News Mason Basketball Meet & Greet Set For Tuesday, Sept. 29th at EagleBank Arena

[gmujim92]

The only place I've even seen the practice facility mentioned was in TOC's letter to patriot club members after we ended up staying in the CAA when vcu left. Basically TOC was trying to soften the blow by mentioning that plans for the new facility would be made public soon. Fast forward to now, not even a mention about it since. I want a practice facility probably as much as most die hards, but I'd like to see Brad fix up the dinosaur that is the Patriot Center first. Gut the shitty locker rooms, rebuild them with a place to watch tape and a dedicated chill room for the guys. Rework the seating bowl and amenities like lighting and state of the art score board. Maybe also turn that gold room space into a place for all fans to chill, drink , and watch other games on TV before, half time, and after games.....similar to the beer garden space at the ground floor of the richmond coliseum but of course updated and much nicer.

Just my $.02 obviously, but if we want to keep up in the A-10 facilities arms race, funding for a new practice facility should come before an extensive renovation of the arena.

If we had a dedicated facility for the basketball programs, that building would have the upgraded locker rooms, lounges/chill areas, academic areas, offices and strength/conditioning space in addition to the basketball courts. It's the place where the players spend most of their time on campus.

Like it or not, that's something the coaches need to recruit high-level players because many (most?) of the programs against which we directly compete have one. If Mason is serious about winning in the A-10, it's no longer a luxury, but a necessity.

Renovating the arena would be mostly about the fans' comfort and enjoyment. Frankly, I think if you asked our most invested fans if they'd rather spend money on all the bells and whistles for themselves, or invest in things that directly aid in putting a winning product on the floor, most would pick the latter.

Do I want a video scoreboard, new lighting and club seating? Sure, eventually. But to me, the "game experience" is 99.99 percent about the quality of our team, not amenities.

 

[Vurbel]

Just my $.02 obviously, but if we want to keep up in the A-10 facilities arms race, funding for a new practice facility should come before an extensive renovation of the arena.

If we had a dedicated facility for the basketball programs, that building would have the upgraded locker rooms, lounges/chill areas, academic areas, offices and strength/conditioning space in addition to the basketball courts. It's the place where the players spend most of their time on campus.

Like it or not, that's something the coaches need to recruit high-level players because many (most?) of the programs against which we directly compete have one. If Mason is serious about winning in the A-10, it's no longer a luxury, but a necessity.

Renovating the arena would be mostly about the fans' comfort and enjoyment. Frankly, I think if you asked our most invested fans if they'd rather spend money on all the bells and whistles for themselves, or invest in things that directly aid in putting a winning product on the floor, most would pick the latter.

Do I want a video scoreboard, new lighting and club seating? Sure, eventually. But to me, the "game experience" is 99.99 percent about the quality of our team, not amenities.

I'll take it one step further. Having a "practice facility" or "basketball only complex" or whatever you want to call it is just the "cost of doing business" in the A-10. Sure, there was a time it wasn't needed, but then again there was a time when dorms weren't built with air conditioning and now that's just normal and considered part of the price of operating a dorm.

I know it's sort of "apples and oranges" but the idea is the same. Having a practice facility was a luxury ten years ago, but now it's just standard.

And yes, I'm on a "quotation marks" kick today.

 

[gmubrian]

Sorry if I am coming late to this discussion, just catching up on threads after I saw some Mason Madness videos posted and it got me thinking about Mason basketball again.

I tend to lean towards gmujim92's point of view (even if I am not as pessimistic about it). I just haven't seen any big steps that we are headed toward investing in the program with things like a practice facility. The deal with EagleBank is a promising sign, but that should have been low hanging fruit to get a naming rights deal, but it just was not capitalized on by the previous admins. I also like that they are saying the right things (front door versus side door, talking about a practice facility). The previous admins couldn't even do that. But, I'd like to see a campaign to build a practice facility.

I just wonder how much has really changed in terms of the AD going after some big donors/money. Granted I don't have much interaction with the AD any more, but I haven't seen any evidence of a push of any sort. Based on his history of fundraising at his previous job, Edwards should be able to raise the money if he tried, so what is holding him back? Is he being held back from above, or is it inertia within the AD, or something else?

 

[GSII]

gmubrian,
I just hope its not like the past where academics get all the fundraising. First it was for the new buildings. Now its probably for becoming a top research university. Hopefully, that will cost less than 1 billion and some cash can flow into athletics.

 

[psyclone]

gmubrian,
I just hope its not like the past where academics get all the fundraising. First it was for the new buildings. Now its probably for becoming a top research university. Hopefully, that will cost less than 1 billion and some cash can flow into athletics.

Looking at a broader picture here of really big time athletic programs and how half of them still manage to lose money, largely due to increased expenditures on facilities:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/sp...op-table-main_ncaamoney-1150am:homepage/story

 

[Walter]

did anyone see the Huffy Post piece on Georgia State last week?

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk