Three former JMU Dukes got their first taste of live action in the NFL pre-season last night. Scotty McGee and Mike Caussin suited up for the Jags as they faced off with the Eagles, and Arthur Moats and the Bills played the Redskins at Fed Ex. All three players put forth solid efforts.
The Jaguars-Eagles clash featured three former Dukes. Along with McGee and Caussin, 4th-year linebacker Akeem Jordan played for the Eagles. McGee was drafted primarily for his special teams abilities and the Jags are giving him a shot to win the punt return job. He showed flashes of what made him so exciting at JMU, racking up over 100 returning yards on the night, including a 46 yarder! He also got some reps at corner. Caussin, who signed with the Jags as undrafted free agent, had two receptions for 25 yards.
Not to be outdone, the Redskins-Bills clash featured multiple Dukes on the field as well. Of course only Arthur Moats was playing, but Lindsey Czarniak was reporting from the field and she’s an alum, so I”m counting her. Several Buffalo linebackers were held out of last night’s game, so Moats got a lot of playing time. After playing on the line throughout college, Moats handled his first game as a linebacker pretty well. He had 4 tackles on the night and certainly appeared to do enough to show the Bills coaches he’s got real potential at linebacker.
The wait is over. JMU officially began camp today with the first football practice of the 2010 season. Ninety players showed up to camp including one who’s a bit of surprise. Wide Receiver Quintin Hunter reported to practice and according to Mickey Matthews is officially a member of the Dukes. Hunter is a transfer from UVA who was admitted to JMU late last week.
It would hypocritical of me to imply that a transfer from a BCS transfer is a guaranteed success. However, Hunter is a versatile athlete who could become a weapon for Drew Dudzik and the Dukes. He played QB and was also a two time all state defensive back in high school. He was considered a four star recruit by Rivals. After playing wide receiver for the Cavs as a true freshman last season, he then took reps at QB during spring practices before leaving the team. He says he wants to play receiver for JMU and has 3 seasons of eligibility remaining.
One interesting twist to the story is the fact that according to this report by The Daily Progress, Hunter told his former teammates he was going to JMU to try to play basketball. He averaged 20 points a game as a senior in high school and led Orange High School to the Virginia Group AA state tournament. According to Mike Barber’s twitter though, Matt Brady had never heard of Hunter, so his former teammates seem to be misinformed.
I’m feeling pretty good about Coach Brady’s recruiting class and the make-up of the hoops roster. The Dukes receiver situation has me slightly less enthused, and this sounds like a big upgrade at the position.
The Disappoint of the 2009 Season: Richmond won the National Championship in 2008, yet some fans would probably tell you last year’s team was even better. They might be right. The Spiders rattled off 8 straight wins to start the 2009 season, before narrowly losing to eventual National Champ, Villanova 21-20 for their only loss of the regular season. Even with the loss Richmond entered the playoffs as a legit contender to repeat. However, Richmond’s dreams of repeating ended abruptly on December 5 when App State knocked them out of the playoffs with a 35-31 win.
The Devastation of the Offseason: With the loss to App State coming on a Saturday, Richmond fans had all day Sunday to cry in their sweater vests and begin the grieving process. Just when they started to feel better, they woke up on Monday, December 7 and had to face the fact that Head Coach Mike London was shuffling down Rt 64 to Coach the Cavaliers. It was almost enough to make even the most ardent Richmond hater feel bad for the fans. Almost.
The Savior Arrives: Richmond moved on. Fan opinion was divided over the hiring of Latrell Scott to succeed London however. Some fans liked Richmond hiring a young guy who’d embrace his first head coaching job with enthusiasm (like London did), while others saw the move as a sign of the program’s return to mediocrity. But then from the West came a real, honest to goodness, blue-chip QB ready to take the reigns of the Spider offense. The one and only Aaron Corp announced he was transferring from USC to Richmond. Spider fans rejoiced.
Whoa! Who the %^@# Leaves USC for Richmond? Apparently Aaron Corp does. I don’t get it either. One minute you’re one of the top high school recruits in the nation signing on to play with the mighty Trojans and then in the blink of an eye you’re moving 3,000 miles away to play for a first year head coach at Richmond. I guess it wasn’t really in the blink of an eye. It was more like 2 years of not being able to ascend to the top of the depth chart or even solidify yourself as the back-up. Still though, it’s kind of crazy. I mean USC players get houses and stuff.
So What Does This Mean? Look, I have no clue if this kid with the terrible website and the golden arm will be any good at all. I know he was one of the top recruits in the country a few years ago, but he really looks more like a QB from a bad teen angst movie than, you know, a real college QB. Seriously. Check out these pictures. He’s legitimately talented, but the CAA is no cakewalk and blue-chip BCS QB transfers don’t always equate to team success. Just ask Delaware.
