Per the DNR.

What is to be learned from this?

- Charleston
- Towson
- UNCW
- Drexel
- Northeastern
- Stoney Brook
- Albany
- Richmond
- Maine
- Rhode Island


How many other schools refused to sign - Southern Conference sans Wofford?

JMU leadership was caught with their pants down and now refuse an interview with the DNR? Someone needs to do some explaining, and not just through a politically crafted letter statement. They need to answer the tough questions without any censorship. No wonder some people are unwilling to begin or increase their support to JMU. We are being fed bull$h1T and some continue to give these people the benefit of the doubt. Unbelievable.

What letter?

(09-22-2015 09:51 PM)Dukeman Wrote:  Per the DNR.

What is to be learned from this?

- Charleston
- Towson
- UNCW
- Drexel
- Northeastern
- Stoney Brook
- Albany
- Richmond
- Maine
- Rhode Island


How many other schools refused to sign - Southern Conference sans Wofford?

Oooof.

This isn't good.

In a lot of ways.

Swinging out on a limb of our own. Why?

(09-23-2015 12:05 AM)bulldogg Wrote:  What letter?

Article in the Daily News-Record (DNR) refers to a letter about COA or Cost of Attendance stipends for athletes who attend JMU.

There's no way SBU or Albany would sign that letter...what with their stated intentions for eventual FBS.

I am totally pro-FBS but I was unsure of how desperate our situation was until Saturday. I got down to Hburg for my one game this Saturday. A beautiful 80 degree day: P-lot epty spots everywhere and the stadium maybe half-full. I can deal with FCS for a few more years if the game-day experience remains the same, but it seems way too many people have moved on. Am I wrong? How were the crowds the first two weeks...most importantly for the opener?

Best crowd was the opener.

Crowd not good for Lehigh --- many blamed on weather.
Crowd was worse for Albany --- interestingly many blamed on weather yet again --- too pretty and hot, smh

(09-23-2015 08:44 AM)NYJMUPIKE Wrote:  There's no way SBU or Albany would sign that letter...what with their stated intentions for eventual FBS.

I am totally pro-FBS but I was unsure of how desperate our situation was until Saturday. I got down to Hburg for my one game this Saturday. A beautiful 80 degree day: P-lot epty spots everywhere and the stadium maybe half-full. I can deal with FCS for a few more years if the game-day experience remains the same, but it seems way too many people have moved on. Am I wrong? How were the crowds the first two weeks...most importantly for the opener?

The opener was a good crowd, not a sell out but I think it was in the 23k range. The student sections were full and very loud for the 1st half but then as is the norm now emptied out at half time. By the end of the game I'd say 15k?

I wasn't at Lehigh but I watched online and the stadium was EMPTY, of course I am sure the threat of weather caused some of that but it was a shame. The announced attendance was 15k and I would call that very generous.

I noticed last weekend walking around the same things you did. Empty P-lot and Godwin spots all over the place where years ago when I first came to JMU there were no empty spaces. Even ignoring the actual attendance in the stadium these empty spaces should be all the proof we need that there are major issues. People just aren't putting up the money to support this program anymore.

(09-23-2015 08:44 AM)NYJMUPIKE Wrote:  There's no way SBU or Albany would sign that letter...what with their stated intentions for eventual FBS.

I am totally pro-FBS but I was unsure of how desperate our situation was until Saturday. I got down to Hburg for my one game this Saturday. A beautiful 80 degree day: P-lot epty spots everywhere and the stadium maybe half-full. I can deal with FCS for a few more years if the game-day experience remains the same, but it seems way too many people have moved on. Am I wrong? How were the crowds the first two weeks...most importantly for the opener?

Pike, the crowd, or lack there of, had two primary factors.

First, three weeks in a row is too much for our fan base. An overwhelming majority of our fan base is located two plus hours away from Harrisonburg with a huge part of those at a distance of four plus hours. When there is no break between home games we simple start picking and choosing which games we will attend.

