No place for football at GMU?

[GS]

http://www.broadsideonline.com/opinion/ ... ball.shtml (http://www.broadsideonline.com/opinion/stories/2003-2004/092903/football.shtml)

[PDGL Hoops]

Though I hate to admit it I agree with him. Between budget cuts and pay freezes there are more important things out there than football. Go out and support the team we have and see where is goes from there.

[gmusig03]

That guys an idiot, not getting into the football debate, it is downright ignorant to say a student body that poorly supports our basketball program could never support a football team. While individually it is up to every student to make the decision of whether or not to attend games, collectively it is the SCHOOL's responsibility to create an atmosphere that is conducive to enticing students to attend athletic events, so there for it is the schools fault and not the overall students. Students change every year while mostly the administration remains consistent, yet attendance, support and spirit are consistently poor. The constant is the school, not the students.
As far as the football issue goes, people are confusing the words "can't" and "won't" a little too often.

[PDGL Hoops]

Does anyone even know how our football team is doing?

[gmububba]

The football team is 4-0. It is shame Broadside isn't covering the team. They can tell everyone their opinion on why they think it won't succeed, but they can't cover the team?????? That paper was a joke when I was in school.....sorry to see some things haven't changed (not sure how they earned that superficial #9 ranking).

[GS]

I disgree the School builds the atmosphere to lure the students. I went to the Tennesee vs South Carolina game this past weekend in Knoxville, Tn, and let me tell you this, we are light years away from big time football at GMU. We dont even know our fight song, nor do we really know how to cheer and we have no 6th or 12th man skills. (execept for the FSC Section) I know Im comparing one of the oldest college football programs in the country, but once you have experienced an atmosphere like that, to me its clear that the only thing the school (UT) did and does is briing in the right people to continue winning. Schools should do nothing or very little to build an atomosphere. It comes from passion and thats up to the students, community and fans and athletes. Students change each year, but Tradtions never change.

[fro]

The student body is simply not ready for football at GMU. The infrastructure of university support for athletics is woeful, and even if it wasn't I doubt that the overwhelmingly apathetic students would notice. As more kids move on campus we continue to grow towards eventually being able to support a football team, but until we have more than five or six thousand kids in Fairfax then I dont think its wise to invest in football.

Having said that, Braodside should definitely cover the football team. And it should give more prominent attention to the already successful basketball team, too.

[Dukester]

Believe it or not I saw a pretty big banner in Manassas promoting the GMU (I think) S. Florida game this weekend. I think they had a some sort of name for the game, but I don't remember.

8)

[dmt101]

Northern Virginia Rotary Bowl Football Game

Kickoff time for the Northern Virginia Rotary Bowl, an annual football classic sponsored by the Manassas Rotary Foundation, is set for 4:30 p.m, Saturday, Oct 4. George Mason University’s varsity club football team meets the University of South Alabama at James J. Leo Football Stadium, Osbourn High School, located at 9005 Tudor Lane in Manassas. A field goal challenge to win a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, a 50/50 raffle, and a drawing for a one-year family membership to the Freedom Aquatic & Fitness Center also are part of the day’s activities.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $3 for sudents, and Rotary Clubs throughout Northern Virginia are participating in advance sales. Additional ticket information is available at (703) 365-9292, and tickets also are available at the Freedom Aquatic and Fitness Center (Prince William Campus, the Aquatic and Fitness Center (Fairfax Campus), the Greater Manassas Chamber of Commerce, Northside Auto Sales (Manassas), and the Manassas Mall office. Proceeds benefit Rotary Club humanitarian and charitable activities locally and internationally.

For more information on the event, call (703) 993-8376.

[Dukester]

If Manassas can show this much support for a club team, I'd have to believe Fairfax could drum up decent support for a 1AA football team.

Could you imagine the GMU Marching band leading a parade from Mason through the City of Fairfax during Homecoming week in the fall?

[Dukester]

Can you imagine if GMU had a band day like many colleges (UMD & UMASS off the top of my head) have. Imagine having all the Fairfax County High School bands in attendance.

[GS]

to say that not enough students live on the campus is irroneous. What about the thousands, (not with mommy and daddy) that live in priavate housing just off the campus? the students are there, but the money isnt. plain and simple. if GMU had big time alumni support they'd have big time football.

[Sportin Oaks]

Having said that, Braodside should definitely cover the football team. And it should give more prominent attention to the already successful basketball team, too.

fro... get real. Broadside has historically reported on basketball more than any other sports teams combined. It actually bordered on the absurd for all four years I worked there. As for football, sure, it could use more coverage. But, Pascale lost enormous credibility when he sent the sports section bogus stats on more than one occassion. There's no room for that nonsense. If he wants to boast his team's standing and reputation in the Mason community, he better start demonstrating the makings of a top-notch program.

[PDGL Hoops]

Half the stuff pertaining to the GMU Club Football team that comes from Pascal is bogus, and unfortunately many people get sucked into the false notion that the team is further along than it really is.

[Sportin Oaks]

That's truly unfortunate for the football players then. All the athletes derserve recognition for their efforts, but how are they going to get it when the head coach is sending BS info to media outlets, even if it is just Broadside. He's alienating any and all outlets to help him achieve what he's asking for.

When push comes to shove, a student newspaper like Broadside would really help the football team boost their level, as all the administrators read it. But, if the decision makers see nothing about them because the sections can't trust the coach to send accurate info, then Pascale is shooting himself in the foot. It gives the impression that no one on campus, even a sports section, cares about football. If Pascale is waiting for the likes of The Washington Post or the Times to jump on the bandwagon and cover their games, he'll be waiting into the next millineum.

[GS]

you guys are making him seem like a coniving cheat. Is he really that bad? I dont know anything about him other than his quotes regarding DIV I football at mason, which seem to have vailidity since they are always printed.

[Sportin Oaks]

Example: I'll never forget this. The last set of stats he ever sent that I actually looked at had the attendence listed at 8,000. I mean, come on... who's he trying to kid? :roll:

[gmusig03]

So why does broadside punish the team and the student athletes b/c of Pascales inconsistencies? Why not cover them and ignore what Pascale does? Seems to me thats what a reasonable person would choose to do.

[118cc5]

Interesting thing I noticed in that Broadside article. It said we had the 6th worst attendance in the CAA for basketball. In a ten team league, 6th worst=4th best. Pretty slick if you ask me.

[Sportin Oaks]

how in the world do you ignore what the head coach of any sports team does? At the end of the day, it's the decisions they made during the course of a game that determines what you write about. Questions like why did you start this person when Player X averages X more yards per carry... or why did you elect to pass on 3rd and 3 rather than run the ball in the fourth quarter." All these types of important questions are based on statistics you got from previous games. If you can never trust what you're given, how can you expect real answers? A reasonable person doesn't cover a game, come back to the office and write, "Tommy ran for X yards. Joey passed for X yards. Mason won the game." That's a collossal waste of a reporter's time and energy. Analysis and the coaches take on the outcome is what makes a story. Read any story in The Post and give me a game story that doesn't include critical analysis and quotes from a head coach.

[Vladimir Nasstimov]

Here's an idea, try going to a game and recording stats yourself. I know that is just a crazy idea. (And no, it is NOT hard to do unless you can't write. I have done it many, many times.)

[Sportin Oaks]

As have i about a hundred times as well... but away games are a different story. Those are pretty crucial if you're going to have a vague idea as to how a player is doing over the course of a season.

[gmububba]

You don't have to cover away games to cover the team. How are away games "crucial" to covering the team? For statistical purposes? Who cares about stats. Just giving the Mason community an idea of what is going on is all that is required. The walk from SUB I (Broadside office) to Robinson field is a very short one. Stop making excuses and cover the team!!!!!!!

[gmububba]

Here are all the stats you need:

Seaboard Conference 2003 Stats (http://www.jmz.com/seaboard/stats/2003/confstat.htm)

[dukaholic]

Interesting thing I noticed in that Broadside article. It said we had the 6th worst attendance in the CAA for basketball. In a ten team league, 6th worst=4th best. Pretty slick if you ask me.

6th worst = 5th best....

[Sportin Oaks]

dude, first... i've graduated and don't work for the paper anymore. I couldn't cover the team for them even if i wanted to. second, if you're so upset about the coverage, and you're still a student and you'd like to see more mason football coverage on the team's behalf, why not go and cover them yourself? third, who in the world do you think submits these Seaboard conference stats at the end of the night... Pascale and his coaches. And fourth, I was an editor at Broadside for three years... 2 in sports and editor in chief for one... know how many times I heard complaints about lack of football coverage in those three years? Not a single one... not a phone call, not an email... not very convincing :roll:

[SuperPatriot]

Can I get an AMEN for SportinOaks!!?!?!
Nice post SportinOaks.

[gmusig03]

The reason why you never heard for a request for football coverage is because a large majority of students do not know that we have a football team. I didnt when I was still a student until I had some friends who played. How can peopel request information on something they dont know exists? You mentioned something about washington post articles with critical analysis and blah blah blah, um, werent we talking about the broadside? I have never seen any type of analysis in any sports article in the broadside the 4 years I was in school, and I probably read every article. Not trying to get on your case oak's, but I just think blaming lack of coverage on the coach is a copout. A reporter could easily go to a game, take a couple pictures, get the final score and have a few players on the team who could give you stats say for the quarterback, leading receiver and rusher, and just put a little blurb in every week, with conference standings and such. I think would take a total of 30 minutes per week when the team played at home.

[Sportin Oaks]

thanx superpatriot... and the reason i mention the Post, gmusig, is because so many people put so much stock in that paper on these boards (as they should) and I figured I would compare against the best there is. I'm not saying Broadside is in anyway comparable to The Post.. that'd be ignorant... all i was trying to say is that as student journalists, we would try to groom our writing style to the best. And the Post uses cumlative stats to show player and team trends.

When I was at B-side, we actually did send a couple reporters to football games... a couple of the articles and pictures even landed on Page 1 front and center. But, after every game, all the reporters would come back and say the same thing: Pascale was more interested in being pompus and rude to them for "finally coming." And it didn't stop at games. We even wrote an article announcing the purchase of their new scoreboard, bleachers, etc. Still, nothing was good enough.

I will admit, posting conference standings would have been good, running a simple stand alone pic would have been good on occassion. But, when push comes to shove, it's the principle of how we were treated as journalists by Pascale. We were under no obligation to cover his team... Broadside isn't a PR rag... it's a newspaper to report facts, figures and results to students and faculty. That's why i'm saying, if Pascale were smart, he wouldn't have been dishonest or rude when we came to cover games. He would have taken the coverage when it came for what it was worth and used it in a positive mannor to his advantage... acting like a jerk gets you nowhere.

[Photodave]

The football team is 4-0. It is shame Broadside isn't covering the team. They can tell everyone their opinion on why they think it won't succeed, but they can't cover the team?????? That paper was a joke when I was in school.....sorry to see some things haven't changed (not sure how they earned that superficial #9 ranking).

There's always critics. If GMU football was an NCAA sport, it would assume it would get covered. Just because they have continued to just focus on NCAA sports and avoiding club sports (although that underwater hockey team sounds pretty good).

While i'll be nice and not make the kind of scheduling remark ive made in the past, You have to ask yourself if you want a team that will be 1-AA but as bad as Georgetown's that lost 48-14 to VMI.

Broadside is not the make it or break it for football at GMU. Student support will be, and student support for sports other than football. While its admirable to see the dedication that some alums and students have towards making football a reality, its just not going to happen and Broadside cant make it happen.

So bemoan the newspaper all you want, its not going to help get you NCAA sanctioned anytime soon.

[118cc5]

10(1), 9(2), 8(3), 7(4), 6(5). Dang Dukaholic, you busted me. ;)

[gmububba]

Photodave, don't take yourself too seriously. No one said Broadside is the "make or break" for GMU Football. All I'm asking for as an alumnus of the school is to see the team covered. Besides, your audience isn't solely made up of students...Broadside is now delivered to off campus spots in Fairfax City, and read by alumni and members of the community.

Sporting Oaks, if the real reason Broadside is not covering the team is because of the way you said Coach treated you, well, that's pretty poor. Bill Parcells and Bobby Knight aren't media darlings, but they still get covered (obviously, their teams/programs are much bigger than GMU Football...point is, Broadside elects not to cover something because of how they feel they were treated...is that acting like a "journalist"?)

Here's info on this weekend's game....sure hope someone decides to cover it...

======================================
Northern Virginia Rotary Bowl Football Game

Kickoff time for the Northern Virginia Rotary Bowl, an annual football classic sponsored by the Manassas Rotary Foundation, is set for 4:30 p.m, Saturday, Oct 4. George Mason University’s varsity club football team meets the University of South Alabama at James J. Leo Football Stadium, Osbourn High School, located at 9005 Tudor Lane in Manassas. A field goal challenge to win a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, a 50/50 raffle, and a drawing for a one-year family membership to the Freedom Aquatic & Fitness Center also are part of the day’s activities.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $3 for sudents, and Rotary Clubs throughout Northern Virginia are participating in advance sales. Additional ticket information is available at (703) 365-9292, and tickets also are available at the Freedom Aquatic and Fitness Center (Prince William Campus, the Aquatic and Fitness Center (Fairfax Campus), the Greater Manassas Chamber of Commerce, Northside Auto Sales (Manassas), and the Manassas Mall office. Proceeds benefit Rotary Club humanitarian and charitable activities locally and internationally.

For more information on the event, call (703) 993-8376.
===========================================

[118cc5]

One thing I'll give Broadside. My 9 year old niece thinks the photgrapher at basketball games is kind of cute. ;)

[Sportin Oaks]

gmububba... you're comical at this point. :P Stop reading what you want to read and understand, I never said we didn't cover them because he was mean to us (last time i checked i wasn't five) ... I said it was because he never gave us either useful or honest information... he was always more interested in acting like a jerk and bashing us for not looking at him, or his team, in the same light as Coach L and the basketball team. He was out of line, and seeing as how his team wasn't NCAA sanctioned and didn't get the same student support that other sports did (which wasn't even close to our problem), his program was expendable. The ONLY thing i look back on and regret not covering sports-wise were the Greek Olympics (i don't remember if that was the official title or not). THAT was information that students would have enjoyed reading.

