{"id":9880,"date":"2017-11-02T07:26:18","date_gmt":"2017-11-02T11:26:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=9880"},"modified":"2017-11-02T07:26:18","modified_gmt":"2017-11-02T11:26:18","slug":"guest-post-take-a-chill-pill-and-other-thoughts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=9880","title":{"rendered":"Guest Post: Take a Chill Pill, and Other Thoughts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><img data-attachment-id=\"9774\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?attachment_id=9774\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/56b3a95026116.image_.jpg?fit=1200%2C688&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1200,688\" 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;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"gameday quad\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/56b3a95026116.image_.jpg?fit=300%2C172&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/56b3a95026116.image_.jpg?fit=1024%2C587&amp;ssl=1\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-9774\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/56b3a95026116.image_.jpg?resize=599%2C343\" alt=\"\" width=\"599\" height=\"343\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/56b3a95026116.image_.jpg?resize=1024%2C587&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/56b3a95026116.image_.jpg?resize=300%2C172&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/56b3a95026116.image_.jpg?resize=768%2C440&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/56b3a95026116.image_.jpg?w=1200&amp;ssl=1 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 599px) 100vw, 599px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/>One of our longtime readers, M@, won last week&#8217;s prediction contest. He&#8217;s written multiple guest posts in the past and asked that we put in a plug for folks to donate to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.autismspeaks.org\/ways-give\">Autism Speaks<\/a>. We&#8217;ve got to say, if you&#8217;re looking for a good cause to support, that certainly fits the bill.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First reaction: \u201cI won!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Second reaction: \u201cWhat the heck am I going to write about?\u201d (pardon my French)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is my fourth time providing a guest post.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=4475\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Random thoughts<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=6063\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A walk down memory lane<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=6939\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">JMU Memories and Slowing Down<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That last one still seems a bit too apropos; but I digress. Maybe I can call myself a contributor now\u2026that\u2019ll look great on the \u2018ol resume given that I work in IT. This exercise does give me new insight (and appreciation) into how Todd and Rob have to approach the challenge of providing content all year long (especially in that interminable period when it\u2019s hot outside and there are no collegiate sports to celebrate). <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On their podcast last week, the guys spoke a bit about their favorite sports writers. I was glad to see that they included <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-srv\/sports\/redskins\/history\/timeline\/wagon\/wagnfrnt.htm\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tony Kornheiser\u2019s 1991 Redskins Bandwagon<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> series. For those of you who have not seen it; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/herosports.com\/contributor\/chase-kiddy\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chase Kiddy\u2019s Doomed Dukes<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> series on Hero Sports is also worth a read and in the same vain. But I wanted to take a page out of <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.weeklystandard.com\/section\/tuesday-morning-quarterback\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gregg Easterbrook\u2019s Tuesday Morning Quarterback<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> series (though I have not read much from him since I stopped being a Redskins <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">victim<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> fan). What I appreciated about him is that he may write about anything. In amongst his analysis of the latest scores and standings would be a section detailing how cosmic rays may be a by-product of distant alien warfare or something similarly off-topic and generally humorous. And so, without further gilding the lily and with no more ado, I give to you\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Take a Chill Pill Dude (and other clich\u00e9s)<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We\u2019ve all seen, or at least perceived, that this year\u2019s offense isn\u2019t as potent as last year\u2019s offense. Some of that is <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/herosports.com\/fcs\/football-jmu-james-madison-offense-spoiled-dukes-fans-cfcf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">just perception<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">; some if it is reality. Last year we managed to come up with much more than 50% of those \u201c50\/50\u201d passes for one thing. We lost three and a half starters from the offensive line and the coach from last season. This year we\u2019re taking everyone\u2019s best shot. With all of that we\u2019ve still won by double-digits EVERY WEEK. I grew up a UVa fan; I grew up a Redskin\u2019s fan; this is not those teams. Those other teams taught me to look for the cloud in every silver lining. To wait for the disappointment so that it would (theoretically) hurt less. In a lot of ways waiting for the other shoe kept me from enjoying the 2004 season as much as I should have. When last season came I decided to enjoy the ride no matter how it ended. It ended with a National Championship (in case you hadn\u2019t heard). I enjoyed every minute.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is a single team. Not an offensive unit a defensive unit and a special teams unit. The team wins (and theoretically loses) as a team. A case in point: JMU won the time of possession battle last week against New Hampshire. That meant that the defense got rest when they needed it allowing them to play their best when they were on the field. Without that rest time the defensive unit may not be as effective (see Everett Withers\u2019 era). The whole team won that game. This team and coaching staff have earned the benefit of the doubt. Let\u2019s enjoy some football before the dark times come when it gets hot and the only football available is either YouTube reruns or Arena League.