WBB’s Dawn Evans was chosen as the CAA’s 2010 Randolph Inspiration Award Winner this past week. As we’ve noted before, Evans was diagnosed with a kidney disorder this past season (and still led the Lady Dukes to the first CAA title in forever and the Big Dance!). Here at JMUSB, we’ve tried to cover this a bit given Dawn might be the finest athlete in any sport in the Valley right now, but we really don’t know enough to speak intelligently on the issues. Thankfully the JMU Sports article on the Award does a great job bringing a bit of clarity to things. As always, we wish Dawn nothing but the best and will try and keep everyone updated with any further news.
Also, there’s still time to vote today in the first JMUSB contest for when Arthur Moats will be drafted so check out the post below and state your case.
Who's going to draft Mr. Moats?
With 22 NFL scouts at JMU’s pro-day this year, it’s clear the NFL is starting to take notice of JMU football. Arthur Moats and Dorian Brooks opened some eyes with their performances at the combine, while Mike Caussin and Scotty McGee have had some strong workouts for a number of teams. Moats and Brooks are hoping to hear their names called at the draft, while McGee and Caussin are more likely to pursue free agent opportunities.
Moats has been getting the most buzz of any JMU player. Draft pundits have him going as early as the 3rd or 4th rounds. Just to add a little excitement to things, we’re going to have a contest to see which one of our readers can correctly predict when Moats will get drafted. The reader who comes closest to nailing it will get a spiffy new JMU Sports Blog t-shirt (yes, we have them).
Here’s how it’s going to work. Enter the contest by adding a comment to this post with the round you predict Moats will go off the board, and the team you think will draft him (ex. Round 4, NY Giants). The round is the key and the team will serve as the tie-breaker. So if multiple commenters choose the correct round, the one who guessed the team with the pick closest to the actual pick will win. If folks make the same guess, whoever makes it first gets credit. Got it? Just make the pick and trust us. This is for a t-shirt, not a million bucks. But you will have the distinction of being the only reader with a JMUSB “standard” tee from the very first run that will only be sported by our staff and a couple of special guests we’re hoping to have on the blog in the next few weeks.
We’ll report back on the draft and any free agent signings later this week. Hopefully we’ll have good news to report for all four JMU prospects.
Update: Only entries received before the draft begins will count. Thanks!
JMU recruit, Chad Jackson
Update: The Harrisonburg Daily Record > ESPN Insider. The DNR reported this morning that Winston has opted to attend Washington State despite his verbal to JMU. We wish him luck and look forward to the rest of the recruits joining the Dukes.
Anyone who followed JMU hoops this past season, recognized that Coach Brady was looking to make some changes. Soon after the season ended, Brady said released Alvin Brown and Darren White from their scholarships. Depending on your perspective, the loss of Brown and White either provided the Dukes with an opportunity to upgrade two more slots, or left them with 2 more holes to fill on an already thin roster. Whatever your perspective is, Brady has secured a few commitments who should have most fans optimistic.
At first glance, Chad Jackson appears to be a real good get for the Dukes. He’s a 6’4″ combo guard out of Scott County High School in Kentucky. The second team all state honoree is known for his athleticism and his ability to guard multiple positions. He had some pretty impressive schools recruiting him and turned scholarship down offers from West Virginia and Xavier.
The other recruit confirmed by Brady is AJ Davis. Davis played at Wyoming the past few years and will join the Dukes with 2 years of eligibility. He was averaging in double-figures at Wyoming before deciding to transfer this past February. He’s a 6’6″ guard who played his high school ball in Ohio, which is quickly becoming a hot recruiting spot for Brady.
While Brady hasn’t officially commented on any other recruits, ESPN.com has James Millen, Andre Winston, and Ahyaro Phillips set to become Dukes. Millen has been playing Juco ball in Cincinnati. He’s a 6’2″ guard that should add some depth to JMU’s squad. Winston is a PG coming to the ‘burg all the way from the Pacific Northwest. He capped his high school career with a record setting performance in the Washington state tournament with 119 points over four games.
