(09-28-2015 12:25 AM)Dukes86 Wrote:  

(09-27-2015 06:52 PM)BleedingPurple Wrote:  Going FBS should be a priority over building a new arena and if anyone doesn't think this way then that person really doesn't want FBS. There simply is no need for an arena if we aren't playing FBS football and paying at least some portion of COA which includes MBB.

Even if one is quite possibly predicated on the other? Didn't the Carr Report (regardless of how good or bad we feel that thing was) say that an updated convo was crucial to an FBS move? If I'm an FBS conference, I'm not taking JMU solely based on their potential value in football. I'm looking at the complete package, a big part of which will be dictated by having some of the very best facilities in a future FBS conference.

What if JMU leadership went to this conference and showed them the plans and said "we need FBS in order to get the arena built". In other words, what if FBS was the impetus for driving the fundraising to get the arena built, and not the other way around. I would be willing to bet that raising $ for the arena would be easier if we committed to FBS first.

All that said, JMU leadership does not want to go FBS. I kind of admire people who can read that COA letter and still see a glimmer of hope. I used to be that guy.

Personally I feel that our push for FBS is a grass-roots effort outside of the normal fundraising channels. Our argument to the administration has been that there is more support if they would just make the decisions (build it and they will come). The administration wants to lie to us and have us still give money when they secretly do not support COA or FBS offers. Fundraising is more about trust and confidence in our leaders (and now their wardrobe choices). They will raise money for Convo when the start making the right decisions...why would anyone give based on the last 5 years of "we will be FBS in 18-24 months" a stale Carr Report, "no" to SB; story of ODU asking us to join in CUSA move ..."no" again; a 2 year "listening" tour where nothing was heard?; a half built Bridgeforth?; now being the 7th best regional university in the south(still have not moved into national university rankings..... Should I go on? The reason we want to give is because we love JMU....I just want my money to make a difference and not be wasted. I see FBS as having the biggest positive change for JMU...for students, athletes, alumni, faculty, and our jmu's overall reputation (DUH!) and yet our leaders cannot even figure out the difference between the front and back of a cowboy hat.

Yeah, I'm not giving anything to the arena until I either see a change for the positive in the FBS stance or a in the MBB investment (ie- coaching staff). If FBS became a commitment and the admin said the arena is more important than covering FBS start-up costs then I'd move my pledge over no problem. If their argument is they need a new arena to improve the men's bb program they can sod off. I don't trust them in a game of chicken vs egg. 20 years of tolerating a sh!tty MBB program is unacceptable.

interestingly enough, some alumni who used to be decent fans but have fallen away have a piqued interest after SMU. some of them I keep in contact with and have been working on for a while to get reengaged. Perception is reality, and beating a "D1" team helped change perception of some.

(09-28-2015 10:40 AM)jmutoml757 Wrote:  interestingly enough, some alumni who used to be decent fans but have fallen away have a piqued interest after SMU. some of them I keep in contact with and have been working on for a while to get reengaged. Perception is reality, and beating a "D1" team helped change perception of some.

I've experienced the same phenomenon - old classmates texting me wanting to know more about the team, coach, etc. Being on ESPN, even when you are playing a non P-5 school, piques the interest

(09-28-2015 11:56 AM)Purple Pilgrim Wrote:  

(09-28-2015 10:40 AM)jmutoml757 Wrote:  interestingly enough, some alumni who used to be decent fans but have fallen away have a piqued interest after SMU. some of them I keep in contact with and have been working on for a while to get reengaged. Perception is reality, and beating a "D1" team helped change perception of some.

I've experienced the same phenomenon - old classmates texting me wanting to know more about the team, coach, etc. Being on ESPN, even when you are playing a non P-5 school, piques the interest

We have been down this road before lol........

(09-28-2015 12:25 PM)Hotrod829 Wrote:  

(09-28-2015 11:56 AM)Purple Pilgrim Wrote:  

(09-28-2015 10:40 AM)jmutoml757 Wrote:  interestingly enough, some alumni who used to be decent fans but have fallen away have a piqued interest after SMU. some of them I keep in contact with and have been working on for a while to get reengaged. Perception is reality, and beating a "D1" team helped change perception of some.

I've experienced the same phenomenon - old classmates texting me wanting to know more about the team, coach, etc. Being on ESPN, even when you are playing a non P-5 school, piques the interest

We have been down this road before lol........

Why do you want JMU to be held back? Is it because Mickey got fired? Are you salty he's gone? Real question...

(09-28-2015 12:25 PM)Hotrod829 Wrote:  

(09-28-2015 11:56 AM)Purple Pilgrim Wrote:  

(09-28-2015 10:40 AM)jmutoml757 Wrote:  interestingly enough, some alumni who used to be decent fans but have fallen away have a piqued interest after SMU. some of them I keep in contact with and have been working on for a while to get reengaged. Perception is reality, and beating a "D1" team helped change perception of some.

I've experienced the same phenomenon - old classmates texting me wanting to know more about the team, coach, etc. Being on ESPN, even when you are playing a non P-5 school, piques the interest

We have been down this road before lol........

Indeed. The Va Tech win brought me back. When I heard about it on ESPN I felt proud of my alma mater and then looked at where JMU football was. I saw the stadium being expanded, a lot more fan support than during my years as a student, and rumors aplenty that JMU was a favorite to transition to FBS when an opportunity arose. I got excited about the future of JMU football. I started giving. I wanted to be part of it. Now I feel duped and dejected over the whole FBS tease. Further, the Duke Club doesn't reply to my emails offering to give to the arena. I've now stopped giving all together. My enthusiasm is almost gone. I'm rooting for JMU to win whatever the FCS trophy is called, but I feel the Duke Club doesn't want my support and that I don't belong among the fans/supporters anymore.

