.

This sucks to read, as foati is a good friend and likely represents a large chunk of us that were steeped in the same fan culture around the same time at JMU. We are the ultimate missed opportunity. If you lose us as diehard fans right now, itll take quite a bit to get us back later in life.

ALSO - anyone read this thread title and think (in fact its right over there)?

Can I just copy and paste this post since it represents me as well? Well said foati...

Agree, this is not an uncommon story. Life, it happens to every JMU generation. JMU needs to do something to keep us connected, to keep us interested, to make us want to donate. JMU is lost and as a result they are going in reverse.

ditto here. you just wrote my story except I'm class of 04 and have a son instead of a daughter.

That .....

And add that it's usual to cool toward you Alma Mater ... for 10-15 yrs while you raise a family ... time is currency at that point. no other way to describe it.

We all go on with life .... either family or career will eventually be a priority ... with whatever time and cash you have left ... may go to JMU if you can stay/get excited about the school's prospects. That takes someone/administration that can get you excited .... IMO .... JMU has no "cheerleader" types to get this job done .... God knows why.

I'm definitely coming around to your line of thinking Foati. If they cannot stay engaged with someone like yourself; willing to give so much back, then they definitely have some serious issues. No organization can possibly be so inept as to turn away from such a willingness to give. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but it certainly seems to be a deliberate decision not to pursue such generosity.

This should make all you young whippersnappers appreciate the allegiance and commitment some of us old timers have with the University for 43 years since graduation. I have been through it all and seen it all. I won't quit. I love my University and know that like all things there are cycles. This current situation won't last forever.

I am excited to have Mike Houston as our football coach and think he will make us all very proud. I am exited to have Lou Rowe as our basketball coach and think he will bring excitement back to the Convo. I am excited to have Sean O’Regan as our new women's basketball coach. I am excited about our Softball coach, our golf coach and many of our women's sports coaches. I personally think we have a really, really good staff for our programs overall.

I understand the idea that you should be contacted regularly about giving, but if I was never contacted again it wouldn't stop me from giving. Phones work two ways. We lose a rep or Duke Club rep we have grown close with and we grieve. But, I always try to establish the same relationship with the replacement. I have been through a lot of Coaches, AD's, Presidents and Duke Club reps through 43 years. But, I keep on keeping on. I am engaged because I want to be. Saturdays in the fall are still the most important days of the year for me.

I know we will begin offering COA because we will have to. We are just slower than a lot of Universities because our situation is different. What we want to be and what we actually are, are very far apart. We are very young to Division 1 athletics compared to our sister State Universities and are way behind in big time donors.

FOATI, I think a lot of your problem is you are going through something called life. My kids are now 41, 38 and 36. I had a more difficult time being a part of the scene when my kids were small like yours. But, keep your priorities straight. Time with your kids is more important. When they are old enough they will be with you at JMU events until they are involved with youth league soccer, T Ball, etc. Then you will be a stranger to JMU again for a while. Then, like me, you will be bringing your grandkids to games. Life is good.

Agreed on the part about either reduce the athletic budget and make a bold move...this has been going on for years, too long.

Tell us what to expect (evolution of JMU sports) or deemphasize JMU sports, no more unaligned statements/actions.

Let us decide how we spend our time and money, no more lies.

*or

Foatty's post is dead on. I agree entirely. However, something I think very few of us realize, and to BSKB's credit he does, is this:

(04-13-2016 10:16 AM)BSKB 24 Wrote:  What we want to be and what we actually are, are very far apart.

A LOT of that is on the administration, for the reasons Foatty lists above. But some of it is also on our expectations. I just don't think we have the money to make the move everyone wants us to make. It's just not there. We have no big donors.

Also, to this thread:

Sounds like we need a Thread titled : We think we are,... But really we are:

Who was that poster again?

BSKB brings it home for me. Is our athletic program in a rut right now? Ohh yea. Will it last forever? Nah. It'll get worse before it gets better too. Things aren't always as bad as they seem. What also hurts for us 'young' 30 somethings is that we want everybody to have that great JMU experience that we all did (yeah, even those 5-25 basketball years we had a hell of a good time), and because we can't do it the way we used to (the hangovers are longer, the wife/kids want to do other things, a family member's health is really bad, etc) we get dejected about how things are versus the way they used to be. That's called LIFE.

It'll be ok. We all just want OK to happen now and not 5 or 10 years from now.

also - if I get one more call or email about giving from JMU sometimes I think I'm going to burst. Some of you say you never hear from JMU. I feel very connected to JMU, and frankly sometimes I think it's too much and I want some space. Why there's such a disconnect between people who "never" hear from JMU, versus my case where it's information overload, I have no idea. JMU could never call me or email me again and I would still be involved. So I think like BSKB said, the phone is a 2-way device. People have to have some sort of initiative to be connected to JMU. JMU can't do it all... but there's room for improvement.

I don't think it is as simple as making a phone call to JMU or having JMU call you. JMU has to create some excitement, some momentum for us to be interested and engaged. We will be supportive. We always have been - that is why we love JMU. There is no doubt that we are all ready to drink from the purple kool-aid pitcher again. The problem is that its empty. Remember GameDay? Great, unbelievable - what a spectacle. Probably the best athletic or athletic related event in the history of JMU. What happened after that? Buzz kill. Was that our hi water mark? It shouldn't be.

