W&M Mascot Survey - Opinion

So those that have been reading the blog for at least the last few months may have seen a blog post I did about William and Mary's marketing department. First with a review about their logo/mascot troubles. Then, I talked about their search for a new mascot. Well, they've finally released the five finalists to their search. I couldn't resist posting about this, because...well...I try to report information concerning JMU and things related to JMU. So because William & Mary is in our conference and most of us know someone who went there, this just can't be overlooked when they're choosing a new mascot. Plus it's just entertaining. This is purely an opinion piece...not really much factual reporting in any of it (but be clear these are the actual options for their mascot)...put it's too entertaining to pass up...

So after an intense search and opening it up for people to send in their ideas about a new mascot, they've named their five top ideas. So, without further ado:

GAMEDAY EVE Report: Towson vs. JMU Football

Towson Tigers (2-8, 1-6) vs.   
JMU Dukes (5-5, 3-4)
Nov. 21, 2009 - 3:00pm - Harrisonburg, VA


Watch the game on Madizone


Weather Report

Tailgating	8am	40°	10% (precip)
Mid-tailgate	11am	51°	10%
Getting into the stadium	2am	56°	10%
Kickoff	3pm	57°	0%
Game over	6pm	49°	0%

Line for the game
JMU by 28

GAMEDAY Report: JMU Football vs. Maine

UMass Minutemen (5-4, 3-3) vs.   
JMU Dukes (4-5, 2-4)
Nov. 14, 2009 - 12:00pm - Amherst, MA


Watch the game The Comcast Network


Weather Report

Tailgating	8am	47°	90% (precip)
Mid-tailgate	10am	51°	70%
Getting into the stadium	11am	52°	70%
Kickoff	12pm	53°	70%
Game over	3pm	53°	80%

Line for the game
UMass by 4.5

GAMEDAY Report: Maine vs. JMU Football

Maine (4-4, 3-2) vs.   
JMU Dukes (3-5, 1-4)
Nov. 7, 2009 - 3:00pm - Harrisonburg, VA


Watch the game on Madizone


Weather Report

Tailgating	8am	35°	0% (precip)
Mid-tailgate	11am	54°	0%
Getting into the stadium	2am	61°	0%
Kickoff	3pm	61°	0%
Game over	6pm	54°	0%

Line for the game
JMU by 6.5

GAMEDAY EVE Report: JMU Football vs. William & Mary

#5 William & Mary Tribe (5-1, 2-1) vs.  
JMU Dukes (2-4, 0-3)
Oct. 24, 2009 - 12:05pm - Williamsburg, VA


Televised on Comcast SportsNet


Weather Report

Tailgating	8am	68°	40% (precip)
Mid-tailgate	10am	71°	50%
Getting into the stadium	11am	74°	50%
Kickoff	12:05pm	77°	50%
Game over	3pm	80°	50%

Line for the game
William & Mary by 11.5

GAMEDAY EVE Report: Villanova vs. JMU Football

#6 Villanova Wildcats (2-1, 5-1) vs.
#16 JMU Dukes (2-3, 0-2)
Oct. 17, 2009 - 3:30pm - Harrisonburg, VA


Watch the game on Madizone
or the Comcast Network (previously CN8)

Weather Report

Tailgating	8am	37°	40% (precip)
Mid-tailgate	11am	42°	30%
Getting into the stadium	2:30pm	43°	30%
Kickoff	3:30pm	43°	30%
Game over	6:30pm	42°	30%

Line for the game
Villanova by 3.5

Around the CAA: 10/15

To quell some worries and concerns about not making it into the playoffs, let's look at the conference. Given our current condition of having a 2-3 record, the only way to guarantee our way into the playoffs is to win out. If we lose one more, we're potentially out, but not completely. The past two years the CAA has gotten 5 teams in. So if we look at that statistic, and combine it with the fact that at 2-3 we're still ranked at #16, we've been to the playoffs 4 out of the past 5 years, and made it to the semifinals last year, they would likely put us in over other teams (even though the selection committee likes to put us in the worst position possible). Other likely CAA playoff teams, in general order of predicted finish (teams like NE, URI, and TU were left out because I don't view them as real quality wins):

Richmond Recap

First things first, we'll cover the Dudzik controversy, since that's what all the rest of the media wants to cover. Thorpe was named the starter, but Dudzik came in during the second quarter and did indeed provide a spark on offense. Then, after he had already driven for a touchdown and was possibly on his way to a second one, he went to throw the ball away. But, when he planted his foot, something went wrong. A stress fracture that had previously bothered him finally gave way to a break. He stayed in through the next couple plays, but then hobbled off to the locker room. This injury, for awhile, seemed to get into the heads of the JMU team as it took awhile to get back into the swing of things, but was also showed why there has been a "QB battle" going on for so long. Dudzik had been struggling with a stress fracture for quite some time. Drew knew it and the coaches knew it. Dudzik had also suffered a concussion during the Spring Game and got another minor concussion during the Hofstra game. That's two fairly serious injuries that were on the brink of getting much worse.

Knowing that your "game-changing" quarterback that the media and fans had proclaimed the #1 was one bad step or hit from going down for the season...what would you do as a coach? Choice one: play that partially-injured quarterback until he gets fully injured, then have a redshirt-freshman QB step in with absolutely no experience. Choice two: rotate QB's to keep the offense upbeat with Drew and also get Thorpe some experience in case the worst happens. Plus, resting Dudzik every other drive and not having him play for long stretches at a time would have helped extend the time that he could play with the stress fracture. The safer choice is obviously two. This wasn't planning for the future; this was covering your bases for this year so that if Dudzik goes down, Thorpe has had in-game experience to go off of.

GAMEDAY EVE Report: Richmond vs. JMU Football

#1 Richmond Spiders (4-0, 2-0) vs.
#12/13 JMU Dukes (2-2, 0-1)
Oct. 10, 2009 - 12pm - Harrisonburg, VA


Watch the game on Madizone


Weather Report

Tailgating	8am	62°	40% (precip)
Mid-tailgate	10am	62°	20%
Getting into the stadium	11am	63	20%
Kickoff	12pm	63°	10%
Game over	3pm	64°	10%

Line for the game
Richmond by 14 (or 54 points if you listen to Mickey Matthews)

Thorpe to Start Against UR

JMU has officially announced that Justin Thorpe will be the starting QB for Saturday's game against the University of Richmond. Drew Dudzik and Thorpe have been in a QB battle since the Spring for the starting position and neither one had made their way to the forefront until now. Some suspect that it may have something to do with Dudzik suffering a minor concussion in last Saturday's game against Hofstra, but Dudzik is still practicing and still plans to get some snaps against the Spiders.

Thorpe: 158.8 efficiency
Passing - 13-19 (68.4%); 189 yards. 1 TD and 1 INT
Rushing - 43 attempts; 225 yards (5.2 avg); 2 TD

Dudzik: 162.4 efficiency
Passing - 25-44 (56.8%); 404 yards, 5 TD and 2 INT
Rushing - 33 attempts; 155 yards (4.7 avg); 1 TD

It will be interesting watch the number of snaps that Drew still gets. If it's not too many, hopefully Thorpe will flourish with the increased experience and will get into a rhythm.

GAMEDAY EVE Report: JMU Football vs. Hofstra

Hofstra Pride (2-2, 0-1) vs.
#6/7 JMU Dukes (2-1, 0-0)
Oct. 3, 2009 - 3pm - Hempstead, NY


Watch the game on Madizone


Weather Report

Tailgating	12pm	70°	50% (precip)
Getting into the stadium	2pm	70°	40%
Kickoff	3pm	70°	40%
Game over	6pm	69°	30%

Line for the game
JMU by 14

Choose the New Windbreaker Logo!

Here's your chance to help determine the new look of the Windbreaker. In an effort to make the logo not so...terrible...I've worked up some better options. Thanks for the everyone's opinion who helped narrow the choices down this far! If your choice didn't make it, I'm sorry, but I went with majority.

