While most people would think of that title as something related to Christmas time….to anyone who has ever been a member of the Marching Southerners would have to agree — this time of year is the beginning of the most wonderful time of year and of our lives.
It’s hard to believe that 23 years ago, I packed up everything I owned in my 1983 Buick Skylark and headed to Jacksonville, Alabama to attend band camp with the Marching Southerners. I still remember the nervousness, the freedom of moving away from home, the pride, and the anticipation of what was ahead.
My rookie year of Southerners was at a time when the upperclassmen could still haze. While as I think back of it now, it wasn’t that bad being a newbie on campus…however, back then I was a little shocked of all that I had to do to become a member of this wonderful family.
Being a Trumpet “Slug”, we had to get a white t-shirt and put the word “SLUG” on it and wear it every single day of band camp without washing (for the record, I still have mine STILL unwashed and stored in a ziplock bag), wear a set of antennas on our heads, our mouthpiece had to be hung on a string, and we had to steal a salt shaker from a local eatery to carry in our pocket. I got mine from McDonalds and being naive freshman, I was sure they were going to put me in jail for stealing it.
We would practice for hours in Mason, outside in sectionals, and outside on the concrete in front of the Pete. Our tans were fabulous, the music was amazing, the first time we practiced in the stadium left me wided eyed, and the day I received my uniform was one of my proudest.
But nothing…absolutely nothing prepares a Southerner for the feeling you get the first time you step off onto the field and perform for the amazing fans of Jacksonville State. To say you’re a rock star as a member of a several hundred person group is the understatement of a lifetime.
You are a SOUTHERNER and now a family member of something that bonds you with thousands of former and future Southerners to come. Only these individuals know what it’s like to go thru this process and to not only be apart of something magical on the field but be able to portray this magic to the fans in the stands.
Over the weekend, our newest members of our family arrived on campus to learn our traditions including “Salvation” and “Stars Fell” and the vets returned to campus yesterday. The music is in the air…EVERYWHERE!
You can’t drive around Jacksonville without hearing the sectionals, hearing the metronome counting out the beat for the drum line, flags twirling in perfect motion, and ballerinas kicking without ceasing. It’s wonderful! It let’s you know that the Southerner’s season is almost here and while we’re at it, we’ll let the guys play some football too.
Why yes Virginia, the Southerners are back in town and it IS the most wonderful time of the year!
(Source: getcockyjsu.com)
It’s been a pretty well known fact that Jacksonville State’s Volleyball program has been on fire in recent years! Fantastic finishes in OVC Championships and NCAA Tournament appearances to their credit — they resignate our cheer that “It is GREAT to be a Jax State Gamecock!”
Apparently even Auburn has been watching the JSU Volleyball program as this summer they hired our coach Rick Nold to lead the Tigers/War Eagles/Plainsmen to the promised land in the SEC.
So add a little more excitement with the hiring of Joseph Goodson to lead our Lady Gameocks and take us to the next level.
Coach Goodson arrives here from coaching at University of Wisconsin — Green Bay but is actually from our neighboring state of Georgia. A Graduate of Berry College, he has coached at Georgia Tech, Emory, and UGA. We are excited about what he has to offer and what it will mean to continuing the explosion of our program in a national level!
Get Cocky! wanted to celebrate our Volleyball program as well so we have developed a new volleyball line that is available now online and in our store on the square! This line is not only in our regular t-shirts but also in women’s cut t-shirts for our Lady Gamecocks!
So we would like to challenge all of our students, alumni, and friends to “Pack The Pete” this season and lets cheer our Lady Gamecocks all the way to the championship!
GO GAMECOCKS!
(Source: GetCockyJSU.com)
Unless you’ve been under a rock…surely you would know by now that our Lady Gamecock softball team has won the OVC Championship and are heading to the NCAA Regional Championships in Atlanta.
Our first hurdle is playing Georgia Tech on Friday night at 8 pm. Hopefully you’ll grab your best JSU Gear (Get Cocky Brand preferably—LOL) and head to Atlanta to cheer the girls on. If you can’t make it to the field, check the game out on ESPN.
You heard those 4 letters right — our softball team is getting national exposure and it seems to be a continuous growing thing that Coach McGinnis keeps providing each year here lately!
I must say that while I am proud of the entire JSU Softball team — I am particularly proud of Coach Jana McGinnis and all that she has accomplished.
Coach McGinnis and her twin sister lived 2 doors down from me in Curtiss Hall my freshman year at JSU. The two were incredible basketball stars on campus and you would think that having the popularity that they did a little freshman like myself wouldn’t even be a blip on their radar. But as anyone who has met them would tell you — that simply just wasn’t their way. They were both always so nice…always a hello…always warm…and if you weren’t a basketball fan, you probably wouldn’t even know that they were the dynamic duo that ruled the Coliseum and tore up any team they faced.
Coach McGinnis and her sister returned to coach at JSU after a stint coaching High School. Dana coached basketball and Jana assisted her and then took on the softball team.
17 seasons later — here we are on ESPN and winning the OVC Championship! But even more than that, she’s developing her team into individuals who are just like she and her sister were in the dorm — warm, friendly, down to earth, a part of the JSU family and teaching how to be successful both on the field and off.
