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

[jkh1978]

My eight year old, who kept getting up on his feet, noticed the courtside seats not being into it. He would love to cheer from down there for a game. We buy tickets for whenever we can make it and move around the arena. But we haven’t been where the cheerleaders throw the tshirts. A quick chuck of a tshirt doesn’t start excitement. Standing at half court with a tshirt gun waiting for cheering at least gets people awake.

 

[GunstonsGhost]

Standing at half court with a tshirt gun waiting for cheering at least gets people awake.

And bring back the parachuting chick-fil-a!

 

[psyclone]

And bring back the parachuting chick-fil-a!

Or better yet, the free chick-fil-a if we scored 70 or more points! The lines at their Fairfax Circle restaurant the next day were soooooo long!

 

[Masonman]

And bring back the parachuting chick-fil-a!

And the lady that spins the plates on her head!

 

[psyclone]

And the lady that spins the plates on her head!

Red Panda

 

[gmubrian]

As I said before, we’ve got to make it a social event and make people feel connected and/or stay connected to the university and basketball program.

I’ve said this before and here is what I would try to get y’all to do if I lived there and not here. And that is take a page from soccer culture and start an unofficial supporters group for Mason basketball (you can build it out to all sports if you want eventually if/when it gets big enough to do so).

I’ve been a supporter of DC United since ‘96. When I lived there I used to sit behind the Barra Brava, who at the time set the gold standard for soccer supporter culture in the U.S.

So this is kind of a combination between an official supporters groups Screaming Eagles and and unofficial supporters group DCUK (which standards for DC United Kingdom—because the founder is from the UK and it’s meant to connected international United fans).

It would be a collaboration between Masonhoops, Giant Killers and the Collective. It would have a similar model to the Screaming Eagles in that there are yearly dues to maintain membership. Those yearly dues would be used to keep and maintain a block of tickets from which members can buy single game tickets as well as help fund the collective. We would use the Giant Killers name and logo (with their permission, since they were originally created to hype the program and get people excited about Mason basketball again) and give everyone a Giant Killers logo’s scarf to promote the group.

Everyone would sit together in a tight block m the same section. It would probably be a rather smaller group at first but hopefully will grow, ideally to be about 150-200 strong. There will be Barra level of expectations for standing; chanting and singing the entire game (although we won’t step on the toes of the band during timeouts/halftime—who cares about the cheerleaders and what they’re doing). Soccer supporters groups generally make their own signage (called tifo) and write their own songs (based on common melodies and tailored to certain opposing teams as well as their own players). We will either do an American style tailgate every home game or a European style pub pre-game. Apparently the university doesn’t care if you tailgate so long as you don’t advertise you’re drinking (yes, Brian?)

Ideally and eventually we would arrange bus trips to busable away games (Richmond, Philly, New York) made exclusively for Giant Killers members. This is what the Screaming Eagles do.

Giant Killers will continue to make their content as a way to keep members and dans connected during the season and offseason. Masonhoops will continue to be the place where those fans come together and talk hoops and to help keep the Mason diaspora connected and in the loop.

The one thing that is an important difference is the Screaming Eagles get an allotment of tickets from United for their supporters section to sell to their membership. This is what makes them an “official” team supporters group. The way college economics works we would have to pool season tickets together, purchasing more than we would use and then sell those tickets to supporters who don’t donate their tickets to the group’s collective.

Here is the Screaming Eagles website: https://www.screaming-eagles.com/

Here is DCUK’s website: https://dcunitedkingdom.com/

The benefits of doing this are several:

1) having three dedicated sections (band, students, supporters section) the energy generated will be infectious. The older supporters, being “die hards” and promising to bring it every game will also teach the students how to be the “6th man on the court” they will take their cues from us.

2) If this isn’t something that gets abandoned like everything else at Mason, the consistent social aspects (both physical and digital) will generate a sustainable community and will provide a place for students to enter when they leave school. They will want to become a part of us.

3) if the supporters group gets big enough the dues will help not only Mason athletics (through increased season tickets sales and donation for said tickets), but also the collective (as dues not needed for events hosting, and maintaining said season tickets) can be used for donations to the collective, which will in turn help get and keep the better players on the roster.

4) it will help grow this tiny community here since we will be the founders and sponsors of the official Giant Killer supporters group message board (no need to change the name of the board).

I’m also not married to using George Mason Giant Killers but they already have a presence and a logo, so was cribbing their name. I also don’t mean to step on their toes here either, so my apologies if this sounds dumb to you guys (and to the Masonhoops community).

End of super long post that I doubt anyone will use. But it’s an idea I’ve had for a long time. I just moved back to Miami in ‘09 (which is where I’m originally from—well not originally originally, but where my family had relocated to before going to Mason) and now live in Arizona.

I was told that tailgating is fine, and as long as you aren't advertising the drinking you won't be hounded.

I love your thinking in this and your posts about GCU. Do you have any sort of links where there is a summary/study of what GCU has done to create their environment?

 

[GMUgemini]

This is the article I know of that describes how they built their brand (this is from when they were transitioning to D1).

Are GCU fans the craziest in college basketball?

It almost doesn’t make sense. GCU has nothing to play for. Yet, fans pack the arena and support their team every game.

www.azcentral.com

Biggest takeaway: “If you think about when you go on the road to some of the bigger schools, and they have established traditions, a lot of the programming is for the people who are buying tickets,” Mueller said. “We did the opposite.”

