Fire Dave Paulsen / Hire Tony Skinn

[FreeGunston12]

Average home attendance peaked during the 2006-07 season (6,834), and has been below 5,000 for 8 consecutive seasons::

2006-07: 6,834
2007-08: 6,494
2008-09: 6,295
2009-10: 5,837
2010-11: 5,896
2011-12: 5,161
2012-13: 4,562
2013-14: 4,916
2014-15: 4,082
2015-16: 4,300
2016-17: 4,234
2017-18: 4,087
2018-19: 4,335
2019-20 (current): 3,881


TOP EAGLEBANK ARENA CROWDS
1. James Madison (2/2/08) - 9,840* MASON, 72-46
UNC Wilmington (2/16/08) - 9,840* UNCW, 75-73
Northeastern (2/14/09) - 9,840* MASON, 64-53
Towson (2/28/09) - 9,840* MASON, 71-59
Old Dominion (2/5/11) - 9,840* MASON, 62-45
James Madison (2/12/11) - 9,840* MASON, 82-68
Old Dominion (2/4/12) - 9,840* MASON, 54-50
Virginia (11/9/12) - 9,840* MASON, 63-59
7.Wichita State (11/18/06) - 9,804* Wichita St., 72-66
Old Dominion (2/3/07) - 9,804* ODU, (OT) 66-56
9. James Madison (2/17/01) - 9,702* MASON, 79-66
10. James Madison (2/26/00) - 9 ,676* MASON, 76-64
* - All permanent seats sold

Man, what I wouldn't give for a sell out now.

Something Herndon and I messaged about - for those of us who were students at Mason right after the final four, it's no wonder we have different expectations and feel more entitled to have a good basketball program.

 

[GMUgemini]

Man, what I wouldn't give for a sell out now.

Something Herndon and I messaged about - for those of us who were students at Mason right after the final four, it's no wonder we have different expectations and feel more entitled to have a good basketball program.

Here are some other years:

2005: 3,937
2004: 3,864
2003: 3,347
2002: 3,177
2001: 3,354

 

[KAOriginal]

Man, what I wouldn't give for a sell out now.

Something Herndon and I messaged about - for those of us who were students at Mason right after the final four, it's no wonder we have different expectations and feel more entitled to have a good basketball program.

Until you have watched Ernie Nestor lose to a 4 man Russian squad (the rest of team fouled out)...or players quit the team completely during halftime........you have no idea the depths of Mason basketball hell.

 

[mkaufman1]

Man, what I wouldn't give for a sell out now.

Something Herndon and I messaged about - for those of us who were students at Mason right after the final four, it's no wonder we have different expectations and feel more entitled to have a good basketball program.

I was a student during the Final Four, and lived it. So my expectations are there but of course have come to more realistic ones over the years as my sports fan hood as matured in understanding. But I totally get why some who came right after have the expectations they have.

 

[patriot2000]

I'm surprised to see the comparison of today to the period between 2008 and 2010. I realize a "post-mortem" was issued by reporter or two looking to write a just-controversial-enough piece to ruffle feathers without being seen as completely off-the-wall. But we were absolutely nationally relevant up to and after the 2011 NCAA tourney.

As someone who has followed Mason from locations where I had trouble finding a single other Mason fan, I can tell you that when I wore Mason gear from 2009 to 2012, people had a lot of good stuff to say to me.

Now, people say, "What is Mason" or "didn't they make a sweet 16 like a decade ago" or "shame what happened to you guys. I really thought you were on the cusp."

In 2010, athletic recruits and regular old students were still mentioning the Final Four when applying to Mason.

I had season tickets until moving too far away after 2011 season. I still make it to a few games. The most disappointing thing is the student section. From 2009-2012, you still felt like you were in the 2007 Pat Dome. Now, well, you know.

 

[mason lawyer]

I was a student during the Final Four, and lived it. So my expectations are there but of course have come to more realistic ones over the years as my sports fan hood as matured in understanding. But I totally get why some who came right after have the expectations they have.

Why would you change your expectations? We are one good coach away taking off again. We need to hold them accountable for what they have done.

 

[Patriot Lawdog]

Judging by the admins performance and how they sabatoged us from becoming the Gonzaga of the east, nobody including me would write that check. We need to rebuild this operation from the ground. Everybody needs to be fired. Heads need to roll after we lose to Richmond.

Let me spell it out for you since you have no clue. You write a check like that at a program like ours and you become the AD regardless of titles. If you're not going to then you're just as non-influential as the rest of us and you get to whine on a message board. If you don't write large checks, you're not entitled to squat.

