Improve Mason home game experience discussion

[TweederGMU]

Snuck a keg up the stairwell of Commonwealth for Mason day back in the day.

The process sucked but the end result was worth it.

Same, but for Wilson 3rd. We used a huge ice hockey duffel bag which surprisingly fit the entire keg in perfectly. Took 3 guys to haul it up 3 flights of stairs while we had 4-5 guys on my floor as lookouts for RA's and security. It was a Mission Imposible-esque type of operation.

We felt like Kings for a weekend lol

 

[gmubrian]

Mason fans were in rare form vs. St. Louis last night. It has been a LONG time since I was forced to stand to see over those standing in front of me in sections of many seasons past—101, 114, 118, 114 (again). Perhaps our fans are on to something here? Perhaps our fans, rabid and common and casual, actually do know what they're supposed to do to support our team in-game? Perhaps one giant HAS awoken? Meaningful games will do that... it's about time.

Not trying to take credit in any way, but, at about 5 minutes left in regulation, I stood up and refused to sit down again, I got my whole gang to stand as well, that pretty much forced people behind us to stand all the way back and then it seemed spread outwards a little bit. I noticed similar thing in the other 3 corners. It was the middle that was lagging at times. I'll see if I can get some of my friends that sit in the front in the middle (116 I think) to stand more and get the center section to join in more.

If we all do our little part we can, it will become habit instead of exception.

 

[psyclone]

Not trying to take credit in any way, but, at about 5 minutes left in regulation, I stood up and refused to sit down again, I got my whole gang to stand as well, that pretty much forced people behind us to stand all the way back and then it seemed spread outwards a little bit. I noticed similar thing in the other 3 corners. It was the middle that was lagging at times. I'll see if I can get some of my friends that sit in the front in the middle (116 I think) to stand more and get the center section to join in more.

If we all do our little part we can, it will become habit instead of exception.

It likely helped that the bulk of our rally began with 4 minutes left in regulation (SLU had an 11 pt lead and a 95% chance of winning at that point). And after the furious rally, it was basically a one possession game from then through both OTs. Easy to get even old folks like me to stand under those circumstances.

 

[EXpatriot13]

I was watching on ESPN+, and at one point I saw someone (assuming someone in the AD), walk by the student section with a big "Stand Up" sign. All the students immediately stood up, and I think they pretty much remained standing for the balance of the game. If that's what it takes, fine....but damn that is sad.

The AD should place a mass order of gold t-shirts to place on the seats for 2-3 home games in a row, I dont care how basic or cheap they are. Do it until students wear them. Blows my mind that students can't even get that right when it's such a simple, low hanging thing to do.

 

[TweederGMU]

I was watching on ESPN+, and at one point I saw someone (assuming someone in the AD), walk by the student section with a big "Stand Up" sign. All the students immediately stood up, and I think they pretty much remained standing for the balance of the game. If that's what it takes, fine....but damn that is sad.

The AD should place a mass order of gold t-shirts to place on the seats for 2-3 home games in a row, I dont care how basic or cheap they are. Do it until students wear them. Blows my mind that students can't even get that right when it's such a simple, low hanging thing to do.

Yea, they had a girl who works with in the AD walk by the student section with Make Noise/Get Loud and Stand Up signs. Seemed to work well.

On other side next to Green Machine the baseball team and women's LAX teams were standing majority of 2nd half and OT's and were loud and energetic. Need more of this. Someone said the AD is trying to highlight different Mason teams per each game and put them in those sections.

 

[Patriotsince81]

I was watching on ESPN+, and at one point I saw someone (assuming someone in the AD), walk by the student section with a big "Stand Up" sign. All the students immediately stood up, and I think they pretty much remained standing for the balance of the game. If that's what it takes, fine....but damn that is sad.

The AD should place a mass order of gold t-shirts to place on the seats for 2-3 home games in a row, I dont care how basic or cheap they are. Do it until students wear them. Blows my mind that students can't even get that right when it's such a simple, low hanging thing to do.

Vast and positive departure from Jay Marsh and the No Fun Police. He would have shushed the students and told them to sit down.

 

[gmubrian]

I am seeing a lot of ultra negativity about the program (players, team, fans, AD, etc.) and I am a little surprised. Even after a dominating win against a top tier program (Bona) our threads look like we have lost, the program is a mess and individual players were getting trashed a little harshly and the fans are criticized.

Admittedly I was easily one of the most negative "fans" of the program last year and about every other year for the last 8 or so seasons (when I cared enough to hate on it). If I can go from that to being one of the most optimistic, I would think others on here would be a little more optimistic about the direction of the program.

