{"id":11078,"date":"2019-09-12T07:00:05","date_gmt":"2019-09-12T11:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=11078"},"modified":"2019-09-12T07:00:10","modified_gmt":"2019-09-12T11:00:10","slug":"presenting-our-first-guest-post-of-the-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=11078","title":{"rendered":"Presenting Our First Guest Post of the Season"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img data-attachment-id=\"11080\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?attachment_id=11080\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/0.jpeg?fit=960%2C720&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"960,720\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"0\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/0.jpeg?fit=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/0.jpeg?fit=960%2C720&amp;ssl=1\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/0.jpeg?resize=960%2C720\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/0.jpeg?w=960&amp;ssl=1 960w, https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/0.jpeg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/0.jpeg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Amy Cobb predicted the exact score of last week&#8217;s game and won the chance to guest post. Here&#8217;s her terrific piece about<\/em> <em>how much JMU has evolved since her time on campus. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align:center\"><strong>JMU: You&#8217;ve Come a Long Way, Baby!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well here I go. My 15 minutes of (JMU Sports Blog) fame. First of all, let me just say this was beginner\u2019s luck because I\u2019ve never even participated in the prediction contest before. Why? Because I usually stink at these things. But participate I did, and won at that. And predicted the EXACT score, which the JMUSB guys say has never happened (really? Go me!) Second, I did actually think about my prediction for more than five seconds. After watching the WVU game, I figured we were good for five touchdowns and three field goals (yeah, not gonna talk about the red zone offense). I nailed it! I\u2019d like to thank Virginia Beach\u2019s own Cole Johnson for that last touchdown! And the defense for being, well, amazing as usual (I NEED to see some interceptions though. Channel your \u2018inner Jimmy,\u2019 please!)<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m not going to write much about football other than to say I\u2019ve been a huge football fan since I was at least eight or nine years old. I can identify pass interference when I see it (hello? CAA refs?) but I still can\u2019t figure out what holding is, much less what targeting is \u2013 it\u2019s not shopping at Target? Oh\u2026(kidding!) I remember wearing my #9 Sonny Jurgensen hoodie when I was younger and cheering for the \u2018Skins. And though the \u2018Skins haven\u2019t given me much to cheer about since, well, Dan (\u201cI miss Jack Kent Cooke\u201d) Snyder, I\u2019m happy to cheer on one \u2018Skin and former Duke, Jimmy Moreland, my new favorite pro player (sorry, Gary Clark). As a PR and marketing professional, I recognize the good PR that Jimmy has gotten and consequently, what that has also done for JMU. The free publicity is invaluable! I loved hearing Joe Theismann sing Jimmy\u2019s (and JMU\u2019s) praises during the pre-season and the announcers continuing that in the first regular season game. I hope that continues. Go #32 and go Dukes!<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What I do want to write about is how far JMU has come since I graduated in 1987 (if you\u2019re doing the math, yes I\u2019m a 50-something). I jokingly say I attended JMU before JMU was \u2018cool.\u2019 I was one of four from my small graduating class of Franklin High School to choose JMU. It was the best decision I ever made. At the time there were about 10,000 students at JMU; I called it my \u201cGoldilocks school\u201d: not too big, not too small. (I still don\u2019t understand when I hear JMU called a \u201csmall school\u201d now \u2013 just HOW BIG does it have to be nowadays??) You could walk around and get lost in the crowd OR you could see everyone you knew in one day! For you recent grads or current Dukes, here\u2019s what it was like back then:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>All that stuff on the other side of I-81? Didn\u2019t exist, other than the Convocation Center (which was pretty new then). But we went over there (through the cow tunnel, mooing the whole way!) because back then, basketball was king. Who remembers The Electric Zoo? That place was rockin\u2019 \u2013 as were the stands, literally. And we lived to tell about it!&nbsp;<\/li><li>Football games were okay \u2013 I remember the team being \u201caverage\u201d (not great, not bad). Games were nothing like they are now, and that\u2019s a good thing! Tailgating at a football game? Didn\u2019t happen. (If it did, it must\u2019ve been nowhere near the stadium or the now extinct Godwin Field.) Sing the fight song? Did we have a fight song?? I am ashamed to say I don\u2019t think any of us knew the words to it. It certainly wasn\u2019t printed for us upside down on a shirt (which I think is very clever, by the way).<\/li><li>The bluestone dorms on the upper campus? Hard to get into as an underclassman. They weren\u2019t designated by your major. My junior year, Gifford was all male. It went co-ed my senior year, yet I think there were more females there my junior year. And oh the lofts we had!! I lived in Wayland my sophomore year and we seriously had a whole second floor in our room and a living room with a couch, etc. underneath. Fire hazard or not, the lofts were cool! Oh and there was a HoJo\u2019s (Howard Johnson\u2019s) motel at the corner of Port Republic and I-81 that served as my dorm freshman year. Best part of that was being able to have a car even though I couldn\u2019t park it on campus.