Ahyaro Phillips is another Juco player, who ran into some trouble while at the University of Nevada in 2009. Phillips is originally from New Orleans, but finished high school in Richmond after Hurricane Katrina. He might be kind of a risky recruit, but he’s supposedly got a strong support group of former coaches in Virginia who are anxious to see him fulfill his potential with the Dukes.
So there were some positive JMU-related news items amidst all the coverage of last weekend’s debacle in Forest Hills. The Washington Post ran a great story on the “stratospheric” potential of former Duke Lindsay Czarniak’s career. No word yet on when they’ll be running a similar piece on the ceiling for Buckhantz’s ability to make Chenier crazy with old JMU stories.
Plus the stadium is really starting to take shape. If you haven’t checked in a while, make sure to check out Bridgeforth Cam. They have made the turn to the endzone and appear almost finished with this year’s structural work. Not sure how the crane’s going to get out without driving on the field. Renewed our tickets this week and are looking forward to the new seats already.
Speaking of new stadiums, the Diamond Dukes are starting to pick up steam at the new Veterans Memorial Field. They’ve moved into 2nd in the CAA after sweeping the W&M Griffins last week. Agent Steinzz’ take and the accompanying picture in the WaPo’s Sports Bog pretty much sums it up. Sometimes a picture really is worth 1000 snarky blog posts.
Mel Kiper has Arthur Moat’s going to the Skins in the 4th on his latest big-board. Might force me to finally move on from my Dexter Manley jersey and would be a concrete sign the Shanahan era is headed in the right direction. We’re still kind of hoping he goes a bit higher than that, but should be fun to hear all the heads spout off about JMU next week. Though the likelihood someone calls it Jackson State or George Madison has gone through the roof since Vinny Cerrato was added to the “draft insider” team.
Lastly, word is Coach Matthews is toting none other than QB 1/2 Drew Dudzik around to the Coach’s Caravan events so maybe that says something about the way things are shaping up in the infinite controversy. Or maybe it’s just his way of tricking overzealous alums like ourselves into shutting the hell up for a while this summer while the kids sort this out on the field.
The Champ!
Really no surprise here, but Dave’s Taverna has won the SportsBlog ‘Burg Food Bracket. Although Luigi’s proved the only real challenger in the final matchup, Dave’s pulled away down the stretch to win 56% – 44%. Thanks so much to all of you who voted!
Wonder what the atmosphere is at Dave’s Express, which for you older folks has now moved down the hill to where Blimpie used to be on Port I’m guessing they just about run out of questionable chicken and tzatziki sauce every weekend for all the souvlaki and gyros flying out of there.
Dave’s was a dominant performer in the bracket largely due to their consistency over the years. When they were Gus’ Taverna a few doors down from the current downtown location (ironically in the spot that ultimately doomed Luigi’s), they were an absolute standby for underage drinkers in search of REALLY cheap pitchers of REALLY cheap beer and a decent meal. My sophomore year they instituted a 2 pitcher per person limit. And we were all worked up about it. Just ponder the ridiculousness of that for a sec.
And Dave’s remains really my only must-visit on trips to the ‘Burg now. Keep the menu in my glove box for takeout orders for football tailgates. If we’re spending the night after the game, usually head to the new roof deck post-game. And even when I’m down there biking, camping, or hiking, I force numerous non-Dukes to tackle their first Dave’s gyro. When we get back on 81, it usually only takes till about Mt. Crawford/Basye till they realize they should’ve doubled their order. Utah, gimme two, two!