I couldn't be more upbeat about the current DIRECTION (not current position) of our entire program in almost every aspect. We seem to be making strides on coaching, off the court, recruitment, and with the other areas like in game atmosphere (PC is getting students to stand, lights out during intro, fans standing, beer sales, etc.) and many other areas. I don't have any worries about where we are headed in any area at the moment. Do we have lots of room for improvement, sure, but we are getting moving in the right direction. It is going to take time to recover from the 8+ year nosedive/slumber we were in and get where we want to be.

We gotta take baby steps.

 

[gmubrian]

It likely helped that the bulk of our rally began with 4 minutes left in regulation (SLU had an 11 pt lead and a 95% chance of winning at that point). And after the furious rally, it was basically a one possession game from then through both OTs. Easy to get even old folks like me to stand under those circumstances.

It absolutely helped. If I recall correctly, it was at the beginning of the comeback that I started standing.

The team is doing their part, we have to do ours. I could easily have sat at the first sign of adversity and that would have allowed all those behind me to be off the hook (or just see). Just pointing out that we can all have an impact to help make EBA the type of environment we hope for it to be for every game.

 

[Petey Buckets]

I am seeing a lot of ultra negativity about the program (players, team, fans, AD, etc.) and I am a little surprised. Even after a dominating win against a top tier program (Bona) our threads look like we have lost, the program is a mess and individual players were getting trashed a little harshly and the fans are criticized.

Admittedly I was easily one of the most negative "fans" of the program last year and about every other year for the last 8 or so seasons (when I cared enough to hate on it). If I can go from that to being one of the most optimistic, I would think others on here would be a little more optimistic about the direction of the program.

I couldn't be more upbeat about the current DIRECTION (not current position) of our entire program in almost every aspect. We seem to be making strides on coaching, off the court, recruitment, and with the other areas like in game atmosphere (PC is getting students to stand, lights out during intro, fans standing, beer sales, etc.) and many other areas. I don't have any worries about where we are headed in any area at the moment. Do we have lots of room for improvement, sure, but we are getting moving in the right direction. It is going to take time to recover from the 8+ year nosedive/slumber we were in and get where we want to be.

We gotta take baby steps.

This is all spot on. Personally, I'm negative about the crowd. It's infuriating to me. The Dayton game was an embarrassment to the program. One possession game against a top team in the conference and the arena sounded like a f**king dog show was on the court.

Last night was much better but there's still a long way to go. Don't mean to pick on @Jack Strop but his post about being "forced" to stand up feels very representative of most of the fan base. "I would have rather been sitting on my thumb during one of the most exciting games I'll ever see in person but unfortunately that wasn't an option."

 

[mkaufman1]

I am seeing a lot of ultra negativity about the program (players, team, fans, AD, etc.) and I am a little surprised. Even after a dominating win against a top tier program (Bona) our threads look like we have lost, the program is a mess and individual players were getting trashed a little harshly and the fans are criticized.

Admittedly I was easily one of the most negative "fans" of the program last year and about every other year for the last 8 or so seasons (when I cared enough to hate on it). If I can go from that to being one of the most optimistic, I would think others on here would be a little more optimistic about the direction of the program.

I couldn't be more upbeat about the current DIRECTION (not current position) of our entire program in almost every aspect. We seem to be making strides on coaching, off the court, recruitment, and with the other areas like in game atmosphere (PC is getting students to stand, lights out during intro, fans standing, beer sales, etc.) and many other areas. I don't have any worries about where we are headed in any area at the moment. Do we have lots of room for improvement, sure, but we are getting moving in the right direction. It is going to take time to recover from the 8+ year nosedive/slumber we were in and get where we want to be.

We gotta take baby steps.

Agreed. Theres been a lot of positive momentum as a whole over the last several years to improve a lot of the baseline stuff. As I always say it takes winning to really change how a home game will look and feel. 10 years of irrelevance killed off a lot of interest from students who become your potential customer and fan.

Hopefully at some point they will go back to handing out gold shirts and it will become a "culture" to wear gold. Even if we need a corny slogan of "be bold wear gold" advertised.

 

[mkaufman1]

This is all spot on. Personally, I'm negative about the crowd. It's infuriating to me. The Dayton game was an embarrassment to the program. One possession game against a top team in the conference and the arena sounded like a f**king dog show was on the court.

Last night was much better but there's still a long way to go. Don't mean to pick on @Jack Strop but his post about being "forced" to stand up feels very representative of most of the fan base. "I would have rather been sitting on my thumb during one of the most exciting games I'll ever see in person but unfortunately that wasn't an option."

