(07-04-2016 11:42 AM)Dukes2Space Wrote:  When JMU did the Bridgeforth expansion, I thought they were going with the Field of Dreams mentality of "If you build it, they will come". 'They' meaning FBS conference invites. They didn't. Probably an informal one from the Sun Belt and JMU repeatedly quickly looked the other way on that. To this day I don't know if they're still thinking they're gonna go home with the hottest girl at the party or what.

You weren't paying attention to why JMU rebuilt and expanded BFS. You can go back through the archives and you'll never find a JMU official announcement saying BFS was being built to move to FBS. It was done because BFS was running at 105-108% capacity with rented bleachers, and the university's enrollment was growing. The stadium needed club seats and boxes to generate income for the program, and to lure the kind of recruits that would sustain a competitive program. That the expansion positioned JMU to make the move to FBS was an added bonus, but it was only a bonus, and not the reason for the expansion.

Your perception may your reality, and its shared by more than a few others on this board, but the BFS expansion was done solely for the legit reason it was needed to keep pace with demand.

(07-04-2016 07:13 PM)Longhorn Wrote:  

(07-04-2016 11:42 AM)Dukes2Space Wrote:  When JMU did the Bridgeforth expansion, I thought they were going with the Field of Dreams mentality of "If you build it, they will come". 'They' meaning FBS conference invites. They didn't. Probably an informal one from the Sun Belt and JMU repeatedly quickly looked the other way on that. To this day I don't know if they're still thinking they're gonna go home with the hottest girl at the party or what.

You weren't paying attention to why JMU rebuilt and expanded BFS. You can go back through the archives and you'll never find a JMU official announcement saying BFS was being built to move to FBS. It was done because BFS was running at 105-108% capacity with rented bleachers, and the university's enrollment was growing. The stadium needed club seats and boxes to generate income for the program, and to lure the kind of recruits that would sustain a competitive program. That the expansion positioned JMU to make the move to FBS was an added bonus, but it was only a bonus, and not the reason for the expansion.

Your perception may your reality, and its shared by more than a few others on this board, but the BFS expansion was done solely for the legit reason it was needed to keep pace with demand.

Yes, that's always been JMU's answer which was they needed capacity and would like to be ready before hand if the right opportunity comes along. The frustrating part is capacity is regressing back to the old stadium being adequate and no opporturnities that are palatable are coming along.

(07-04-2016 07:50 PM)Dukes2Space Wrote:  

(07-04-2016 07:13 PM)Longhorn Wrote:  

(07-04-2016 11:42 AM)Dukes2Space Wrote:  When JMU did the Bridgeforth expansion, I thought they were going with the Field of Dreams mentality of "If you build it, they will come". 'They' meaning FBS conference invites. They didn't. Probably an informal one from the Sun Belt and JMU repeatedly quickly looked the other way on that. To this day I don't know if they're still thinking they're gonna go home with the hottest girl at the party or what.

You weren't paying attention to why JMU rebuilt and expanded BFS. You can go back through the archives and you'll never find a JMU official announcement saying BFS was being built to move to FBS. It was done because BFS was running at 105-108% capacity with rented bleachers, and the university's enrollment was growing. The stadium needed club seats and boxes to generate income for the program, and to lure the kind of recruits that would sustain a competitive program. That the expansion positioned JMU to make the move to FBS was an added bonus, but it was only a bonus, and not the reason for the expansion.

Your perception may your reality, and its shared by more than a few others on this board, but the BFS expansion was done solely for the legit reason it was needed to keep pace with demand.

Yes, that's always been JMU's answer which was they needed capacity and would like to be ready before hand if the right opportunity comes along. The frustrating part is capacity is regressing back to the old stadium being adequate and no opporturnities that are palatable are coming along.

Regular season attendance has been above 20k since the new BFS opened (I am excluding the last 2 seasons one-and-done playoff games which are historically lower attended games and pull the annual attendance figures down to slightly below 20k). The original capacity for BFS (without rented grandstands) was closer to 14k. I don't know how you can reasonably argue 14k would have been adequate when demand since the new stadium opened shows the extra 6k seats have been needed. A slight retraction from the first years attendance does not mean the extra capacity and amenities like the new Jumbotron were unneeded. Furthermore, the extra seats have definitely played a role in JMU's ability to secure the home playoff games, they have generated more revenue, and they have without doubt given JMU an advantage in the recruiting game.

Enrollment continues to grow so demand by the students will remain constant, and all of the above FACTUAL information aside that supports the build-out to meet the demonstrated demand, I suspect that had JMU left certain fans sitting in the original BFS with rented grandstands and our mini-tron they would be screaming bloody murder about now how JMU was not "leading"...which leaves us with your frustration that JMU is not already in a FBS conference and that opportunities to do so now look slim. I get the frustration, but don't try and rewrite history.

(07-04-2016 07:13 PM)Longhorn Wrote:  

(07-04-2016 11:42 AM)Dukes2Space Wrote:  When JMU did the Bridgeforth expansion, I thought they were going with the Field of Dreams mentality of "If you build it, they will come". 'They' meaning FBS conference invites. They didn't. Probably an informal one from the Sun Belt and JMU repeatedly quickly looked the other way on that. To this day I don't know if they're still thinking they're gonna go home with the hottest girl at the party or what.

You weren't paying attention to why JMU rebuilt and expanded BFS. You can go back through the archives and you'll never find a JMU official announcement saying BFS was being built to move to FBS. It was done because BFS was running at 105-108% capacity with rented bleachers, and the university's enrollment was growing. The stadium needed club seats and boxes to generate income for the program, and to lure the kind of recruits that would sustain a competitive program. That the expansion positioned JMU to make the move to FBS was an added bonus, but it was only a bonus, and not the reason for the expansion.

Your perception may your reality, and its shared by more than a few others on this board, but the BFS expansion was done solely for the legit reason it was needed to keep pace with demand.

That's the way I remember it as well. It was just bad luck that JMU built BFS at the peak of FCS football.

(07-05-2016 07:01 AM)JMU83 Wrote:  

(07-04-2016 07:13 PM)Longhorn Wrote:  

(07-04-2016 11:42 AM)Dukes2Space Wrote:  When JMU did the Bridgeforth expansion, I thought they were going with the Field of Dreams mentality of "If you build it, they will come". 'They' meaning FBS conference invites. They didn't. Probably an informal one from the Sun Belt and JMU repeatedly quickly looked the other way on that. To this day I don't know if they're still thinking they're gonna go home with the hottest girl at the party or what.

You weren't paying attention to why JMU rebuilt and expanded BFS. You can go back through the archives and you'll never find a JMU official announcement saying BFS was being built to move to FBS. It was done because BFS was running at 105-108% capacity with rented bleachers, and the university's enrollment was growing. The stadium needed club seats and boxes to generate income for the program, and to lure the kind of recruits that would sustain a competitive program. That the expansion positioned JMU to make the move to FBS was an added bonus, but it was only a bonus, and not the reason for the expansion.

Your perception may your reality, and its shared by more than a few others on this board, but the BFS expansion was done solely for the legit reason it was needed to keep pace with demand.

That's the way I remember it as well. It was just bad luck that JMU built BFS at the peak of FCS football.

It made sense to build at that time. The 2004 NC was fresh and construction costs and bond financing were low because of the Great Recession.