HUGE, inspiring, Final Four retrospectives — 10 years later — from CBS Sports & Washington Post

[Five Two]

I never knew it was Steinberg that outed UConn for not knowing who we were:

After the Patriots handled Wichita State and Connecticut outlasted Washington, I went into the U-Conn. locker room and accidentally baited some of the Huskies into admitting they knew little about George Mason. Larranaga used that story for motivation, and his players said they always believed a win was possible, but I don’t remember thinking they would win the game.

 

[GMU92]

I never knew it was Steinberg that outed UConn for not knowing who we were:

Same dismissive attitude from their fan base too.
Ol' Jimmy Calhoun forgot to do some of his homework and got stung, didn't he?

 

[psyclone]

Same dismissive attitude from their fan base too.
Ol' Jimmy Calhoun forgot to do some of his homework and got stung, didn't he?

But to his credit, after the game ---Said Calhoun: “George Mason became, to me, they became a symbol of what is great about college basketball.”

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebas...ge-hoops-forever-and-it-almost-never-happened

 

[GMU92]

But to his credit, after the game ---Said Calhoun: “George Mason became, to me, they became a symbol of what is great about college basketball.”

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebas...ge-hoops-forever-and-it-almost-never-happened

Actually you are right, I remember being impressed by his class after that game. He was very congratulatory and said he knew the joy we felt and what it takes to win on that level. He reacted much better than did Roy Williams or Tom Izzo.

 

[TweederGMU]

Steinberg is the man. Great article

 

[Washingtonian]

HAHA!

Then, like now, The Post didn’t cover every Mason home game. We virtually never covered the Patriots on the road. But in the middle of November, I drove to Winston-Salem for the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic, and the first two games of George Mason’s season. Why? Because the Terps football team was playing in Chapel Hill that weekend, duh. (Also, I craved positive reinforcement, and at least eight or nine George Mason stalwarts on the old CAA message board celebrated my decision. It felt good to be loved. Even by anonymous George Mason message board posters.)

 

[psyclone]

Steinberg is the man. Great article

If you want to compliment him directly his email is: dan.steinberg@washpost.com

 

[GiantKiller_Co]

ESPN plugged Mason's run in this one. Also showcased campus a bit. http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:14987033

 

[Five Two]

Darren Rovell
@darrenrovell
10 Years Ago Today: #11 George Mason upsets #6 Michigan State in 1st round of the NCAA Tournament. At 400-1 odds to win, makes Final Four

 

[GMUSig03]

Great interview with Fleming on gomason.com (especially the quote about Will Brown, had not heard that before):

http://www.gomason.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=25200&ATCLID=210805146

 

[Five Two]

Turned on Westwood One's coverage today at noon. Their intro was Jordan's shot to win UNC's title, our win over UConn and Duke winning their title. Not a bad group of radio calls, although, I would have preferred Bill's call over theirs....

 

[psyclone]

From ESPN.com:

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-bas...-inspired-other-midmajor-ncaa-tournament-runs

 

[GSII]

will wade calling mason out on not capitalizing on ff run. Ouch!

 

[EXpatriot13]

will wade calling mason out on not capitalizing on ff run. Ouch!

He surely isn't wrong.

 

[psyclone]

will wade calling mason out on not capitalizing on ff run. Ouch!

On the other hand, rather than rubbing it in, he gives us an excuse, as we were the FIRST to do it:

"And that's to be expected, because it was uncharted territory for them. And I think our folks particularly learned some valuable lessons from them. I think Butler learned some valuable lessons. I think Wichita learned lessons -- they had talked to us. I think everybody had to learn from one another, and since they were the guinea pig they didn't maybe capitalize on it like they should."

 

[Walter]

On the other hand, rather than rubbing it in, he gives us an excuse, as we were the FIRST to do it:

"And that's to be expected, because it was uncharted territory for them. And I think our folks particularly learned some valuable lessons from them. I think Butler learned some valuable lessons. I think Wichita learned lessons -- they had talked to us. I think everybody had to learn from one another, and since they were the guinea pig they didn't maybe capitalize on it like they should."

Like it was some super secret strategy. If you have a good coach, you pay to keep him. All that vcu did was realize that they had to hit up the local businesses so they would have the money to keep Shaka. THAT is where we failed. We also had an asshole AD who had a big ego who refused to stroke Larranaga's ego. And it cost us badly. Larranaga had us back in 2011. He would have built on that with a Top 25 ranking in 2012 and who knows what that team would have been able to do. FU TOC

 

[gmujim92]

Not lying, the final quote in the piece from Gregg Marshall gave me goosebumps.

The 2006 team not only made history -- it literally changed the face of modern college basketball.

Regardless of how badly the intervening years were handled, there's no taking away the significance of that singular accomplishment.

 

[mkaufman1]

Such a deadhorse topic but I'll bite.

While Mason didnt' capitalize on the Final Four, I think there are several factors you can point to that "marketing" or "suites" or a "practice facility" really couldn't have prevented.

2007- losing Jai Tony and Lamar was huge. While the team made a run and was 2 minutes away from repeating, they choked. That team just wasn't as good.

2008- while making an appearance is great, getting blown out is bad
2009- Larranaga was stubborn not fouling up 3, losing to Penn State in OT in the NIT

It was only at this point, where the team was "really reloaded" for another run and KRAM and the 6 man class of 09 came in. The recruits post final four weren't of good caliber until this point.

We knew 2010 would be up and down, it was, it ended badly.

2011- I do place blame on TOC for not keeping L after (although lets face it he was gone as soon as Miami was open and willing to pay, nobody is going to let that offer go, and Merten retiring), AND for the fact that he made a bad hire.

In addition, theres a good chance that if Larranaga stays, thats another run is made so that would have been the second opportunity. However things didn't go that way and the rest is history.

A lot of people fail to see the full picture when it comes to Mason post Final Four. Could more things been done? Sure. But most of it would have came post 2011 in my opinion. For the other programs, they were able to sustain the level of talent and winning, which is much easier said than done.

 

[gmujim92]

Fact is, our former administration had no intention of delivering on any of the program upgrades -- most notably, the practice facility -- that L was promised after the FF.

If L had gone to Providence when he got that offer, I would've shrugged and acknowledged there was nothing we could've done to keep the coach from returning to his alma mater to close out his career.

But Merten and TOC had plenty of time to start making the needed investments to bring our program into the 21st century and give the coaching staff the tools to build a sustainable NCAA-caliber program.

They didn't do it. They botched a great opportunity and killed our program. No amount of excuse-making or revisionist history can change that.

 

[mkaufman1]

Fact is, our former administration had no intention of delivering on any of the program upgrades -- most notably, the practice facility -- that L was promised after the FF.

If L had gone to Providence when he got that offer, I would've shrugged and acknowledged there was nothing we could've done to keep the coach from returning to his alma mater to close out his career.

But Merten and TOC had plenty of time to start making the needed investments to bring our program into the 21st century and give the coaching staff the tools to build a sustainable NCAA-caliber program.

They didn't do it. They botched a great opportunity and killed our program. No amount of excuse-making or revisionist history can change that.

I get all that, but my point is even if those investments would have occured, theres no way we can say the investments prevent any of the items I mentioned. It was also easy to point and complain when Larranaga turned bitter.

Anyway, onward and upward. No sense beating the horse.