(03-24-2017 02:17 PM)Deez Nuts Wrote:  I know I have felt like "I wonder what we're gonna do next year" several times in the last 10-15 years and somehow we just keep reloading.

yep.

football, women's hoops, and now softball.

never have to worry.

To those who have commented on the great job the Pep Band does you are 1000% correct.

Wife and I have visited a number of the CAA and OOC arenas the last couple of years watching the Lady Dukes and everyone other schools Pep Bands are just plain an embarrassment. Most are very small and only play some music. None engage the fans and team like the Dukes do!!! When they are not playing they are sitting on their hands or looking at their phones. We are so fortunate to have Chad and the Pep Band as the most energetic, enthusiastic ROOTERS that one can imagine!! As a parent of two former MRD's/one Pep Band member I might be a bit biased but I do not think so!!!

Go Dukes!!

Brian

(03-24-2017 08:56 PM)ParentofJMUMRDs Wrote:  To those who have commented on the great job the Pep Band does you are 1000% correct.

Wife and I have visited a number of the CAA and OOC arenas the last couple of years watching the Lady Dukes and everyone other schools Pep Bands are just plain an embarrassment. Most are very small and only play some music. None engage the fans and team like the Dukes do!!! When they are not playing they are sitting on their hands or looking at their phones. We are so fortunate to have Chad and the Pep Band as the most energetic, enthusiastic ROOTERS that one can imagine!! As a parent of two former MRD's/one Pep Band member I might be a bit biased but I do not think so!!!

Go Dukes!!

Brian

I watched some other games this year and I think there are a few pep bands in VA that are trying to emulate ours. When I lived in Richmond I attended some VCU games and I have to say their pep band is pretty darn good. Not nearly as loud as ours but they can rock the Siegel Center and they have a great sound. Both George Mason and GW seem to be trying to emulate us but don't have the numbers, however they do a pretty creditable job with what they have.

VCU has been doing what they do for the last 10 to 12 years. They don't quite sound as good, but they bring boatloads of energy.

With all due respect to the George Mason pep band leader, that group sounds like a big bag of trash. They have 1 million unique instruments and vocalists, but they sound pretty awful. Doc Nix does a great job marketing the group and they get lots of love playing interesting songs. In the end though, the green machine is a bad cover band.

FWIW, Michigan ended Kenny Brooks' Hokies WNIT run today with a 80-62 win in Ann Arbor. Good first season for Brooks. He's a winner and will do well in Blacksburg. Just give him some time. Good luck to him. Always great to see a Dukes Alum do well (except when they play JMU of course).

FWIW, Villanova won at Indiana by 12 pts. They will travel to Michigan in the semifinals Wednesday night.

There is NO WAY Villanova should have beaten Indiana. They barely beat us! There is also no way I am going to root for them against Michigan. I have family ties to U of M even though I usually don't root for them, having gone to Wisconsin myself. OTOH, if Villanova did win, our girls would always have the consolation of, well, they only beat us by 2. *sigh*

I'd feel better if villanova took the whole thing, then we can say well maybe it coulda been us. sigh indeed.

If Nova won the title it would really be a slap in our conferences face as both Drexel and JMU gave them a good run. Just goes to show the strength of our conference this year.

(03-25-2017 01:24 PM)HyperDuke Wrote:  VCU has been doing what they do for the last 10 to 12 years. They don't quite sound as good, but they bring boatloads of energy.

With all due respect to the George Mason pep band leader, that group sounds like a big bag of trash. They have 1 million unique instruments and vocalists, but they sound pretty awful. Doc Nix does a great job marketing the group and they get lots of love playing interesting songs. In the end though, the green machine is a bad cover band.

Agree 100%
This year VCU is much better (musically) than they have been the past 3 or 4 years. Less showmanship and more fans/music cheerleading

As much as I like Doc Nix and the Green Machine, they are pretty much all "show" these days. As a spectator, it seems to be all about Doc Nix and his "ideas" and less about the band/game.