I’m always proud to call myself a Gamecock but I’m even prouder of what Coach McGinnis has accomplished and continues to accomplish to make our University and our students the best in the nation!
See you at Tech on Friday night — GOOOOOO Gamecocks!!
It’s amazing to think that the year has flown by so quickly that we’re actually approaching Spring Break next week! It’s been a fantastic few weeks at the store and we thank everyone for being so welcoming to us in Jacksonville!
Many of you have asked us about Spring Break hours — we will be closing on Friday, March 12th, at 3 pm and will reopen on Monday, March 22nd, at 11 am.
We will be open extended hours on Saturday, March 27th, for Spring Preview Day and hope all of those incoming freshmen and their families will come see us!
We will also be open with extended hours on Saturday, April 10th, for the Spring Football Game! Lots of festivities going on that day as well as the baseball team playing! It’s going to be a great day to be in Jacksonville so make sure you come too! Things are really buzzing and if you haven’t been “home” in a while, grab the family and come make a full day of it!
Got questions or comments? Let us know! blog@getcockyjsu.com
I’m so sorry for the delay! It seems like forever since I’ve been able to blog about the store! However, we’ve been renovating our new physical location and between it and our “sneak” campaign — we’ve either had to keep quiet or have been so physically exhausted our fingers couldn’t move!
We decided to “sneak” our way into Jacksonville — anyone can throw a “Coming Soon” sign in the window but that’s just not our style! We started out with a “Hatching Soon” sign in the window along with a 4 foot tall egg with contractor paper blocking the view! As the weeks of renovation would go by cracks began to become visible….then some feet…then some wings…and even a beak!
And then this week, the paper came down…the sign and the egg were removed and Get Cocky merchandise and signage adorned the windows and doors and we were so pleased to open our doors at 3 PUBLIC SQUARE EAST!
That’s right! Get Cocky is ON the Square in downtown Jacksonville! Right inbetween Romas and Java Jolt!
We’ve got our great selection in their now but so much more is following it! So come in and see us but plan on coming back again and again and see what new things have come in so you too can “GET COCKY!” :-)
At the end of most years, most people are ready to be done with the year and move onto new beginnings. With all that has happened in the world with the recession, I really can’t blame anyone for those feelings. However, I must admit that while I’m really excited about 2010, I have to say that 2009 was filled with great beginnings for Get Cocky!
As I have already talked about in this blog, Get Cocky has been a 20 year old dream that I came up with when I was a student at Jacksonville State. So having that dream come true was such an amazing experience!
We opened up our web-based store in September this year and amazed at the huge response we received! Apparently there were more JSU peeps wanting something different than just me! 2009 was a great start for Get Cocky!
But 2010 has great things in store as well — for JSU and Get Cocky!
JSU has great things in store — softball team gets to build on what they started last year, the addition to our football stadium, playing Ole Miss and Georgia State in Football season…the list goes on and on!
For Get Cocky…our product line is expanding, we are opening our physical location, and we are looking to growing our relationship with the students and residents. 2010 sounds so exciting we’re about bursting at the seems for it to start!
So thanks 2009 for a great foundation — and welcome 2010 for all the exciting things to come!
With the unfortunate short ending to JSU’s incredible season this year, I must say a few words about our senior quarterback, Ryan Perrilloux.
Ryan was the quarterback for my beloved LSU Tigers where I worked for many years. I had heard the rumblings about him from former co-workers and even the comparision of his off the field antics to those of Kevin Faulk, who was a student while I worked at LSU. But we won the national championship and of course with that much is forgiven both on and off the field.
But it came as little surprise to me when I heard that Ryan had been kicked off the team by Coach Les Miles for violating team rules.
What was a shock to me was the announcement that Ryan would be transferring to my alma mater at Jacksonville State in 2008. Being an avid ESPN Radio listener, I had heard a grocery list of schools interested in talking to him come play for their school but Jacksonville State??? “The Friendliest Campus In The South?” Say it ain’t so Jack Crowe! We don’t need the controversy or the bad press I thought.
But I’ll be the first to admit it — Ryan has turned out to be an outstanding young man both on the field and off.
He certainly didn’t have an easy time of it as he had many people watching him at every turn and calling the Athletic Department everytime he held his fork wrong (a small town will do that for you). But he allowed JSU to mold him as it has molded so many of our alumni.
Our fans definitely enjoyed the ride and seeing Ryan’s extraordinary moves on the field and his inspiring his teammates to play smarder, run faster, hit harder and truly move JSU Football to another level of glory that many questioned we could ever return to. He made us proud on the national level at our oh so close fight at FSU and by winning the OVC.
Upon the end of his last game, Ryan stated that coming to JSU was the best decision he had ever made and that it changed him as a person.
So I, for one, stand corrected of my original thoughts — what I thought was a terrible mistake to bring this young man to our friendly little campus proved to be exactly what he and WE needed.
Congratulations Ryan on your final season — we look forward to watching you making Gamecocks everywhere proud in your next stage of your life!
Meet Get Cocky’s Mascot W.G.! (Whaddya Get!)