So yeah, FBS wins generate interest, but JMU leadership does nothing to hold that interest and are effectively pushing people away. Alumni donors are a terrible thing to waste.

(09-28-2015 12:54 PM)HolyCityDuke Wrote:  

(09-28-2015 12:25 PM)Hotrod829 Wrote:  

(09-28-2015 11:56 AM)Purple Pilgrim Wrote:  

(09-28-2015 10:40 AM)jmutoml757 Wrote:  interestingly enough, some alumni who used to be decent fans but have fallen away have a piqued interest after SMU. some of them I keep in contact with and have been working on for a while to get reengaged. Perception is reality, and beating a "D1" team helped change perception of some.

I've experienced the same phenomenon - old classmates texting me wanting to know more about the team, coach, etc. Being on ESPN, even when you are playing a non P-5 school, piques the interest

We have been down this road before lol........

Why do you want JMU to be held back? Is it because Mickey got fired? Are you salty he's gone? Real question...

Please stop this is getting so old , in no way shape or form do I want to hold JMU back (whatever that means). But it is a fact that we have been down this road before, and it was against a Nationally ranked team hat won the ACC championship. So I get excited for the players and their hard work to get the win, the publicity for the week, but I'm not going to look at this win as the catalyst for some big movement.

(09-28-2015 12:25 AM)Dukes86 Wrote:  Even if one is quite possibly predicated on the other? Didn't the Carr Report (regardless of how good or bad we feel that thing was) say that an updated convo was crucial to an FBS move? If I'm an FBS conference, I'm not taking JMU solely based on their potential value in football. I'm looking at the complete package, a big part of which will be dictated by having some of the very best facilities in a future FBS conference.

The Carr Report, which can be viewed HERE lists a new Convo as just one of many elements of a long term facilities improvement plan. It does not, as far as I can see, in any way state that a new Convo is a prerequisite to FBS. They only recommend we "finalize plans for the new Convocation Center". The Sun Belt offer we had last year shows that our facilities are just fine for lower-end FBS.

For comparison, similar "Long Range" improvement projects in the Carr Report (listed in exactly the same context as a new Convo) include expanding the East side of BFS, building a new Natatorium if Godwin goes offline, and building a new clubhouse with an indoor practice facility for golf. None of those are mentioned as prerequisites either.

Don't get me wrong, I hope we get a new Convo, because it will help the BB teams recruit and remain competitive. But I don't believe we HAVE to have one to go to FBS.

(09-28-2015 01:30 PM)Hotrod829 Wrote:  

(09-28-2015 12:54 PM)HolyCityDuke Wrote:  

(09-28-2015 12:25 PM)Hotrod829 Wrote:  

(09-28-2015 11:56 AM)Purple Pilgrim Wrote:  

(09-28-2015 10:40 AM)jmutoml757 Wrote:  interestingly enough, some alumni who used to be decent fans but have fallen away have a piqued interest after SMU. some of them I keep in contact with and have been working on for a while to get reengaged. Perception is reality, and beating a "D1" team helped change perception of some.

I've experienced the same phenomenon - old classmates texting me wanting to know more about the team, coach, etc. Being on ESPN, even when you are playing a non P-5 school, piques the interest

We have been down this road before lol........

Why do you want JMU to be held back? Is it because Mickey got fired? Are you salty he's gone? Real question...

Please stop this is getting so old , in no way shape or form do I want to hold JMU back (whatever that means). But it is a fact that we have been down this road before, and it was against a Nationally ranked team hat won the ACC championship. So I get excited for the players and their hard work to get the win, the publicity for the week, but I'm not going to look at this win as the catalyst for some big movement.

The point I was making, whether we like it or not, was that a win over a weak fbs team has brought attention to the program and reignited some fence-sitting fans. Vad's day was awesome at any level, but would ESPN be on campus if he went off on Elon instead of SMU? I would say "no"

So I looked up some pictures of your current basketball arena. It would be right at home in the MAC. If your goal is the MAC, a new convocation center isn't necessary but would be more like a nice bonus, and something you can take your time gathering support for.

(09-28-2015 05:01 PM)uakronkid Wrote:  So I looked up some pictures of your current basketball arena. It would be right at home in the MAC. If your goal is the MAC, a new convocation center isn't necessary but would be more like a nice bonus, and something you can take your time gathering support for.

Thanks and I agree. One issue we have with the layout of the existing Convo is that it's design has the court area below grade. Nothing wrong with this for basketball, but other events are difficult at best to pull off. With most arenas, trucks and trailers can drive inside to unload, not with our current Convo. The building was not originally designed to house our basketball teams. We turned it into our basketball facility during mid-construction by bringing heavy equipment inside the structure and digging down, way down.

If JMU does this properly the new facility can bring in a whole lot of revenue beyond what our basketball programs can deliver. Even though this new arena is clearly designed to be multi-functional, I really don't trust that we will hire the people to run the facility in the manner in which it is being marketed. A lot of people will disagree with me, but I believe this facility should not fall to the AD's responsibilities to manage and/or run. I don't even believe he should be overseeing the $12M fund raising effort.

Our teams should most definitely have priority of use, but to be a successful and responsible use of taxpayer, student, and donor funds, it needs to strive towards being a profit center. To achieve this, there needs to constantly be a full calendar of many different events from trade shows to concerts. By taking it out of the AD's hands "now", I will believe there is a need and that we are serious about making the facility available to the city of Harrisonburg, Rockingham County, and the whole Shenandoah Valley.

Actual public discussion by Bourne of FBS. Well, sort of:

https://jamesmadison.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1808133