After a decade of the original costume, Dr. Ray V. Sonner revamped the appearance of Duke Dog in the 1982–83 school year.
On November 28, 1982, Duke Dog appeared in JMU's first home game of the men's basketball season against the Virginia Military Institute.
[1] Although Duke Dog overwhelmingly won in polling, the contest was based also on scores from a panel of judges, and Monte from the University of Montana ended up winning the contest overall (ironically, JMU had just defeated Montana in the I-AA football championship less than a month prior).
Since this incident, Capital One has changed the contest so that the popular vote is the sole determinant of the winner of the Mascot Bowl.
A fight between the mascots ensued, and Duke Dog inadvertently struck one of the police officers who was trying to end the confrontation.