Exclusive Interview w/Dave Paulsen! (Excerpt)

[Herndon]

I don't always agree with the By George guys, but an active, engaged fan media presence is ABSOLUTELY a positive thing for the program and the fanbase.

 

[GMUgemini]

I don't always agree with the By George guys, but an active, engaged fan media presence is ABSOLUTELY a positive thing for the program and the fanbase.

Plus, the Hey10 podcast was probably the best idea of last year. Very smart, informative, and puts Mason in perspective.

 

[By George.]

Stop begging for money, it's just sad. People should donate to the Patriot Club

They are in their mid 30s, not starving debt riddled college students. I guess they were communications or English majors.

So is donating to negative podcasters who have never given to the program but hey it's your coin bro

10 bucks says these accounts are the same person..

We understand there's going to be misinformation about us constantly but we have to set a few things straight.

1. Chris and Bryan are 32... not mid 30's. Slow down!
2. We have never begged for money, we don't even have an avenue for you to donate through. Never launched a Kickstarter or Patreon and all of our content is FREE. We may have posted about it a few times on here and insta/twitter. But...if you'd like to donate, we'd love to talk about where that money would land. For starters, our team wants to cover every away conference game next year.
3. Speaking of our team...By George is much larger than Chris and Bryan at this point. We have a team of 9 now. Some students, some young alumni, some in their 30's and yes some of us have debt.... So you're familiar going forward -

a. Bryan - Almuns, co-creator of By George, he wears all hats, does most of the interviewing, podcasting, postgame videos and edits.
b. Chris - Alumnus, co-creator of By George, he does most of the photo and video edits and has always been a host of By George. Everything funny/clever comes from him.
c. David - Young Alumnus, creator of GiantKiller.co and the brains behind a lot of the projects. He and Bryan met 5 years ago to combine forces.
d. Tyler - Young Alumnus, has been a writer for GK.co since early on and now hosts our postgame podcasts. He works for NBCSWashington, check out his work.
e. Petey Buckets - Alumnus, host Hey10 podcast, he is the most plugged-in guy to A10 hoops out there and also contributes for GK.co.
f. Ron, common name Ibrahim - Current Student, he is the photographer and videographer and hops on the other side of the lens from time to time too. Contact him for photo gigs, seriously.
g. Dom - Current Student, wrote pre/postgame articles for GK.co and also takes photos and videos and produces his own content. He hosts the Ryan and Domcast and writes for 4th Estate as well.
h. Ryan - Current Student, co-host of the Ryan and Domcast
i. Casey - Current Student, backup photographer, shot 5 games for us.

4. Finally, people listed above do donate, they do have season tickets and gold room passes. Chris and Bryan did as well until they started By George and allocated their funds to this project and sit media row. There's also plenty of positive content throughout the whole platform.

So no.... we're not begging and besides a few donations totaling $500 (went towards a laptop we use to edit everything,) we are completely self-funded. The donations wouldn't be for Chris and Bryan, 2 negative debt free 30 year olds, to pay themselves back for money already spent. They would go towards new equipment and travel both for our student contributors who want to cover every away game and the A10 tournament that we cover even after Mason loses.

We love trolls, they make this fun, but maybe going forward y'all can be a bit more accurate. Thanks to the rest for the positive comments. We're not going anywhere with or without everyone's approval and cash. There is no one like us in the A10, put respeck on our name!
GO GREEN! GO GOLD! FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!

 

[Pikapppatri8]

I don't always agree with the By George guys, but an active, engaged fan media presence is ABSOLUTELY a positive thing for the program and the fanbase.

If the conversation is intelligent and rationale and the production quality solid - I don't have to agree with them to like them and appreciate the content.

I would love to see a video cast on youtube or something. Unless they only have radio quality faces.

 

[sleeperpick]

What's sad is when the Mason fanbase is critical of those who cover Mason athletics on their own time and dollar. If Giant Killer, By George, GMU Hoops didn't exist, what presence would Mason have on social media? It's already tough seeing a recruit announce he's received an offer from Mason and the tweet has 10 likes and 2 retweets. If fans didn't start their own podcasts, instagram, twitter, websites, what would we have? Enjoy reading Dick Patricks Around the Rim articles on the official Mason athletics site.

