{"id":4328,"date":"2012-09-11T22:16:35","date_gmt":"2012-09-12T02:16:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=4328"},"modified":"2012-09-11T22:17:34","modified_gmt":"2012-09-12T02:17:34","slug":"guest-blogger-why-i-enjoy-jmu-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=4328","title":{"rendered":"Guest Blogger: Why I Enjoy JMU Football"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Stu Macaleer won last week’s prediction contest and earned the right to be this week’s guest blogger. Here’s his take on everything he loves about being a season ticket holder. Take it away Stu.<\/em><\/p>\n

First I would like to give a shout out to the JMU Sports Blog. \u00a0In my opinion, there is a huge void in free coverage and analysis of JMU sports and Rob and Todd do a great job of coming up with stats and analysis that I often mention like I came up with it myself.<\/div>\n
After finding out that my prediction was the winner this week, I had no idea what to write about (maybe I should have thought of that before I did the prediction), so I phoned a friend and we went through all the topics we could think of. \u00a0We considered stories of our days at JMU versus being in the \u201creal world\u201d (been done and was one of my favorite articles), why you should go to the WVU\/JMU game this weekend (again, been done), the FBS \u201cdecision\u201d (like LeBron, I\u2019m getting sick of it already), my thoughts on why everyone should live at the beach for a summer or two while you are in college (good advice, but not appropriate for a JMU sports blog), and finally settled on trying to convince others to go back to JMU for football games more often.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

For a little backstory, I went to JMU and absolutely loved everything about it. \u00a0I happened to get lucky enough to meet my wife (60\/40 female\/male ratio!), had some great times with some of my best friends (#18 Ranked Party school!), and even went to a few football and basketball games (all you needed to get in was a JAC card and a flask). \u00a0After graduating, like many of you out there and the last guest poster, I rarely went back for the next 10 years. \u00a0I decided 3 years ago to make the $125 investment (which is what it costs to go to one NFL game) and get JMU football season tickets with a couple of friends. \u00a0Here are the main reasons why I chose to do that and would encourage anyone else to do that same:
\n<\/strong><\/strong><\/div>\n
\n
    \n
  1. Pregame Festivities – Now I know the bar wasn\u2019t all that high as about 10 years ago you couldn\u2019t even tell there was a game going on that day, but JMU has done a great job improving the pregame festivities. \u00a0They usually set up a moon bounce for the kids, pregame hospitality tent has all of the best food in town, tailgating of course is a great way to catch up with fellow JMU alums, and the spirit walk is actually a pretty cool idea.<\/li>\n
  2. JMU Bookstore \u2013 Because the online version is just not the same.<\/li>\n
  3. Gameday Experience – It\u2019s just about as far from my house way out in the NOVA suburbs of Aldie to JMU as it is to FedEx Field. \u00a0The experience of getting in and out of the stadium, concession stands, and rowdy drunk fan ratio are 10,000 times better when compared to an NFL game.<\/li>\n
  4. Indoctrination (some may call it brainwashing) of my Kids \u2013 I grew up in the NOVA area and have lived there all my life, however since my Dad is from Philly I grew up watching and going to Philly sports games and I became a diehard Philly sports fan. \u00a0We have a 1 year old boy and a 4 year old girl, which my wife and I decided to give them corny middle names of James and Madison. \u00a0Getting them to see the campus and making sure they enjoy the experience by bribing them with junk food just seems like the good parenting thing to do.<\/li>\n
  5. Halftime Show \u2013 The Marching Royal Dukes and the Dukettes help me convince my wife to come out to a game every once in a while.<\/li>\n
  6. Streamers \u2013 I love the streamers. \u00a0Something about being able to throw things into the stands and not get in trouble. \u00a0It\u2019s the small things really; however there are many universities out there that would not allow this due to \u201csafety\u201d concerns.<\/li>\n
  7. Giving back to the University \u2013 I understand we (or our parents) already paid an arm and a leg go to JMU, however I\u2019m a fan of killing two birds with one stone by being entertained and giving back to the university at the same time.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    All in all, JMU Football is one of the few events that I can think of where I can take my family to and everyone will be entertained or take a crew of friends down there and great times will be had. \u00a0Many JMU alums I talk to want to go down to a JMU game and then never pull the trigger for one reason or another. \u00a0Happy that those who didn\u2019t show an interest in JMU football before now all of a sudden wanted to go to the JMU\/WVU game, I organized a crew of about 20 that will be tailgating starting at 12:30 on Saturday (we are shooting for parking lot E). \u00a0Someone has to explain to me why there is so much interest in a game in which we\u2019ll probably lose by 40+ that costs 3-4 times what a normal JMU ticket costs without the full college atmosphere that makes college football great, but I guess I should just be satisfied that there is interest. \u00a0Thanks for reading and I hope to see everyone out there on Saturday at FedEx as well as future Saturdays down in the \u2018burg!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n