Game 10: GMU (6-3) vs Tulane (4-5) on Saturday, December 7, at 2:00 PM.

[GMUgemini]

If you removed Georgetown, Maryland, the Bullets, and the Capitals from our general vicinity and we were the only, literally, game in town, we might have a few more fans at each game, too. But that's not our reality. Our option is to win, consistently, over several years, and people will come.

See my edit about GCU.

 

[Where's the party?]

If you removed Georgetown, Maryland, the Bullets, and the Capitals from our general vicinity and we were the only, literally, game in town, we might have a few more fans at each game, too. But that's not our reality. Our option is to win, consistently, over several years, and people will come.

So true - What else you gonna do in Dayton? Wright Brothers museum?

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

Has anyone here ever been to Dayton? I have twice.

If you lived there you”d go to every Dayton game to either delay suicide or to take advantage of one of the few spots left in the city where a mafia of roaches and rats haven’t completely taken over a structure.

People there say it used to be great but It’s mad max times over there now.

 

[psyclone]

Has anyone here ever been to Dayton? I have twice. It was two of the most depressing experiences of my life.

If you lived there you”d go to every Dayton game to either delay suicide or to take advantage of one of the few spots left in the city where a mafia of roaches and rats haven’t completely taken over a structure.

People there say it used to be great but It’s mad max times over there now.

Here's some ideas if you're near Dayton this weekend!

10 things to do in Dayton this weekend

Notable arts and entertainment events in Dayton Dec. 6-8, 2024.

www.daytondailynews.com

Alternatively, you can go see the Flyers play Lehigh this Saturday,or stay over until next Saturday when Marquette comes to town!

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

Here's some ideas if you're near Dayton this weekend!

10 things to do in Dayton this weekend

Notable arts and entertainment events in Dayton Dec. 6-8, 2024.

www.daytondailynews.com

Alternatively, you can go see the Flyers play Lehigh this Saturday,or stay over until next Saturday when Marquette comes to town!

I take it all back. #8. The Dayton Gay Men’s Chorus Holiday Concert is the best Gay Men’s Chorus concert in the world. And I believe the only one.

 

[psyclone]

I take it all back. #8. The Dayton Gay Men’s Chorus Holiday Concert is the best Gay Men’s Chorus concert in the world. And I believe the only one.

You don't get out much, do you?!

10 Holiday Concerts and Performances to See in the DC Area

"The Hip-Hop Nutcracker," Christmas with CeCe Winans, and Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington ring in the holidays.

www.washingtonian.com

 

[Patriotsince81]

Free GM themed Wrapping Paper for the first 1,300 fans at the Tulane game

So you're saying I can get 4 or 5 rolls? LOL.

 

[gmubrian]

I get your point, but it only goes so far. Dayton is consistently at the top of the A10. They are consistently in the post season. I believe my point stands. Dayton wins. And THAT is why it is such a big deal when we beat them (or vcu). We are beating winners.

If you or other people are waiting for us to be in the post season multiple years in a row before you start coming to games, I have some really bad news for you.

Dayton is so far ahead of what we could ever hope to be as program (unless something changes drastically for us) people who want to use that as a benchmark are delusional. I am not telling you to go root for someone else, but if that is your level of expectation, you need to lower your expectations or you either need to go root for them or pick someone like Duke who you frequently talk about hating. Most of the hate for Duke is because they have been so good for so long.

Rooting for Mason is rooting for the underdog. Doing more with less. As I mentioned before, it is as much the journey as it is the outcome. Be there through the mediocre times so the occasional really good year feels that much sweeter.

 

[GMU79]

If you or other people are waiting for us to be in the post season multiple years in a row before you start coming to games, I have some really bad news for you.

Dayton is so far ahead of what we could ever hope to be as program (unless something changes drastically for us) people who want to use that as a benchmark are delusional. I am not telling you to go root for someone else, but if that is your level of expectation, you need to lower your expectations or you either need to go root for them or pick someone like Duke who you frequently talk about hating. Most of the hate for Duke is because they have been so good for so long.

Rooting for Mason is rooting for the underdog. Doing more with less. As I mentioned before, it is as much the journey as it is the outcome. Be there through the mediocre times so the occasional really good year feels that much sweeter.

Paragraph #1. I am unable to come to games, and I don't owe you an explanation as to why. You should be grateful that you can. That will change someday. Father Time is undefeated.

Paragraph #2. I have been a fan since 1975 and was at games in the old gym with fold down risers when the players outnumbered the fans. You don't need to explain to me what Mason basketball is and what our expectations should be.