Below you will see the choices and a poll. Each large logo option has one or two smaller choices for things like Twitter, where a smaller icon is needed. For the choices with an A/B option, both of them will be added up (so the total for option 1 will include 1:A and 1:B) to choose the winning large logo and then the associated A/B option with the most votes will also be chosen as the icon. I wanted to pair them up to give a more consistent look between the two. I'll leave voting open until Saturday morning.























Final Results:
1:A - 11
1:B - 7
2:A - 22
3:A - 4
3:B - 1
4:A - 5
4:B - 0

CAA Football POW 9/28: Moats and Goff

Punter Matt Goff and Defensive End Arthur Moats were both named CAA Football Players of the Week after both made key plays in the 24-10 win over Liberty.

CAA Football Defensive Player of the Week
Arthur Moats, DL, James Madison
Moats, the CAA Football Defensive Player of the Week, was part of No. 7 James Madison’s defense which led the Dukes to a 24-10 win over No. 25 Liberty on the road. Moats, a Portsmouth, Va., native made a team-best nine tackles, including three for a loss of nine yards. The senior also recorded one of JMU’s two sacks on the night, and forced a fumble. Moats and the Dukes’ defense limited the Flames’ offense, averaging better than 325 yards/game, to just 217 in the contest and only 96 on the ground.

CAA Football Special Teams Player of the Week
Matt Goff, P, James Madison
Goff, the CAA Football Special Teams Player of the Week, played an important role in the field-position battle during No. 7 James Madison’s 24-10 win over No. 25 Liberty. The Fairfax, Va., native totalled three punts on the night for an average of 46.3 yards. The junior’s biggest boot of the night came with just over seven minutes left in the game. Goff, pinned against the back of the endzone, punted the ball 65 yards to the Liberty 29-yardline and forced the Flames to drive the length of the field. The 65-yard punt marked the eighth-longest punt in James Madison history.

JMU vs. Liberty Recap

Come hell or high water, JMU was not going to lose this game. Dubbed the “Commonwealth Clash” by the marketing team at Liberty, t-shirts sold separately at the bookstore that wasn’t right over there, it lived up to its billing for three quarters.

Liberty won the toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff. Some would say a mistake; one may think you would want to put the onus on the JMU offense while the crowd was still pumped up to make the first play. Instead, they elected to receive. Liberty had one first down and drove to the JMU 45 before stalling. The punt was magnificent, pinning JMU on its 2-yard line. However, Drew Dudzik, Jamal Sullivan and the offensive line took charge. Using four different rushes that gained 10+ yards the Dukes drove methodically down the field. After twelve plays and 6 first downs, Dixon Wright kicked a 35 yard field goal to give JMU the lead 3-0.

Liberty received the kickoff after the field goal and drove down the field, including a 3rd and 20 conversion to Summers (which became a trend all night). After one goalline stop, Beecher took the ball right up the middle and got the score. The Flames led 7-3 and the home crowd was feeling the momentum.

W&M school spirit: FAIL

This year, W&M has seen unprecedented support for their football teams thanks to a great beginning of the season. After beating UVA, they've gone on to start the year with a 4-0 record. Their real test will be playing at Villanova this upcoming Saturday, but so far are looking pretty good. Let's be real though, William and Mary's school spirit, especially for the last few years, has been kind of a joke.

This was their mascot:
Ebirt was, according to Wikipedia, "An asexual amorphous green blob that donned a tri-corner hat". They booted him as their mascot in '05.




This was their logo:
But then the NCAA's PC department took over and said they couldn't have feathers.

GAMEDAY EVE Report: JMU Football vs. Liberty

#24/25 Liberty Flames (2-1) vs.
#6/7 JMU Dukes (1-1)
Sept. 26, 2009 - 7:05pm - Lynchburg, VA

Pre-game Social: 4:30-6:30pm
Lynchburg Ham's - 5704 Seminole Drive


Weather Report

Tailgating? At Liberty?	1pm	61°	70% (precip)
Getting to Ham's	4pm	61°	80%
Getting into the stadium	6pm	61°	90%
Kickoff	7pm	60°	90%
Game over	10pm	60°	80%

Line for the game
Pick 'em

Ticket Update: Mainly Student Info

In the past 6 years, tickets for JMU Athletics have gone through a huge revolution. This year, JMU's ticket system is making huge leaps in tracking and convenience and the Ticket Office is really doing an outstanding job.

Ticket Update
Family Weekend - obviously sold out. Parents have already reserved over 3000 student tickets so they could sit with their son/daughter, leaving a little over 1200 student tickets available for pickup
Homecoming - Sold Out (will have normal allotment of student tickets)
Maine - about 500 tickets left (not including student tickets)
Towson - about 1000 tickets left (not including student tickets)

VOTE - Liberty Mutual: Coach of the Year

Last year, JMU Football coach Mickey Matthews won the Liberty Mutual: Coach of the Year award after having the most votes in the online poll. This year's voting has now started. Mickey is only #8 right now with 49 votes...49 votes people...that's just sad. The first place coach, Dick Biddle of Colgate, has 336. Mickey has led us to the playoffs four out of the past five years and this year looks like it will make five out of six. Mickey deserves to have our support so let's show him some love.

http://www.coachoftheyear.com/
Make sure you go to I-AA (they apparently dislike the FBS/FCS monikers) and vote for Mickey Matthews. You can vote once per day, per Email address.

Leaderboard

GAMEDAY EVE Report: VMI vs. JMU Football

VMI Keydets (1-0) vs. #7 JMU Dukes (0-1)
Sept. 19, 2009 - 6pm - Harrisonburg, VA






Weather Report

Start of tailgating	8am	58°	0% (precip)
Lunchtime	12pm	71°	0%
Getting into the stadium	5pm	74°	0%
Kickoff	6pm	72°	0%
Game over	9pm	64°	10%

Line for the game
JMU is a 35.5 point favorite

Harrisonburg Alumni Breakfast

Wednesday morning, the Harrisonburg Alumni Chapter had a networking breakfast with guests JMU Football Head Coach Mickey Matthews, JMU Director of Athletics Jeff Bourne, and CAA Commissioner Tom Yeager. After a quick viewing of the club seats video for the stadium expansion, the guests answered a list of questions that were submitted. I tried to include as much information in the almost hour-long Q&A as I could, so I'm sorry if it's a little long (or really long).

The first round of questions were directed mainly towards Coach Mickey Matthews. He said regarding the QB situation that Drew Dudzik played "solid." Mickey also said that after looking at the tape, they didn't play Justin Thorpe enough. He was having a decent game, but because of penalties and field position he was at a disadvantage. They also noticed that at times Dudzik struggled in the second half, but that in the very competitive situation, Dudzik was handling the game better. Matthews also commented that they will continue to share playing time and didn't know who would "begin" the game (as opposed to "start", which commands too much attention in his opinion"). He also said that, "The worst thing coaches do is promise playing time."

Madison For Keeps

Remember back to your time at Madison. Remember your freshman year dorm, eating at Dhall (grilled cheese Thursdays), hanging out with your FROG group... Now think about any organizations or sports teams you were involved in... How about that one Saturday night senior year...you know the one... At JMU, we alumni have had the opportunity to spend some of the best years of our lives at an amazing institution in a community that is unmatched across the country. We spent four (or more) years building relationships and growing our family of Dukes. Now imagine not having those experiences.

Since the economy has taken a downturn, the scholarship money available to current students has taken a huge hit. Not only that, but parents are losing their jobs. This means that families who once had no problem paying for tuition and living expenses now can't afford to keep their children in college. Over 200 students currently at JMU are in danger of not being able to finish their time at Madison because they can't afford to pay for the upcoming Spring semester.

So here's your chance Dukes. It's time to "Be the Change". It's time to prove that we are "All Together One". A special fund has been set up called Madison For Keeps.