Second, none of those first three opponents screams "must not miss being there". We were pretty much guaranteed to not only win those games, but win them convincingly and people hesitate to get emotionally involved in something when they know what the outcome will be before the game is played. It's like watching a replay of a game, only the most fanatical will participate.

I do not believe that simply placing the FBS tag over our football program will make a difference in attendance. But rather, the difference will be provided by the competition. Should we join a FBS conference (IE move to the SB) and our OOC opponents for one particular season be Akron, EMU, FIU, and Norfolk State, and three of these opponents come to BFS three weeks in a row, the stands will look eerily similar to what was witnessed last weekend.

This is where I have little confidence in our current AD should we ever make the move. He has demonstrated that he has little ability to negotiate a schedule that will draw fans to BFS. The last time we had a schedule that our fans appreciated was in 2008. You may point out that we had three games in a row that season, but the difference was that final game of the three week stretch was against Appy.

In addition, that 2008 season, our AD took one game from us, to this day is causing a headache. We had a game scheduled with Liberty on Oct. 18, 2008. It shows as an off week for us, but at the last moment we cancelled the game for two reasons, it was some kind of an off weekend for our students and they would not be in town, and MM didn't want a 12th game against tough competition. It would have fit nicely into the schedule as the week before and the week after were away games and with the way we were playing our fans along with a lot of LU fans would have been there. Instead, we either had to pay LU for the cancellation or give them a home game in a future year. Well, we are still in debt to them and tentatively are due to pay them off in 2019. What does this say about our decision making?

Reads like a manifesto for a new conference.

true, but let's hope not

It is funny that of all the things Athletics related that Alger put his signature on this letter was it. No information on moving up, etc. but he decides to lead the charge against the Cost of Attendance and then backtracks whe it becomes apparent that his stance on this subject is totally against the direction that D1 college athletics is heading. I think the time that Alger spent at Rutgers rubbed off on him in terms of fumbling college athletics.

(09-23-2015 09:33 AM)BleedingPurple Wrote:  An overwhelming majority of our fan base is located two plus hours away from Harrisonburg with a huge part of those at a distance of four plus hours. When there is no break between home games we simple start picking and choosing which games we will attend.

Second, none of those first three opponents screams "must not miss being there".

I do not believe that simply placing the FBS tag over our football program will make a difference in attendance. But rather, the difference will be provided by the competition. Should we join a FBS conference (IE move to the SB) and our OOC opponents for one particular season be Akron, EMU, FIU, and Norfolk State, and three of these opponents come to BFS three weeks in a row, the stands will look eerily similar to what was witnessed last weekend.

I totally agree with all of your points.

I knew there was a 99% chance we were going to win Saturday. But it didn't stop me from coaching my high school team Friday night, getting home at 11pm, waking up at 3am, getting on the road by 4am, and finally relaxing in P-lot tailgating by 11:45am Saturday morning. I guess I'm just surprised/disappointed that so many wouldn't make the (much less needed) effort to spend a beautiful Saturday on campus watching what appears to be a very good team.

Also, being so far away, is there anything more that can be done to recruit the casual Shenandoah Valley football fan to a JMU game? Are the ticket prices too high? Is the parking lot by Jimmy Johns too far of a walk?

(09-23-2015 12:09 PM)NYJMUPIKE Wrote:  

(09-23-2015 09:33 AM)BleedingPurple Wrote:  An overwhelming majority of our fan base is located two plus hours away from Harrisonburg with a huge part of those at a distance of four plus hours. When there is no break between home games we simple start picking and choosing which games we will attend.

Second, none of those first three opponents screams "must not miss being there".

I do not believe that simply placing the FBS tag over our football program will make a difference in attendance. But rather, the difference will be provided by the competition. Should we join a FBS conference (IE move to the SB) and our OOC opponents for one particular season be Akron, EMU, FIU, and Norfolk State, and three of these opponents come to BFS three weeks in a row, the stands will look eerily similar to what was witnessed last weekend.

I totally agree with all of your points.