<\/li><li>Incoming freshmen \u2013 we didn\u2019t have a parade or an orientation where they taught us what to do at football games, nor did we get to run on the field for the first football game. We did have an orientation earlier in the summer where they taught us not to say \u201cGibbons Dining Hall\u201d and educated us on all the&nbsp; other un-cool things to do or say.<\/li><li>The campus \u2013 always was beautiful, and still is. The statue of James Madison wasn\u2019t there though. I\u2019ve always loved that JMU feels like a real college campus, unlike some of the urban campuses I\u2019ve seen.<\/li><li>Registration \u2013 this is where I\u2019m going to sound like your grandpa who had to walk five miles uphill each way to school, in the snow. We actually had to STAND IN LINE. You read that right. You stood in line at the Library to register for classes, after looking through pages upon pages of class info in teeny tiny print (I think that\u2019s why I need readers now. Okay, maybe not.) At the end of my freshman year I left registration in tears because I had to go beg professors for overrides. Not fun. I think the year after I graduated they started doing phone registration. I was so jealous.&nbsp;<\/li><li>The food. It was so good! (I hear it still is, thank goodness.) I remember chocolate covered Krispy Kremes for breakfast at D-Hall and lobster night. I would LOVE to get the recipe for the cream of potato soup (Anyone? Anyone?) at Salads Plus, which started in Chandler and later moved to the top floor of the Student Union, and doubled as the Steakhouse at night. Yes, we had a steakhouse \u2013 does that still exist? PC Dukes was brand new, too.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Uncle Ron \u2013 you would often see President Ronald Carrier walking around campus talking to students. Who can forget what he did for JMU and the surrounding area? He\u2019s a legend in my book!&nbsp;<\/li><li>Snow. Lots and lots of snow. And cold. (This is probably still the case!) As a coastal Virginia girl, that was an adjustment. I remember Super Bowl Sunday of my sophomore year and it was something like 20 below outside. Walked to D-Hall with my roommate whose hair was still wet, and it froze! It was also the first time I ever experienced nose hair freezing. Freaky! My senior year it snowed a foot in January. Then another foot four days later. At the time, I think it was the first time the school had ever cancelled classes (I have <em>The<\/em> <em>Breeze<\/em> article in my yellowed photo album to prove it). Nothing like seeing all those kegs rolling across the Quad! (Yes, most of us were legal drinking age).<\/li><li>Legal drinking age \u2013 it was 18 for beer, then 19, and I grandfathered my way through my college life. This was back before social media captured every stupid thing we did (thank goodness!). I won\u2019t go any further with this.&nbsp;<\/li><li>And let\u2019s just talk about JM\u2019s, which used to be right across from campus (near Converse). I don\u2019t even know what the building is now but JM\u2019s was THE PLACE to be. Maybe because it was the ONLY bar in town, I don\u2019t know? But I spent way too much time there \u2013 and have great memories of singing <em>Paradise by the Dashboard Light<\/em>, buying 10 cent drafts and 99 cent pitchers on Ladies Night (I think our guy friends later sold them for a profit later but we won\u2019t talk about that), and honing my \u201cmaneuvering through a crowd to get to the bathroom\u201d skills.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Concerts and movies \u2013 I was on the University Program Board (UPB) and we DREW posters on poster board. I think we did get some official movie and concert posters, too, but we definitely MADE posters as well. We had great concerts, even Jimmy Buffett (on a cold, snowy April night in 1987).<\/li><li>The bookstore \u2013 it was so small compared to what is there now! You could buy books, a shirt, and maybe a few other JMU items, but that\u2019s about it. There was a bank of post office boxes outside of the bookstore where you\u2019d go and check for letters. Yes, letters. People actually wrote letters \u2013 on paper \u2013 back then!&nbsp;<\/li><li>Graduation on the Quad \u2013 yes, we ALL graduated together at the same time. I\u2019m not sure if our parents were able to see us this way or not, but it was great to be on the Quad with all our friends!<\/li><li>The \u2018Burg \u2013 wow, has it changed! Downtown there was Jess\u2019 Quick Lunch and Spanky\u2019s. That\u2019s about it. (And if you didn\u2019t burn your tongue on a Spanky\u2019s potato skin, did you really live?) All that stuff between JMU campus and Valley Mall? Wasn\u2019t there. How did we survive?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>JMU was (and is) about so much more than just getting a great education (which I did, despite all the JM\u2019s references!). JMU was (and is) about forming lasting friendships. All these years later and I still see my JMU friends each year. Since 2006, a group of us girls have gone to our friends\u2019 \u201cFour Decs\u201d beach home (you should check it out) in Corolla, NC for our annual \u201cJMU Girls\u2019 Weekend.\u201d We take (and eat) too many snacks and drinks, shop a little, play games, and just catch up on each other\u2019s lives. And every year at Homecoming, we all try to make it back to JMU if we can. We put up our purple tents, eat our tailgate food, wear our JMU gear, and cheer for the Dukes as loud as we can. We even sing the fight song! (Yes, I know all the words now).