Paragraph #3. See my response above. The journey is why I enjoyed 2006 so much.

I am glad you have enough free time and money to go to all the Mason games, enjoy the gold room, etc. Must be nice. The rest of us do what we can. My point stands. We may never be Dayton, but if we want to draw casual fans, we need to get off the status quo and start winning more games.

 

[gmubrian]

Paragraph #1. I am unable to come to games, and I don't owe you an explanation as to why. You should be grateful that you can. That will change someday. Father Time is undefeated.

Paragraph #2. I have been a fan since 1975 and was at games in the old gym with fold down risers when the players outnumbered the fans. You don't need to explain to me what Mason basketball is and what our expectations should be.

Paragraph #3. See my response above. The journey is why I enjoyed 2006 so much.

I am glad you have enough free time and money to go to all the Mason games, enjoy the gold room, etc. Must be nice. The rest of us do what we can. My point stands. We may never be Dayton, but if we want to draw casual fans, we need to get off the status quo and start winning more games.

You do this to every discussion. In this case, you made a statement about people not going to games, then when it is disputed, you throw the victim card. That is why I specifically put "if you or others are waiting..". If that isn't what you are waiting for, then the argument doesn't apply to you. Please stop with the victimhood and let's get back to the discussion of why people don't come to Mason games.

Is your argument that people don't come because we aren't winning (which we are)?
Is your argument that people aren't coming because they are old or disabled?
Is your argument that people aren't coming to the games because it isn't affordable?
Is it some of all 3?

 

[GMU79]

You do this to every discussion. In this case, you made a statement about people not going to games, then when it is disputed, you throw the victim card. That is why I specifically put "if you or others are waiting..". If that isn't what you are waiting for, then the argument doesn't apply to you. Please stop with the victimhood and let's get back to the discussion of why people don't come to Mason games.

Is your argument that people don't come because we aren't winning (which we are)?
Is your argument that people aren't coming because they are old or disabled?
Is your argument that people aren't coming to the games because it isn't affordable?
Is it some of all 3?

And I am singled out every discussion. Stop saying you, if you mean it generally.

 

[GMU79]

And I am singled out every discussion. Stop saying you, if you mean it generally.

Primarily it is because we aren't winning...enough to draw fans. It would help if we would win the games we should win and we don't...every single year.

 

[gmubrian]

And I am singled out every discussion. Stop saying you, if you mean it generally.

You weren't singled out. You threw yourself in the conversation with the comment that "Dayton Wins". Again, it isn't about you, so stop playing the victim and let's get back to discussing why we think people in general don't come to Mason games even though it is a pretty damn good product.

 

[GMU79]

You weren't singled out. You threw yourself in the conversation with the comment that "Dayton Wins". Again, it isn't about you, so stop playing the victim and let's get back to discussing why we think people in general don't come to Mason games even though it is a pretty damn good product.

Not victim. I made a statement on Dayton. You said "you or others."
Yes, I love GMU basketball.

 

[Patriotsince81]

I wish I had the answer as to why we have so much trouble drawing even mediocre crowds. We're 43-10 (.811) at home over the past 4 seasons. That's pretty good. Yeah, we've dropped a few I didn't expect us to but compared to the Paulsen (43-35 at home - .578) it's pretty stellar. Don't even take me back to the Nestor, Westhead or Hewitt years. They were downright awful. We averaged about 4,500 during Hewitt's last 2 years despite winning just 20 games overall (not home wins) and going 8-26 in the A10.

Perhaps we need to have @tblack33 talk up the knitter and see if she wants to bring her knitting friends with her. A new intimidation factor at EBA! Dead silence from a nonexistent crowd followed by a bunch of blue haired old ladies clacking their knitting needles together to annoy the opposition.

 

[GunstonsGhost]

We're the largest university in Virginia that sits in the richest county in the nation. Spend the money to buy the fans till you give them a reason to come without all the incentives. It doesn't seem like a terribly difficult situation to fix if they wanted to actually get butts in seats.

The student section was about maxed when the sorority gave away free pizza. Simply lowering ticket prices would be an easy solution. They're kinda doing that with the Black Friday BOGO sales, but Black Friday is a crowded market and the target audience (fence sitters and potential new fans) are likely not getting the message. Almost all business problems can be solved by time or money. Maybe in time we'll consistently be top 4 in the division and flirt with being ranked like Dayton. Until then paper over the problem.

