GMU Rules - Final Four - Nice Guys, Clean Program Finishing First

[autorank]

Welcome to PATRIOT NATION

Planning the victory in a pre game huddle


Tony Skinn etting the job done against Connecticut

86 GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY
84 CONNECTICUT

GMU players are all from Maryland. They had excellent HS careers
But were deemed “too short” for the majors. Oh Yeah…

[theHandpuppet]

1. Congratulations!!!!!

I've been cheering for GMU during the tournament. What a great story this is -- and what an exciting game! Coming back in OT after that buzzer shot by UConn in regulation only showed just how much heart this team really has.

Good luck, GMU! :-)

[autorank]

7. Hey thanks. They believe they should be there. Nice program.

[killerbush]

2. Gotta give it to you

Being a UConn fan, this isn't easy for me to say, but congrats. I'll be pulling for you now that UConn is out.

[autorank]

8. I like UConn,they took it from where Mason is now or lower. Quite a

story. They way they tied it was cool, no worries, we'll just do it.

Great ending though, from my point of view. Thanks.

[KitchenWitch]

3. I am so happy for them!

[autorank]

9. Thanks. They're a happy bunch of guys and they really go at

it at practice. When it gets too heated, the coach breaks into a song and dribbles the ball.

They laugh and get back to work.

[DaveinMD]

4. Agreed

What a great story. How cool would it be if they won the entire thing. Its like a real life hoosiers.

[autorank]

10. Hoosiers is right. The coach has a nice wife and a sense of humor,

but the rest is close.

I think we've made two NCAA play offs, lost both.

None of the teams in DC - Maryland, Georgetown, American, George Washington - will play each other. Of course, we'd be glad to play all of them. Maryland gives a crumb every few years thought, until we almost beat them the last game.

[smtpgirl]

16. GO PATRIOTS

Got Mason?

[bigwillq]

5. That was a great game.

Hats off to the Patriots. :bounce:

[autorank]

11. Thanks:) We'll keep on. Florida didn't look that good, frankly.

LSU is hot and UCLA is like GMU, very good players, great attitude, very well coached.

UCLA-GMU, we win!

[Robeson]

6. Congrats autorank!....

...I'm happy for you!...:thumbsup:

[autorank]

12. Well thank you. It was a fund day. My family fled the house I was

so loud. Wish I'd thought to get tickets. Nobody figured they'd go this far.

There about 3000 fans who go to every game, religiously. About 1000 follow them where
ever they go, every year. Those are the people who are in heaven. I'm a grad of the
grad program. This is only the 2nd U I attended that won anything (the other being UConn)
but my connection to them was so far back, I didn't get motivated.

Clean program too, nice kids, good guy coach. They kids like heach other a great
deal and they're all from Maryland. Go figure. What a story.

[smtpgirl]

17. Yep all of the starters are from MD

Richard Montgomery HS - Rockville
Northwestern - Hyattsville
Springbrook - Silver Spring
Aberdeen
Baltimore

[autorank]

13. GREAT Monday Sports Page Article - Wa Post

Liz Clarke, Wa Post, Monday 3/27/06
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/26/AR2006032601040_pf.html

In toppling Connecticut, the team most college basketball analysts predicted would win it all, George Mason became only the second team with a double-digit seed to advance to the Final Four, following Louisiana State, also an 11th seed, in 1986. The Patriots also became the first team to defeat the two previous national champions -- Connecticut and North Carolina -- en route to the tournament's final weekend. All of this would have been a stunning achievement for a basketball powerhouse, but it defied description for an undersized, overlooked squad from a school that had never won an NCAA tournament game until 10 days ago.

Larranaga, the affable coach whose playbook stresses the value of playing loose and having fun, had made a practice of celebrating huge wins this season by dancing, much to his team's amusement. Yesterday afternoon, when the scoreboard confirmed the result no one would have predicted, Larranaga's Patriots did just that -- breaking into wild, jerky, joyous dances on a stage that was hastily erected at midcourt in their honor as recipients of an NCAA tournament region championship.

"It was like a dream come true," said Butler, a senior guard, whose three-point shooting keyed the Patriots' second-half comeback. "I used to dream about that when I was a little kid, in front of my home town, home fans, my family. It's indescribable."

Connecticut entered the game with every possible advantage: A roster stocked with five NBA prospects and a half-dozen blue-chip recruits backing them up on the bench. George Mason started five players who stood four to six inches shorter than their Connecticut counterparts. But only one statistic was needed to convey the moral of the game that unfolded. Dwarfed by their opponents at every position, George Mason outrebounded Connecticut 37-34.

[jakefrep]

14. Good for Jim Larranaga...

...too bad Bowling Green let him go. Now we're stuck with that Bobby Knight wannabe asshole Dan Dakich.

[autorank]

15. My sympathies. Bowling Green is an excellent school and athletic program.

As a little kid, I remember going to the "Mercy Bowl" in the LA Coliseum.

A team plane went down, Marshall U I believe, and all died.

They picked the best "mid-majors" in the country, Fresno State and Bowling Green,
to play in a benefit game in LA. Called it the "Mercy Bowl" with proceeds going
to the families of the dead. The place had about 60,000 people, which is an
excellent crowd for Angelinos who don't have a home team in the game.

It was a great game. Bowling Green was hot but Fresno State was hotter.

I've always liked Bowling Green and from the feedback from kids who go there, it's
an excellent place to go to school.

Sorry about the Knight knock off. How awful. But thanks for Laranaga. He's
just what the doctor ordered here in "Patriot Nation." Hope he doesn't leave
us. There are some deep pockets associated with GMU who will make sure he doesn't
go for lack of $$$'s. Now, if we could just get a few more people to show up
at the Patriot Center;)

[smtpgirl]

18. I am with ya

Have had so mnay family and friends graduate from Mason

I want to finish my undergrad studies there or another "little" known commuter college known as Strayer University.

I am a MD native and have lived in the Metro DC area all of my life

GO PATRIOTS

and

LADY TERPS

LETS TAKE IT ALL!!!!