Todd and I are no strangers to Forest Hills’ parties ending awkwardly. It sucks sometimes. Personally, I’d rather have college kids mock me than cops teargas me, but maybe that’s just me. I’ve read a lot about yesterday’s social gathering/block party/riot, but still have no clue what happened or why it happened. There is a really thought provoking and objective debate about the situation taking place in the comments for this article. One commenter, Alive&Well from Wyers Cave really got to the heart of the matter with her take on the situation:
It is hard to feel sorry for a JMU women who are drunk and dresses and act like a sluts. As for the boys they deserve what ever happens to them. People learn by example, makes you wonder what kind of parents they have, Drunken sluts for mothers and beer bellied men for farthers, it is a shame.
Look, JMU has always been a home for children of drunken slut mothers and beer-bellied dads. I know this, you know this, and now thanks to Alive&Well, the readers of RocktownWeekly.com know this. I have no problem with her bringing it up, but to say it like it’s a bad thing and imply that it’s alright for the cops to teargas these unfortunate kids, sort of gets to me a little bit as a proud alum. It really does.
What happened to that friendly little town of Harrisonburg? Back when I was in school, the community really rallied around these disadvantaged kids from drunken slutty homes. They had to because there were just so many of them. I know I’m getting old, but I swear my entire four year experience was like one extended episode of Extreme Makeover Home Edition. The only difference was that instead of the community turning dilapidated old shacks into mansions, the JMU community was turning daughters and sons of drunken slut mothers and beer-bellied dads into the teachers, doctors, and corporate leaders of tomorrow. And now they want to tear gas them. That’s just kind of sad.
Arthur Moats, not a chair stealer.
Arthur Moats has been busy lately visiting with a number of NFL teams for pre-draft interviews. He’s met with Buffalo, Philly, and New England amongst other teams. Patriots Daily conducted an extensive Q&A with Moats about his experiences thus far. In the interview, which is a must read for JMU fans, Moats talks about one of the stranger questions he’s been asked:
I was with the Redskins, and the guy asked me, if I’m coming into camp, I’m 30 minutes early, I’m sitting in the front row of the meeting room. Brian Orakpo walks in and says, “That’s my chair.” Am I going to get up and give him my spot, or am I going to sit there and fight him for a chair? … You know, I was just like, I’ll slide over, because I mean, he’s the million-dollar man; it’s not that important. So he was like, “Oh, so you’re scared of him?” And I was like, no. And he was like, “So why don’t you go fight him?” There was kind of like no right answer to the question and everything, the way he was asking it.
Seriously? That’s what NFL teams ask potential draft picks? Shocking. It sounds like one of the questions that they prepped us for in b-school before we interviewed for investment banking or consulting gigs. I assumed that the only people who’d ever ask questions that stupid were bitter MBA’s who had to answer them when they were interviewing. Either I was wrong, or the Redskins scouting department is run by a bunch of MBA’s (which means the interview was undoubtedly summarized in a jargon filled powerpoint deck). In any case, go give the interview a read. It’s pretty good.
Well, it all comes down to this. After millions upon millions of votes some votes, we’ve got a final match-up of Dave’s against Luigi’s for our Best Eats in the ‘Burg Bracket. Sweet 16 part 1, done. Part 2, done. Elite 8, done. Final Four, done. After a few surprises in the early rounds and a Cinderella run by Blimpie, it’s clear that we’re down to the two most deserving institutions (ed note: It’s also clear that people have zero respect for Finnegan’s Cove. Not one vote. Ouch.). One on hand we’ve got a classic college town pizzeria. A place that just seemed like it was always there, remembered by voters for its pitchers of decent beer, calzones, bleary eyed wait staff, and jam band soundtrack. On the other hand we’ve got the downtown pita joint that burst on the scene in the mid 90’s with it’s simple gyros, pitas, and cheap beer. Lots and lots of cheap beer.
