{"id":6095,"date":"2013-10-18T07:00:22","date_gmt":"2013-10-18T11:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=6095"},"modified":"2013-10-18T14:07:20","modified_gmt":"2013-10-18T18:07:20","slug":"guest-blogger-chronicle-of-jmu-fandom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=6095","title":{"rendered":"Guest Blogger: Chronicle of JMU Fandom"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"autographed<\/a>Frank the Tank predicted that JMU would beat the Ticks 38-31. That’s exactly what happened so he gets to be this week’s guest blogger. Take it away Frank.<\/em><\/p>\n

I had major writer\u2019s block when the JMUSB offered me the opportunity to compose a guest post after winning last week\u2019s prediction contest. \u00a0No one could have predicted the way the richmond game unfolded (I cannot bring myself to capitalize JMU opponents) and I was NOT rootin for a tick touchdown in the 4th quarter, despite knowing I could win the prediction contest. \u00a0First, I must say that I was pleased with what I saw from the team. \u00a0We have significantly cleaned up our play (penalties, TOs, mental mistakes) and we finally played a great 3rd quarter. \u00a0Many are wary of our secondary, which is a legitimate concern, but after my review of the game tape I do not think we will face another team with better timing routes than what we saw last Saturday. \u00a0Additionally, we executed the bend\/don\u2019t break game plan and eliminated the back-breaking big play that we gave up in our first five games. \u00a0I like the fact that this team started off a little raw and is forced to develop game by game. \u00a0We are now entering the part of the season where it is time to bring it all together and execute. \u00a0I saw the emotion that has been lacking the last few years, and who couldn\u2019t help but go crazy when Dejor took one to the house! \u00a0\u201cDe-Jor, De-Jor, De-Jor!\u201d \u00a0Dude was so fast; it didn\u2019t even look like he was running fast.<\/p>\n

What shall I write about? \u00a0The obvious topics have been discussed ad nauseam, but I felt I had a lot to say across a broad spectrum of topics. \u00a0So, without further ado, I bid you my personal chronicle of becoming a JMU sports fanatic.<\/p>\n

METAMORPHOSIS<\/p>\n

My first JMU experience was playing in Sherman Dillard\u2019s High School Team Basketball Camp. \u00a0We were only there because JMU was heavily recruiting our teammate and future Dukes player, Ian Caskill. \u00a0I remember thinking that the campus was beautiful and the food was good, but I knew nothing about the school other than it being a popular choice amongst Virginia Beach kids. \u00a0Due to football recruiting (I was much better at football than basketball), I had applied to Vanderbilt, West Point, Dartmouth, Tennessee Tech, william and mary, and JMU. \u00a0\u00a0I know ya\u2019ll don\u2019t care, but this is good therapy for me and cheaper than a shrink, so here\u2019s the story. \u00a0\u00a0I wrecked my ankle 4 games into my senior year, which resulted in no scholarship offers, but plenty of invitations as a recruited walk-on at many schools, including JMU. \u00a0I thought I was on my way to play at West Point after obtaining an \u201cappointment\u201d for the academy, but the head coach was fired that fall and the new coaching staff didn\u2019t care. \u00a0Unsure of where I wanted to go to school and being hounded daily by my Dad to make a decision (AKA go to West Point even without football) I received \u201cThe Call.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0JMU\u2019s Army ROTC department offered me a full ride to come to JMU. \u00a0Cha-ching. \u00a0I committed to JMU and Army ROTC over the phone with instant relief that \u201cThe Decision\u201d (not televised by ESPN) was over. \u00a0With Army ROTC paying the bills, I decided it was time to hang up the cleats and enjoy school more so than the demands of being a student-athlete. \u00a0Good or bad decision? \u00a0Mostly good\u2026 only regret is that my potential fifth year would have been a ride to Chattanooga. \u00a0YOLO.<\/p>\n

