We’ve Got Spirit, Yes We Do!
‘Mason Madness’ Propels Varsity
Basketball Team to Victory

By Margaret Lipman (January 9, 2006)

Have you noticed all those flyers that have plastered the school’s walls for the last week?  Have you heard the daily announcements and wondered, “Just what exactly is this ‘Mason Madness’?” Well, wonder no longer.

Mason Madness is essentially a fan club for GM’s boys’ and girls’ athletic teams. It costs $15 to join, and members are given a T-shirt, towel, and discounted $1 admission to all basketball games.  Members are expected to attend many games, wear as much red as they can, and act as loud, crazy, and spirited as is humanly possible.

The first contingent of Mason Madness members turned out for Thursday’s boys’ varsity game against the Rappahannock Panthers and formed an incredibly spirited cheering section, urging the Mustangs to a smashing victory.  Although the members had not yet received their Mason Madness T-shirts, they were all dressed in red to show their Mason pride.

The idea for Mason Madness was generated in coach and teacher Tom Horn’s IB Business and Management class by seniors Scott Lemen, Matt Foley, Eric Blush, and junior Ryan Larcamp, who proposed starting a cheering section for Mason’s home basketball games.  After some discussion and Coach Horn’s approval, the students turned the cheering section idea into a proposal for a class project.  Soon, they were designing T-shirts and devising how Mason Madness could work as an actual business, as this was a business class, after all. 

The class had hoped to recruit 60 members for Mason Madness, an objective that was very nearly realized by Thursday’s game, the first to take place since the inception of the fan club. They are still hoping for more Masonites to join and show their spirit and support for the teams.

“I think Mason Madness was definitely a factor in Thursday’s win,” commented junior Ed Hickey, who was appointed “CEO” of the endeavor by his fellow Business and Management classmates.  He encouraged “as many people as possible” to get involved, and from the positive response Mason Madness has been receiving so far, many more Masonites joining in seems very likely.