<\/span><br \/>\n<!--more--><\/p>\n<p><b>How ISAT Prepared Me for \u201cReal Life\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">My role in my professional life is easy to spell. I am a software tester. It\u2019s even easy to explain. I break things for a living. But my day-to-day activities are varied and unusual even for a QA Analyst\/Test Engineer\/Quality Engineer\/Tester (or any of the other titles given to my role). One week I may be doing a statistical analysis on metrics gathered during a performance test. The next I may be programming an Arduino board to allow me to manipulate a servo using UDP messages from a server so I can programmatically control hardware actions for testing. The next week I could be writing an integration test harness or automating testing of a web page. Then there is the generation of SQL stored procedures and queries for retrieving data from the database for later analysis. I\u2019ve even generated icons and infographics for documentation and training\u2026and I haven\u2019t taken an art class since middle school.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ISAT prepared me for all of this without teaching me most of it (ok, they gave me a pretty good foundation on the statistics part). How you might ask? Go ahead, I\u2019ll wait. Ok, ok, you don\u2019t have to beg. I\u2019ll tell you. They taught me two skills that seem to be very unusual in combination. One is problem solving (no matter what the problem is; how do you go about solving it). And the second is basic technical communication skills. I can talk to a non-technical person to clarify exactly what they are trying to get out of a particular software system. Those skills seem so simple but without them I would not be nearly as successful as I have been. I love my job and part of the reason I love my job is that I get to solve interesting problems every day. That didn\u2019t happen right away; I had to grow and gain experience, but the foundation was set two decades ago with my ISAT degree.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>MVFC vs CAA<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Is the Missouri Valley Football Conference a better conference than the Colonial Athletic Association in football? Yeah, probably. Arguments could legitimately be made that JMU and NDSU should be tied for first. But the next highest ranked MVFC team in the coach\u2019s poll is South Dakota at #6. The next highest CAA team? Elon at #10. And South Dakota State University is at #8. Overall the top of the MVFC is higher ranked than the top of the CAA. Not surprising given that polls tend to be biased by last years\u2019 results and the top of the CAA is quite surprising this year (Elon!?!?). Let me give an example. Last season JMU was undefeated in the FCS and only lost to UNC (we probably all know this). NDSU on the other hand lost to fellow FCS\/MVFC SDSU at home. Yet JMU traveled to NDSU in the playoffs. But, JMU had a history of losing in the playoffs. I think that resulted in a lower ranked than a (sorta) undefeated team in the CAA maybe should have been; especially given the brutal away-game schedule and string of games against teams coming off bye weeks. I\u2019m not saying we were robbed not being ranked #1. I mean, NDSU did beat their FBS opponent\u2026but I prefer to be biased.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>When Science Meets Sensationalism<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I am a jack of all trades but a master of none (see previous). I have a basic understanding of science without actually being a scientist. But I have noticed something that has me concerned. I worry about sensationalism in scientific journalism which can (ironically) reduce peoples\u2019 concern about a particularly dangerous scientific issue. Let me give an example. When I was in middle school back in the dark ages before the Internet, I was told by my science teacher that we (as a planet) would be out of crude oil that was economic to extract by the year 2020\u2026you know, a bit more than two years from now. That hasn\u2019t come to pass. Why not? We found more oil in places they didn\u2019t think oil would be 30ish years ago. The development and wide-spread use of fracking has reduced the crystallization effect of traditional oil mining to allow oil fields to be more completely mined than was anticipated in the late \u201880s and also allowed mining in areas that were previously not economic to mine (yet). We as a society have also <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ourfiniteworld.com\/2013\/01\/31\/why-is-us-oil-consumption-lower-better-gasoline-mileage\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">reduced the consumption of crude oil from the expected rate<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. My guess (and it is only a guess because I\u2019m as sensationalist as anyone else) we\u2019ve switched to more fuel-efficient vehicles (mostly due to the government enforced CAFE standards) over the last 30 years and we\u2019ve commissioned more natural gas power plants which use a different (though also non-renewable) source of energy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But the important part is that the 2020 year that my science teacher gave was the earliest part of a range that was thirty years long. The study (I found much later) actually said it would be increasingly difficult to find new economically feasible crude oil fields starting between 2020 and 2050 (sorry I couldn\u2019t find a link to the study as many new studies have updated the original conclusion that I heard). The result? The prediction as stated by my teacher was wrong. So why should anybody listen to scientists now when speaking of other concerns like say antibiotic resistant infectious diseases?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The answer? Because these concerns really are a problem. We\u2019ve delayed the conclusion from that original study indicating that fossil fuels are not renewable (*gasp*); we haven\u2019t stopped it. Antibiotic resistant diseases are a problem. While there certainly are scientists who are just after a paycheck, there are also scientists who have legitimate educated concerns and we need to listen.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>I\u2019m not going to go to Kingston, RI<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I like to go to away games (I mentioned this during my Random Thoughts post linked above). But I\u2019m not going to Rhode Island. I am a committed (sometime in the sense of the white coats that tie in the back) fan of JMU. I go to every home game despite living four hours from the \u2018burg. I\u2019ve gone to Towson; I\u2019ve gone to Fed-Up field to watch my Dukes get trounced by WVU. But I\u2019m not going to the home of the Rams. They\u2019ll have to play without me.