I knew there was a 99% chance we were going to win Saturday. But it didn't stop me from coaching my high school team Friday night, getting home at 11pm, waking up at 3am, getting on the road by 4am, and finally relaxing in P-lot tailgating by 11:45am Saturday morning. I guess I'm just surprised/disappointed that so many wouldn't make the (much less needed) effort to spend a beautiful Saturday on campus watching what appears to be a very good team.

Also, being so far away, is there anything more that can be done to recruit the casual Shenandoah Valley football fan to a JMU game? Are the ticket prices too high? Is the parking lot by Jimmy Johns too far of a walk?

NY - you mentioned earlier it was your one trip to the 'burg. Certainly if I was only making it to one game the opponent wouldn't matter. In fact, I know a bunch of people going to homecoming who couldn't tell you who the opponent is. It's homecoming, they are getting up early and going rain or shine. The issue is when you ask season ticket holders to go 3 weeks in a row against less than inspiring opponents. JMU needs those same 7k Ish fans to show up every week to sell out. The can't get 20k different fans to each game, each week.

(09-23-2015 08:57 AM)ShadyP Wrote:  Crowd not good for Lehigh --- many blamed on weather.
Crowd was worse for Albany --- interestingly many blamed on weather yet again --- too pretty and hot, smh

Well this is just a lie.

Carry on.

(09-23-2015 12:09 PM)NYJMUPIKE Wrote:  

(09-23-2015 09:33 AM)BleedingPurple Wrote:  An overwhelming majority of our fan base is located two plus hours away from Harrisonburg with a huge part of those at a distance of four plus hours. When there is no break between home games we simple start picking and choosing which games we will attend.

Second, none of those first three opponents screams "must not miss being there".

I do not believe that simply placing the FBS tag over our football program will make a difference in attendance. But rather, the difference will be provided by the competition. Should we join a FBS conference (IE move to the SB) and our OOC opponents for one particular season be Akron, EMU, FIU, and Norfolk State, and three of these opponents come to BFS three weeks in a row, the stands will look eerily similar to what was witnessed last weekend.

I totally agree with all of your points.

I knew there was a 99% chance we were going to win Saturday. But it didn't stop me from coaching my high school team Friday night, getting home at 11pm, waking up at 3am, getting on the road by 4am, and finally relaxing in P-lot tailgating by 11:45am Saturday morning. I guess I'm just surprised/disappointed that so many wouldn't make the (much less needed) effort to spend a beautiful Saturday on campus watching what appears to be a very good team.

Also, being so far away, is there anything more that can be done to recruit the casual Shenandoah Valley football fan to a JMU game? Are the ticket prices too high? Is the parking lot by Jimmy Johns too far of a walk?

I agree with the item I have in bold and have been saying as such for a long time. We need those folk and yes, the ticket prices are too high for them. Most of that group do not want season tickets, they don't want tailgating either. They simply want to take their kid to a game and not be gone for more than five hours. They want to cut their grass in the morning, take a shower, grab their two kids and go out the door without spending any more than $50 on three tickets, buy a few concessions, and get back home without pissing the Mrs's off by keeping the kids out too late as they have church in the morning.

I have a really good friend (a CNC machinist) down in Waynesboro (30 minutes down the road) in this very situation, he says the locals think that JMU has their nose up in the air. He is not going to hunt for some deal on Groupon. He wants to come home on a Friday night and make a plan for Saturday that will not break the bank.

I believe all the seats on the Godwin side need to be much reduced even for the visiting fans. I am a big believer in taking care of the visitors. They should be $15 per seat over there. Charging the same as sitting in the new stands just isn't fair and once inside they feel duped never to return. However, if the girl at the ticket window shows the price of a ticket in the new stands versus the $15 Godwin ticket, they will return at a later date. These folk are not rabid JMU fans, they simply want to do something with their kids and give the Mrs's an afternoon alone.

(09-23-2015 12:48 PM)Pitz Wrote:  

(09-23-2015 08:57 AM)ShadyP Wrote:  Crowd not good for Lehigh --- many blamed on weather.
Crowd was worse for Albany --- interestingly many blamed on weather yet again --- too pretty and hot, smh

Well this is just a lie.