The Skinny: The loss of London is tough, but we don’t know what Latrell Scott can do. London was only there 2 years, so it’s not as if Scott is following Joe Paterno. The more pressing concern for the Spiders might be the fact that they’re losing 7 starters on offense and 7 starters on defense from last year’s team. And the brunt of those losses will be on the lines, with 4 O-lineman and 3 D-Lineman graduating. That’s tough. On the plus side, the hyper-talented WR Kevin Grayson returns for his senior year and is no doubt eager to take the field with the California QB. Plus this Satchmo guy says that “there is nothing like an angry Spider underdog.” So they got that going for them.
JMUSB Prediction: If the Spiders get solid play in the trenches, they really could be dangerous. That’s a huge if though. I think they’ll be competitive, but don’t see them challenging for the CAA title. I’m saying the Spiders finish .500 plus or minus one game.
Scotty Mcgee in Jaguars' camp.
Yeah, we used to call these little round-ups “weekly” links, but it’s been 4 months. My bad. Anyway, check out the JMU week that was on the web.
The Virginia Pilot checks in on CAA Media Day, providing your standard overview of all things Villanova (we get it, they’re returning champs), and sharing the details about the CAA’s 29 televised games. It also includes this little nugget from Mickey about the new Bridgeforth, “When it’s done, you just might be able to see Virginia Beach if you look East from the top of it.”
Do not like. Former Duke J.D. Skolnitsky, got dropped by the Colts. Luckily it’s still early and he could have a shot to sign with another team.
Jacksonville.com chats with Scotty McGee about life in training camp. If you thought the adjustment from college to your first job was tough, consider this, Scotty had to learn 7 base coverages in college and has had 21 thrown at him in the first week of camp!
Rising redshirt sophomore, Casey Ancarrow and 3 former Dukes get selected to the U.S. Lacrosse Women’s National Team. Also, head coach Shelley Klaes-Bawcome got an extension.
This Virginia Tech blog provides a sneak preview of the Hokies clash with JMU including providing the CAA Media Day video chats with a number of Dukes. And yes, I did just link to a VA Tech blog that apparently did a much better job covering CAA Media Day than we did.
Finally, JMU is one of the Best 373 Colleges according to the Princeton Review. Madison was ranked #3 for Best Campus Food and #18 in School Runs Like Butter. The Off-Campus Riot rankings have not yet been published.
Our buddy Frank, better known as the JMUSB Special Hoops Correspondent, was vacationing in lovely Wrightsville Beach, NC last week. For those of you not up on your Cape Fear geography, Wrightsville is a great little town next to Wilmington, a fantastic town in its own right and home to fellow CAA school, UNC-Wilmington. Anyway, Frank texted me to let me know about a good CAA hoops article he read in the local paper while down there. Before I even checked out the article, I was 99% sure it was written by Brian Mull. Which brings me to this, if you are a CAA hoops fan, you should be reading Brian’s work.
Before we go any further, do yourself a favor and go bookmark Brian’s UNCW Hoops blog. Go ahead, I’ll wait. And don’t stop there, make a point to read Brian’s work for the Star News Online on a regular basis. Given that it’s a Wilmington outlet, a lot of his coverage is obviously focused on the Seahawks. His coverage of the CAA in general though, is second to none in my opinion. He actually covers the league in full, instead of just focusing on one team and sprinkling in random highlights from around the league. His CAA Summer Reports are well thought out, objective, and extremely informative. Oh, and he also shares JMUSB’s opinion, that Denzel and the Dukes could make some real noise this year. For his outstanding coverage of CAA basketball, Brian earns himself a endorsement from this blog. That’s probably worth next to nothing for him, but reading his blog will definitely help you as a CAA fan.
Last of the Mohicans, or at least the feathers.
Hey William & Mary readers, and we know you’re out there, enjoy those two lil’ feathers while you’ve got the chance cause they’re now collectors items. But JMUSB has a very special treat for you today as my brother Tim, himself a proud W&M alum, has proven once and for all who has the real talent in our family. At least the talent to leave the type of blistering rants and Griswoldesque bits of trivia our friends and family have come to expect (and hate, make fun of, and sometimes even learn to love). So our featherless friends, this long-assed, but humorous post is for you.
Griffin, yes, the Griffin
Coach Matthews at CAA Media Day
The CAA preseason poll and all conference teams were officially announced at CAA Media Day. The league’s coaches and media picked JMU to finish fourth. Before anybody freaks out, let’s remember that the CAA is no longer a 2 division league so if the Dukes actually finish fourth, they’d be in prime position for a playoff spot. Especially with the FCS playoffs expanding to 20 teams. Defending FCS National Champion Villanova is picked to be CAA Champ. Seems logical.
