(10-01-2019 09:40 PM)HyperDuke Wrote:  

(10-01-2019 09:17 PM)Dukesfan1971 Wrote:  

(06-24-2019 08:09 AM)Dukester Wrote:  JMU hosted UVA, and I think Ralph Samson the year before I got to JMU 12-30-1980.

I was thinking they opened the convo, but looking at the schedule the UVA was not the first game of the season. I recall seeing the game on TV and the place was nuts.....

Last time we played UNA at home, it was not much of a game. Hard to believe that would not be the case again.

Question:

Would you prefer to open the new arena versus UVA, or against a winnable team?


I guess the logical answer is if you want two sell outs, then don't schedule them first.

The 1980 game we lost 53-52. Big time intense game with Ralph coming home. We were up 52-49 with about a minute to go but Lee Raker made 3 straight clutch plays. We had a good look for the win at the buzzer but the shot did not fall. UVA lost one ACC regular season game that year and made it to the final 4. We won the ECAC tournament that year and beat Georgetown in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The UVA game was the second greatest loss in JMU basketball history. Only surpassed by the 52-50 loss to eventual National Champion UNC the next year in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Man I miss winning JMU basketball.

Did you remember all that or are did you get some memory assistance?? That's pretty darn specific on the UVA final minutes.

The only thing I looked up was the final score and UVA’s record. It was such a big game because of Ralph’s homecoming and they were probably ranked in the top 5 at least. No one knew how good the JMU team would be for the next 3 years until that night.

I also happened to be in a sports bar in Atlanta in Lefty’s second year at JMU watching the Dukes on TV. The guy next to me had an interest in Lefty and JMU and seemed to know a lot about basketball. It happened to be Lee Raker sitting next to me and we talked about his heroics that night. He was very humble about it, I had to drag it out of him.

Raker hit a bucket to cut it to 1.
Forced a jump ball and won the tap.
He then hit the eventual winning bucket.

Raker was very steady and tough. Always played through the pain. I was a big fan of those Lamp/Raker/Sampson teams.

(10-01-2019 09:57 PM)Dukesfan1971 Wrote:  

(10-01-2019 09:40 PM)HyperDuke Wrote:  

(10-01-2019 09:17 PM)Dukesfan1971 Wrote:  

(06-24-2019 08:09 AM)Dukester Wrote:  JMU hosted UVA, and I think Ralph Samson the year before I got to JMU 12-30-1980.

I was thinking they opened the convo, but looking at the schedule the UVA was not the first game of the season. I recall seeing the game on TV and the place was nuts.....

Last time we played UNA at home, it was not much of a game. Hard to believe that would not be the case again.

Question:

Would you prefer to open the new arena versus UVA, or against a winnable team?


I guess the logical answer is if you want two sell outs, then don't schedule them first.

The 1980 game we lost 53-52. Big time intense game with Ralph coming home. We were up 52-49 with about a minute to go but Lee Raker made 3 straight clutch plays. We had a good look for the win at the buzzer but the shot did not fall. UVA lost one ACC regular season game that year and made it to the final 4. We won the ECAC tournament that year and beat Georgetown in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The UVA game was the second greatest loss in JMU basketball history. Only surpassed by the 52-50 loss to eventual National Champion UNC the next year in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Man I miss winning JMU basketball.

Did you remember all that or are did you get some memory assistance?? That's pretty darn specific on the UVA final minutes.

The only thing I looked up was the final score and UVA’s record. It was such a big game because of Ralph’s homecoming and they were probably ranked in the top 5 at least. No one knew how good the JMU team would be for the next 3 years until that night.

I also happened to be in a sports bar in Atlanta in Lefty’s second year at JMU watching the Dukes on TV. The guy next to me had an interest in Lefty and JMU and seemed to know a lot about basketball. It happened to be Lee Raker sitting next to me and we talked about his heroics that night. He was very humble about it, I had to drag it out of him.

Raker hit a bucket to cut it to 1.
Forced a jump ball and won the tap.
He then hit the eventual winning bucket.

Hope it didn’t sound like I was being negative. I was just amazed you could recall the whole sequence with such clarity.

(10-01-2019 10:39 PM)HyperDuke Wrote:  

(10-01-2019 09:57 PM)Dukesfan1971 Wrote:  

(10-01-2019 09:40 PM)HyperDuke Wrote:  

(10-01-2019 09:17 PM)Dukesfan1971 Wrote:  

(06-24-2019 08:09 AM)Dukester Wrote:  JMU hosted UVA, and I think Ralph Samson the year before I got to JMU 12-30-1980.

I was thinking they opened the convo, but looking at the schedule the UVA was not the first game of the season. I recall seeing the game on TV and the place was nuts.....

Last time we played UNA at home, it was not much of a game. Hard to believe that would not be the case again.

Question:

Would you prefer to open the new arena versus UVA, or against a winnable team?


I guess the logical answer is if you want two sell outs, then don't schedule them first.

The 1980 game we lost 53-52. Big time intense game with Ralph coming home. We were up 52-49 with about a minute to go but Lee Raker made 3 straight clutch plays. We had a good look for the win at the buzzer but the shot did not fall. UVA lost one ACC regular season game that year and made it to the final 4. We won the ECAC tournament that year and beat Georgetown in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The UVA game was the second greatest loss in JMU basketball history. Only surpassed by the 52-50 loss to eventual National Champion UNC the next year in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Man I miss winning JMU basketball.

Did you remember all that or are did you get some memory assistance?? That's pretty darn specific on the UVA final minutes.

The only thing I looked up was the final score and UVA’s record. It was such a big game because of Ralph’s homecoming and they were probably ranked in the top 5 at least. No one knew how good the JMU team would be for the next 3 years until that night.

I also happened to be in a sports bar in Atlanta in Lefty’s second year at JMU watching the Dukes on TV. The guy next to me had an interest in Lefty and JMU and seemed to know a lot about basketball. It happened to be Lee Raker sitting next to me and we talked about his heroics that night. He was very humble about it, I had to drag it out of him.

Raker hit a bucket to cut it to 1.
Forced a jump ball and won the tap.
He then hit the eventual winning bucket.

Hope it didn’t sound like I was being negative. I was just amazed you could recall the whole sequence with such clarity.

Not at all. It was such an exciting event for Harrisonburg and JMU and an amazing basketball game. The atmosphere in Godwin Hall whenever we played an in state team was big time. A ton of students came back for the game. They were a lot of UVA and Ralph fans there as well. And we were so close to pulling off a great upset. And my memory could be off a bit.

Anyway, I do hope that this years JMU team comes together and plays some winning basketball. Go Dukes.

im excited to be making this trip. Grew up in the late 70s and early 80s as a huge UVA fan. Ralph Sampson was my guy, but I also loved the 84 final four team with Olden Polynice. Go Dukes!!!