I've see a lot of different bands/games over the years, JMU doesn't get any press but if they did, I believe they would be considered one of the best in the country. They offer a well balanced package. Some people don't realize (Ignorant) how special the JMU sprite squads are and how many other schools would love to have half of what JMU has. (Dukette's are pretty bad=A$$)

From the Tick board regarding their pep band and their paid musicians:
I'm sorry, but I totally disagree, and this is one thing where we miss the mark tremendously. They may be professional musicians, but they have no passion for the school. They're just there for the paycheck. They totally butchered the National Anthem at the Oakland game. I'm sick and tired of this. Let's get a student oriented band that we can have pride in. It doesn't have to be a marching band for football, but schools like Georgetown, GW and others can have awesome bands while at the same time ours looks like crap. Get it together, Crutcher! You're a musician for crying out loud!!!

https://richmond.forums.rivals.com/threa...ting.9524/

Lol @ NO B.S. ruining the National Anthem. Would love to see video of that!

Don't know how much this will matter in the theme of things WRT the Villanova-Michigan game, but the Michigan fab freshman, Kysre Gondrezick, is no longer with the team. Circumstances are murky as to whether she was suspended/fired by coach Kim Barnes-Arico or whether she quit. In any case, she's gone and that leaves a scoring hole.

To have lost to Radford would of been a bad end to the season.

To beat UVA, of all teams, in the WNIT was a good program win.

I was hoping to advance further for additional practice and exposure - but the win versus UVA was a big plus.

Considering we lost two key starters we were expecting for the year, not a bad season.

Nova dropped to Michigan last night, by no surprise. It will be Michigan and Georgia Tech for the WNIT title

It was actually pretty close, 65-61, but a W is a W. At least Villanova has to go home now.

GT will play Michigan at Detroit Mercy's arena.

Michigan absolutely killed GT back in early December in Atlanta. Final margin of victory was 40 and it wasn't even that close. Will be interesting to see if GT can make this a game this time around.

(03-30-2017 08:38 AM)orange-to-purple Wrote:  It was actually pretty close, 65-61, but a W is a W. At least Villanova has to go home now.

It ended up close, but going into the 4th quarter UM was up double digits. Michigan from on the onset of the WNIT was a team that really had no business not being in the NCAA tournament. I am not upset by their run or surprised by it in the least. To me it shows despite the snub they continued to just go out and play each game and took the WNIT seriously.

(03-30-2017 08:49 AM)Wear Purple Wrote:  GT will play Michigan at Detroit Mercy's arena.

Michigan absolutely killed GT back in early December in Atlanta. Final margin of victory was 40 and it wasn't even that close. Will be interesting to see if GT can make this a game this time around.

According to what I can figure, Michigan was left out in favor of Auburn <gag> who never should have been let in, but SelComm seems to have an SEC bias. Tori Jankoska is just a special player, like Precious Hall, but they also have Hallie Thome at center who is 6'5 and can score at will. GT is not all that great and Michigan should beat them. We should have been in the other bracket

An article on Bleacher Report has Precious Hall listed as a sleeper for the draft tonight.

PS the WNBA draft is tonight. Three rounds, starts at 7. Hope to hear PH's name called.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/27021...idden-gems

(04-13-2017 10:10 AM)AssyrianDuke Wrote:  An article on Bleacher Report has Precious Hall listed as a sleeper for the draft tonight.

PS the WNBA draft is tonight. Three rounds, starts at 7. Hope to hear PH's name called.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/27021...idden-gems

Thanks for the reminder. This mock has her going in the 3rd round... https://www.draftsite.com/wnba/mock-draft/2017/

Quite a statement to the program to have 2 players drafted in consecutive seasons if it happens.


edit note: here's another mock that has Precious going in the 2nd round... http://www.excellesports.com/news/wnba-m...-monday-5/