While we’re not ready to reveal the “Official JMUSB” predictions for how the CAA will shake out, this is about where I thought voters would position JMU in the preseason poll. To be precise, I said the coaches and media would slot the Dukes for fifth. I was wrong about the media picking the Blue Hens to finish above the Dukes, but at least one voter stayed true to my “the media will over-rate Delaware prediction” by lobbing a first place vote in their direction.
The official preseason predicted order of finish is below. The links are to the JMUSB CAA Football Previews when applicable. We’ll knock out previews for the remaining teams before the season kicks off. The number of first place votes are in parentheses. Check it out and let us know what you think in the comments.
1. Villanova (17)
2. William & Mary
3. New Hampshire (2)
4. James Madison
5. Delaware (1)
6. Richmond
7. Maine
8. Massachusets
9. Rhode Island
10. Towson
OK, so July 28 probably isn’t a day that many of you had circled on your calendars, but it is the day of the Colonial Athletic Association Football Media Day. Even I won’t attempt to argue that this is too important in the grand scheme of things, but it does mean that we’re one step closer to football season. Therefore it also means that Todd and I are one step closer to actually having real JMU sporting events to blog about. I mean, I love the Dukes and love blogging about them, but I have to admit that a small part of me was envious of all the Drexel sports bloggers out there (if there are any) when I read about the basketball team’s offseason “activities”. That’s blogging gold. I’m kidding of course. Kind of.
Anyway, CAA Media Day will take place in lovely Baltimore, Maryland at M&T Bank Stadium from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM. SEC Media Day it is not. However, it will draw a much larger media contingent than in the past and be more accessible to fans. Two radio outlets will be broadcasting/streaming live from the event, including the Rob Long Show on Fox Sports Radio 1370 in Baltimore and HerbFM on Live365. Plus ESPN 950 in Richmond will record the event to broadcast from 4:00 to 7:00. Fans can also check out CAA Media Day Central on CAAsports.com, which will be updated throughout the day.
There will probably be new faces covering the event, but I don’t expect too many surprises. Until someone proves otherwise, I’ll assume that the media will pretty much pick the top teams from last season to finish strong again like they always do. And they’ll over-rate Delaware which they always do. My best guess is that they’re going to pick the Dukes to finish somewhere around 5th in the conference, looking up at the aforementioned Blue Hens, William & Mary, Richmond, and Villanova. It means nothing, but I’m curious to see if I’m right. Honestly, I’m really just looking forward to hearing Mickey’s always colorful opinions and to getting the season going.
Bill Butcher attended JMU in the 80’s and graduated with a B.S. in Economics. He spent years working in both the restaurant and wine businesses, including eight years in sales with Robert Mondavi Winery before he eventually founded Folio Fine Wine Partners, a wine import agency, with Michael Mondavi. Bill recently turned his focus to craft beer and founded Port City Brewing Company in Alexandria, VA.
While JMUSB might be a sports blog, Todd and I really love craft beer. So since Bill is a JMU grad, and since it’s our blog, we decided to reach out to him and to see if he’d do an email Q&A. Luckily, he was game and agreed to answer our questions and give JMUSB readers a sneak peek at the brewery.
We started off by telling Bill a little bit about what our experience on campus in the 90’s was like (Beast Lite kegs, dime drafts, etc) and asking him to let us in on what the social scene was like in the 80’s and how he transitioned from JMU to the beer and wine industry. From his response, it certainly sounds like Todd and I would have been right at home in Bill’s days. He explained:
Micro brews weren’t really a factor in beer drinking during my days at JMU. I remember buying the best value for money, and flavor was less of a factor. Our fraternity (Ed. Note – Bill was in Sigma Phi Epsilon) poured Schaefer and Natural Light kegs. There was an obvious emphasis on quantity over quality. We stocked Busch and Natural Light in our fridge at Forest Hills, which we would buy from Jiffy 66 on Port Republic Road. Is this now Mike’s Chevron? I remember seeing Anchor Steam at Midway Market for $6.99 a six pack, and could not see why people would pay so much for beer.
After graduating, Bill moved up to the DC metro area and began working in the restaurant industry. As mentioned above, from there he moved on to working in the wine industry. He saw first hand how diners and drinkers in the DC area sought out quality and realized the timing was right to start his own brand. Bill told us:
I’ve said many times that over the past ten years, the craft beer business has gotten more like the fine wine business. There are more choices available in a growing array of styles, and people are always seeking out something new. You see more beer dinners, tastings and other events that people used to associate just with wine. I’m happy to see that craft beer is starting to get the respect in the market that it deserves, and I think it is a long term trend.