I mean, I was even standing watching the game at home pacing back and forth.

 

[tblack33]

I was watching on ESPN+, and at one point I saw someone (assuming someone in the AD), walk by the student section with a big "Stand Up" sign. All the students immediately stood up, and I think they pretty much remained standing for the balance of the game. If that's what it takes, fine....but damn that is sad.

The AD should place a mass order of gold t-shirts to place on the seats for 2-3 home games in a row, I dont care how basic or cheap they are. Do it until students wear them. Blows my mind that students can't even get that right when it's such a simple, low hanging thing to do.

I've noticed the signs they flash at the kids are working too. If it is stupid and it works, well then it's probably not all that stupid. These things don't change overnight, it's trending in the right direction, albeit slower than we'd all want. Be the change you want to see in the arena. If you want people to stand up and be loud, then stand up and be loud yourself. I don't think I sat from the 5 minute mark in the second half.

Also chug cam returned last night, that is a change I'd like to see in the world, I'm going to keep trying to make it a thing.

 

[Jack Strop]

This is all spot on. Personally, I'm negative about the crowd. It's infuriating to me. The Dayton game was an embarrassment to the program. One possession game against a top team in the conference and the arena sounded like a f**king dog show was on the court.

Last night was much better but there's still a long way to go. Don't mean to pick on @Jack Strop but his post about being "forced" to stand up feels very representative of most of the fan base. "I would have rather been sitting on my thumb during one of the most exciting games I'll ever see in person but unfortunately that wasn't an option."

No worries... I was already standing during the last couple of minutes of regulation and throughout the OTs before others around me stood. Most in my section remained seated until the last minute of each OT. Then they got up and actually did something. Even the older couple next to me stood and clapped—that was precious.

By "forced to stand" I meant that if I didn't remain standing then I would have missed the action. I often encourage my section to stand up for crunch-time—but usually I just get ignored.

 

[gmujim92]

I’ve always thought the biggest issue with our game day experience is we have way too many fans who don’t really care that much whether Mason wins or loses. They come for entertainment or just something to do. Asking them to try and influence the outcome of the game in Mason’s favor is an utterly foreign concept — they come to watch, not participate.

That’s a culture change that hopefully will occur once we’re winning consistently again and the urge to cheer becomes more organic.

 

[dr. gunnie]

It was really great to see the lacrosse and baseball teams out to support basketball last night. I know some of the other teams have been out as well.

My question - where are the fraternities and sororities? I don’t see anyone wearing letters during the student section crowd shots. Do students even wear letters anymore? Maybe I’m just totally old and out of touch, but it would be nice to have more large groups attending.

 

[Petey Buckets]

No worries... I was already standing during the last couple of minutes of regulation and throughout the OTs before others around me stood. Most in my section remained seated until the last minute of each OT. Then they got up and actually did something. Even the older couple next to me stood and clapped—that was precious.

By "forced to stand" I meant that if I didn't remain standing then I would have missed the action. I often encourage my section to stand up for crunch-time—but usually I just get ignored.

I suppose I could have been clearer that my fake quote was supposed to be representative of the average person in the stands, not you. You're good people!

 

[ProfessorCFK]

I was watching on ESPN+, and at one point I saw someone (assuming someone in the AD), walk by the student section with a big "Stand Up" sign. All the students immediately stood up, and I think they pretty much remained standing for the balance of the game. If that's what it takes, fine....but damn that is sad.

Did you also see the cheerleading coach sitting down playing on his laptop in the front row of the student section all game? Because I did!

 

[Falco]

Dollar beers. Problem solved

 

[JimP]

This is all spot on. Personally, I'm negative about the crowd. It's infuriating to me. The Dayton game was an embarrassment to the program. One possession game against a top team in the conference and the arena sounded like a f**king dog show was on the court.

Last night was much better but there's still a long way to go. Don't mean to pick on @Jack Strop but his post about being "forced" to stand up feels very representative of most of the fan base. "I would have rather been sitting on my thumb during one of the most exciting games I'll ever see in person but unfortunately that wasn't an option."

Glad the crowd energy is improving - but it's depressing to check out the box score and see that the crowd was less than 3000. Like gmujim indicated, GMU needs more fans there who are living and dying on every possession rather than those there for a wholesome family outing. Not that there are anything wrong with those.

 

[GSII]

We could of beaten Kansas and had a home game vs Duke 3 days later and we'd still have less than 3k true Mason fans there. Maybe the social sciences dept can study why people in funfax are no fun and don't come to the funnest game in town.