Bahamas Trip Cancelled

[gmujim92]

Where does this rank among Mason’s notable embarrassments? And when will it end?!

Still not as bad as the logo IMHO

 

[GMUgemini]

Still not as bad as the logo IMHO

Yeah this will blow over pretty quickly. That logo will be around for a long time.

 

[Falco]

Yeah this will blow over pretty quickly. That logo will be around for a long time.

I hope both are short lived.

Honestly, only the people who follow the forums knew that Mason was going to the Bahamas.

 

[Mason2006Patriot]

Tons of people were talking about this on Reddit and Twitter.

I think even Jeff Goodman from the Field of 68 retweeted a post about this.

 

[gmuballer14]

Tons of people were talking about this on Reddit and Twitter.

I think even Jeff Goodman from the Field of 68 retweeted a post about this.

Yep. Seen a few posts about it on tiktok as well.

 

[WillWeaverRVA]

Hi all. vcu fan and general A10 Twitter weirdo here, and y'all probably know who I am, but when I saw the story I had to post it on Reddit because it's honestly the most insane thing I've ever seen.

What happened to you guys is absolutely awful and I really hope you sue the pants off Chris Williams and the VII Group, because this almost really was the basketball version of Fyre Festival. Sure, Mason Athletics probably does deserve some blame too, but the ball was squarely in VII's court and they blew it.

 

[mkaufman1]

Hi all. vcu fan and general A10 Twitter weirdo here, and y'all probably know who I am, but when I saw the story I had to post it on Reddit because it's honestly the most insane thing I've ever seen.

What happened to you guys is absolutely awful and I really hope you sue the pants off Chris Williams and the VII Group, because this almost really was the basketball version of Fyre Festival. Sure, Mason Athletics probably does deserve some blame too, but the ball was squarely in VII's court and they blew it.

Signal the vcu troll alarm!!!

Kidding, welcome. We know you come in peace.

 

[WillWeaverRVA]

Signal the vcu troll alarm!!!

Kidding, welcome. We know you come in peace.

 

[jessej]

well....
on facebook and twitter

 

[Pablo]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaAZEPNRKRw

 

[jessej]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaAZEPNRKRw

hopefully everyone paid with a credit card and they can get their money back that way.
Fairly certain that all cash is gone

 

[GMUgemini]

hopefully everyone paid with a credit card and they can get their money back that way.
Fairly certain that all cash is gone

Kathy McKay is probably right, these people probably took our money to pay off other debts and then everything collapsed on them and we got screwed.

At least the whole team didn’t show up at the airport.

I saw the Atlanta connection and thought Marvin Lewis might have used them in the past without a problem. Doesn’t quite sound like that, but at least they reached out to UGA and Tulane who used them and vetted them before jumping in. This whole thing doesn’t sound like as big of an embarrassment on Mason’s part as it initially did.

 

[Walter]

I am afraid this is just the beginning of the bad luck due to the new logo. Expect more. The gods are not happy with us.

 

[mkaufman1]

Kathy McKay is probably right, these people probably took our money to pay off other debts and then everything collapsed on them and we got screwed.

At least the whole team didn’t show up at the airport.

I saw the Atlanta connection and thought Marvin Lewis might have used them in the past without a problem. Doesn’t quite sound like that, but at least they reached out to UGA and Tulane who used them and vetted them before jumping in. This whole thing doesn’t sound like as big of an embarrassment on Mason’s part as it initially did.

It definitely can happen to anyone or any entity. The issue I have or question I have is that folks were okay with no confirmation of anything as time got closer. I know @gmubrian mentioned he had an email of “it’s been booked”, but I don’t know if anyone checked anything beyond that. If they did, perhaps they catch this a month ahead or few weeks ahead versus the week of. Embarrassing yes, but at least you catch it ahead of time.

Maybe they didn’t feel the need to do that with this group, but I feel like information should have came out at intervals as time got closer to help plan the trip logistics on masons side. This part just doesn’t make sense to me.

 

[Falco]

x.com

x.com

Skinn knew something was off; otherwise, he would have had his staff scout the opponents. The coaching staff needs their practice too.

