2008 Woodie Awards
Our turn to try on the glass slipper
By: Danny Braning
Issue date: 3/30/06 Section: Sports
- Page 1 of 1
In the past week and a half, most of our sports nation has certainly taken notice to this year's Cinderella of March Madness. George Mason University has shocked everyone in reaching the Final Four. There were around three million predicted brackets submitted to ESPN.com before the tournament began. Of those three million, a grand total of four brackets had correctly predicted the 2006 Final Four.
Those four must have been Mason fans.
Because honestly, who in their right mind, other than a Mason fanatic, would have predicted the 11th seeded Patriots to take down three of the nation's elite programs in Michigan State, North Carolina and Connecticut? UConn was the star studded, highly touted top seed in the Washington D.C. bracket, Carolina was red hot, fresh of a trip to Cameron Indoor Stadium where they dismantled the nation's top ranked Duke Blue Devils on their home floor, and Michigan State entered the tournament with three legitimate first round draft picks in their starting five.
Mason treated them all like nothing more than fellow mid-major opponents in the Colonial Athletic Association.
George Mason's basketball team has put the University on the sports nation's map. Two weeks ago, very few people even knew who the heck George Mason was. I'm an avid college basketball fan and I couldn't have even told you their mascot, the color of their uniforms, who George Mason is and why is there's a university named after him or even what state the school is in.
But now, after the team's head-turning performance, I know the answer to all of those questions. They are the Patriots, they wear green and yellow, Mr. Mason drafted the Virginia Declaration of Rights which was a model for our Constitution's Bill of Rights, and the campus is located in Fairfax, Virginia.
As I find myself more educated on the George Mason Patriots, I see similarities between them and our Webster University Gorloks. Because of those similarities I find reason to believe that our programs can one day become nationally known and respected .
I think it's fair to say that few Division III teams around the country fear the day that they run into Webster University and their self created, mythical creature of a mascot. Right now, no one knows about us. But I think that could change if one of our teams could pull off an amazing and magical run like Mason is doing right now. It's not a stretch to expect our men's basketball team to qualify for the national tournament, but what if one year they were to make an unexpected run deep into the big dance. Perhaps a Final Four berth, maybe even a national championship! Maybe then, we would find ourselves on the map and all of our other programs could build off of that newly gained fame.
It certainly wouldn't hurt recruiting possibilities if young athletes all around the U.S. started seeing and hearing our name.
I know this is all easier said than and done, and the feat being pulled off by George Mason is extremely rare, but it's just proof that it's possible. Like George Mason, we would have to answer questions such as: "Who is Webster University, and what on Earth is a Gorlok?" They may laugh at first, but that's a question I would love to answer for people from all over.
Danny Braning, a junior broadcast journalism major, is a contributing writer for The Journal
Those four must have been Mason fans.
Because honestly, who in their right mind, other than a Mason fanatic, would have predicted the 11th seeded Patriots to take down three of the nation's elite programs in Michigan State, North Carolina and Connecticut? UConn was the star studded, highly touted top seed in the Washington D.C. bracket, Carolina was red hot, fresh of a trip to Cameron Indoor Stadium where they dismantled the nation's top ranked Duke Blue Devils on their home floor, and Michigan State entered the tournament with three legitimate first round draft picks in their starting five.
Mason treated them all like nothing more than fellow mid-major opponents in the Colonial Athletic Association.
George Mason's basketball team has put the University on the sports nation's map. Two weeks ago, very few people even knew who the heck George Mason was. I'm an avid college basketball fan and I couldn't have even told you their mascot, the color of their uniforms, who George Mason is and why is there's a university named after him or even what state the school is in.
But now, after the team's head-turning performance, I know the answer to all of those questions. They are the Patriots, they wear green and yellow, Mr. Mason drafted the Virginia Declaration of Rights which was a model for our Constitution's Bill of Rights, and the campus is located in Fairfax, Virginia.
As I find myself more educated on the George Mason Patriots, I see similarities between them and our Webster University Gorloks. Because of those similarities I find reason to believe that our programs can one day become nationally known and respected .
I think it's fair to say that few Division III teams around the country fear the day that they run into Webster University and their self created, mythical creature of a mascot. Right now, no one knows about us. But I think that could change if one of our teams could pull off an amazing and magical run like Mason is doing right now. It's not a stretch to expect our men's basketball team to qualify for the national tournament, but what if one year they were to make an unexpected run deep into the big dance. Perhaps a Final Four berth, maybe even a national championship! Maybe then, we would find ourselves on the map and all of our other programs could build off of that newly gained fame.
It certainly wouldn't hurt recruiting possibilities if young athletes all around the U.S. started seeing and hearing our name.
I know this is all easier said than and done, and the feat being pulled off by George Mason is extremely rare, but it's just proof that it's possible. Like George Mason, we would have to answer questions such as: "Who is Webster University, and what on Earth is a Gorlok?" They may laugh at first, but that's a question I would love to answer for people from all over.
Danny Braning, a junior broadcast journalism major, is a contributing writer for The Journal