the team’s on the Dukes’ remaining schedule and their current FCS rankings:
home 15 Liberty
home 11 Delaware
away n/a Towson
home 8 New Hampshire
away 1 Villanova
home 16 Umass
away 9 UR
home 12 W&M
away n/a Maine
Get those egos in check, Mickey!
The punchdrunk Hokies may turn out to have been an easier obstacle to clear than the CAA schedule when it’s all said and done this year. Rembemb, CrApp. St. lost to both Wofford and Georgia Southern the year they beat Michigan (though they did recover to win the NC). While this win certainly goes a long way towards showing the team the incredibly high ceiling for this year, it by no means guarantees success, or even a playoff berth, especially under the enormous weight of expectations it brings.
Now back to your regularly scheduled celebrations, PurpleOuts, and gloating.
Look for another bit of commentary on the administration’s dangerous fatwa against responsible tailgating later this week as well as updates on non-football items and NFL Dukes.
Lastly, please become a JMUSB fan on FB, follow us on Twitter, and most of all, share the blog with your fellow Dukes. Lots of momentum this week!
Oh yeah, and don’t forget to check out the JMUSB T-Shirt shop, featuring new items which can be used to “not go overboard about last weekend!”
Waking up in a world where the Dukes are best team in the Commonwealth and you know you’ll have a few years to wave this over your in-laws heads (at least until they play again) is really something special. Thankfully, the Dukes have a bye week coming up so the boys will have plenty of time to come down from this, put it behind them, and get ready for Liberty (who also beat an FBS team yesterday in Ball St.). And even better, we’ll have extra time to write sanctimonious stories about the Dukes and shower them with accolades here on JMUSB. Not to mention crafting some new t-shirts related to being the Hokie’s Daddy!
But first of all, we thought everyone might enjoy a rundown of all the JMU love flowing out of commentators from Harrisonburg to Seattle yesterday!
One quick educational point for those of you discovering for the first time that your alma mater has made some real changes. First, this is NOT the biggest win in program history. Second biggest, and might be the one that sells out the new stadium next year (if they can follow it up with a strong season), but this doesn’t happen without the National Championship over Montana in ’04. That was the spark that started the burn. This was just a big, fat, barrel of gasoline being thrown on the fire.
Plenty of links and pics after the jump.
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You can't tackle Drew Dudzik!
I do not believe what I just saw. The one and only JMU Dukes knocked off the Virginia Tech Hokies 21-16! I really do not have words to describe this. I’m not ashamed to admit that I was on the verge of throwing up the entire 4th quarter. On second though, yes I am, but screw it, the Dukes Won!
I spent the better part of the game texting with fellow JMU fans. First it was just me and Jamie, sending what would best be described as “moral victory texts”. Things like, “JMU really made them earn that TD”, but then it evolved into things like “Wow. I didn’t see that coming” and “JMU is hanging in there”. After the Dukes TD drive in the 3rd quarter, more people starting texting me. By the 4th quarter, my phone was beeping every 5 seconds and my increasingly euphoric texts to friends were garbled and misspelled because my hands were shaking with excitement.
Todd and I are going to both celebrate for a while. Like every other JMU alum I know, we’re on cloud nine. We’ll try to gather our thoughts after we calm down a bit and post a real game wrap soon. Boise State can’t like this.
Go Dukes!
Our beloved JMU Dukes will make the 2 hour trip down Interstate 81 to play the Virginia Tech Hokies this weekend. The Dukes will be looking to knock off a FCS opponent for the first time in their last 10 attempts. The Hokies will simply be looking to pick up a win and remove the bad taste from their mouth after Monday’s loss to Boise State.
What the Hell’s a Hokie?
Many JMU fans don’t know anything about some of the schools on JMU’s schedule. That’s not the case with Virginia Tech. Chances are if you went to high school in Northern Virginia like we did, about 1/3 of your graduating class went there. In all likelihood many of us would have gone there ourselves if our high school grades were bad enough, or if we graduated high school in the early 90’s and we were too lazy to fill out a real college application with essays. They have a “big time” football program though, recognized for having the stones to play tough out of conference opponents. They’re also known for losing to said opponents.
