Mason madness gains national attention

Jim Williams: Mason madness gains national
attention
Jim Williams, The Examiner
Mar 27, 2006 7:00 AM (44 mins ago)
WASHINGTON -
Unless you live under a rock you know George Mason is the feel good story of the NCAA
Tournament.
Here in D.C., NBC 4, FOX 5, ABC 7, CBS 9, Newschannel 8 and Comcast SportsNet documented
every minute of the Patriots experience. Ah, but this is far from just a local story.
The New York Times, USA Today, and Los Angeles Times are among the over 100 newspapers
who ran feature stories about George Mason. Sports Illustrated made the
Patriots one of their four regional covers.
Patriots coach Jim Larranaga (a fellow Examiner columnist) has been on over 75 national radio
shows, not to mention one-on-one interviews with ESPN and CBS.
What does this all mean?
Good news from a Mason recruiting standpoint, no doubt at least a couple of national TV games for
the Pats in 2007 and a huge boost for the Colnial Atletich Conference, which has the highest
postseason winning percentage of any conference with teams in both the NCAA and NIT
tournaments.
Lady Terps in the Elite Eight
Maryland made it to the Elite Eight and Terps alum and local favorite Pam Ward will handle the
play-by-play of tonight’s ESPN telecast. Maryland squares off against Utah for a berth in the Final
Four.
Jim Williams is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning TV producer, director and writer.