I’ve had season tickets to George Mason University basketball games since the Patriot Center opened it’s doors in 1985. Back then, Navy was still a member of the CAA and had a guy on their team named David Robinson . The CAA Championship Tournament for the 1985-1986 season was held at the Patriot Center with Navy winning over GMU in the championship game. This was the one and only time the Patriot Center has hosted the CAA Championship Tournament. I was there and so was the scoreboard in the picture.
After over 25 years of faithful service, the scoreboard has retired. Its successor is this rookie that first saw action at the George Mason versus Old Dominion game on 4 February 2012. It gave a solid performance, with the exception of occasionally getting confused over the foul count per player as GMU defeated ODU 54-50 to retain a share of first place in the CAA.
George Mason University’s men’s basketball team made it to the NCAA Tournament Final Four last year. As a result, the average crowd size at their games this year has been just about double of that of previous years. I have been a season ticket holder since 1984 and GMU has gone to both the NIT and NCAA tournaments before, but have always lost in the early rounds. Until now, the average attendance has not really changed that much over the years, no matter how successful or unsuccessful their seasons have been.