 

[WillWeaverRVA]

x.com

x.com

Skinn knew something was off; otherwise, he would have had his staff scout the opponents. The coaching staff needs their practice too.

Has anyone on your coaching staff commented since this fiasco happened? (Other than GMU's official statement.)

 

[mkaufman1]

Has anyone on your coaching staff commented since this fiasco happened? (Other than GMU's official statement.)

No - I wouldn't expect them to comment publicly either. I know after the trip they were going to take a break before the fall semester starts.

 

[TweederGMU]

It definitely can happen to anyone or any entity. The issue I have or question I have is that folks were okay with no confirmation of anything as time got closer. I know @gmubrian mentioned he had an email of “it’s been booked”, but I don’t know if anyone checked anything beyond that. If they did, perhaps they catch this a month ahead or few weeks ahead versus the week of. Embarrassing yes, but at least you catch it ahead of time.

Maybe they didn’t feel the need to do that with this group, but I feel like information should have came out at intervals as time got closer to help plan the trip logistics on masons side. This part just doesn’t make sense to me.

This goes back to my post as you NEED to have internal meetings with the AD and Bball coordinators and checkpoints scheduled... 2 months out... 1 month out... 2 weeks out, etc. to go over all the logistics of a trip like this. You can't just throw together an International weeklong trip and wing it, or in this case, rely on a consulting party..... it's the job of Mason's people to coordinate these meeting check-ins to go over every detail and answer any questions. They should of been in constant weekly contact with this consulting group solidifying the logistics.... location of games, who they are playing, time of games, transportation to and from places, hotel accommodations, etc.

The Mason coaches/staff would need to figure out and plan daily activities for the kids in between game days to do team activities. These trips are big into team bonding with some basketball on the side. Should of had itenaries down for each day on this trip and go over them with all the staff and kids months and weeks in advance.

More concerned with the internal lapses here..... they need to review all of their internal processes and duties and roles now to make sure stuff like this never happens again.

 

[GMUgemini]

This goes back to my post as you NEED to have internal meetings with the AD and Bball coordinators and checkpoints scheduled... 2 months out... 1 month out... 2 weeks out, etc. to go over all the logistics of a trip like this. You can't just throw together an International weeklong trip and wing it, or in this case, rely on a consulting party..... it's the job of Mason's people to coordinate these meeting check-ins to go over every detail and answer any questions. They should of been in constant weekly contact with this consulting group solidifying the logistics.... location of games, who they are playing, time of games, transportation to and from places, hotel accommodations, etc.

The Mason coaches/staff would need to figure out and plan daily activities for the kids in between game days to do team activities. These trips are big into team bonding with some basketball on the side. Should of had itenaries down for each day on this trip and go over them with all the staff and kids months and weeks in advance.

More concerned with the internal lapses here..... they need to review all of their internal processes and duties and roles now to make sure stuff like this never happens again.

It sounds to me like everything that didn’t need up front money was scheduled (the games, the hotel, etc.), but you can’t exactly delay payment of airline tickets, which is what never got purchased.

 

[mkaufman1]

This goes back to my post as you NEED to have internal meetings with the AD and Bball coordinators and checkpoints scheduled... 2 months out... 1 month out... 2 weeks out, etc. to go over all the logistics of a trip like this. You can't just throw together an International weeklong trip and wing it, or in this case, rely on a consulting party..... it's the job of Mason's people to coordinate these meeting check-ins to go over every detail and answer any questions. They should of been in constant weekly contact with this consulting group solidifying the logistics.... location of games, who they are playing, time of games, transportation to and from places, hotel accommodations, etc.

The Mason coaches/staff would need to figure out and plan daily activities for the kids in between game days to do team activities. These trips are big into team bonding with some basketball on the side. Should of had itenaries down for each day on this trip and go over them with all the staff and kids months and weeks in advance.

More concerned with the internal lapses here..... they need to review all of their internal processes and duties and roles now to make sure stuff like this never happens again.

I agree/agreed with you - if they followed your process (or any process) they would have had logistics confirmed along the way which means they would have found this problem way sooner. How they didn't have any logistical meetings 6 weeks out, 4 weeks out etc etc etc is mind boggling.