GAMEDAY EVE Report: JMU vs. Maryland

JMU Dukes (0-0) vs. Maryland Terrapins (0-1)
Sept. 12, 2009 - 6pm - College Park, MD

Weather Report

Start of tailgating	12pm	70°	10% (precip)
Mid-tailgating	3pm	74°	30%
Walking to stadium	5pm	74°	30%
Kickoff	6pm	73°	30%
Game over	9pm	67°	20%

Line for the game
Maryland is a 10.5 point favorite

Orientation: Creating the JMU Community

Now that the new-school-year smell has started to wear off, let's review one of the most important annual events in the life of JMU. 1787 Orientation week is where JMU freshmen (or "first-years" in Orientation lingo) get their first injection of purple. All this happens through no easy task. The Orientation office employs seven full-time staff and three GA's that work year round to make those first steps onto campus by brand new JMU students the best they can be. In addition to the staff members, there were tons of student staff and volunteers.

The first of the student staff were the 1787 Student Coordinators, Chaney Austin and Tyler Conta. These two started way back in the fall getting organized for this year's 1787 week. These two deserve a huge round of applause as they put in countless hours and many late nights putting things together. Next up were three SOC's (Student Orientation Coordinators) and an Operations Assistant Coordinator that helped keep the hundreds of other volunteers doing the right thing, in the right place, at the right time. Manning the home base of the Orientation office in Wilson Hall and keeping everything going behind the scenes were the three OOA's (Orientation Operations Assistants). The next group, 26 OPA's (Orientation Peer Advisers), were in charge of the Summer Springboard and overseeing all the FROGs. Their counterparts, ANT's (Assisting New Transfers), focus on helping incoming transfer students transition to life at JMU. Each one of the ten ANT's also previously transferred to JMU from another school. Last, but definitely not least, are those shining soldiers in yellow. A grand total of 252 FROGs created new connections and are the main face of JMU Orientation program. So if anyone asks how many people it takes to put together one of the top first-year experiences in the country...the answer is 304.

1787 started off Tuesday afternoon as the first half of the freshmen started moving into their residence halls with the assistance of their FROGs. That night they were entertained by a free showing of The Sandlot at Grafton-Stovall Theater. Interesting bit of trivia, most of the new students were only two or three years old when that movie first came out and Billboards #1 song of 1991, (Everything I Do) I Do It For You by Bryan Adams (raise your hand if you feel old). The remaining freshmen moved in Wednesday morning and had the University Welcome that afternoon, followed by Playfair (a community building exercise) in UREC that night. Turn-out across the board was better than in years past and according to 1787 Co-Coordinator Chaney Austin, "Turn-out was off the hook! We had so many people come out to all the events, it was awesome!" Thursday's main event was Quadfest and is an annual favorite. Thousands of first-years flooded the newly-finished Quad to munch on sno-cones and cotton candy, listen to music, learn the frog dance, throw frisbee, and play lots of other games while rotating for dinner and into Wilson Auditorium for J MADisON.

Friday night, the first-years walked back over to the Convo for the Pep Rally where they got their first taste of "Virginia's Finest", the MRD's. They also got to hear from many of the sports teams including Football, Men's and Women's Soccer, Men's and Women's Basketball, and Field Hockey. The Student Duke Club also introduced themselves and had sign-ups before and after. That night there were also lots of smaller activities around campus for students to participate in.

Saturday, as many students as could possibly fit crammed inside of the Festival Ballroom for Jimmy's Mad Jam, where some of JMU's A Capella and dance groups performed. Turnout for this event could not have been any better without a larger venue.

Saturday night's marquee event was the crowd favorite. Michael C. Anthony, a hypnotist that visits every year for Orientation (and sometimes during the regular school year) captivated thousands of students who decided to (at least for the time being) postpone heading out to party to watch this incredible act. This year, something different was in the air. I'm not sure if students were worn out, or were just ready to listen intently to their professors, but the students on stage weren't the only ones being hypnotized. Only minutes into the performance, students in the crowd started falling under Anthony's trance (something I had never seen after four times watching him). The first two were relatively close to the stage, so after lots of screaming from around the entranced few, they were led on stage and continued along with the rest of the students on stage. That wasn't the end of it though. One student in the very back of the Convo became so entranced a little later that even after Anthony had some assistance to do a long distance "snap out of it", she had to be walked around to the stage to have Anthony's spell taken off of her. From what I saw, there were also three others that couldn't help but participate. In fact, a girl two rows in front of me became particularly scared of the belt/snake routine and then proceeded to shake her moneymaker for the surrounding area during the dance contest. Facilities personnel was thankfully able to assist those unfortunate ones and get them under control. The rest of the performance was outstanding as usual. Everyone seemed to be very entertained and a new guy will spend his freshman year with the nickname "CHA-CHA".

Sunday afternoon, students, FROGs, and OPAs once again filed back into the Convo for the 1787 Convocation. At this presentation, one of the stories from the students' summer reading program, the DNA Age, was brought to life. JMU Biology professor Carol Hurney (who is a fantastic professor btw) MC'd between monologues by JMU theater majors playing the parts of characters in the story. It dealt with ethics and privacy concerns of newly created DNA tests for diseases and seemed to be a touchy topic for some that left the crowd fairly evenly split. Along the way, FROGs discussed with their groups how they felt about the situation. This really seemed like a great way to get the students involved and talking about contemporary issues that will affect our lives.

Overall, it was a great week put on by the entire Orientation staff and congratulations to all the first-years that have made it through almost three whole weeks of classes. I can't underscore enough how important Orientation is to this university. It's not just about getting recognition from U.S. News and World Report (though that's not bad), it's about building the community that is JMU. Ever since JMU was a school of only a few thousand, people have been questioning how big JMU could grow before it would lose the "JMU atmosphere." That sense of community is created during those first few days where the focus is on getting to know the campus and each other, and students get to know themselves a little better, too. As Dan Boxer ('08) put it, "You instantly become a member of the JMU family..." Because of programs like Orientation, I don't see JMU losing that community spirit anytime soon.

Calling All JMU Alumni

Has your heart started skipping a beat everytime you see purple? When you hear the name Mickey...does your mind wander to exclamations of "Dadgum" instead of a certain mouse with big ears? Have you been TP'ing your neighbor's yard that went to Richmond or William and Mary to warm up your streamer-throwing arm? Have you had a void inside your heart since last December? While more cowbell may help...there's only one thing that can really fix that feeling. Start wearing PURPLE and go support your Dukes! If you live anywhere in the DC/NOVA/MD area, there are few things that should stand between you and JMU's first football game of the year. I know there are many of you that can't make it down to Harrisonburg for home games, so this is your chance to get to a game closer to your home. After the upsets this past weekend, you can't count us out against the Terps and even if we lose, you still get to see JMU kick off the 2009 season.

Tickets are available through the JMU ticket office, StubHub, Craigslist, and various other places for as little at $10 (though averaging around $20). You can easily take the Metro or it's not that far of a drive to College Park. Tailgating will commence around 9am (these are JMU fans after all) in the U5 lot. UPDATE - Parking lots don't open until noon! If you're wearing purple, I doubt it will be hard to find something to eat and drink throughout the day. For those that were at last year's Richmond game, you know how well JMU can draw at away games. Let's PURPLE OUT College Park! We already have 2,000+ Dukes with tickets, but that's not nearly enough. Plus, I know you've missed the MRD's - they're taking a 250 person band for the game so you get to hear all your favorites!

Metro fare to College Park = $5
Scoring food and drinks off of fellow Dukes at tailgates = free
Ticket to JMU vs. Maryland = $15 off of StubHub
Seeing your Dukes of JMU take this year's CAA vs. ACC record to 3-1 = PRICELESS

GO DUKES!!!

FYI - Google Calendar now has a Sports calendar function that lets you subscribe to the schedule of your favorite sports teams, including your James Madison Dukes! You now have no excuse to know when the next football game is.

Closing the Gap or Confusing the Letters?

Over the opening weekend of the 2009 college football season, we saw some FCS (Football Championship Subdivision, formerly I-AA) teams taking it to FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly I-A) teams. The last time the CAA won 3 games against I-A teams was in 2000 when two teams beat (then) I-A transition team UConn and another beat Arkansas State. The quality of FBS teams was much more impressive this time around. To start it off, Thursday night Temple (MAC - FBS) was defeated by Villanova (CAA - FCS), 27-24. To be fair to Temple, it was probably our fault they lost because we've stolen so many of their recruits over the past few years (no, but really, two of our top recruits from just this year had offers from Temple). This outcome wasn't that surprising given that Villanova is one of the top FCS teams and Temple is a bottom-tier FBS team.