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Todd and I are still putting the finishing touches on our official game preview for the JMU vs Virginia Tech clash this weekend. In the meantime, we reached out to the Hokie blog, Gobbler Country, to give us a fan’s take on the 2010 Hokies. Check out the blog for great coverage of this week’s JMU opponent, including a Q&A with JMUSB. Big thanks to Gobbler Country and Go Dukes! Also, Nova/DC Duke Club has hooked up with Bailey’s at Ballston Mall to show every game accessible this season again. That means you can even join fellow Dukes for this ESPN3 telecast, although it’s not clear whether we’ll be segregated from Hokie fans. (Big Al’s in the West End for you RIC folks). Hope to meet some readers.
Most college football fans really respect the fact that Beamer and the Hokies are willing to schedule power programs out of conference, like USC, Alabama, and Boise State. Would you like to see Tech continue with that strategy or take a different approach and schedule some less challenging out of conference opponents to open the season?
I really like the idea of playing teams like Boise State out of conference. I think it’s important to challenge yourself before you get into conference play so you have a better idea of what your team looks like. What I’m definitely not a fan of is playing those teams on the opening week. In the last three years we’ve started 0-1 because we were trying to work new guys into the system and had inexperienced players getting thrown into the fire.
Wither the coaching staff needs become better at having these younger, inexperienced players ready for the first week or we need to just play Little Sisters of the Poor to open the season. Playing these games right away makes the offseason more fun and exciting, but they do you no good if you consistently struggle at the beginning of the season.
It was a tough loss to Boise State, but as outside observers we saw plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the 2010 Hokies (Jarrett Boykin’s play for example). Now that you’ve had a few days to digest the loss, what were some of the positives you take away from the game?
On offense, it’s that Tyrod Taylor is an outstanding quarterback. His final four passes were incomplete on Monday, but he connected on 15 of his first 18 attempts. That tells me that he wasn’t just whistling Dixie when he said he wanted to complete 70 percent of his passes this season. We weren’t able to go deep very often against Boise State, which is one of the reasons they were able to clog up our run game. If Taylor stays this accurate consistently through the season, though, it should mean big things for the running backs.
On defense, there’s a lot of speed and talent. Our problem right now is the mental aspect of the game and fundamentals. We made a lot of bone-headed mistakes on defense against Boise State and missed who knows how many tackles. If we can get that fixed and stay healthy, I think the defense will be fine.
Tell us about how Tech fans view this game with JMU. It’s a game that Tech is obviously expected to win, but won’t earn them much credit with pollsters. On the other hand, if Tech lost it would be crushing in the polls. What is the upside from the fan’s perspective?
The upside is, assuming you take care of business, you’re going to figure out what the ceiling is for this team. If we have some of the same errors we had against Boise State, like the missed tackles and missed blocks, then that’s something that’s probably going to plague us through the year. And if we can pull away early we’ll get a good look at some of the younger players and what they can bring to the table.
The problem is it’s not like we’re playing Campbell or VMI. If JMU plays mistake-free football, it could easily make this a competitive game. JMU’s got a good coach, plays in the toughest conference in FCS and doesn’t shy away from playing up to FBS. You’re a dangerous team, but one that Tech should beat if it doesn’t crap the bed.
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When Justin Thorpe injured his knee with about 30 seconds left in the first half of JMU’s win over Morehead State, it looked bad. Real bad. It was a pleasant surprise when it was reported he’d only miss one game. Unfortunately, Thorpe had a MRI which showed that the Dukes’ back-up QB has significant bone bruising and is now projected to be out 6 weeks.
It’s easy to question Coach Matthews decision to not take a knee on the play Thorpe was injured. The Dukes were up 34-0 with around 30 seconds left in the half. That’s not really the point though. Thorpe had seen plenty of action already, lining up at WR and wildcat QB throughout the game, and he was probably going to play the entire second half at QB. He could have been injured on any play. The real questions focus on what Thorpe’s injury means for the Dukes this year and beyond.