&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Young Dukes, take note: savor the moments, be present, and form those friendships. Four (or five or six) years go by really fast, trust me. You\u2019ll soon find that life gets so busy and that it\u2019s important to take the time to get together. One day it\u2019ll be 32 years since you graduated and I hope you\u2019ll be able to look back on your days at JMU as fondly as I do. Go Duuuuukes!<br><\/p>\n<iframe src=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/like.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fjmusportsblog.com%2F%3Fp%3D11078&amp;layout=standard&amp;show_faces=true&amp;width=450&amp;action=like&amp;colorscheme=light&amp;height=80\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;\" allowTransparency=\"true\"><\/iframe>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Amy Cobb predicted the exact score of last week&#8217;s game and won the chance to guest post. Here&#8217;s her terrific piece about how much JMU has evolved since her time on campus. JMU: You&#8217;ve Come a Long Way, Baby! Well here I go. My 15 minutes of (JMU Sports Blog) fame. First of all, let [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5782,"url":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=5782","url_meta":{"origin":11078,"position":0},"title":"Prediction Contest: JMU vs CCSU","date":"August 28, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"We're going to run the prediction contests back again this year. For those of you who are new or simply forgot how it works, here goes. A few days prior to each JMU game, we'll publish a prediction contest post. To enter, simply leave a comment indicating who will win\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Football&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"bridgeforth stadium crowd","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/bridgeforth-stadium-crowd.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5833,"url":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=5833","url_meta":{"origin":11078,"position":1},"title":"Prediction Contest: JMU vs Akron","date":"September 4, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"It's prediction time everyone. This weekend the Dukes head to Ohio to play Akron. It's their one FBS (sorta) game of the season. Both teams got the 2013 season started with a win against an overmatched opponent last week. (JMU won, Akron got crushed. My bad for the mistake.) This\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Football&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"img_7603","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/img_7603.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7341,"url":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=7341","url_meta":{"origin":11078,"position":2},"title":"Prediction Contest: JMU vs. Elon","date":"November 20, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Here we are. It's the final week of the regular season and JMU will face off against the CAA's newest member, the Elon Pheonix. Thus far, Elon has been, shall we say, bad. Very bad. The Pheonix have only won 1 game and are averaging only 13 points a game.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Football&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Daniel Brown","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/5043c73faf71d.image_.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11199,"url":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=11199","url_meta":{"origin":11078,"position":3},"title":"Guest Post: JMU Sports Memories From a Lifelong JMU Fan","date":"October 16, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Another week, another terrific guest post. This week it comes to us courtesy of Jeff, who won the most recent prediction contest. Here's his fun look back at a lifetime of JMU sports memories. Wow! What an awesome 4th Quarter! The Dukes allowed me to nail the final score with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/0.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5994,"url":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=5994","url_meta":{"origin":11078,"position":4},"title":"Prediction Contest: JMU vs. Delaware","date":"September 25, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Alright folks, things are about to get real. JMU opens CAA conference place this Saturday with a big game at Delaware. By now, most of you know the drill. It's time for our prediction contest. The rules are simple. Add a comment with your prediction for who'll win and what\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Football&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"JMU Defense","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/JMU-Defense.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3143,"url":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=3143","url_meta":{"origin":11078,"position":5},"title":"Prediction Time: JMU vs ODU","date":"October 26, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Alright folks, it's prediction time. The rules are the same. Add a comment including your prediction for the winner of Saturday's game against ODU. Keep it simple and just give us a score, or include your analysis. Whomever comes closest to nailing it (winner & score) will get to guest\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Football&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/duke-dog-J.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11078"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11078"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11078\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11083,"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11078\/revisions\/11083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}