ICYMI… it was a great finish to the regular season for the Dukes! #WeAreUnbreakable pic.twitter.com/Nziljq1CSl
— JMU Lacrosse (@JMULacrosse) April 28, 2018
JMU Lacrosse ended it’s regular season with a huge clash at Towson on Saturday. The Dukes managed to earn the W in the most anticipated CAA Lacrosse game of the season. Kristen Gaudian came through in OT (again) to secure the 16-15 victory. The win gave Coach Shelley and the Dukes the regular season CAA title and the #1 seed in next weekend’s tournament, which JMU will host in the ‘burg. Additionally, the title means JMU will host the CAA tourney next year as well. read more…
We Are One. #GoDukes pic.twitter.com/XwcJQn5cfq
— James Madison Athletics (@JMUSports) April 24, 2018
Everyone knows that the JMU athletic department has made tremendous strides with regard to facilities over the past few years. But the media teams have stepped up in a big way too. From all the individual sports social media accounts, the improved Madizone experience, and pretty much everything Curt Dudley touches is all top notch. Some of the video production really stands out though. Like this all sports highlight clip. It’s terrific. Although someone did Jeff Bourne dirty. The man had a hand in the success of every single program highlighted. And you put a clip of him trying to pump up the crowd immediately after a clip of a Mike Houston pep talk? Ouch. That’s not just not fair. 😉
JMU lacrosse cruised to a comfortable 15-10 win over Hofstra in the regular season home finale. The win pushed the Dukes record to 15-1 overall and a perfect 5-0 in CAA play. The 5 goal margin of victory was the Dukes tightest in league play. To be frank, the ladies have essentially curb-stomped the rest of the CAA to this point. They’ve scored 85 goals and only given up 24. For the first time ever, they’ve had 2 players go over the 50 goal mark. Kristin Gaudian leads the league with 54 and Elana Romesberg is right on her tail with 51. The Dukes are playing great and locked in at #4 in all the major polls. They’re good. Really, really good.
Or course, Towson is pretty good also. The Tigers are 13-2 overall and also undefeated in league play. And they’re hosting the Dukes next Saturday. The winner will grab the regular season title and the #1 seed for the CAA Tourney. It’s a big game, and in all likelihood will be a preview of the tournament championship. Take a look at the stats and it’s pretty clear the Dukes and Tigers are the class of the conference. Here are a few samples.
Goals Per Game
JMU is #1 with 15.94. Towson is #2 with 14.27.
Goals Against Per Game
Towson is #1 with 8.01. JMU is #2 with 8.40.
Shooting Percentage
JMU is #1 at 49.7%. Towson is #2 at 49.0%.
Caused Turnovers Per Game
Towson is #1 with 11.47. JMU is #2 with 11.44.
It goes on like that for most of the major stats. Yes, there are differences. For one thing, JMU takes care of the ball significantly better, surrendering about 4 fewer turnovers a game. But the point is that these are two terrific teams who will probably play each other twice in the span of 8 days to decide the CAA autobid.
Fortunately for the Dukes, the tournament will be played at Sentara Park. As the tournament host, JMU figures to have a decent home field advantage. It’s going to be tough to beat Towson in Towson (but very doable), but if we’d certainly rather go on the road for the regular season and play host in the tourney. If JMU wins out, they’re a virtual lock for a top 4 seed to the NCAA tournament. But that’s getting a little bit ahead of ourselves. First things first, let’s root for a big win next Saturday. Then let’s pack Sentara to see Coach Shelley and the ladies take care of business in the CAA Tourney. This has been a special year so far, but there’s no telling how much better things could get over the next few weeks.
Good gracious people. The latest episode of the JMUSB Podcast was an incredible nuisance to produce. Do us a solid and give it listen to make the effort worth it. Without going into great detail, let’s jus say that the new app we use to record is a hot pile of garbage. But I digress.
In any case, we think the episode is worth your time. Primarily because it features a great conversation with Greg Madia of the Harrisonburg Daily News-Record. Greg has done a tremendous job covering Mike Houston and the Dukes and he was kind enough to join us to talk about the Spring game and what the roster is looking like heading into next year. If y’all enjoy listening to Greg even half as much as we enjoyed chatting with him, it will be a win.
As always the JMUSB Podcast is brought to you by Pale Fire Brewing. Drop in for a beer next time you’re in the ‘burg.
Be sure to subscribe to the JMUSB Pod via iTunes.
It’s been 96 days since the JMU Dukes last played a football game. And we’ve missed them. A lot. Sure we’ve been able to see some reasons for optimism with hoops and enjoyed some stellar play from lacrosse and softball, but we miss football. Thankfully, our boys are back in action this weekend.
