{"id":9827,"date":"2017-10-19T06:50:16","date_gmt":"2017-10-19T10:50:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=9827"},"modified":"2017-10-19T06:50:16","modified_gmt":"2017-10-19T10:50:16","slug":"guest-post-bleeding-purple","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=9827","title":{"rendered":"Guest Post: Bleeding Purple"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Jay Deck won last week’s prediction contest and earned the right to guest post. Here are his thoughts on bleeding purple and how great we have it as JMU fans.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

I have been following JMU football since 2007 my oldest son entered JMU, and my youngest is in Grad School. I am a very proud Dad of two great Dukes. \u00a0To show how far I Bleed Purple, I got my wife a Boston Terrier Bulldog whom we have named \u201cDuke\u201d and he is the life of every tailgate! \u00a0The fans love seeing him in either his JMU Bandanna or JMU Football jersey. He has a JMU collar, leash and dog bowls. \u00a0There were several topics I wanted to write about including moving to FBS but didn\u2019t want to start a war. \u00a0So I decided instead to write about the integrity of our fans.<\/span><\/p>\n

JMU sports fans have a lot to be proud of. The football team is coming off a National Championship under Mike Houston. We had another record Game Day crowd this past Saturday and won our 300<\/span>th<\/span> football game. \u00a0The Women\u2019s programs continue to have great success in the CAA, in addition to the success of all of the sports programs. When I moved to Harrisonburg four years ago I decided to invest in not only season football tickets but Women\u2019s and Men\u2019s Basketball as well. I enjoy watching the softball team play and look forward to seeing their continued success under the new coaching staff. I think bleeding purple means you support all teams and want to see all be successful. One must be willing to go out of the way to not just support but also invest in our sports teams. I belong to the Duke Club and hope that most of the readers here do also. The Duke Club is a great group that helps our teams be successful. I can\u2019t imagine showing up to a game not wearing purple or a JMU shirt of some kind. We have great facilities at JMU which helps our teams. Our coaches care about their players and have their best interest at heart.<\/span><\/p>\n

Being with other JMU fans tailgating is something I look forward to at both home and away games. \u00a0\u00a0The atmosphere while tailgating is like that of a big family, we all pitch in and help each other set up tents and share food. The relationships we build are not only important, but long lasting and it just goes to show our school spirit. We have one of the best bands in all the land. The MRD\u2019s are fantastic and really add to the atmosphere. \u00a0Being good sports and being nice to our opponents whether we win or lose are extremely important to help our image here at JMU. \u00a0We should want to set the example for all of college athletics. JMU ranks among the best in academics nationally, and it is nice to see we can be successful and not have to give up academics to get to the top. While I know if we don\u2019t move up in football and find another conference that is more challenging, then we could possibly lose coaches. However, all of us need to remember how lucky we are and be willing to embrace what we have. I know I have said a lot but want everyone to know how proud I am to be a Duke. Let\u2019s keep the winning streak going! To all my friends and fellow fans I say GO DUKES!<\/span><\/p>\n