{"id":5720,"date":"2013-08-18T23:28:20","date_gmt":"2013-08-19T03:28:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=5720"},"modified":"2013-08-18T23:28:20","modified_gmt":"2013-08-19T03:28:20","slug":"fall-season-kicks-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=5720","title":{"rendered":"Fall Season Kicks Off&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8230;and thank goodness. \u00a0With Field Hockey&#8217;s trip to Duke for a preseason scrimmage yesterday, the 2013-14 year in JMU Athletics (at least the portion that shows up on the &#8220;upcoming schedule&#8221; portion of JMU Sports) is officially underway! \u00a0And for those of you suffering through our flailing attempts to avoid constantly falling back to conference realignment arguments the last few weeks, I&#8217;m sure you agree that the fact we only have 12 days left till tailgating at Bridgeforth kicks off is welcome news. (Note for B&#8217;More Dukes: Men&#8217;s Soccer opens competitive play Tuesday at UMBC)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/GingerGiant.jpg\"><img data-attachment-id=\"4577\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?attachment_id=4577\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/GingerGiant.jpg?fit=600%2C900&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"600,900\" 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;}\" data-image-title=\"GingerGiant\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/GingerGiant.jpg?fit=200%2C300&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/GingerGiant.jpg?fit=600%2C900&amp;ssl=1\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-4577\" alt=\"GingerGiant\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/GingerGiant.jpg?resize=200%2C300\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/GingerGiant.jpg?resize=200%2C300&amp;ssl=1 200w, https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/GingerGiant.jpg?w=600&amp;ssl=1 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a>Speaking of good news, QB1 Michael Birdsong, the Ginger Giant himself, was back on the practice field this weekend just ten days after an unexpected appendectomy. Still doesn&#8217;t answer the age-old question &#8220;who is the backup?&#8221; but let&#8217;s all hope we don&#8217;t have to find out anytime soon.<\/p>\n<p>Since we&#8217;ll be previewing football in detail (JMU, CAA, FCS) over the next two weeks leading up to the opener we thought we&#8217;d first make a list of non-football items we&#8217;re most looking forward to in the fall season. \u00a0Let us know if we&#8217;re overlooking something good from your own list in the comments:<\/p>\n<p>1) Field Hockey making the NCAA tournament under Coach Lucas<\/p>\n<p>2) Men&#8217;s Soccer and Women&#8217;s Volleyball, both picked 5th in the preseason CAA poll, exceeding expectations and surprising the league one last time.<\/p>\n<p>3) Promoting our first non-football JMUSB tailgate. We&#8217;re open to suggestions on which event but it would help if it&#8217;s either Homecoming weekend when we may have an extended &#8216;Burg trip or anytime in the DC area.<\/p>\n<p>4) Getting a look at the new Volleyball floor in Godwin and the new court in the Convo!<\/p>\n<p>5) Akeem Jordan, Arthur Moats, and Earl Watford all making plays in the NFL.<\/p>\n<p>6) And of course, hopefully some concrete direction one way or another for the future of JMU Athletics following the completion of the Carr Report and however long it takes to explain it to the Board of Visitors.<\/p>\n<iframe src=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/like.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fjmusportsblog.com%2F%3Fp%3D5720&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>&#8230;and thank goodness. \u00a0With Field Hockey&#8217;s trip to Duke for a preseason scrimmage yesterday, the 2013-14 year in JMU Athletics (at least the portion that shows up on the &#8220;upcoming schedule&#8221; portion of JMU Sports) is officially underway! \u00a0And for those of you suffering through our flailing attempts to avoid constantly falling back to conference [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"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":4168,"url":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=4168","url_meta":{"origin":5720,"position":0},"title":"JMU Football Practice Kicks Off Without a QB Controversy","date":"August 6, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"JMU had its first football practice of the 2012 season today. Before we get to anything else, let me be the first to say \"Thank God.\" Coming up with things to write about during the football season is pretty easy. And it's fun. Coming up with things to write about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Football&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/thorpe-j.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8651,"url":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=8651","url_meta":{"origin":5720,"position":1},"title":"Jimmy Moreland is Back on the JMU Football Roster","date":"June 26, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Jimmy Moreland (or Jimmy F#cking Moreland as he's in JMUSB land) is back on the official 2016 JMU football roster. This is not a drill. This is real. Really. Just click on through and scroll down the page. That's it, scroll just about a quarter of the way down, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Football&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Jimmy F Moreland","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Jimmy-F-Moreland.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3182,"url":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=3182","url_meta":{"origin":5720,"position":2},"title":"JMU Suffers Devastating Loss to UNH","date":"November 6, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"After JMU's 28-10 loss to UNH, the Dukes' playoff dreams are hanging by a thread. I'm obliged to point out that the Dukes can still win their final 2 games and get a bid. Personally, I don't find that to be a tremendously exciting proposition though, and I doubt many\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Football&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/JMU-vs-UNH-J.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7804,"url":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=7804","url_meta":{"origin":5720,"position":3},"title":"Withers Dismisses Three Players from JMU Football Team","date":"June 25, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Everett Withers doesn't mess around. JMU's head coach has spoken a lot about creating a new culture for JMU football and holding everyone accountable to his high standards. Yesterday, he backed up the talk. Withers dismissed three players who failed to live up to his expectations from the program. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Football&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Moreland TD","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/543b28ac8e287.image_.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11343,"url":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=11343","url_meta":{"origin":5720,"position":4},"title":"2019 JMUSB Semi-Final Preview: Weber St. at JMU","date":"December 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The Basics Matchup: #3 Weber St. Wildcats (11-3, 7-1 Big Sky) at #2 JMU Dukes (13-1, 8-0 CAA) Kickoff: 6:30 p.m., Bridgeforth Stadium, Harrisonburg, VA Weather: Mostly clear, 35 at kickoff. Pretty perfect for December in the Valley with afternoon highs around 40 with plenty of sunshine for the tailgate\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10464,"url":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=10464","url_meta":{"origin":5720,"position":5},"title":"JMU 51 &#8211; W&#038;M 0. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.","date":"September 23, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Huh. That was kind of lopsided. We expected JMU to win comfortably. But we're not sure anyone saw that 51 point beatdown over the Tribe from William & Mary. With legendary Tribe head coach Jimmye Laycock retiring, we thought there was a chance William & Mary would elevate its game\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Football&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/5ba6e3dd5abf6.image_-1024x682.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\/5720"}],"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\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5720"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5720\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5725,"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5720\/revisions\/5725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}