Wednesday, September 30, 2009

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

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

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.

Monday, September 28, 2009

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.

Friday, September 25, 2009

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%
Kickoff7pm60°90%
Game over10pm60°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)

Monday, September 21, 2009

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

Friday, September 18, 2009

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)
Lunchtime12pm 71°0%
Getting into the stadium
5pm
74°0%
Kickoff6pm72°0%
Game over9pm64°10%

Line for the game

JMU is a 35.5 point favorite

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

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.

Friday, September 11, 2009

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 tailgating12pm
70°
10% (precip)
Mid-tailgating3pm74°30%
Walking to stadium
5pm
74°30%
Kickoff6pm73°30%
Game over9pm67°20%

Line for the game
Maryland is a 10.5 point favorite

Thursday, September 10, 2009

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.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

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.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

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.
QBDrew Dudzik/Justin Thorpe
RBJamal Sullivan
Corwin Acker
Scott Noble
WRRockeed McCarter
Bosco Williams (injured)
Kerby Long
Marcus Turner
Marcus Charity
TEMike Caussin
Charlie Newman
FBDonnell Brown
LTTheo Sherman
Jerald Brown (2nd)
LGRoane Babington
Karl von Allmen (2nd)
CDonny Smith
Brett Ainsley (2nd)
RGDorian Brooks
Richard Williams (2nd)
RTBrandon Monroe
Earl Watford (2nd)
DEArthur Moats, D.J. Bryant (1st)
Aaron Harper, Greg Woodson (2nd)
DTRonnell Brown, Sam Daniels (1st)
Max Alexandre, Dominique White (2nd)
LBChase Williams, Pat Williams (1st)
Jamie Veney, Adrian Cavanaugh (2nd)
CBMike Allen, Taveion Cuffee (1st)
Scotty McGee, Jamaris Sanders
SSVidal Nelson
Jon Rose (2nd)
WSJon Williams
Peter Rose (2nd)
FSGriff Yancey
Brandon Randolph (2nd)
KDixon Wright
Ben Hopewell (2nd)
PMatt Goff/Andy Smith
LSCharlie Newman
KR/PRScotty McGee
Kerby Long

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

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

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!