Drew Dudzik is the Dukes’ #1 QB and Justin Thorpe is the #2. True freshman, Jace Edwards is the #3 QB and Matthews and the staff were intending to redshirt him. Now if Dudzik gets hurt, JMU faces the real possibility of having to pull the redshirt off Edwards. JMU also has the option of moving WR Kavon Seaton to QB to back-up Dudzik, as Seaton played QB last year. The Dukes could also rely on WR Quintin Hunter who played QB in high school. Things become a little more dicey with JMU set to play VA Tech on Saturday. For all intensive purposes the two primary goals heading into that game are to 1.) cash the $450,000 check Tech is cutting JMU and 2.) get back to the ‘Burg without any injuries. I’ve got imagine the play was to plant Drew on the bench if/when the game got out of hand. Thorpe’s injury might make that more difficult.
Players risk injury on every play, so apparently Matthews seemed to believe that Thorpe’s talent merited getting him on the field as much as possible, even if it meant risking him as the back-up QB. I actually agree with the logic. Thorpe got killed (unjustly) by some fans for his performance as a QB last year, but the complaints centered on his decision making and throwing accuracy. I didn’t like him at QB either, but I’d love him at nearly any other position, offense or defense. The guy is crazy talented and a true game-breaker with the ball in his hands. He just might not be a classic QB.
Freshman QB Jace Edwards has supposedly been wowing everyone at practice. If he’s a good as everyone says, then I trust him as Drew’s back-up. If Drew does go down, pull the redshirt and see what the young kid can do. In my ideal world JMU would have Dudzik play out the season, Thorpe return mid-season and continue to play wildcat QB and WR, and Edwards continuing to prep for next year. Then next season I’d actually love to see Edwards get the starting nod with Thorpe lining up at WR, RB, wildcat QB, etc. Just find a way to get Thorpe the ball in as many different ways as possible. Without the burden of running the offense full time, I think Thorpe would be unstoppable. He’d also be a hell of a weapon for a young QB to rely on. For now though, I’d be a lot happier if he could just suit up Saturday.
The view from Todd's seats.
JMU opened up the 2010 football season with a 48-7 blowout of Morehead State yesterday. Clear blue skies and temps in the 70’s, makes for a outstanding day in the ‘burg. Throw a big Dukes’ victory on top of it and you’ve got a near perfect Saturday. I made the trip down with my 2 year old future Duke, and met Todd, commenter Uncle Ron and his wife. We also caught up with some other friends on campus. We had no real plan and while the pregame tailgating was fun, it was clear we were still shaking the rust off and not in mid-season form. The same could probably be said for the Dukes.
The game was never close, as JMU took advantage of several Morehead State turnovers and never looked back. Kerby Long had an awesome day, highlighted by a terrific catch and run to put the Dukes in scoring position on the opening drive. Long racked up 2 TDs and 175 yards in his first game since the tragic loss of his father last February. Dudzik made some good decisions, had a spectacular TD pass to Long, but had some iffy throws and a pick. The Dukes offense coughed it up 3 times. Not good. Mickey definitely had them throwing more though, and it’s pretty obvious that this team has a number of weapons with big play ability.
Defensively, the Dukes look dominant. It’s tough to read too much into the performance given the quality of the competition, but I loved the intensity and the fact that guys were just swarming to the ball. I know it was just Morehead State, but I’m optimistic that the D is gonna be really tough this year.
However, the victory might be overshadowed by the injury Justin Thorpe suffered near the end of the first half. Last year’s, CAA Offensive Rookie of the year lost the QB battle to Drew Dudzik in the offseason and appeared to be slated to learn from the sidelines this year. Coach Matthews apparently decided Thorpe was too talented to leave on the sideline and he brought in to play QB and WR sporadically in the first half. Thorpe is unquestionable a threat with the ball in his hands, but it’s a high risk, high reward strategy to say the least. Personally, unless you’re willing to pull the redshirt off one of the freshman QB if necessary, I question the value of the strategy. The Dukes now face VA Tech with Dudzik and no real back-up. That’s not good, considering the 2 primary goals of Saturday’s game seem to be to cash the $450,000 check and leave Blacksburg with no injuries. Now the Dukes are looking at having Drew play the entire game, or bringing in another offensive player such as Kevan Seaton or Quintin Hunter to take mop-up duty.
