JMU ‘rival’ makes it nine straight
Yeah… I Said It (Commentary)
Posted on February 4, 2008
Pardon the ensuing football analogies, but the Super Bowl was yesterday and I can’t resist.
On Saturday the New England Patriots of Colonial Athletic Association basketball (aka the George Mason Patriots) romped the equivalent to the Miami Dolphins (aka the James Madison Dukes) 72-46 in front of a record crowd of 9,840 at Mason.
Like the football Pats, Mason dominated the lowly Dukes for the second time this season, like New England did the 1-15 Dolphins.
Although the Dukes’ (10-11 overall, 3-8 in CAA) record isn’t quite as atrocious as Miami, their overall record against Mason in coach Dean Keener’s era is.
Keener’s squads are not only 0-9 against America’s darling from the 2006 Final Four, but they have lost by an average of 19.6 points. The largest margin of defeat was 27 points on Feb. 25, 2006 and the lowest margin 11 points in last years CAA tournament — not even single digits.
The sad thing is that this matchup is considered a rivalry.
Dictionary.com defines a rival as “a person or thing that is in a position to dispute another’s preeminence or superiority.”
JMU hasn’t been in position to dispute Mason’s preeminence and superiority for at least 11 years — the length of current Mason coach Jim Larranaga’s tenure. Although JMU leads the overall series 48-35, Larranaga has gone 18-6 against the Dukes. JMU’s last win came Feb. 7, 2004 and the last time the Dukes swept Mason in a season was Lefty Driesell’s last year in 1996-97.
The root of the “rivalry” is in the school’s proximity. Harrisonburg is only 115 miles southwest of Fairfax, a less-than-two-hour drive. The Mason fans made it quite clear with two minutes left in the game how familiar they are with JMU as they began chanting “66 West, 81 South,” sarcastically giving the Dukes directions back home.
The two schools compete for in-state and out-of-state students and obviously play in the same conference for most sports.
Mason has a considerably higher undergraduate enrollment hovering around 30,000 students compared to Madison’s nearly 17,000.
Mason is also right outside Washington, D.C., which is more attractive to recruits than the Valley and Harrisonburg’s weaker media market.
But that excuse can only fly for so long. JMU football coach Mickey Matthews has guided his program to national prominence on the 1-AA level.
Conversely, Mason doesn’t have a football program, which can allow it to invest more money and attention in basketball. They also gained national attention with its much-publicized run to the Final Four.
But JMU has improved upon its facilities since Keener’s arrived in 2004, by adding the Plecker Athletic Performance Center, and cut 10 sports last year which surely benefits the school’s bigger programs.
In year four Keener has no hangovers from previous coach Sherman Dillard’s seven-year reign. The coaching staff brought in quality recruits and attracted notable transfers including Abdulai Jalloh from St. Josephs, Dazzmond Thornton from Texas Tech and Terrence
Carter, an honorable mention All-American in junior college. But JMU still can’t come close to Mason.
Mason is clearly a better team with better players, but a rival is a rival and the Dukes should at least be able to make it a ballgame. Instead, they have made a mockery of their 7-1 start this season by being blown out at home and on the road.
Mason senior guard Dre Smith embarrassed the Dukes at the Convocation Center on Jan. 19 when he set an NCAA record with his 10-for-10 three-point shooting performance, while scoring a career-high 34 points. JMU was without starting forward, junior Kyle Swanston, but Mason was without starting senior forward Darryl Monroe, whose 6-foot-7, 260-pound frame creates slightly more of a match-up problem than the 6-foot-7, 175-pound injured Duke.
In the rematch, both players were still inactive and the Dukes didn’t have service of suspended junior guard Joe Posey — who hasn’t played since an argument with assistant coach Louis Rowe during the first Mason game. Sophomore guard Pierre Curtis also left Saturday’s game with a knee injury less than eight minutes in.
Curtis’s injury undoubtedly affected the Dukes’ backcourt play, but JMU didn’t even put up a fight for its injured floor-general, except for Juwann James’ 8-for-9, 17-point effort.
Mason senior guard Folarin Campbell was the antithesis of JMU’s effort in the game. With 5:17 left in the game, Campbell assisted a Will Thomas’ layup that put the Patriots ahead 61-33. The game was already far out of reach, but Campbell jumped up and down like he had dished the game-winning assist against Duke or North Carolina.
Because of the enthusiasm George Mason plays with, JMU continually loses by Blue Devil and Tar Heel-like margins.
It’s no secret Keener is in the hot seat despite having one year remaining on his contract. It doesn’t help that most teams are measured against their “rivals.” Simply put, JMU is just not measuring up.
Tim Chapman is a sophomore SMAD major with a print journalism concentration.