Now, let's move on to Saturday, as it was much more amusing. There was an apparent confusion between the nation's #4 and #6 public colleges' conference acronyms as the similarity between 'ACC' (FBS conference) and 'CAA' (FCS conference) left players and coaches scratching their head over which team belonged to which conference. UVA, of the ACC, sent an array of unqualified quarterbacks unseen since last year's Delaware team at W&M. W&M capitalized off of a -6 turnover margin and embarrassed Al Groh's team, winning 26-14. Alas, don't let W&M beating UVA put fear into the hearts of those with purple pumping through their veins. The (featherless) Tribe amassed a grand total of yards barely breaking the 300 mark even with the ball being constantly handed to them. They also only converted 25% of 3rd downs. Duke Dog is not scared.

Next up was Richmond traveling to Duke for the third CAA vs. ACC matchup. This game had to be embarrassing for the Blue Devils. For the second time in four years, the Ticks (sorry...Spiders) traveled to Durham and defeated Duke, this time 26-16. If that wasn't enough, there was a crowd on Saturday of 33,311, their highest attendance since 2001. There's no reason to belabor my point. Duke football = fail.

Other close FCS vs. FBS games:
16-17 - Norther Iowa (MVC) vs. #22 Iowa (Big Ten)
17-21 - UMass (CAA) vs. Kansas State (Big 12)
24-28 - Samford (SoCon) vs. UCF (C-USA)
24-29 - App St (SoCon) vs. ECU (C-USA)
20-33 - Liberty (Big South) vs. West Virginia (Big East)

Not-so-close games of note:
14-47 - Towson (CAA) vs. Northwestern (Big Ten)
17-37 - Jacksonville State (OVC) vs. Georgia Tech (ACC)
7-40 - Wofford (SoCon) vs. South Florida (Big East)
6-40 - The Citadel (SoCon) North Carolina (ACC)
0-54 - Northeastern (CAA) vs. Boston College (ACC)
3-38 - Youngstown St (MVC) vs. Pittsburgh (Big East)
3-62 - Charleston Southern (Big South) vs. #1 Florida (SEC)

So with less than 5 days before the JMU vs. Maryland game, the CAA so far is 2-1 against the ACC this year. Will we add on another upset and take the record to 3-1? It seems the gap between FBS and FCS is gradually narrowing. It's only a matter of time until the elite FCS teams make the jump. How soon will it be? I'll leave you with this quote from the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

In light of yesterday's events across the region, it can now be asked without any irony or intended humor whether the ACC really is that much better than its FCS counterpart.

2009 JMU Football Depth Chart

Now that we're just less than a week away from the Maryland game, here's what we're looking at as far as a depth chart (at least from what I've gathered so far). Most of the positions have been decided on. We'll find out this week when the game notes for Maryland comes out. I'll update it here as I get more information.

QB	Drew Dudzik/Justin Thorpe
RB	Jamal Sullivan Corwin Acker Scott Noble
WR	Rockeed McCarter Bosco Williams (injured) Kerby Long Marcus Turner Marcus Charity
TE	Mike Caussin Charlie Newman
FB	Donnell Brown
LT	Theo Sherman Jerald Brown (2nd)
LG	Roane Babington Karl von Allmen (2nd)
C	Donny Smith Brett Ainsley (2nd)
RG	Dorian Brooks Richard Williams (2nd)
RT	Brandon Monroe Earl Watford (2nd)
DE	Arthur Moats, D.J. Bryant (1st) Aaron Harper, Greg Woodson (2nd)
DT	Ronnell Brown, Sam Daniels (1st) Max Alexandre, Dominique White (2nd)
LB	Chase Williams, Pat Williams (1st) Jamie Veney, Adrian Cavanaugh (2nd)
CB	Mike Allen, Taveion Cuffee (1st) Scotty McGee, Jamaris Sanders
SS	Vidal Nelson Jon Rose (2nd)
WS	Jon Williams Peter Rose (2nd)
FS	Griff Yancey Brandon Randolph (2nd)
K	Dixon Wright Ben Hopewell (2nd)
P	Matt Goff/Andy Smith
LS	Charlie Newman
KR/PR	Scotty McGee Kerby Long

More articles are on the way including analysis of tonight's Maryland vs. Cal game.

Duke Dog for Captial One Bowl Write-In

Five years ago, a travesty on a scale that I can't describe occurred in the Capital One Mascot Bowl. The competition paired up two mascots each week and then fans voted. Duke Dog blew away the competition every week. Campaign websites and videos were created to endorse Duke Dog. It was a big deal. The voting was not even close. He went undefeated all 11 weeks (the next closest mascot went 6-5). Finally, the time came for the announcement of the winner (which obviously should have been Duke Dog given his overwhelming online victories). The winner of the 2004 Capital One Mascot Bowl: Monty, Montana's mascot. Apparently, the judges panel portion had outweighed the online portion, basically making the online portion useless.

Capital One wasn't aware of the backlash they would receive from cheating our mascot out of it's rightful position as champion. Within minutes, dozens of Facebook groups were created and some Captial One credit cards were even canceled. The JMU community (or Nation, if you will) was up in arms over this outrage. Over the coming months, and in many cases years, Capital One is still learning of the mistake it made. A recent alum who was a freshman at the time, says, "I called Pam Girardo, one of the directors in the mascot bowl, and left her a message about once a week for three months. Then, exactly one year after our humiliating defeat, I called her again and left her a message."

Unhappy with this reaction, Capital One was disinclined to offer us a chance to participate the next year. Of course, the year after they also decided to change the rules so that the online voting made up 100% of the decision on who the winner was. Then, in the Summer of 2009, JMU applied again to be in the Mascot Challenge. The JMU Athletics Department quickly went to work producing an awesome video to submit to Capital One. It turned out great and was sent in. Director of Athletics Marketing, Alyssa Gerlando described the process further, "Capital One sends out nomination packets every year for their mascot challenge. Unfortunately, Duke Dog did not make the cut, but that doesn’t mean all of our efforts were a waste. Fans are allowed to write in a mascot’s name, and the winner of the write-in vote will automatically qualify for next year’s challenge."

So here's your part in this whole debacle. We are being given the chance to decide for ourselves whether or not Duke Dog makes it in the Mascot Challenge next year. Part of this year's competition is a write-in section where you can write in your vote and the winner is automatically placed into next year's competition. A Facebook event has even been created to help organize people. So here's how to make our voice heard:

1. Go to http://www.capitalonebowl.com/writeIn/main
   
   
2. Click the "Go Vote" and vote for that week's mascot match-ups.
   
   
3. Create a Nickname and write in the code.
   
   
4. You will then be able to vote for DUKE DOG!!

Since the word has started to spread about the write-in vote, Duke Dog has jumped to the #1 spot! Keep up the voting and lets make this happen. If you don't vote, you never know what could happen... Gerlando was confident about the chances this year, "Duke Dog won the online vote in the 2004 competition. I have no doubt the JMU Nation will provide the support to do it again this year. JMU fans have tons of pride and love their mascot. I know we can make this happen."

And for those that stuck around to finish the article, here is a nice treat that was created during the 2004 campaign (make sure to explore the whole site): http://danwho.net/votedukedog/slander.php?id=1

GO DUKES!

RIP (Free) Hillside Tailgating

As the evening sun goes down on a cool Fall evening, a car pulls into C4 (affectionately known as Hillside lot) to save a spot for the upcoming Saturday morning. A bleary-eyed student makes their way down to a parking lot overflowing with purple. Many current students and alumni can relate countless memories of good times had in Hillside. In the years leading up to the National Championship year of 2004, tailgating on the campus of JMU was something quieter and was something to do, but wasn't out of control. As the years passed and as the excitement of each football game grew, so did the tailgating. Soon, Hillside and the Baseball lot (R1) became an event on Saturdays apart from the actual football games. The lots were teaming with happy people in purple and gold. Tailgating became something that JMU thrived at, for logical reasons.

