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There is no love lost between the JMU Dukes football team and the Appalachian State fans.

It all started last year, when ESPN’s College GameDay visited Harrisonburg, VA, to watch these two teams face off. At the time, JMU was in the middle of its best season, riding high with a 10-0 record. But then the unthinkable happened: Appalachian State spoiled the biggest event in Dukes program history with a controversial 26-23 OT win.

The two met for the first time since last year, this time in Boone, NC. Before the game even started, things were getting dicey.

To be fair to both teams, none of the players were instigating anything, in fact, quite the opposite. JMU was minding its own business, waiting in the tunnel to take the field. Out of nowhere, the Appalachian State fans started pelting the visitors with snowballs.

Look, I’m all for trash-talking opposing players. Heck, who doesn’t like shouting a few clever roasts against the visiting team?

But those are just words, which don’t cause any level of physical harm. Snowballs have the potential to seriously hurt someone, especially if they are not expecting it. If the Appalachian State students want to have a pre-Christmas snowball fight, more power to them. Heck, I wouldn’t mind having one myself. 

But for the love of all that is good, please don’t involve the team. They are there to play football and do so without getting pelted in the face with frozen water.

Unfortunately, the day didn’t get any better for the Dukes. They would lose their second-straight match up with the Mountaineers, 34-20.