I'll never understand a Mason32 or masonjoe type fan. People want to talk about a virus, they are the type of "fans" that hinder creative coverage of the very University they root for. Sad

I agree with 90% of this. Ryan Kish and Gmu hoops does suck though....

 

[sleeperpick]

=

Bitching about being a slightly above-average a10 program, when the university and community hasn't made the commitment to be anything more than a slightly above-average a10 program, comes off as some petulant teenager B.S.

When we pack the arena every night, and have one of the top two or three budgets in conference, and see billboards out in the community, and pay assistant coaches a ton of money, THEN I'LL GIVE THE COACH A HARD TIME FOR NOT CONSISTENTLY COMPETING FOR CONFERENCE TITLES.

Until such time I'll enjoy winning the games we win, and having a coach and kids I can be proud of for who they are.

here is one @Quentin Daniels there are about 5 more out there.. I am not going back to last season

This is a very lame fan!!

 

[sleeperpick]

My problem as a Mason fan, and a daily reader of these boards, is that I agree with almost everything I read. Somebody posts something really negative about our program, our infrastructure, even our coaches or players, and I'm like yeah I see that too. Then somebody posts a rebuttal, and I'm like, "wow that makes a lot of sense." And it makes me think... am I that stupid, that non-committal, or is the situation surrounding a mid-major college basketball team so varied, complicated, and unknown to all of us that none of our opinions amount to a whole lot?

This is not a criticism of the things you all post; quite the opposite. Although I rarely post in the off-season , I read every day and thoroughly enjoy it. But I do think that there is not a single person among us that has any idea how to help this program, and if we did, I sure shit wish we would do it.

For the most part, I'm trying to just enjoy it and not compare to the past. But I was a fan before, during, and after the final four and it's pretty hard for me just forget that that's a possibility. If it was possible for us to be a contender then, it is possible now. Our AD's job is to f*cking make it happen.

2006 wasn't luck or lightning in a bottle. In 2001, we were one horrible turnover away from an elite 8 or final four (using my crystal ball and looking at the matchups in the next few rounds). In 2011, we were a Food Poisoning away from a Sweet 16. In 2012, we were a Teddy KGB ("Pay that man his money") away from the best season in program history. And how many years were we an Eric Maynor away from at least having a shot at a win or two in the NCAA tournament? Yes, everything good that has happened post-1989 was one coach. But it happened here... In a worse conference, with worse facilities, less spending, a weak AD, and (at first) an even more apathetic fan base. Every excuse you can make for Right Now was even worse Back Then. Except for one old Cuban man? He's hardly a god. He had many faults and we got it done, year after year.

I've been drinking. Sorry.

Sent from my VS988 using Tapatalk

Bumping this post because it might be the best one on the boards...

 

[Quentin Daniels]

here is one @Quentin Daniels there are about 5 more out there.. I am not going back to last season

This is a very lame fan!!

Why did you cutoff the quote?

Here's the start of it

I'm not attacking you here, just to be clear. You're not the first person to say this and you won't be the last. I just get frustrated with the constant obsession with "taking the next step".

Like, I get it. Nobody wants to be complacent. Also, it's human nature to want more. But there's also something to be said for realism. As a program right now, we are who we are.

We are a slightly above-average a10 program. I simply fail to see any reason why we, as a fan base, should expect more. Do we have the best facilities in the a10? Do we have the best recruiting budget in the a10? Do we have the best program history in the a10? Do we have the best fanbase in the a10? ilIs there any single reason why we should expect to be any more than a slightly above-average a10 program (other than we want it)?

THIS ^^^ is your example of someone who is "ecstatic" about being 5-7?

Just to point it out to you very clearly, your defense against the accusation of constantly being over the top, hyperbolic, and full of $hit in general about what you say is to

1. Find a quote from Herndon
2. One that starts with "I'm not attacking you" and then goes to "nobody wants to be complacent"
3. You delete that portion of it
4. Then quote it as proof of @Herndon being "ecstatic" (your exact word) about the state of the program.

Some friendly advice, take it or not....log off, stop trying to defend the indefensible, look in the mirror, and consider that maybe you've gone too far and should stop.

And that's not me saying you shouldn't ever criticize, or leave the boards, or aren't a fan, or should stop attending games.....it's just me saying dude, enough already. Dial it back. You're tiresome and a bore.