Unsung Hero

Andy Katz, probably one of the only ESPN "writers" I don't hate, has a great write-up in his blog about Thuc Phan, George Mason's student manager for the men's basketball team. Apparently he went way beyond the call of duty at the Hofstra game last week and set the new standard for all student managers across the country. The funny thing is I am pretty sure this is a job that I once applied for and was denied during my freshman year. Looks like they made the right decision on who to hire. Here's an excerpt from Katz's blog entry today:

"The Patriots get two tapes of every game. One is a television version of the game. The other is dubbed down by Phan, who hooks his computer up with the television crew, to get a direct feed while the game is going on, which allows him to edit it during the game to speed up the process for the staff. George Mason was off to James Madison Saturday and had only Friday in between the Thursday game at Hofstra and JMU to watch the game.

But Hofstra couldn't accommodate Phan near the camera. That didn't deter him. He went out to the television truck and asked if he could hook up his computer directly to the truck. Larranaga said he was told he could but there was no room for him inside the truck. Once again, that didn't stop the senior engineering student.

He got an extension cord, ran his computer directly to the truck and sat out in the cold, driving rain with a small awning over his head to protect his computer.

The game went into overtime.

The game went into a second overtime.

Phan didn't budge. He sat there, logging the game, to ensure Larranaga's staff had the necessary breakdown of the game."

I mean wow, what dedication. It's the little things like that which people never see that can really make a difference in terms of a team's preparation. I think I can speak on behalf of many Mason fans out there when I say thank you for all the hard work you put in each season.