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I want to encourage people to go to away games. It is a unique experience to see how other teams root. To visit other campuses and to experience a different type of game day. For the most part at FCS schools I\u2019ve been well received. FBS schools I have a more mixed review as I\u2019ve gotten a lot of trash talk (my guess is they are overcompensating); though none have compared to the garbage I got at the WVU game. Between the game being off of a college campus (so drinking was allowed) and WVU fans being WVU fans it was an irritating experience. But at every campus I\u2019ve gone to the college atmosphere is prevalent and pleasant. The sounds of football are in the air. And I\u2019m in my purple cowboy hat rootin\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But more than that. I get to say I was there for 21-16. \u00a0I was there when we were robbed of our victory over Maryland in 2009 (It wasn\u2019t a hold\u2026there was no hold\u2026no I won\u2019t let it go). I was there when Mickey should have just kicked the field goal (at Appy St. during the playoffs in 2007). I was there when you don\u2019t kick the ball to Scotty McGee (I was thinking of the game at Richmond as opposed to all the other times you shouldn\u2019t kick the ball to Scotty). I was there\u2026and the memories are precious.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Too long already<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the pitfalls of an homage to Gregg Easterbrook is that I fall victim to another factor for why I stopped reading his work\u2026it gets really long really fast. Let me just end by thanking Rob and Todd both for maintaining the site for all of us purple bleeding fans to gather and chat and for giving fans a chance to generate content like this. I always like reading the guest posts and getting a new perspective. And I\u2019m sure I will enjoy next week\u2019s guest post almost as much as I enjoyed writing this one.<\/span><\/p>\n<iframe src=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/like.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fjmusportsblog.com%2F%3Fp%3D9880&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>One of our longtime readers, M@, won last week&#8217;s prediction contest. He&#8217;s written multiple guest posts in the past and asked that we put in a plug for folks to donate to Autism Speaks. We&#8217;ve got to say, if you&#8217;re looking for a good cause to support, that certainly fits the bill. First reaction: \u201cI [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7380,"url":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=7380","url_meta":{"origin":9880,"position":0},"title":"Guest Post: JMU Football is a Supernova","date":"November 28, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Chris Johnson won our preview contest last week and earned the right to guest post. Here's his take on the New Era and the force that is JMU football. As a 1999 transfer, and 2001 alumnus in History, I am honored to be a guest blogger here. \u00a0I think this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Football&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/supernova.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9013,"url":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=9013","url_meta":{"origin":9880,"position":1},"title":"Guest Post: Virginia&#8217;s Finest","date":"November 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Tripp won last week's prediction contest and earned the right to guest post. Here's his thoughts on the finest marching band in Virginia, and all other 49 states.\u00a0 First, let me start by giving my thanks to Rob and Todd for running this awesome blog; keep up the great work\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Photo courtesy of our guest blogger (@JMUTrippster on Instagram)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/tripp-mrds.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10086,"url":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=10086","url_meta":{"origin":9880,"position":2},"title":"Guest Post (or Pod): Common Opponent","date":"December 21, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Zac won last week's prediction contest and earned the right to guest post. He decided to mix things up and record a podcast instead of putting pen to paper. He's kind of blowing up our spot and proving how friggin easy it easy to record these things, but we agreed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Football&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4297,"url":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=4297","url_meta":{"origin":9880,"position":3},"title":"Guest Blogger: An Old Guy Offers His Thoughts on JMU Sports","date":"September 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Reader Tedward was dead perfect with his prediction last weekend. He correctly called both the JMU win and the 55-7 score. He was actually a housemate of ours back at JMU. Thankfully, he's decided not to use his guest post to reveal embarassing stories about me and Todd. Instead he's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/JMU-billboard.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6184,"url":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=6184","url_meta":{"origin":9880,"position":4},"title":"Guest Blogger: Two Time Winner","date":"November 7, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"JMU knocked off Villanova 31-21 last weekend and reader Amy came closest to predicting it. Thus she won the right to guest post, for the second time this season. Take it away Amy. So winning the game score again has left me with trying to figure out what to say\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Football&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Amy-guest.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5833,"url":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=5833","url_meta":{"origin":9880,"position":5},"title":"Prediction Contest: JMU vs Akron","date":"September 4, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"It's prediction time everyone. This weekend the Dukes head to Ohio to play Akron. It's their one FBS (sorta) game of the season. Both teams got the 2013 season started with a win against an overmatched opponent last week. (JMU won, Akron got crushed. My bad for the mistake.) This\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Football&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"img_7603","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/img_7603.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\/9880"}],"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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9880"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9880\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9882,"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9880\/revisions\/9882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}