I refer to JMU Sports during my undergrad days as the dark years. \u00a0My apologies to all other sports at JMU as I only followed Football and Basketball (including the women\u2019s squad thanks to a friend\u2019s romantic interest, for which I am very thankful for the free JMU apparel!). \u00a0\u00a0I heard that we had a great archery squad and we were proud of the marching band. \u00a0During my time at JMU (Fall of 2000 to the Spring of 2004), the basketball and football programs were similar to the current state of our Government, frustrating and operating under .500. (As I typed this, the House passed the Senate\u2019s deal and the Government has re-opened. \u00a0Wait, what deal, I don\u2019t see a deal? \u00a0Looks like another shutdown come JAN\/FEB?? \u00a0I guess I am just happy that country won\u2019t default and crash our superficial markets and my 4 days of furlough will be paid, unlike the DADGUM 6 days of unpaid furlough from this summer, thanks a lot SEQUESTRATION!).<\/p>\n

As an underclassman, there were some exciting basketball games. \u00a0Watching David Fanning from the first row of the baseline bleachers (not risers) and heckling opposing players were some of my favorite student memories. \u00a0In 2000, there was a decent student turn out to home basketball games; however, I watched the attendance steadily decline each year to depressing levels. \u00a0We were supposed to be a basketball school (Lefty used to coach here!) and we were FAR from winning the conference or going to the NCAAs. \u00a0I remember beating WVU in the Convo with the best crowds I ever saw, but to this day, I have not experienced any sort of sold out \u201cElectric Zoo\u201d from legends of the past.<\/p>\n

As a student, I wanted nothing more than for JMU to go on a run and possibly even win an NCAA first round game. \u00a0I would have road tripped across country to see it. \u00a0After years of disappointments, my friends and I decided we would only go to CAA tournament if the Dukes made it to the weekend. \u00a0Needless to say, we didn\u2019t go to the Richmond Coliseum often and I was painfully envious of gmu and vcu\u2019s un-real Cinderella runs. \u00a0My friends had a running joke that the team would lose the CAA first round game on purpose so the players could still make a Spring Break trip. \u00a0When Brady came on board, we were all impressed with his first season and the three freshman recruits Wells, Moore, and Semenov. \u00a0It is hard to believe that those three freshmen would all have a differing final season, that\u2019s got to be a record or something. \u00a0Although I thought that Brady would get us to the promise land a couple seasons earlier, \u00a0we made the trip to Richmond this past year and I have to admit, watching the team dismantle Northeastern to win the CAA tournament caused me to shed some man-tears, you know the kind with the lump in your throat and everything! \u00a0To all current students: you don\u2019t know how fortunate you are to have witnessed last year\u2019s basketball season. \u00a0If you are reading this site, you probably already attend sporting events, so this year grab your friends by the neck and drag them to the convo this season! \u00a0Please start practicing this technique now by grabbing your dadgum friends and march them into Bridgeforth Stadium for the remaining home football games! \u00a0There are plenty of alum in P-Lot and Godwin that are more than willing to feed poor college kids, and if of age, share some bourbon.<\/p>\n

As far as football goes, I went to almost every home game, sometimes by myself (friends didn\u2019t want to go), simply because I am a big college football fan. \u00a0I could pick any seat on the Godwin side and remember back then thinking that maybe I should have gone to a bigger time sports school, but I loved my time at JMU and wouldn\u2019t trade it. \u00a0For football, I remember just hoping for a good showing and hoping that maybe Delvin Joyce would do something awesome. \u00a0I recall that the outcomes did not have much effect on my mood, unlike today (just ask my wife after a loss). \u00a0Unlike most students, I already had respect for I-AA football. \u00a0Growing up in southern Georgia, I attended Georgia Southern\u2019s back to back to back national title games in the early nineties as a young, impressionable kid. \u00a0\u00a0Incoming JMU students don\u2019t have a clue about JMU sports or FCS football, but why should they? \u00a0I remember correcting my FROG on what level of football we played. \u00a0I couldn\u2019t believe how many JMU students wore Chokies apparel and tracked their football team but cared less about JMU sports (thanks a lot Mike Vick \u2013 side note, in high school, Mike Vick hit me the hardest I had ever been hit. \u00a0I caught the pass and a concussion for a first down, but that was before people cared about concussions, so I finished the game).<\/p>\n