This is one of those situations where you might have a favorite, but you really can’t lose with either one. It’s more of a Beatles or The Rollling Stones, than a Red Sox or the Yankees conundrum (the correct answers are ‘Stones’ and ‘neither’ respectfully). In any case, Dave’s and Luigi’s are two legit heavy weights that deserve to be in the final. The fact that Dave’s was given a #1 seed and Luigi’s was declared the pre-tournament favorite proves that you shouldn’t question our knowledge or sensibilities of Harrisonburg eateries. Todd and I might be winging it with this whole sports blogging stuff, but trust me, we know cheap eats of the ‘Burg. Seriously.
So here we are. It’s decision time. Do you want to cast your vote for the ol’ pizzeria on Route 42 where you can spend hours drinking pitchers of Newcastle and gorging on pizza, or the downtown joint where students of all ages could down pitcher after pitcher of Beast Lite and finish off chicken pita for good measure?
Update: The votes are in and Dave’s won. Thanks for voting everyone!
Veterans Memorial Park, site of Justin Brown Day
Sorry folks, I mixed up the dates. Please see the changes below and a special thanks to Kevin for pointing out the mistake. We’ve mentioned the special relationship the Diamond Dukes have with their #1 fan, Justin Brown before. This Saturday, April 10 Sunday, April 11 has been declared Justin Brown Day by the JMU Baseball as part of JMU’s Cancer Awareness Week. Additionally, Justin is scheduled to throw out the first pitch before the Dukes face William & Mary Sunday at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Harrisonburg. Admission is free for all kids and those in attendance are invited to run the bases after the game.
InsideNova.com’s Joe Conroy has a nice piece on Justin’s experience as an important part of the JMU Baseball program. Justin is a 7 year old boy who has been battling cancer since he was only 2. He has been paired up with the Diamond Dukes by the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation, an organization which works with college athletic teams to “adopt” children affected with brain tumors.
David Warner, the Dukes’ team manager first heard about the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation after watching a HBO Real Sports feature on it. He was so taken by the piece that he approached the JMU coaching staff about participating in the program.
I’ve been with the team for four years so I knew how good the guys were, Warner said. I brought this up to the coaches and they loved it. Within two weeks we got Justin. There’s a 200-person waiting list now, so we got him right in time.
Justin was welcomed to the team at a barbecue last fall and even got to sign a letter of intent, officially linking him to the program, at a ceremony in February with the entire team. How cool is that? The players seem to be enjoying the experience. Shortstop David Herbek tells Conroy:
Ever since we heard about the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation, we’ve been on board and excited. Justin’s been great. You couldn’t ask for a better kid. It’s great when he comes by. It puts things in perspective, that there’s more to life than just baseball.
I don’t know how many times I’ve been told that I “shouldn’t get so emotional about sports” or have been reminded that “sports are just supposed to be a distraction.” While those are true statements, isn’t the fact that sports can provide a distraction to folks who could really use one, like Justin and his family, part of what makes them so great? In any case, stories like this make it easy to cheer for the Dukes.
It’s final four weekend! Harrisonburg Food Style. As #12 seeds traditionally do, Blimpie has become the surprise cindarella of the tourney by eeking out a tight victory over fellow fan favorite (two points for alliteration) and #13 Dukes’ Double Punch. But now they face a huge challenge: Will the Blimpie’s Best (12″ of course) even be able to challenge the awesome power of the Gyro from top-seeded Gus’/Dave’s?
In the other semi, the seeds have held and we should be in store for a real battle as #2 Spanky’s and #3 Luigi’s will finally square off in a primetime matchup after easily dispatching their quarterfinal opponents.
Also, huge congrats to Rob for Mrs. Rob for adding another future Duke last week when I was out on the west coast (seriously, how do we all not live in San Diego?). He’s dynamite! That said, Rob’s going to be a bit preoccupied the next month and you all may be stuck with my ramblings when it comes to Spring Practice, Baseball, and other current sports news down in the Valley. Now that it’s April and football took to the practice field again yesterday, we’ll certainly be trotting out some new material and lots of Drew v. Justin v. Texas Tots talk soon.
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