Carry on.

Do tell......I would consider a vacant student side of the stadium, (that looked like a visitors bleachers at a HS football game) from halftime on in a 14-14 game to be worse than the Lehigh turnout and general enthusiasm in the stadium was poor compared to first 2 weeks.

I was going by more than just the announced attendance but based on those raw numbers of tickets sold you are 100% correct.
Lehigh - 15,949
Albany - 18,659

(09-23-2015 12:48 PM)Pitz Wrote:  

(09-23-2015 08:57 AM)ShadyP Wrote:  Crowd not good for Lehigh --- many blamed on weather.
Crowd was worse for Albany --- interestingly many blamed on weather yet again --- too pretty and hot, smh

Well this is just a lie.

Carry on.

Reported attendance was thus:

Morehead 22,080
Lehigh 15,949
Albany 18,659

I realize that doesn't mean all those butts were actually in seats, but it does appear there were marginally more in the house for Albany.

(09-23-2015 12:50 PM)BleedingPurple Wrote:  

(09-23-2015 12:09 PM)NYJMUPIKE Wrote:  

(09-23-2015 09:33 AM)BleedingPurple Wrote:  An overwhelming majority of our fan base is located two plus hours away from Harrisonburg with a huge part of those at a distance of four plus hours. When there is no break between home games we simple start picking and choosing which games we will attend.

Second, none of those first three opponents screams "must not miss being there".

I do not believe that simply placing the FBS tag over our football program will make a difference in attendance. But rather, the difference will be provided by the competition. Should we join a FBS conference (IE move to the SB) and our OOC opponents for one particular season be Akron, EMU, FIU, and Norfolk State, and three of these opponents come to BFS three weeks in a row, the stands will look eerily similar to what was witnessed last weekend.

I totally agree with all of your points.

I knew there was a 99% chance we were going to win Saturday. But it didn't stop me from coaching my high school team Friday night, getting home at 11pm, waking up at 3am, getting on the road by 4am, and finally relaxing in P-lot tailgating by 11:45am Saturday morning. I guess I'm just surprised/disappointed that so many wouldn't make the (much less needed) effort to spend a beautiful Saturday on campus watching what appears to be a very good team.

Also, being so far away, is there anything more that can be done to recruit the casual Shenandoah Valley football fan to a JMU game? Are the ticket prices too high? Is the parking lot by Jimmy Johns too far of a walk?

I agree with the item I have in bold and have been saying as such for a long time. We need those folk and yes, the ticket prices are too high for them. Most of that group do not want season tickets, they don't want tailgating either. They simply want to take their kid to a game and not be gone for more than five hours. They want to cut their grass in the morning, take a shower, grab their two kids and go out the door without spending any more than $50 on three tickets, buy a few concessions, and get back home without pissing the Mrs's off by keeping the kids out too late as they have church in the morning.

I have a really good friend (a CNC machinist) down in Waynesboro (30 minutes down the road) in this very situation, he says the locals think that JMU has their nose up in the air. He is not going to hunt for some deal on Groupon. He wants to come home on a Friday night and make a plan for Saturday that will not break the bank.

I believe all the seats on the Godwin side need to be much reduced even for the visiting fans. I am a big believer in taking care of the visitors. They should be $15 per seat over there. Charging the same as sitting in the new stands just isn't fair and once inside they feel duped never to return. However, if the girl at the ticket window shows the price of a ticket in the new stands versus the $15 Godwin ticket, they will return at a later date. These folk are not rabid JMU fans, they simply want to do something with their kids and give the Mrs's an afternoon alone.

I have heard the same thing from friends of mine that live in the valley that did not attend JMU.

(09-23-2015 12:48 PM)Pitz Wrote:  

(09-23-2015 08:57 AM)ShadyP Wrote:  Crowd not good for Lehigh --- many blamed on weather.
Crowd was worse for Albany --- interestingly many blamed on weather yet again --- too pretty and hot, smh

Well this is just a lie.

Carry on.

listed at 18K +. what was it for Lehigh?