The Basics
Match-up: Some of the JMU Dukes 0-0 (00) vs. Some of the Other JMU Dukes 0-0 (0-0)
Kick-off: 1:00 PM on Saturday, April 14 at Bridgeforth Stadium in Harrisonburg, VA
Weather: Mostly sunny with highs in the upper 70s
Broadcast: Unavailable (program ain’t that big yet)
How We Got Here
Coach Houston and the Dukes began Spring practice on March 13. They’ve had two intrasquad scrimmages, but otherwise we’re just talking about practice. However, reports indicate that Houston has been pleased with what he’s seen from some of the younger players and the newcomers. Not sure if it makes sense to draw too many conclusions (if any) from Spring ball, but Dukes are crushing.
The Top Stories
I’ve tired of even pretending this a real preview, so I’m gonna assume you have too. Or you stopped reading and clicked elsewhere. In any case, here are the top 3 stories (in my opinion at least) heading into Saturday’s “game.”
QB Battle
The Dukes need to replace Bryan Schor, one of the all time great JMU QBs. Spring ball started with an open competition between Gage Maloney, Hunger Etheridge, Cole Johnson, and Pitt transfer Ben DiNucci. While DiNucci and Johnson appear to have made this essentially a two man battle, we’re not expecting a starter to be named until later this summer. Both guys are reportedly playing well and showing pretty good accuracy. And DiNucci has even shown some wheels. We’ve got zero insight and can’t even guess who’ll eventually win the job. Based on what we’re reading though, we’re not concerned about JMU having a drastic drop off at the position. Fortunately, there are plenty of offensive weapons to support whomever becomes QB1.
Percy Agyei-Obese
After a season where he saw action as a true freshman, Percy has been the featured back during the spring. Returning studs Trai Sharp, Marcus Marshall, and Cardon Johnson have all missed Spring ball. In their absence, Percy has stepped up and taken advantage of the increased carries. Based on the limited view we got of him last Fall, he’s clearly got talent. He ran for over 100 yards against Norfolk State and almost hit the century mark again at URI. By all accounts though, he’s taken a step forward since then. We get the feeling JMU will use a running back by committee approach in 2018 and ride the hot hand. Agyei-Obese has the potential to give the Dukes a deadly 4 headed monster in the backfield.
The Defense
JMU had a historically good defense in 2017. The Dukes gave up only 11 points a game and had 51 sacks and 31 interceptions. To call it dominating doesn’t do it justice. But they’re replacing a lot of players next season. They’ve got some younger guys who’ve been waiting for a chance. They’ve also got a number of transfers, including Matt Terrell (UVA via junior college), Paris Black (Wake Forest), and Juwan Moye (UVA) all vying for playing time on the defensive line. Of course they’ve got a linebacking unit anchored by Dimitri Holloway, who has been stellar in some big games. And a defensive backfield lead by Jimmy Effin’ Moreland. We don’t expect the D to shut teams down from day one, but we’re confident that Bob Trott will get the job done.
JMUSB Beer of the Week
It’s not a real game, but fans can still tailgate. Or they can just read about the game Monday and enjoy a nice beer doing something else on Saturday. No rules people. Since it’s April, we might as well take advantage of the opportunity to pick a Spring beer. Let’s go with Bell’s Oberon Ale. It’s become ubiquitous, but that’s a good thing. If it’s not the G.O.A.T of warm weather beers, it’s in the running.
Official JMUSB Prediction
Fans tailgate, enjoy the weather, and act giddy while we watch a re-loading Dukes squad take a step forward to get ready for a march to Frisco. Then we all make WAY too much of the game, convince ourselves that we know exactly who should win the QB job, and pretty much count the days until the season kicks off. Enjoy the game everyone!
The latest episode of the JMUSB Podcast is available for your listening pleasure commute. In it we briefly chat about lax, baseball, and softball before diving into this weekend’s spring football game. We wrap things up with a discussion of infamous dad moves made by our own fathers.
As always the JMUSB Podcast is brought to you by Pale Fire Brewing. Drop in for a beer next time you’re in the ‘burg.
Be sure to subscribe to the JMUSB Pod via iTunes.
Back before the season started, we were lucky enough to have JMU Lacrosse Head Coach Shelley Klaes-Blawcomb join us on an episode of the JMUSB Podcast. I asked her if the team entered the season with the goal of winning a national championship. The question came from my legitimate curiosity about how high level programs established goals. The intent was not to put Coach Shelley on the spot or raise expectations. Because I’m a hack though, that’s kind of how it came across. Well, I don’t feel as bad about it now, because this JMU team is ranked 4th in the nation absolutely a contender to win the whole damn thing.