Now, because of supply and demand (among other reasons), Hillside is transitioning into a donor lot for the Duke Club. For those uninitiated with the Duke Club, it is "the fundraising arm for James Madison University Athletics. Through its annual fund drive, the Duke Club raises unrestricted contributions in support of student-athlete scholarships and the athletic budget. Additionally, the Duke Club aids athletic facility enhancements and other needs through capital campaigns." Basically, through donations from thousands of Dukes, the Duke Club supplements the cost of scholarships and helps to raise money for larger projects, such as the football stadium expansion. The Student Duke Club is a small (though essential) part of the Duke Club (making up less than 5% of the $1.1+ million yearly contribution). So please do not mistake the President of the Student Duke Club as the Director of the Duke Club, or vice versa.

Now that we've covered the background stuff, let's review why we, as JMU football fans, still have it made. They're taking away Hillside as a free lot...which still leaves the Baseball lot within a third of a mile of the stadium. Oh, and don't forget the huge Convo lots or R2 across Port Republic Rd. as free places to tailgate either (both within a half mile from the stadium). You'd be hard pressed to find a school with a football program as big as ours, with as many fans as we have, that has tailgating so close to the stadium (that doesn't cost thousands of dollars for a parking pass). Especially when you take into consideration that we have so many lots within a five minute walk that are FREE. Here's two possibilities that I'll go ahead and lay out for those who used to tailgate in Hillside. First, you can talk to your friends and decide which of the other three spacious lots you want to tailgate in. A second option would be to get those same friends and scrap together $150 to get a parking pass for Hillside for the season through the Duke Club. Many people have already bought a parking pass and will continue to make (and possibly quickly forget) memories in Hillside. The bottom line is, to say that "the man" taking away one of the free tailgating lots and turning it into a paid lot will hurt JMU tailgating is belittling of all the James Madison students, alumni, and fans that have created the amazing atmosphere that we enjoy.

GO DUKES!

Third Eye Blind To Perform at Fall Convo Show

Today, at the University Program Board's Crazy Commons Day, UPB announced that the performer for this semester's Convo show would be Third Eye Blind. For those that have been disappointed in Convo shows in the past, I thought I'd provide a little insight into how much work goes into just lining up who is coming for the show (with some help from Angela Morton, Director of Center Stage).

To start the process, UPB receives a list of artists compiled by their middle agent, Melissa Boyle Aronson from Babco Entertainment. Melissa helps provide insight and guidance through the entire process from getting the avails list to getting feedback after the show. The avails list is a list of artists that are touring for the fall/spring, their general price and general availability. It includes a wide variety of artists, from well-established bands that can cost well over $100,000 to bands on the rise that may be $10,000 (most of which 95% of the student body has never heard of). The Center Stage Committee, along with the Executive Council of UPB go through this list and try to narrow it down a little. They have to consider what artists are within UPB's budget and the band's availability. In addition, they have to take into account all the additional costs of setup, lighting, sound, stage, security, marketing, etc., when looking at costs, because it can add upwards of $15,000-20,000 to the cost of the show. The stage plus rental of JMU Convocation center can cost around $9,000 on their own. UPB generally tries to book the Fall Convocation show in September/early October, before basketball season begins. They also have to work around a schedule of pre-scheduled events that take place at the Convo.

UPB tries to include a variety of artists to try to reach the maximum number of students. Then, they create a survey for the students to take, asking what nights they prefer to see a show, who they would like to see, how much they'd be willing to pay to see them, etc. This year, they divided the artists into genres and tried to get the top 3-5 for each. The survey is distributed via mass email, Facebook, and the UPB website. UPB tracks the results and sees if any favorites emerge, trying their hardest to book the students' number one choice, given that they are within the budget and all parties can agree on a show date. From there, it moves into a bidding and negotiation period, working with Melissa and the artist's manager to come to a reasonable agreement. In the past, UPB has had numerous artists decline their bids, so they've had to go back to the survey results, find the number two or number three pick and start the bidding process over again. Booking an artist can be a long and stressful process.

"This year, we really wanted to make an offer to Third Eye Blind, especially after the students' overwhelming disappointment when they fell through last year," said Angela. Third Eye Blind received over 3,300 votes on the survey and were the clear favorite of the JMU students (OAR, Jack's Mannequin, Dashboard, and MGMT were also among the top picks this year). Luckily, we were able to work with them this time and come to an agreement. Angela said that when it was announced, "It got an overall positive response from students." To help decide on future performers for Convo shows and the rest of the University Program Board's events, there are several ways to get involved. Visit their website, office (Taylor 234), or talk to one of their members to find out more.

Show info

October 8th at 8pm, Convo

Tickets on sale Thursday, Sept 17 at Warren Box Office at 8am

Prices: $26 reserved seating for students with JAC, $31 for floor seats/general public in advance/students at doors, $36 general public at doors

JMU 2009-2010 Complete Men's Basketball Schedule

The full JMU Men's Basketball schedule for the 2009-2010 season was announced yesterday. Check it out. Exact dates for the CAA schedule are still subject to change as the TV schedule is worked out, so be warned that until that's set in stone (probably around October) you might not want to make definite plans. The Bracket Buster opponent will be chosen in late January. Conference games are starred and all teams are listed with last year's end-of-season KenPom rankings in parentheses.

UPDATE: Now includes exhibition game, game times, and TV schedule


Exhibition Game: Oct. 31 - Philadelphia (DII) - 3pm

Nov. 12 (Thu) - 7pm - @ Ohio State (37) - Coaches vs. Cancer Classic
Big Ten Network

Coaches vs. Cancer Classic @ Florida International
Nov. 20 (Fri) - 4pm - Murray State (137)
Nov. 22 (Sun) - 6pm - Florida International (262)
Nov. 23 (Mon) - 4pm - North Carolina Central (343)

Nov. 28 (Sat) - 7pm - UMBC (256)

Dec. 2 (Wed) - 7pm - Norfolk State (297)

Dec. 5 (Sat) - 2pm - Georgia State* (219)
CSN-MA; CSN-P; CSN-NE; CSS
----Dec. 11 - End of Fall Semester----
Dec. 12 (Sat) - 7pm - @ Eastern Michigan (306)

Dec. 17 (Thu) - 7pm - @ Gardner-Webb (252)

Dec. 19 (Sat) - 7pm - Radford (188)

Dec. 23 (Wed) - 7pm - Fordham (317)

Dec. 29 (Tue) - 10pm - @ Stanford (49)

Jan. 2 (Sat) - 4pm - @ Northeastern* (101)

Jan. 4 (Mon) - 7pm - Delaware* (201)

Jan. 6 (Wed) - 7pm - @ Old Dominion* (90)

Jan. 9 (Sat) - 2pm - Towson* (248)
CSN-MA; CSN-P; CSN-NE 
----Jan. 11 - Beginning of Spring Semester----
Jan. 13 (Wed) - 7pm - @ William & Mary* (227)
CSN-MA

Jan. 16 (Sat) - 2pm - George Mason* (88)
CSN-MA; CSN-P; CSN-NE; CSS

Jan. 20 (Wed) - 7pm - @ Drexel* (133)
TCN; CSN-NE

Jan. 23 (Sat) - 7pm - @ North Carolina Wilmington* (298)
MASN

Jan. 27 (Wed) - 7pm - William & Mary* (227)

Jan. 30 (Sat) - 12pm - @ George Mason* (88)
CSN-MA; CSN-NE; CSS; TCN-P

Feb. 3 (Wed) - 7pm - Hofstra* (175)

Feb. 6 (Sat) - 4pm - @ Towson* (248) 

Feb. 10 (Wed) - 7pm - Old Dominion* (90)


Feb. 13 (Sat) - 6pm - Virginia Commonwealth* (53)
CSN-MA; CSN-NE; TCN-P 

Feb. 16 (Wed) - 7pm -  Georgia State* (219)

Feb. 20 (Sat) - TBA - @ Bracket Buster

Feb. 22 (Mon) - 7pm - Longwood (313)

Feb. 24 (Wed) - 7:30pm - @ Virginia Commonwealth* (53)

Feb. 27 (Sat) - 7pm - Drexel* (133)
----March 6 - Beginning of Spring Break----
March 5-8 (Fri-Mon) - CAA Tournament - Richmond, Va.