As for your crack about me acting like a journalist... don't preach like you know the business or how it operates. You know squat.

[masonfootballfan]

Just for the record, Mason is 5-0, with an astounding win over South Alabama..

Here's how the season is going so far:

Mason vs. Georgetown 27-15
Mason vs. Stevens State 42-41
Mason vs. Williamson School 33-20
Mason vs. Gallaudet University 51-7
Mason vs. S. Alabama 61-14


The team would certainly appreciate student and community support. There are a bunch of intelligent, hard working students on the team, who sacrifice a lot of time and energy to represent this University and surrounding area. The least people could do is support them in return (and a good start might be a decent article in the school paper).

[JMU2004]

Football will not happen at any school UNLESS there is incredible fan and financial support. Until GMU gets that, they need to focus their efforts elsewhere. I saw where GMU raised $750,000 in financial gifts and that was a 50% increase. JMU got close to $13,000,000, and that barely covers the cost of our new Football center. Football justs cost too much money these days, and the current trend is to cut football, rather than add it. Just watch what happens to UMass in the next few years.

[gmububba]

Nice to see some coverage in Broadside...

GMU 61, South Alabama 14 (http://www.broadsideonline.com/sports/stories/2003-2004/100603/footballnewrecord.shtml)

[PDGL Hoops]

They also don't cover Field Hockey, Rugby, and Men's Lax so at least they are being consistant.

Maybe the heads of those teams should submit their own entries to the Broadside???

[Sportin Oaks]

Russell wrote a really great article.... I'm glad they have a better working relationship with the football staff...

[gmusig03]

would it be wrong to ask for the $12,000 in proceeds from the game go towards our football fund instead of charities? :twisted:

[Sportin Oaks]

I don't see why the football team could see some sort of cut for taking in that much money if that's the case...

[gmusig03]

I wasnt talking about a cut, I was talking about all of it

[Sportin Oaks]

Yeah, I think it is wrong for the team to ask for all the proceeds. You're talking about taking away from charities... unless you consider the club football team a charity case...

[gmusig03]

thats a good way to look at it

[IV]

More coverage.

"Athletic Director Tom O'Connor said that, as more students live on campus, Mason's fan base will grow. With more housing being built and more students applying to Mason, the numbers will increase. In addition, the more students Mason acquires, the less the student fee will need to be increased for each student."


http://www.broadsideonline.com/sports/stories/2003-2004/100603/footballsupport.shtml

[Pablo]

I would like to see a better breakout of the costs involved in starting and maintaining a D-IAA (scholarship) football program. It seems to me that you have your capital costs (i.e., the stadium, modification of the PE building, etc.) and your annual operating costs (scholarships, coaches' salaries, insurance, equipment, security, etc.).

Obviously, the most significant capital cost would be the stadium. I see the stadium being funded by donations and the sale of naming rights, not by the increase in the students' activity fees. Fortunately, much of the infrastructure is already in place to support the stadium, i.e., parking and roads. Why can't the school raise sufficient funds from the community and the alumni to pay for the stadium? IMO, it is grossly unfair to pay for the stadium through the increase in student activity fees.

Why can't the annual operating costs be recouped through a reasonable increase in student activity fees, ticket revenue, sponsorships, concessions, Patriot Club donations, etc.? There are approximately 27,000 GMU students. Let's say that the fees are increased by $25 annually for football. This would generate about $675,000 annually. This increase would be assessed regardless of whether the students ever attend the games. In other words, the students will pay indirectly for their football tickets (whether they use them or not) just as they do for their basketball tickets through the student activity fees. The increase in student fees should offset more than 50% of the annual operating costs. Isn't it reasonable to expect the other sources of funds to make up the difference in the annual operating costs.

Perhaps I'm naive, but I believe that a school this size with a significant local alumni base in a metropolitan area with a million residents in Fairfax County alone and several of the largest corporations in the country can support a D-IAA (scholarship) program.

[fro]

"fro... get real. Broadside has historically reported on basketball more than any other sports teams combined. It actually bordered on the absurd for all four years I worked there."

Look, I'm not saying that the Broadside doesn't report on basketball, I know that bball gets a huge percentage of the sports page, but it rarely makes the front page (even a banner along the top announcing gametimes and scores would be nice) and now the back page is given to "week in Mason" (at least it was the last two years), so kids have to search out for information about the team rather than it being right in their face. I think something on the front page and/or back page would boost awareness about the team and about the home games. That's all.

For example, during my senior year there was a couple mentions of the upcoming homecoming game against Drexel, but nowhere in the paper (believe me, I scoured it) was there the time of the game. That's the lack of appropriate coverage I meant, I know you guys worked hard and did a good job, I just think it could be better.