 

[JDK]

Do we want to be like Kaufman's Mets and have infrequent good years like the Mets (1969, 1986, 1999, 2000, 2006, 2015, 2016) or do we want to dare to build a consistent winner?

 

[Patriot Lawdog]

Why would you change your expectations? We are one good coach away taking off again. We need to hold them accountable for what they have done.

Hold who accountable? Brad Edwards?? The guys who would be held accountable are gone. So Edwards made one bad hire, he would join the never-ending list of ADs who have.

 

[mason lawyer]

Hold who accountable? Brad Edwards?? The guys who would be held accountable are gone. So Edwards made one bad hire, he would join the never-ending list of ADs who have.

We should be demanding his job as well. We need to build a winning culture from ground up. Our next coach should be given a three year leash. They do not get us to any post season in that time frame, fire them. Eventually we will hire the right coach to get us back into the tournament.

 

[Mason32]

We should be demanding his job as well. We need to build a winning culture from ground up. Our next coach should be given a three year leash. They do not get us to any post season in that time frame, fire them. Eventually we will hire the right coach to get us back into the tournament.

Curious why some here think the program will all the sudden operate like a P5 school with a huge donor base each time we get unhappy about where a season is going...

 

[Patriot Lawdog]

Curious why some here think the program will all the sudden operate like a P5 school with a huge donor base each time we get unhappy about where a season is going...

Because they have zero idea how college athletics or real world economics work.

 

[Pablo]

Remember Steven Goff's article in January 2015 during Hewitt's final season - https://www.washingtonpost.com/spor...bc9ebe-a317-11e4-91fc-7dff95a14458_story.html.

Focus on 2 of Edwards' quotes in the article:

“'I look at where they are in their tenure, how they are doing in the conference, what we see on the court, what we see in the classroom and in the community,' he said. 'Certainly wins and losses are important at a place like George Mason, and we have to decide whether we are heading in the right direction.'"

"“They [vcu] kept going back to the tournament, ' Edwards said, 'and that is what we have to do.'"

There is no question that Paulsen quickly satisfied the first quote by changing the culture of the program after Hewitt was fired. The question is whether he will satisfy the latter quote.

 

[GMUgemini]

Curious why some here think the program will all the sudden operate like a P5 school with a huge donor base each time we get unhappy about where a season is going...

I think the men’s soccer coach is a good example of what it will take to make a change, although Andrulis at least made a few tournaments here.

Still think if we finish 8 or worse this season and follow that up with another 8th or worse finish, there is no reason to expect things will get any better (a program stuck somewhere in the 6th range on a “good” year and 8th-10th on a rebuild year) and does Edwards pull the trigger then?

 

[mkaufman1]

I think the men’s soccer coach is a good example of what it will take to make a change, although Andrulis at least made a few tournaments here.

Still think if we finish 8 or worse this season and follow that up with another 8th or worse finish, there is no reason to expect things will get any better (a program stuck somewhere in the 6th range on a “good” year and 8th-10th on a rebuild year) and does Edwards pull the trigger then?

It’s an intriguing question, but also consider who the bosses of Dave will be at that point. Might not be Brad directly above him.

 

[mason lawyer]

Curious why some here think the program will all the sudden operate like a P5 school with a huge donor base each time we get unhappy about where a season is going...

Northern Va is flushed with money and Mason Alumni. If the admin showed a dedication to winning, money would flow in. No reason why we can not copy the vcu model.

 

[Mason32]

Northern Va is flushed with money and Mason Alumni. If the admin showed a dedication to winning, money would flow in. No reason why we can not copy the vcu model.

how do they show the dedication? By spending more on a coach?

 

[mason lawyer]

how do they show the dedication? By spending more on a coach?

Absolutley! That is step one.

 

[gmujim92]

We should be demanding his job as well. We need to build a winning culture from ground up. Our next coach should be given a three year leash. They do not get us to any post season in that time frame, fire them. Eventually we will hire the right coach to get us back into the tournament.

You really have no clue how any of this works. Good luck finding a coach willing to work on a 3-year deal and good luck to that coach trying to recruit with no job security.

 

[GMUgemini]

You really have no clue how any of this works. Good luck finding a coach willing to work on a 3-year deal and good luck to that coach trying to recruit with no job security.

This is true of the current coach, too. A decision one way or the other has to be made after next season, otherwise we go into a contract year and that’s not good for anybody.