As you can see it's a decent schedule. It might not be as tough as some were hoping, but like I said in my previous article about the out-of-conference schedule, some of these are series games that we can't exactly just say, "No, we're not gonna play you." The average ranking from last year for our OOC opponents is 230. Our CAA schedule averages out to 178. Considering we finished the year ranked 140 in the nation, I think we should finish the year pretty high.

With 31 regular season games, I don't see us losing more than 10 of them. Ohio State and Stanford are the only teams that are even close to guaranteed loses for us (though, I could see us coming close to an upset if we play well against Stanford). Murray State might give us some trouble, and we might have a tough opponent for Bracket Busters, so that's maybe 4 losses. As for our conference schedule, I think we'll do really well this year, especially at home. I think this is the year we will really start to see the Electric Zoo come back to life (though I don't see consistent sell-outs happening until next year). I count our possible losses as @Northeastern, @ODU, @Drexel, @George Mason, and @VCU. VCU will be down this year though, from losing their star point guard and a couple other big players to transfers, so we might not even lose at their. I'll allow for another random loss in our schedule somewhere. So I could see us, pretty realistically, have a loss record in the single digits.

Another thing to keep in mind is home games during winter break. We only have 4 home games during this period, and the best teams we play are Radford and Delaware, which should be fairly easy wins. We'll have students in session for all the major home games this season. In addition, Denzel Bowles, our next big man who is a transfer from Texas A&M, becomes eligible after Fall exams are over, so his first eligible game will be at Eastern Michigan. Denzel makes Dazz Thornton looks like an average height basketball player. He is a tree and I believe will be an immediate difference maker. Speaking of Dazz, he is in the best shape I've ever seen him in. Check out the pictures from the Pep Rally to see Dazz, Denzel, Julius Wells, and Ryan Knight. This is definitely a season to be optimistic about.

JMUSports.com | Full Schedule

JMUSports.com | Schedule Announcement

Want To Help With the Windbreaker?

Do you have a great idea for an article? Is there an area of campus life that you don't feel is being covered? Please let me know. Right now, I'm just writing articles that I believe people want to read (and that I have time to write). Even if you're an alumnus and think the JMU community should know about something, feel free to shoot me an e-mail. Or, for the aspiring (or professional) writers out there, go ahead and send me an article - I would suggest clearing the idea with me first, so you don't write an article that won't get published.

The key is to let me know what you're thinking and what's going on; if I don't know about something, there's no way I can cover it. JMU, after all, is a community, and I want this blog to mirror that. The Windbreaker is meant to be an ongoing conversation about what's going on at JMU and with alumni across the globe. If you want to be a contributing writer or photographer, I'm definitely open to that too, so send me an email. Thanks!

GO DUKES!

JMU.edu Website Redesign: Round 2

On August 14th, I posted an article asking for critiques of the redesigned JMU.edu site. I got six great, detailed responses of what people thought. JMU has responded to the feedback from everyone and has made some revisions to the website. Are you satisfied with what has been done? Do they need to make more edits? The readability has greatly increased thanks to the purple type, but was there anything else you wanted to see done? I personally miss the emphasis on 'Be the change', but that's just because I loved the idea in general.

Meet The Dukes Day On Saturday

"Meet the Dukes Day is a great opportunity for the JMU Nation to catch a glimpse of the team prior to the season starting," says Alyssa Gerlando, Director of Athletics Marketing. "We have many family-friendly activities planned, including a post-scrimmage
autograph session, inflatable games, face painting, and caricaturists." This is a day where the football practice is open for everyone to come hang out and watch the team scrimmage. The team will start stretching at 9am and autographs will start at 11:15. For people coming from off campus, you can park in the stadium parking deck or the Godwin/Bookstore lot. Student Duke Club will also have a table for sign-ups. Here's a list of all that's happening:

• Free admission!
• Watch the Dukes scrimmage!
• Concession stand will be open, offering $1 hot dogs!
• Post-scrimmage autographs!
• Inflatable games for kids!
• Rosie the Clown will be face painting!
• Caricaturists!
• Single game tickets and mini plans will be on sale at Gate A!

JMU 1787 2k9

Starting Tuesday afternoon, thousands of freshmen and transfer students have descended on campus for a week of getting to know the campus and each other through lots of fun and informative events. A full report on 1787 Orientation will be posted sometime next week. A quick thank you to all people involved with this, as it's a ton of work and is very important to the university. It also got us ranked in the recent U.S. News and World Report for having one of the best orientation experiences in the nation. I was able to stop by the first rotation for Quad Fest on Thursday and the Pep Rally last night and wanted to put up the photos. I've also started using an account dedicated to Windbreaker photos instead of just using my personal account and I'll be repopulating that with all my old JMU sports and events photos from the past couple years. Check back in a few days for the full report.

JMU #1 Public University in the South for 16 Straight Years

U.S. News and World Reports has once again ranked JMU at the top of the list for Master's public universities in the South (4th overall in the South). This is the 16th straight year we've gotten this recognition. According to the rankings, master's universities, "offer a full range of undergrad programs and some master's programs but few doctoral programs." If we keep it up two more years, JMU will have been the #1 public master's level university in the South for the entire life of incoming freshmen. We were also ranked as the #5 "Up-and-Coming" college in the South (#2 public). I've never really understood this category, as George Mason was ranked at the top of the national university list last year and is #2 nationally this year, which begs the question, "Them?" Anyway, I prefer looking at the more concrete categories instead of colleges that, "were singled out as schools that have recently made the most promising and innovative changes in academics, faculty, students, campus or facilities."

JMU also made a list of "Programs to look for" in the "First-year experiences" category. It is deemed an experience, " that goes beyond orientation programs for making freshmen feel connected." I'm glad this report came out as the 1787 Orientation is going on right now for over 4,000 incoming students. A report on this program will be coming in the next week on this year's outstanding orientation experiences.

James Madison University is also on an 80-school list, "A Focus on Undergrads," of colleges and universities that "were singled out most often when experts were asked to identify schools where the faculty has an unusual commitment to undergraduate teaching. The university is the top-ranked public institution for "A Focus on Undergrads" among universities-master's in the south region. Anyone who has attended this school can attest to the fact that if you're in need of any extra help, the faculty is usually more than willing to help. We also have an outstanding faculty-to-student ratio.

JMU's 91 percent freshman retention rate and 81 percent average graduate rate were among the factors contributing to the university's stellar ranking in the public master's level.

JMU news article

Incoming JMU Honors Students Set World Record For Blowing

Yesterday evening, nearly 6 months after a failed attempt at breaking the world record for number of people whistling at the same time, sophomore honors student Bryan Brady led over 200 people gathered in Grafton-Stovall Theater in whistling "The Star-Spangled Banner" several times to complete the task of breaking that record. The group was made up of incoming freshmen honors students and their parents who made the trek over from Shenandoah Hall (the newest residence hall on campus located beside Chesapeake Hall), along with JMU staff. Bryan had attempted this in the Spring, but couldn't find enough interested people. Here, he had a captive audience that was perfect to do the job. Who doesn't want to set a world record their first day on campus? Some stats from the DNR:

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the 200-plus whistlers were enough to break the record for "the most people whistling at the same time." The current record was set by Cauet and Virgin Radio in Paris on Dec. 12, when 125 people whistled together.

The record should be verified in a few weeks, according to organizers.

Anybody else want to break some records in the name of JMU? I'll keep a running list going, so get started!