 

[Jack Strop]

This season has been particularly pitiful. I think I literally saw an old woman knitting at our last game. Lots of key moments where you can just hear a pin drop. 0 energy in the stadium. I don’t see it getting better during conference play given our home slate. Fanbase seems to be dying off for some reason.

'zactly! The old ladies who sit next to me shake their heads in disapproval whenever I get rowdy.
Lame. Lame. Lame.

 

[gmubrian]

Not victim. I made a statement on Dayton. You said "you or others."
Yes, I love GMU basketball.

Ok, so you want join in the debate but you don't want us to refer to you? Interesting. And yet you made your counter argument directly about me. If you can't take my full statement in context and instead focus only on the fact that I used the word "you" in the sentence and not see that I was referring to anyone that is waiting for us to go to the tournament as frequently as Dayton, maybe you shouldn't hop into these debates.

Primarily it is because we aren't winning...enough to draw fans. It would help if we would win the games we should win and we don't...every single year.

I think you are somewhat right and wrong at the same time. What do I mean by that. We are winning plenty. We are 40 and 25 in the last two years. We have had two exciting hires for coach as well in the last 3 years. I think the issue is as much a marketing/getting the word out issue. We aren't winning the games that get us the attention. We haven't won the A10 and haven't gone to the tourney, which would gets us the publicity that might attract some more fans.

The problem is that the delta between what we are winning and what it takes to get to that other level is so slim (how many of the games have we lost by a single possession?). And maintaining that level every year is a totally unreasonable to expect for a program at our level. I don't want to put words in @Patriotsince81 mouth, but, that is what I take away when he says that our fanbase sucks. We are putting a pretty damn good product on the floor and yet we can't get anyone to come. The product is good enough to warrant the support of the fanbase, but, we don't receive it. And if we do get over the hump this year or next, maybe we get a bump in attendance, but as soon as we don't win all those games a year or two latter, do they disappear just as quickly as they showed up for the band wagon. Those aren't the fans we are looking for. We are looking for the fans that will ride out a mediocre to decent season for a year or two to help cheer us to victory in the really good season every third or fourth year. We don't have that right now.

 

[GMU79]

I wish I had the answer as to why we have so much trouble drawing even mediocre crowds. We're 43-10 (.811) at home over the past 4 seasons. That's pretty good. Yeah, we've dropped a few I didn't expect us to but compared to the Paulsen (43-35 at home - .578) it's pretty stellar. Don't even take me back to the Nestor, Westhead or Hewitt years. They were downright awful. We averaged about 4,500 during Hewitt's last 2 years despite winning just 20 games overall (not home wins) and going 8-26 in the A10.

Perhaps we need to have @tblack33 talk up the knitter and see if she wants to bring her knitting friends with her. A new intimidation factor at EBA! Dead silence from a nonexistent crowd followed by a bunch of blue haired old ladies clacking their knitting needles together to annoy the opposition.

Yes, 43-10 is very good.

 

[GMU79]

Ok, so you want join in the debate but you don't want us to refer to you? Interesting. And yet you made your counter argument directly about me. If you can't take my full statement in context and instead focus only on the fact that I used the word "you" in the sentence and not see that I was referring to anyone that is waiting for us to go to the tournament as frequently as Dayton, maybe you shouldn't hop into these debates.

I think you are somewhat right and wrong at the same time. What do I mean by that. We are winning plenty. We are 40 and 25 in the last two years. We have had two exciting hires for coach as well in the last 3 years. I think the issue is as much a marketing/getting the word out issue. We aren't winning the games that get us the attention. We haven't won the A10 and haven't gone to the tourney, which would gets us the publicity that might attract some more fans.

The problem is that the delta between what we are winning and what it takes to get to that other level is so slim (how many of the games have we lost by a single possession?). And maintaining that level every year is a totally unreasonable to expect for a program at our level. I don't want to put words in @Patriotsince81 mouth, but, that is what I take away when he says that our fanbase sucks. We are putting a pretty damn good product on the floor and yet we can't get anyone to come. The product is good enough to warrant the support of the fanbase, but, we don't receive it. And if we do get over the hump this year or next, maybe we get a bump in attendance, but as soon as we don't win all those games a year or two latter, do they disappear just as quickly as they showed up for the band wagon. Those aren't the fans we are looking for. We are looking for the fans that will ride out a mediocre to decent season for a year or two to help cheer us to victory in the really good season every third or fourth year. We don't have that right now.

I agree with your last two paragraphs. But again, you said you weren't singling me out.
If you weren't singly me out you should have just said fans/folks/people. And that is why I responded specifically to you.