I've lived in Harrisonburg the last few years and will continue to do so for the next year or so until I move on to a bigger position somewhere else in the country. Being right here has helped me to stay connected to JMU and everything that surrounds it. That has helped me to stay up to date, in the know, and excited about JMU. I sometimes enjoy just driving through campus and remembering all the great times I had while a student.

But even living here I've started to grow complacent. I'm not married but am engaged and have no kids. I work long hours but my work is flexible enough where I can really do what I want with time off. Even with all that and not yet being in the stage of being around kids or wives I am still growing complacent. I roll my eyes whenever I see someone refer to Alger as a diversity attorney and think his politics have zero to do with what he's doing at JMU. That said, I have seen next to nothing from him in his time at JMU. All the issues around JMU are self inflicted. We could be in CUSA or the Sun Belt right now if we would have just said yes. I have no issue with Bourne other than some of the statements he makes and that he doesn't report directly to the president. Alger and/or the BOV seem to be the issue. Rose also was a problem.

I hate hearing from my ODU buddy about all these great games they are lining up and watching App State and GSU being discussed on ESPN. These are our peers and we are still playing nobodies. The apathy has grown strong within me and I'm starting to lose my drive to watch all things JMU. I still love going to games but I just lack the desire to get more involved. I was hopeful that the communication issue would be fixed with Alger but it has grown even worse. I don't know the direction JMU sees athletics going other than vague statements about competing nationally. And JMU's actions lately suggest they want to do the opposite of competing nationally.

I,m with you about the COB as well. A few months ago I was back on campus speaking to students in Showker. I told a department head that I really wanted to get more involved with the COB and gave some ideas to connect students with alumni. I haven't heard a peep from them since. It seems apathy is occurring even within the university.

I'm hoping I'm proven wrong soon but I just hate the direction our university is headed.

(04-13-2016 10:55 AM)Deez Nuts Wrote:  BSKB brings it home for me. Is our athletic program in a rut right now? Ohh yea. Will it last forever? Nah. It'll get worse before it gets better too. Things aren't always as bad as they seem. What also hurts for us 'young' 30 somethings is that we want everybody to have that great JMU experience that we all did (yeah, even those 5-25 basketball years we had a hell of a good time), and because we can't do it the way we used to (the hangovers are longer, the wife/kids want to do other things, a family member's health is really bad, etc) we get dejected about how things are versus the way they used to be. That's called LIFE.

It'll be ok. We all just want OK to happen now and not 5 or 10 years from now.

Deez,

In what organization besides the current JMU can well paid leadership that has been anything but transparent say, "we are not where we need or should be now, give us 5-10 years and something will happen, we don't know what but it going to be great?"

If I said this to my boss/board, I would be looking for a new job within 45 minutes.

18-24 months...I've lost count, how many months ago was this published along with the 25KStrong slogan?...25K showed up, 25K were misled and it was many donation years ago, not yesterday...and still, there has been zero transparency.

I know there has to be an invite, there was an invite, two former peers took the same invitation...Appy has a home game with the Miami Hurricanes in Boone, NC, Appy fans are dare I say engaged now and likely will be for the same 5-10 years the JMU admin needs to figure out which way is up and which way is down.

I hope I am wrong, I have a feeling JMU mbb is about to enter the dark ages based on JMU's incorrigible need for 5-10 years to monitor all situations.

Yeah, I'm on the way there, too. Alger and the BOV are the main downers for me. Alger is a wet blanket, awkward, and doesn't seem to be a forward-thinking leader. I had a short conversation with Dr. Warner the other day and felt re-energized about life. Then I think about Alger and all happy feelings go away. He wants to be a national university but has zero concrete plans to actually get us there. Our BOV needs to be held responsible for the bad hire (and unfortunately, most likely, contract extension), but they have no repercussions for bad decisions and few have actual ties to the university to make them actually care. There are a number of things that have hurt my enthusiasm for the university, but poor leadership at the top has by far been the worst. I'm all for giving someone the benefit of the doubt for a couple years, but he's had his time and has shown to not be a good fit. Rose screwed us with passing on CUSA, but he was on his way out. Alger screwed us with the Sunbelt, but we can still correct that screw-up. Boot him, get someone new in with some charisma and some sort of leadership experience, and let's get thing back on track. Going along with what Deez said, I'm afraid the only way Alger won't get brought back is if we take an even more severe drop...so we probably have at least another 5-6 years of this and even then things will have to have become really bad. I've been disappointed with Bourne in the past, but it's been very specific instances...overall he's been pretty good given the hand he's been dealt. King shouldn't have that much power over athletics to start with, but he's generally been okay and has approved funding for some great buildings around campus. I've seen nothing from Alger that I like. He just makes me sad that he represents our university.

(04-13-2016 11:07 AM)fanofallthatisjmu Wrote:  Additionally, these issues are not just an athletic one. We are losing academic ground and dropping in the rankings.

This, to me, is the most troubling thing, and something I'm surprised doesn't get mentioned more often here. Aside from the stagnation of the athletics (which is admittedly cyclical), it's more troubling to see us slowly but surely moving down the US News rankings (now #7 in the South Regional rankings). Again, like athletics, I don't think that JMU is necessarily taking steps backwards, but others are being more aggressive, more visionary, and are passing us by.

I bleed purple, but it seems we're mired in some sort of school-wide malaise - not much progress that I can see. Maybe there is, but if so, I'm not hearing about it.