DNR: Blowing Into Town

JMU.com Website Redesign

As I'm sure many of you have noticed, JMU recently redesigned their website. Now, so far I've heard mostly negative reviews. As a graphic designer and web designer, I wouldn't necessarily disagree, but we're going to do things a bit differently than the normal news story about this. Instead of just saying, "It sucks," how about we do an actual critique of the redesign. Let's keep this constructive and hopefully if we have some good ideas, they'll take them into consideration. I'll save my comments for later, as I want to hear your comments first. You can write pros and cons, give examples of websites you think they should model it off of...just be specific. Comments can range from the look of the site, to the information given, to the way the navigation works. Keep in mind all comments are moderated, so just writing words like ugly, horrible, terrible, (insert other choice words), or even "I like it" won't be published. I want to know WHY you like it or don't like it. This is about a website for an institution of higher learning after all. So let's hear it...

East Campus Dining Hall Opens Monday

The new East Campus Dining Hall is set to open on Monday, August 17 (name still TBD). For those that haven't driven by campus lately, the place looks AMAZING. And that's just the outside. The 700-seat facility is also the campus' first LEED certified building, with measures in place to save money on lighting, heating, water, and lots of other green initiatives (including getting lettuce and potatoes locally). It also features a very nice banquet room upstairs.

Now for the list of cool stuff that should move us up another couple spots for the list of best campus food in the nation. First, and probably coolest, JMU has hired a pastry chef from Disney to work in the new ECDH. This means that everything from cinnamon buns for breakfast to pies for dessert will taste that much better. Next, the new eatery will include traditional naan and other Indian food fixed in a tandoori oven. Also on the menu will be fresh, made-to-order pastas and California and New York-style pizza, using herbs grown in the Arboretum. There will be a Bistro, as well, that will be like classic home-cooked meals, along with having a large salad bar. All of this food will come plated, garnished, and fixed like you're in a restaurant.


I can't wait to try out all this new food that is guaranteed to be top of the line. Recent JMU alumnus and current intern on campus John Johnson got a chance to try it out today, and it is apparently, "Off the heezy." I'll update with new pics and more info once I get in (hopefully in the next few days).

New Dining Hall Serves Up Sustainability, Restaurant-Style Meals

Peter Rose Joins JMU Football

For those that follow JMU football closely, you may have heard about Peter Rose. He was a standout football star from Amherst County High School who was given an offer by VT which was later withdrawn when he was arrested on May 16, 2008, and convicted of two felony counts of selling drugs within 1,000 feet of a school and two misdemeanor charges of selling marijuana. A judge "set aside" the two felony convictions, which allowed JMU football coach Mickey Matthews to start recruiting Rose. After a year at prep school it was finally time for Peter Rose to get his chance to get into real college football.

Now, some readers may be asking why we would bother with him if a school like VT wouldn't take him. Look at it this way, if you're VT, you're already walking a pretty thin line as far as their athletes' extracurriculars go. JMU on the other hand has a great track record at keeping all but a bad egg here or there out of trouble. In addition, we have the X-factor that will help make sure Peter keeps his nose clean. That would be Peter's older brother Jonathon, who is a tailback turned strong safety at JMU. I think with his older brother here he will be much more likely to keep out of trouble. I also have full faith in Coach Matthews to take care of business if he doesn't keep in line. So on Wednesday, he finally got admitted to JMU and cleared to start practicing with the team. We'll have to wait and see what position he will be playing (somewhere in the secondary) and if he'll be making an immediate impact, but with a rather thin depth chart at safety and linebacker, it definitely couldn't hurt having him on the team. Good luck to Peter on and off the field.

DNR: JMU Football Blog

Forbes Ranks JMU #37 Public School In Nation

A rankings list released last week by Forbes.com listed James Madison University as the #37 public school in the nation and #234 overall. Now, let's look at how Forbes decided on this list, as it's a bit different than most other college rankings. Seven factors determine a school's rank:

• Student Evaluations from RateMyProfessors.com (25%)

• Four-year Debt Load for Typical Student Borrowers (20%)

• Four-Year Graduation Rates (16.66%)

• Listings of Alumni in the 2008 edition of Who's Who in America (12.5%)

• Salaries of Alumni from PayScale.com (12.5%)

• Students Receiving Nationally Competitive Awards (8.33%)

• Faculty Receiving Awards for Scholarship and Creative Pursuits (5%)

As you can see by the fact that faculty rating site RateMyProfessors.com is given the most weight, this is not a traditional rankings list, but tries to take in an array of factors. This is opposed to most lists that will focus only on academics. The full methodology behind the rankings can be found here.

Agree or disagree with how it's setup, it's time to look at the rest of the list. We've seen where JMU ranks, so let's check out some other rankings from the area and CAA. Top 100 Public schools have their rankings from that list in parentheses.

#34	Washington & Lee
#48	William & Mary (4)
#54	Hampden-Sydney
#64	Virginia (6)
#68	UNC (7)
#69	Sweet Briar
#79	VMI (10)
#95	Hollins
#102	Emory & Henry
#121	Mary Washington (13)
#146	Richmond
#34	Randolph
#217	Delaware (31)
#234	JMU (37)
#256	VT (44)
#257	Randolph-Macon
#263	Villanova
#289	Roanoke
#338	George Mason (75)
#368	Towson (89)
#387	Maryland (99)
#410	ODU
#465	CNU
#529	VCU
#564	Liberty

Complete list of overall rankings

Return of the Quad

After a few years of the Quad being at least partially blocked for construction, it is finally opening back up. The fence that had been blocking off nearly half of the Quad has recently been taken down and most of the construction done on the Quad side of the tunnel has been completed. Walking around the newly reopened Quad was like seeing a friend you haven't seen since sophomore year and they're dressed a little nicer and are in a little better shape than you remember them. The new paths are really looking nice and, as you can see in the photos, the walls are bluestone. No matter which angle you look at the new construction from, it looks great. Once the PAC (which is also coming along nicely...hopefully a photo tour of which will be coming soon) is done it will really complete the Quad. So now, the photos:


















Additional photos

And what post about the Quad would be complete without...
Madison Project's I'm On The Quad

Women's Basketball 2009 OOC Schedule

For those disappointed with the Men's Basketball out-of-conference schedule for this year, check out Women's Basketball's lineup. We have lots of great returning players and some incoming freshmen that look very promising. I think Coach Kenny Brooks is starting to put together the type of schedule he really wants with some of the more well-known schools in the region. So without further ado, let's check out the schedule. Last year's final RPI's are in parentheses.

Nov. 6 (Fri) - @UVA (17)

Nov. 18 (Wed) - Georgetown (75)

Nov. 22 (Sun) - VT (166)

Nov. 24 (Tues) - @Austin Peay (170)

Nov. 29 (Sun) - @Western Carolina (95)

Nov. 1 (Tues) - @Liberty (72)

Nov. 6 (Sun) - Siena (205)

Nov. 18 (Fri) - @Duke (5)

Nov. 21 (Mon) - Longwood (323)

Nov. 29-30 (Tues-Wed) - JMU Tournament with Lafayette (329), UNC Asheville (297), Western Michigan (248)

That puts our average RPI at 167. If you take out the opponents in the JMU tournament, the average RPI is 125. The low quality of opponents in the tournament is to be expected for a first year tournament. It's just great to see Coach Brooks pull together the tournament that he's been working for a couple years. The experience will pay off during the CAA tournament at the Convo this year and hopefully the team will be able to build some excitement so there will be a better student turnout this year (though it was really hurt last year thanks to the tourney being over Spring Break).

It'll really be exciting to see how we do against top-level opponents this year. With three opponents from the ACC (though Virginia Tech's Women's team can't really be considered a top-level opponent) and one from the Big East, we'll have some decent OOC competition before going into post-season tournaments.

We've also secured some great deals for future games with ACC opponents. In addition to the games this year, UVA comes to Harrisonburg next year, as does Duke. The year after next, JMU will travel to UVA again to complete the series.

