{"id":8871,"date":"2016-09-21T07:19:23","date_gmt":"2016-09-21T11:19:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=8871"},"modified":"2016-09-21T07:19:23","modified_gmt":"2016-09-21T11:19:23","slug":"guest-post-a-lump-of-dirt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=8871","title":{"rendered":"Guest Post: A Lump of Dirt"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week Brandon Newbill came closest to picking the winner & score for JMU’s game, so he won our prediction contest. As a result, he got to write a guest post. Here it is.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

To keep with the recent guest post trends of being positive instead of highlighting our administration\u2019s apparent apathy towards FBS, our struggling pass rush, or the fact that the Buffalo Bills look as horrible as ever, I\u2019d like to share a story that melds together two great road trips; one to Chattanooga in 2004, and one to Chapel Hill in 2016. <\/span><\/p>\n

I have always enjoyed road trips for JMU sports. \u00a0From my junior year drive down to \u2018Nooga for the National Championship to the first round of the NCAA basketball tournament (you may have seen me, I was the idiot who\u2019s ex-girlfriend made him wear the yellow teletubby costume), I\u2019ve always been ready and willing to hit the road to support the Dukes. \u00a0This past weekend was no different. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Myself and a long-time friend and JMU alum hit the road from Richmond and went to visit another long-time friend and JMU alum (and his wife, who went to UMASS but proudly rocked her JMU attire) in his newly purchased Durham home. \u00a0It certainly made attending the UNC game much easier having a friend within uber distance of UNC\u2019s campus! \u00a0While taking the tour of my buddy\u2019s new home, something oh so sweet captured my eyes on the wall in one of the extra bedrooms. \u00a0Behold, the most beautiful lump of dirt these eyes have ever seen!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"dirtFor those who can\u2019t figure it out, that\u2019s one of the hundreds of giant lumps of turf from the field in \u2018Nooga back in \u201904. \u00a0Instantly, my mind started racing with flashbacks of just how awesome that trip was. \u00a0Tailgating with some very pleasant and moonshine-bearing Montana fans, seeing a giant church van pull up next to our tailgate spot and have about ten of my buddies drunkenly spill out of the back, watching Rascati become a JMU legend, storming the field after the win, and champagne in the parking lot!<\/span><\/p>\n

The truth is, as sweet as that memory was, it could have been so much sweeter if more of my friends and fellow alums would have made the trip. \u00a0The point I want to get across is quite simple: \u00a0Make the trip Dukes!!! It\u2019s easy as we get older to find excuses not to go. \u00a0\u201cMy kid has a soccer game\u201d. \u00a0\u201cI need to cut the grass\u201d. \u00a0\u201cI have to work\u201d. \u00a0\u201cObama\u201d. \u00a0But I promise you, even on the bad trips, you come home with memories that are well worth it. \u00a0It was so cold in Boone, NC in 2007, I had to chisel the beers out of my frozen cooler, all just to watch JMU fumble away its national championship hopes on quite possibly the worst offensive play call in JMU history. \u00a0You know what I remember most from that trip? \u00a0That was one of the last trips I got to make two friends of mine that are now too busy adulting to do much of anything. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Make the trip Dukes, it\u2019s worth it! <\/span><\/p>\n

Brandon Newbill, Class of 2006<\/span><\/p>\n

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