The Dukes absolutely dominated Drexel by the score of 15-2 on Sunday afternoon. JMU carried a 10-0 lead into halftime and registered 12 goals before the Dragons found the back of the net a single time. In a word, JMU was dominant. Kristen Gaudian and Elana Romesberg both recorded hat tricks. Oddly enough, that’s a below average game for each of them. Gaudian and Romesberg are the top 2 scorers in the CAA this season, averaging 3.58 and 3.33 goals per game respectively.
The win moved JMU to 11-1 overall and a perfect 2-0 in CAA play. The CAA season opener was actually even more of a blowout than the win over Drexel. JMU got league play started off with a 19-5 win over Delaware. In that contest, Romesberg tallied 5 goals and Gaudian added 3 more. Much like they did against Drexel, the Dukes took control early and never looked back.
JMU is off to the program’s best start in its 50 year history. They’ve won 3 straight games by double digits and have a ridiculous 81 goal scoring differential. They’ve got the top 2 goal scores in the CAA and 4 overall in the top 10. As a team, the Dukes score a league leading 15.75 goals a game and giving up fewer than 9 per contest. The offensive generates a ton of shots and the players are converting at a very good 48.3%. And they’re also winning draw controls and scooping up ground balls, two things that are sure to make Coach Shelley proud. In short, this is a damn good JMU team. They’ve still got to run the rest of the CAA gauntlet and face an outstanding Towson team, but they’ve got what it takes to make a deep tourney run.
We’re back from vacation and back at it. In the this episode of the JMUSB Podcast we talk about our favorite JMU athletes of all time. We also put a wrap on March Madness, discuss Lefty finally making the Hall of Fame, and end the show chatting about some of nerdier interests, which of course devolves into a little rant about spending WAY too much money on wands at Harry Potter world in Universal Studios. The end result is that what we planned to be a quick 20-30 minute episode, somehow ends up much longer.
As always thanks to our friends at Pale Fire Brewing for sponsoring the podcast. Drop in for a beer next time you’re in the ‘burg.
Be sure to subscribe to the JMUSB Pod via iTunes.
March 20, 1992 -[26yrs]- Dave Matthews Band at James Madison University. One of the earliest videos of DMB. Peter Griesar on keys & w/o Boyd who was a regular guest but hadn’t officially joined DMB.
Via footage shared by Terry Harrison on YT: https://t.co/pFYYgMutcb pic.twitter.com/WPtOH8Pauo
— Chester Copperpot5 (@Copperpot5) March 20, 2018
This video is from way back in the day. It’s from so far back that it predates even my time at JMU (by mere months, but technically true). And boy does it send us back. First off, it’s actual footage of a Dave Matthews Band show live from the concert mecca known as the PC Ballroom. If you were at JMU in the 90s, you’ll probably find it rather familiar. The baggy clothes and the “dancing” are perfectly representative of what you’d see if you walked into any JMU party roughly between 1992 and 1996.
Everyone loves to mock the more outlandish styles of the 70s and 80s, but as you can tell from this video, 90s fashion was a special kind of awful. There was nothing too glaring or over the top about things, but more just a general lack of fit. People didn’t really wear clothes, as much as they hung them around in loose proximity to their bodies. And I bet if we were able to zoom in, we’d spot more than a few folks in heavy wool socks and Birkenstocks. Or a pair of just plain ugly, “party shoes,” which were basically the oldest, rattiest shoes folks had, worn specifically to splash in puddles of Beast Lite. Functional, yes. Stylish, no.
And those weird movements that folks in the crowd were making? Those weren’t involuntary spasms, they were carefully crafted dance moves. Seriously. We’d mock everyone in the crowd, save for the fact that there is very likely footage somewhere of us doing the exact same thing. Or worse, of us doing the “pretzel.”
Bumpers shut down weeks ago, but somehow we’re still able to record on it. Maybe someone forgot to turn off the server. Or maybe we’re special. In any case, there’s a brand new episode of the JMUSB Podcast available for your listening pleasure. In this episode, we talk a little spring football. And damn did it feel good to talk football. We chat a bit about position battles and what to expect next season, Then we have a long and rambling discussion about weird grandparent stories, that we fully expect folks to disregard, but we enjoyed thoroughly.
Thanks again to our podcast sponsor Pale Fire Brewing. Drop in for a beer next time you’re in the ‘burg. Or grab one in DC now that you can find it in the Capital.
Be sure to subscribe to the JMUSB Pod via iTunes.
