News Mason Basketball Meet & Greet Set For Tuesday, Sept. 29th at EagleBank Arena

[liem.le.3388]

The event was pretty informal. Straight forward meet and greet with men's and women's team in a casual setting. The final four trophy was on display to take pictures with but it was pretty lonely.

 

[gmu05]

Wow that was a sad event. Do we have any loyal alumni/fans under the age of 60?

 

[Vurbel]

Was anybody looking like they were buying season tickets at least, or was everybody there pretty much the regulars?

 

[liem.le.3388]

Was anybody looking like they were buying season tickets at least, or was everybody there pretty much the regulars?

It looked pretty much like regulars, they need to do something crazy.

 

[GSII]

I guess Pablo had a clear opportunity to ask Jim's questions.

 

[ArtVandalay]

No word on the new unis? I thought they might sneak in a peek at them tonight.

 

[GMUgemini]

Wow that was a sad event. Do we have any loyal alumni/fans under the age of 60?

This is why you don't schedule an event on a Tuesday in the early evening.

 

[liem.le.3388]

This is why you don't schedule an event on a Tuesday in the early evening.

Let's be honest here, even if it were on a Sat afternoon there would still be majority old regulars. End of day we need to win again.

 

[GSII]

can't wait for pablo's report from meet and greet...in 3...2....1

 

[Pablo]

can't wait for pablo's report from meet and greet...in 3...2....1

Sorry, but I didn't attend.

 

[psyclone]

Maybe someone should ask if the "faster farther " campaign includes/earmarks practice facility.

http://fasterfarther.gmu.edu/

When I searched for "basketball practice facility" nothing came up.

As has been implied, there was no formal Q & A session. I did ask DP my "faster farther" question on my own and he said that a practice facility probably wouldn't be a part of that campaign but would more likely be separate. It was something he felt we needed as did Brad Edwards, noting that they wouldn't have the Patriot Center available until Halloween. He also said that recently he was recruiting in Detroit and the recruit specifically asked if there was a place available to them 24 hrs a day.

I also spoke with James Meyer and asked him how season tickets were going. He indicated that they were ahead of last year but from the tone of his answer, it didn't sound like by very much.

 

[MasonFanatic]

No word on the new unis? I thought they might sneak in a peek at them tonight.

They do not have new unis yet. They don't even have adidas practice gear for the basketball teams yet.

 

[jmckend1]

Let's be honest here, even if it were on a Sat afternoon there would still be majority old regulars. End of day we need to win again.

If I lived in Fairfax with no wife or child, I would have gone. But if you have a career and a family, Tuesday evening ain't happening

 

[Pablo]

Dave Paulsen ‏@PaulsenDave 36m36 minutes ago
Great time and excellent turn-out for meet and greet at EagleBank Arena tonight. Appreciate passion and devotion of our fans

 

[GMUgemini]

Let's be honest here, even if it were on a Sat afternoon there would still be majority old regulars. End of day we need to win again.

Well, this is usually the case everywhere. Students don't usually go to these types of events. But you would get more old timers and regulars on a Friday or Saturday evening. And yeah even more if we had a winning program.

So let's try to fix number one while we work towards number two.

 

[GMU92]

For another trip down memory lane, see http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2006/07/03/story6.html.
.

Well, we certainly got the second project listed in this article, the hotel/conference center, which proved to be a flop. $50M project which had an operating loss of $2M per year for its 4 year life. That would make for one nice practice facility.
http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/blog/top-shelf/2013/11/gmu-to-shutter-mason-inn.html

 

[GMUgemini]

Well, we certainly got the second project listed in this article, the hotel/conference center, which proved to be a flop.

To think if thy had just concentrated on the basketball facility instead of the stupid conference center...

 

[GMU92]

I also spoke with James Meyer and asked him how season tickets were going. He indicated that they were ahead of last year but from the tone of his answer, it didn't sound like by very much.

Is anyone aware of how much selling we do/what type? Anyone go out into the area, say major malls or events, and hand out simple flyers (cheap) and give the 30 second elevator speech on the program's new direction (free)?

 

[gmujim92]

To think if thy had just concentrated on the basketball facility instead of the stupid conference center...

It's almost like our BOV is pathologically unable to hire a president who recognizes the direct and tangential benefits of investing in the MBB program.

Mason could've built a BB practice facility for less than half of what it cost to build the hotel/conference center, but Merten never would've signed off.

I was hopeful that "anti-athletics" attitude would change given Cabrera's background -- he should understand the business case for a strong MBB program -- but from everything I've seen and heard, it hasn't improved at all.

The fact that a dedicated facility for our flagship athletics program wasn't included in the new capital campaign is frankly inexcusable. We've already spent quite enough on dorms, academic buildings and satellite campuses. Over a billion dollars, in fact. Nobody can accuse our leadership of having their priorities out of order.

If he wasn't committed to doing what it takes to compete, Cabrera should've just kept us in the CAA.

 

[Pikapppatri8]

It's almost like our BOV is pathologically unable to hire a president who recognizes the direct and tangential benefits of investing in the MBB program.

Mason could've built a BB practice facility for less than half of what it cost to build the hotel/conference center, but Merten never would've signed off.

I was hopeful that "anti-athletics" attitude would change given Cabrera's background -- he should understand the business case for a strong MBB program -- but from everything I've seen and heard, it hasn't improved at all.

The fact that a dedicated facility for our flagship athletics program wasn't included in the new capital campaign is frankly inexcusable. We've already spent quite enough on dorms, academic buildings and satellite campuses. Over a billion dollars, in fact. Nobody can accuse our leadership of having their priorities out of order.

If he wasn't committed to doing what it takes to compete, Cabrera should've just kept us in the CAA.

Overall I agree with your statement - although this lays at the feet of the previous administration not Cabrera. I also don't find an issue with the practice facility not being in the capital campaign as it is at a high level. It's exclusion does not preclude a practice facility. As someone stated above it will probably be part of its own fundraising effort. I am more interested in how we start out the season. I think we need to calm down a bit - the Admin and the AD have made the right moves thus far - so they have earned a little leeway - at least from me.