I had many friends and acquaintances on the football team and I was sure that MM\u2019s would be shown the door after the 2003 season. \u00a0It didn\u2019t really matter because I was graduating and on my way to the real Army with orders to Korea. (ATTENTION ALL CURRENT STUDENTS, DO NOT LEAVE JMU AFTER 4 YEARS, SHOOT FOR A FIFTH YEAR OR LIKE MY #HOTJMUWIFE, GO AHEAD AND GET YOUR MASTERS NOW!).<\/p>\n

My best friend from high school was part of the 2004 National Championship team. \u00a0I watched \u201cTHE GAME\u201d on the Armed Forces Network starting at 6AM in Korea. \u00a0The previous night\u2019s soju party made that wake up rather difficult. \u00a0My Company Commander was part of the Griz Nation and I had to listen to his smack all week. \u00a0Lo and behold we won, and about a month later, thanks to my BFF, I received a care package full of signed championship memorabilia from the JMU Football office (SEE PIC). \u00a0You know it was a small world when the game began and I realized that the Griz starting quarterback, Craig Ochs, was one of my best friends in the sixth grade when I lived in Colorado Springs. \u00a0We were always the opposing QBs during recess football or team captains for pick-up basketball games. \u00a0The games got intense for sixth graders and the reason I got in trouble at school for the first time for inappropriate language. \u00a0Sorry Mom. \u00a0I wasn\u2019t surprised to learn that Craig had made it to University of Colorado and then transferred to Montana. \u00a0He was a great athlete, and I think his parents had hired him a quarterback coach to develop him through middle and high school, but I beat him my fair share of the time.<\/p>\n

The National Championship is what brought me back to JMU Sports as an alumnus and I have slowly transformed into the JMU fanatic I am today. \u00a0When I got back from Korea, I remember my first JMU home football game and I was in awe that there was actually tailgating and a sold out BFS. \u00a0Unbelievable. \u00a0Without the NC, I would have unlikely ever returned to campus for a game or become a Duke Club\/Season Ticket holder. \u00a0I have followed the team closely ever since, desperately wanting to attend JMU\u2019s next National Championship, since I had missed the first one. \u00a0I am still waiting; however, the 2008 season was one for the ages.<\/p>\n

Sports are so much better when you are invested and passionate about the team, which I believe, is the major issue with JMU sports. \u00a0A large portion of the alumni base prior to 2004 has no sense of JMU sports pride. \u00a0It\u2019s hard to blame them and helps explain our low endowment. \u00a0We do not have brand recognition. \u00a0To this day, fellow classmates of mine who are sports fans will ask me questions like, \u201cdidn\u2019t we win the D2 championship, or, \u201cso why did we build a new stadium, are we following odu?\u201d \u00a0This is why I believe what JMU does with the Carr Report and conference alignment is critical. \u00a0We will never bring back a sizable portion of our alumni base as donors if we keep the status quo with regards to athletics. \u00a0Plain and simple. \u00a0The National Championship did amazing things and we filled a 25K stadium, but that just emblazoned our base. \u00a0I know many who still label JMU football small time based on our FCS status. \u00a0The 25K will continually decrease if the fan base doesn\u2019t receive a vision for JMU Athletics from the school. \u00a0I know many people who became first time season ticket holders based on the new stadium and expectations that we would be playing FBS. \u00a0After recent frustrations and very little communication from JMU, the patience is wearing thin for some. \u00a0JMU and President Alger needs to stop \u201cNational Parking\u201d us with informational barricades and put it all out there like so many other schools that have transitioned. \u00a0We have to get the alumni base invested and in love with JMU Sports again or even for the first time! \u00a0Capitalize on the recent exposure from the NCAA basketball tourney and give the football program a desperate shot in the arm with a playoff run and a big announcement! \u00a0I believe in the coming years, we will see more and more graduating classes that experienced 2004, 2008, 2013 (Basketball), and 2013\u2019s second football National Championship! \u00a0With their desire to return to campus on beautiful Fall Saturdays to tailgate, we will start growing a stronger and larger fan base.<\/p>\n