George Mason Enjoying the Sweet Ride

FAIRFAX, Va., March, 22, 2006 — -- George Mason coach Jim Larranaga walked through the nearly empty Patriot Center on Tuesday afternoon in an oversized grey sweat suit, carrying a heavy stack of newspapers in his arms. When he came upon his three leading scorers -- Lamar Butler, Jai Lewis and Tony Skinn -- he interrupted their impromptu shootaround and started spreading the news.

"This is yesterday's New York Post," Larranaga said, passing around tabloids and broadsheets for inspection, each one bearing a full-color photo of a beaming Patriot. "Here's the New York Daily News from yesterday, and USA Today. That's today's. And here's the Washington Post, front section and sports section."

Larranaga then made his way through the side hallways and entered the training room. That's where he found big Floridian forward Sammy Hernandez peeling off an ice wrap.

"There you are, Sammy," said the coach, handing him the Washington Post. "Make sure your girlfriend in Miami gets a copy."

"Thanks, coach," answered Hernandez, his beaming grin perfectly matching the one in the picture. "Yeah, she saw it online."

"What I wanted to do with the newspapers is to show them there are people in New York that are writing about them," Larranaga said afterward. "They're not going to write if no one has interest. There are TV cameras here; they're not going to come if no one has interest."

As one of the last 16 teams standing in the 2006 NCAA Tournament, there's been a whole lot of national interest in the No. 11-seeded team that wiped out half of the 2005 Final Four last weekend in Dayton. By achieving a berth in the Washington Regional, the Patriots became the first Colonial Athletic Association squad in the quartet of quartets since Richmond made it in 1988 and unleashed a wave of national attention.

There's also been a surge of support in this little Colonial city just outside the Beltway. There's a long banner draped across Chain Bridge Road that proclaims, "Congratulations GMU Patriots -- Good Luck In The Round of 16." The windows of the local shops and boutiques are draped with green-and-gold streamers and ribbons, with hand-painted signs reading "How Sweet It Is!" and "We've Got Patriot Pride!" And on campus, there's no doubt as to what the hottest spring colors are.