2006. I was a sixth grader and my entire grade school was excited when George Mason, our local college, made the final four. I was excited to see the players that I saw earlier in the year, make it to a national level, and the adults in my family were impressed by Jim Larrañaga’s amazing coaching. But that was EIGHT years ago! It is time to move on, but the University has not.
Students still mention the fact that we made the final l four frequently at Mason. Whether its talking to potential students, or writing sports columns, the University cannot seem to forget about the past, but it is not concerned about the future. Let’s face it, our basketball team sucks. According to Ryan Kish of GMU Hoops , a sports blog about Mason basketball that is quasi supported by the University, “this years team is the worst since 1994.”
Since Mason is so concerned about the team back then, people may not attend the basketball games because the team now can’t live up to the hype. Because of theis the ratio of students to other people is huge, with other fans making up the majority of the seats. Most of the fans in the seats now where old enough to attend the games eight years ago, while the students are much younger. Honestly there is not much else to say about the subject, basically it comes down to the fact that Mason needs to stop talking about 2006 and embrace 2014. If not, the University can not gain the respect of its current student athletes and coaches. Heck, sometimes I hear the crowd yelling “Larrañaga, Larrañaga” and that brings me to my next point, cheering.