DNR article

Trailer Truck Crashes Into Rockingham Hall

File this under the "Wait....what?!" category. On Friday (8/1) afternoon, John Wodecki, 79, of Centereach, N.Y., went to switch lanes on his way south on I-81. He apparently didn't see the 2009 International tractor-trailer driven by James Melton, 52, of Wytheville. The push veered Melton over the median, through the northbound lane, up a hill, through a fence, up another hill, and into the side of Rockingham Hall. I enjoyed this comment on the DNR's website: "Ever driven a semi up a hill at 60mph? #%&@ gets confusing." While it does seem crazy that it went so far and still couldn't stop, one has to take into consideration the weight that the semi could have been pulling, the fact that he was trying to slow down on grass, and the possibility that the initial hit from Wodecki's car could have messed up the internals of the engine or the drivetrain making it harder to slow down or steer.


Luckily, there was only one other car involved in the accident - David Walker, 54, of Houston - and there were no life-threatening injuries. Melton was transferred to UVA, while Wodecki was treated at RMH and released. In addition, it's a great thing that this happened in the summer while students were not living in the residence hall or things could have been much worse. The truck and both cars were totaled, and it looked like 2 rooms in Rockingham Hall had significant damage, but things could have easily been more damaging. A construction company has already been contacted to have the repairs done by the time the new students move in.




DNR article
HFD photos

New Chipotle in the Burg

After all the rumors about a Chipotle coming to JMU, and possibly going into the new East Campus Dining Hall, the new Mexican eatery has opened on Reservoir. Where would the best place be to put such a restaurant? How about 250 yards from Qdoba. That's right, the newest place to open up in the Forbes shopping center is a competing Mexican restaurant inbetween Qdoba and the Reservoir St. entrance to JMU. With a soft opening the past few days, Chipotle has already drummed up a lot of interest, including waits of over half an hour to get food in the evenings. Today is the "Grande Opening," so we'll see how long the strong support lasts. For right now though, it looks like another option has opened in the burg that people have been asking for. Map

Coming Soon
This blogger can't wait to get a taste of the new Beyond, thai-fusion restaurant, opening on Water St. in the old Spanky's building sometime in August. Also coming is a new Italian resturant in the Luigi's space that's been sitting vacant since this past winter. Oh, and while I'm talking about restaurants downtown...while I was on my writing hiatus, Jack Brown's Beer and Burger Joint opened up (and has since added a small outdoor patio area). With a small (but amazing) food menu, a very extensive beer selection, and an outstanding staff, this bar has quickly gotten quite a following. Downtown Harrisonburg is slowly becoming a hotspot for food and nightlife.

JMU Students Very Happy and Eat Well

I hope this doesn't come as a surprise to anyone, but James Madison University students ranked in the 2009 Princeton Review of the best colleges as having some of the happiest students and having some of the top food in the nation.

JMU, after being ranked #5 last year (and I believe #6 the year before), kept rising in the rankings and is ranked as having the #4 food in the nation. My bet is that we move higher next year after the new East Campus Dining Hall opens.

Also, a new rank for us (even though we've always known it) is our selection onto the list of having the happiest students. We came in at #18 on this list that also includes schools like Harvard, Yale, and ranking us just ahead of Duke.

We were also again selected for the 2009 Best Value Colleges – Public and Best Southeastern Colleges lists.

JMU profile

JMU Marketing Students Are Best in the Americas

...at least according to the recent 2009 Google Online Marketing Challenge. The three-student group of Rachel Bruton, Meredith Rauh, and Brandon Sockwell, led by College of Business Professor Theresa B. Flaherty, placed first in the Americas in the marketing competition, which includes North, Central, and South America. The Challenge pits teams from across the world against each other in a global online marketing competition that focuses on paid search advertising using Google AdWords – Google’s flagship advertising product. This team of three JMU students competed against approximately 10,000 students representing 2,187 teams from 57 countries. After the judging was complete, the JMU team placed in the top four globally overall.

The group decided to be part of the competition after the professor from their integrated marketing communications class, Theresa Flaherty, made an offer to be their faculty adviser. During the inaugural Challenge in 2008, she required her students to take part in the Challenge. But because she was not teaching that class during the spring semester, she extended the offer to do the Challenge to all of her former students. A total of 15 students, representing 5 teams of 3, took part in the 2009 Challenge from JMU. Bruton, Rauh, and Sockwell had worked together on other group projects and decided to take on the extra work load and learn more about AdWords. They knew it would be a valuable skill to have as a marketer.

So what did they actually have to do to win? For the Challenge, they had to find a company with 100 or fewer employees that had a website but had not been using Google AdWords for the past 6 months. The team selected Mobile Tours, which is a mobile touring company based out of Washington, DC. The team thought this would be a great fit for the Challenge because so many people wanted to visit DC due to the recent Presidential inauguration and overlap with the Cherry Blossom Festival. The group had to create a Google AdWords campaign to help increase traffic to their client’s website. To prepare, the students would have meetings periodically on Friday afternoons with Dr. Flaherty to learn about AdWords. Two search engine marketing firms from Charlottesville, VA, Search Mojo and the Rimm-Kaufmann Group, also gave presentations to participating teams. Search Mojo was founded by a JMU graduate, Janet Driscoll Miller. There are also JMU alumni working at both companies. Avelyn Austin and Amanda Chaney are JMU Marketing alums who work at Search Mojo. Also, as a result of the Challenge, Janet Miller hired a student from another one of the 2009 JMU Challenge teams – Paige Payne. The Rimm-Kaufmann group has JMU Marketing alums Ashley Burton Kennedy and Rachel Cook. One of the beneficial aspects of the Challenge was the opportunity to bring students, faculty, alumni, and practitioners together to network and talk about online marketing issues.

In order to prepare for the Challenge, Dr. Flaherty provided the students with a set of reading materials to study over the holiday break before the spring semester started. After selecting their business, the team had to write a pre-campaign report where they developed an initial strategy and then submitted it to Google. Then the real test came. With three weeks and a $200 Google AdWords voucher, they set up their campaign, bid on keywords, modified ad copy, and periodically made adjustments to optimize their results. The students’ winning strategy included two AdWords campaigns with 15 ad groups. They used other Google marketing and reporting tools—including Google Analytics, Keyword Generator, Dynamic Keyword Insertion, AdWords Editor, geo-targeting and restricted scheduling of ads—to adjust the campaign each day. After the three weeks was over, the final step was to write a post-campaign report in which they summarized their results, explained the changes they made during the campaign window, and provided recommendations for future online marketing strategy.

All three students volunteered for the competition, receiving no class credit or internship credit. Their motivation was “a competitive edge” in the workforce, said Bruton, the team captain. “You become much more emotionally invested when you work with a real company. You have the chance to see classroom theories put into action.” The group worked hard on the campaign, but were still shocked when they heard they won. Professor Flaherty reminded Bruton of the day she was in her office and said "Wouldn't it be crazy if we actually won?" As one of the four winning groups, they will receive laptop computers and are going to be flown out to Google's headquarters in Mountain View, California, to get a tour of the world-famous Googleplex. While on their trip, they will meet with various west-coast JMU alumni as well. They're all very excited for that trip.

The experiences the students have gained are already paying off. Employers have been telling them that the Google Online Marketing Challenge always stands out on their resumes. In fact, all three students in the winning group already have jobs. Brandon Sockwell is working in Austin Texas for a company called Invodo. Meredith Rauh is working at GSI Commerce. Rachel Bruton will be working abroad at UBS Financial Services in London for the year. All three of them are interested in continuing some kind of work in the online marketing industry. Flaherty said the competition was one of the best experiences of her academic career. She was happy to take on the extra set of responsibilities of teaching these students because they continually demonstrated a true love of learning. Flaherty said “While I am proud of all 15 of my students who volunteered their time to participate in the Challenge, I am especially proud of my team that won the Americas region.”

In addition to this team's first place win in the Americas, there were two other JMU teams who were semi-finalists in the Americas region, ranking them in the top 50. While this is the best placement JMU has had, they definitely aren't new to this competition. In 2008, JMU placed five teams in the top 10 percent. I'd say JMU students are making a pretty good name for themselves in online marketing.

JMU Marketing Students Earn Top Spot in Google Challenge
JMU Marketing Students Earn Top Spot in Americas in Google Challenge
The Google Online Marketing Challenge