A good weekend for the Dukes

JMU Football team beat Towson to end the season on a four-game win streak and with a 6-5 record after starting 2-5; the women's basketball team beat Va. Tech and the men's basketball team beat Florida International.

Dukes Win 17-14 at UMass

Way to go Dukes. Now we have wins at Delaware and at UMass. A win at home over Towson next week will be a nice way to wrap up the season. I'll take 6-5 after being 2-5 after seven games.

Dukes Could Become Bowl Eligible (If They Were I-A)

If the Dukes can win at UMass this weekend and then finish the season with a win over Towson at home a week from Saturday, they will finish the season 6-5. That would make them bowl-eligible in the FBS, a.k.a 1-A. No such compensation in the FCS, but I hope they pull it off for the seniors.

I should have added an update following the Delaware game two weeks ago, a remarkable 20-8 Dukes victory. After a first half resembling the previous 21/2 games, with three first downs and no points, the offense came alive in the second half and scored three touchdowns. A touchdown on the first drive of the third quarter ended a 12-quarter touchdown drought going back to the Richmond game. The defense was stellar, recording eight sacks and holing Delaware to two field goals. JMU gave up a safety late in the game while running out the clock. It was JMU's first victory at Delaware since 1994, and I was there!

The Dukes followed the Delaware game with a win at home against Maine. Maine committed six turnovers to help us out, but the JMU defense and special teams should get a lot of credit.

Go Dukes.

W&M 24 - JMU 3

No offense once again. JMU has now failed to score a touchdown in the past 10 quarters. Going to the Delaware game will be awful. Delaware is off this week, meaning they have had an extra week to prepare for ... not much, at least concerning the JMU offense.

	JMU	WILLIAM & MARY
First downs	15	22
Rushed-yards	50-150	45-258
Passing yards	66	127
Total yards	216	385

Hoping JMU Football Finishes Strong in '09

Just looked over my posts from last year about JMU's miracle wins at Richmond and Villanova and the great comeback against Appalachian State. Seems like more than a year ago.

A win today at William & Mary would sure be nice. At 2-4 overall and 0-3 in the CAA, we're probably out of the playoffs, but a strong finish would lead to good feelings going into next year. Plus, I will be going to the game at Delaware next Saturday and a win today would give me some hope going into that one.

Go Dukes!

My next novel?

I have a couple ideas for my next novel and have actually started writing one of them. I didn't get far before cooling on the idea though. The thought of writing about a neurotic killer just isn't appealing. There's too many of them in real life. I think I like my second idea better. I think it would take place in the 60s and involve a character recalling his childhood in the early 1900s in a company town that no longer exists. A secret that has haunted him for years leads him back to the site of the former town. That's about as far as I've gotten on that one.

I'm not sure either idea is publishable, but what the heck. It's a nice hobby.

I've neglected my blog

I am really not into blogging. I started this blog to find out what a blog was and have since learned that blogs can be just about anything. The couple that I follow are written by journalists and cover particular themes or interests. I have used my blog mostly as a notepad. There's certainly not much rhyme or reason for the entries. I am writing this post just because I happened to click on my link to the blog and noticed how long it has been since my last post.

A few things have happened since then, such as my graduation, David's graduation, Brian's engagement . . . I'm sure there's been a few other things.

Well, that's enough blogging for one day . . . and probably many more to come.

Announcing my retirement

If Curt Schilling can announce his retirement on his blog, so can I.

So, it is with zero regret that I announce my retirement.

Practicum work on a Saturday

Another weekend of schoolwork in the office. If I can finish drafts of the project proposal and the memo to the committee members this weekend, I will feel a lot better about the start of the semester on Monday.