Bill definitely knows the market and definitely knows his beer. After the jump, we’ll post the entire Q&A complete with Bill’s suggestions for pairing Port City beers with JMU sporting events. Take a load off, pour yourself a cold one, and learn a bit about this exciting venture by a JMU alum.
read more…
JMU and Men’s Basketball Coach Matt Brady have lost the lawsuit filed by Brady’s former employer, Marist University, against them for breach of contract (Brady) and tortious interference with a contract (JMU). Since, believe it or not, yours truly is an actual, bonafide Esquire, I’m going to do a quick rundown in a modified version of my old law school briefing shorthand for you. Whether or not you care for this format, the story is important, not just for JMU and Coach Brady, but also for it’s potential ramifications on college coaching contracts nationwide and the manner in which they are enforced.
Facts: Brady signed a contract with Marist to become their Head Coach. Contract contained a clause where Brady agreed not to contact players he previously recruited at Marist if he left for another job without written consent. Brady left without written consent and contacted players he previously recruited at Marist. Some of those players ended up at JMU.
Claim: Marist sued Brady for breach of contract, which is self-explanatory. Marist also sued JMU for tortious interference with that contract. In plain language, they said that JMU was fully aware of the provision of the contract and then consented to, and encouraged or participated in, the breach of the contract.
Posture: Case was filed in New York Supreme Court. Note: In New York, Supreme Court is actually “regular” court, not the state’s highest court (or what we normally think of as “Supreme” Court in other states which in New York is actually called the NY Court of Appeals). This means appeals are likely available. My note: Also NY courts are obviously going to protect the interest of their state school (Marist) especially since the recruiting done at Marist would have been conducted with NY dollars. (Correction by eds.: Commenter JMU Rugby is correct in that Marist is private, though the Catholic part seems a bit vague right now. Therefore it would not have been NY dollars and the NY Court would be much less likely to practice any protectionism – TD 5/22)
Holding: For Marist on both claims.
Notes: The interesting parts of this case are:
1) JMU was found liable. Unfortunately, it seems pretty obvious Brady breached his contract, but since JMU had no actual contractual relationship with Marist, it’s noteworthy the court ruled for Marist on the tortious interference claim. Important for Marist though because in the event significant financial damages are awarded, they won’t just be attempting to collect from a single, individual defendant, but can also scoop money from the Commonwealth’s coffers.
2) PLEASE, PLEASE remember that this was NOT an NCAA violation. Those players had not formally committed to Marist and their was no allegation of actual tampering from a compliance standpoint. This is simply about Brady’s breach of his contract with Marist and JMU’s role in that breach.
The most important thing to come out of this case is yet to come – the damages award, for which JMU and Brady are due back in court July 26th. Damages in a case like this are often extremely difficult to come by because coming up with a figure is too speculative a task. While it seems the court should be able to evaluate how much money was used when Brady was recruiting on Marist’s behalf (phone calls, work time, recruiting visits, etc.), it’s hard to believe that will amount to anything that will crush the defendants financially.
Good thing I'm not a Red Fox, JMU's FG % would go through the roof.
But Marist is also trying to recover for the financial damages incurred because they sucked the last two seasons, a fact they blame on Brady and JMU for allegedly stealing the players that had not actually committed to Marist in violation of Brady’s contract. Marist was 1-29 last year, and while there seems little doubt they would have been better with some of the players in question, it seems far-fetched to think a court can evaluate a) how much better, and b) what the financial impact would have been. For example, one of the players in question is Andre Seminov, who was out for the season with an injury last year. Another player was Julius Wells, who would certainly have contributed (an avalanche of ill-advised shots with two hands in his face), but would he have accounted for a provable increase in ticket sales?
3) The larger impact this case might have on college coaching contracts. While a large award may be good for Marist, this would certainly get the attention of coaches and their agents when it comes to these types of clauses. Hard to say whether that’s a good thing. Clearly these clauses place impediments on a coach’s ability to advance his own career through the lower levels. While the school-shuffling big names like Rick Pitino and Roy Williams can certainly negotiate these out of their deals, makes it tough on guys like Brady who are trying to scale the ranks. Also hard to say whether these clauses are actually good for the schools. Tell me this – if you were a great young coach right now at say, Ouachita Baptist, with dreams of someday coaching in the ACC, would you accept an offer from Marist right now? And if not, and Marist has to settle for a Sherman Dillard type (alum with no other options and a suspect resume), is that even good for them?
Here’s the basic story from Yahoo!’s “The Dagger” Blog by Jeff Eisenberg in its entirety: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/A-Marist-lawsuit-could-have-big-ramifications-fo?urn=ncaab,256991
Good take from The SportsLaw Blog’s Gabe Feldman: http://sports-law.blogspot.com/2010/07/ny-supreme-court-upholds-marists-no.html
For my fellow law school dorks out there, the actual decision: http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/assets/pdf/BK161025719.PDF