The atmosphere at the arena caters almost entirely to students, who are encouraged to party outside until just before game time.

 

[Pikapppatri8]

Is t-shirt guy still around?

 

[TweederGMU]

This is the article I know of that describes how they built their brand (this is from when they were transitioning to D1).

Are GCU fans the craziest in college basketball?

It almost doesn’t make sense. GCU has nothing to play for. Yet, fans pack the arena and support their team every game.

www.azcentral.com

Biggest takeaway: “If you think about when you go on the road to some of the bigger schools, and they have established traditions, a lot of the programming is for the people who are buying tickets,” Mueller said. “We did the opposite.”

The atmosphere at the arena caters almost entirely to students, who are encouraged to party outside until just before game time.

Well damn... let's move our DJ outside to the parking lot and get our Red Bull rep on campus with loads of free Red Bulls.

Proof is in the science.... caffeine instead of alcohol to the kids. Stimulant vs. Depressant always wins

 

[Verdad]

Is t-shirt guy still around?

Moved to SC

 

[Patriot8]

Well damn... let's move our DJ outside to the parking lot and get our Red Bull rep on campus with loads of free Red Bulls.

Proof is in the science.... caffeine instead of alcohol to the kids. Stimulant vs. Depressant always wins

Best of both worlds

 

[PrimeRib3]

LOL. Not laughing at you or your post. Laughing at how lame our "fanbase" is. We've cracked 3,000 just once this year in a 10,000 seat arena. Kids can go to Dayton and play in front of a 13,407 sell out EVERY night or come to Mason. Guess which one they're choosing? Give Tony credit for trying, but our fans suck. Look at how many members of this board don't even attend games.

Sat next to former coach Mike Ekanem at the Tulane game, and amongst many other things, he highlighted how frustrated Tony is getting with the continued lack of student support. Not nearly having the same issue with the administration. They have had his support.

 

[DRK331]

Sat next to former coach Mike Ekanem at the Tulane game, and amongst many other things, he highlighted how frustrated Tony is getting with the continued lack of student support. Not nearly having the same issue with the administration. They have had his support.

What else did Mike say?

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

We’re not Dayton. We’re not Duke. We’re not even GCU which is a private institution with free rein to do whatever they want with their money.

We are who we are.
In order to get asses out to the games, we need to not only win but win with national headlines.

You can do all the promotions you want. Only
Long term attendance solution is to win significant games that make national or even regional headlines.

Any additional attendance from promotions/giveaways is s putting a band aid on a bullet wound, they alone won’t last.

Everyone knows this. Let’s stop pretending attendance can be fixed at Mason any other way.

 

[GMU79]

We’re not Dayton. We’re not Duke. We’re not even GCU which is a private institution with free rein to do whatever they want with their money.

We are who we are.
In order to get asses out to the games, we need to not only win but win with national headlines.

You can do all the promotions you want. Only
Long term attendance solution is to win significant games that make national or even regional headlines.

Any additional attendance from promotions/giveaways is s putting a band aid on a bullet wound, they alone won’t last.

Everyone knows this. Let’s stop pretending attendance can be fixed at Mason any other way.

Agreed. Just win, baby!

 

[Patriot8]

What else did Mike say?

Lol don't go down this road

 

[Pablo]

We’re not Dayton. We’re not Duke. We’re not even GCU which is a private institution with free rein to do whatever they want with their money.

We are who we are.
In order to get asses out to the games, we need to not only win but win with national headlines.

You can do all the promotions you want. Only
Long term attendance solution is to win significant games that make national or even regional headlines.

Any additional attendance from promotions/giveaways is s putting a band aid on a bullet wound, they alone won’t last.

Everyone knows this. Let’s stop pretending attendance can be fixed at Mason any other way.

To follow up on your point, there was a boost in home attendance last season when the Patriots played and defeated #16 Dayton. But, after the home victory vs. a good Richmond team, George Mason was one-and-done in the A-10 tourney; and, thus, no opportunity for postseason success.

IMO, there are no games in this non-conference home schedule that appeal to most fans. Compare this with the 2006-07 season when George Mason's average home attendance peaked: the home opener (and the raising of the Final Four banner) vs. Wichita State was a sellout (9.804), the home game vs. Mississippi State (7,846), and the Bracketbuster/Homecoming vs. Kent State (9,073).

 

[Patriot8]

To follow up on your point, there was a boost in home attendance last season when the Patriots played and defeated #16 Dayton. But, after the home victory vs. a good Richmond team, George Mason was one-and-done in the A-10 tourney; and, thus, no opportunity for postseason success.

IMO, there are no games in this non-conference home schedule that appeal to most fans. Compare this with the 2006-07 season when George Mason's average home attendance peaked: the home opener (and the raising of the Final Four banner) vs. Wichita State was a sellout (9.804), the home game vs. Mississippi State (7,846), and the Bracketbuster/Homecoming vs. Kent State (9,073).

Yes, I'd imagine if this team ended up in the Final Four, there would be a slight increase in attendance next season..

 

[mkaufman1]

I'm just curious how come there wasn't an uptick in attendance after our second Final Four (the CBI Final Four)

 

[Pablo]

Yes, I'd imagine if this team ended up in the Final Four, there would be a slight increase in attendance next season..

Of course the Final Four run was the reason for the surge in attendance. But, not every home game was attended by over 7,800 fans like the 3 games that I cited. Scheduling may not matter at every school, but IMO it matters here.