Everybody Loves George. It isn't so much that the swarms descended on George Mason at the practices today at the RCA Dome, it's that even with the other three schools accustomed to some levels of tournament success having fans come out in full force, the Mason fans still made their presences known. That'll be the topic of tomorrow's column in advance of the games that night. George Mason isn't going to get swallowed up by the big powers as far as support in the stands and around Indianapolis is concerned.

They might get swallowed up by floods and/or a tornado, though. The mid-afternoon clear skies and summery temperatures gave way disturbingly quickly to tornado warnings, and then to thunderstorms that began about a half-hour ago. That probably will cut down on the night-before revelry, but not by much. Organizers insist that the weather won't affect the free concert scheduled for Monument Circle, walking distance from pretty much every downtown hotel, on Sunday, featuring John Mellencamp, Carrie Underwood, Collective Soul, Michelle Branch, and the latest reminder of what a coot I am, Chris Brown. (The waitress at dinner last night exclaimed, "That's who I can't wait to see!'' I was too embarrassed to answer, ''Who's he?'')

Back at the Dome, the Mason players and coaches, and even school officials like president Alan Merten and Tom O'Connor, were far looser and seemed to be enjoying the crush more than any other team. In their locker room, when the school's public relations people started ordering reporters out because the availability session had ended and it was time to leave, the players weren't in any hurry to leave. They kept answering questions. Tony Skinn was entertaining such a large crowd in the doorway, the reporters being rushed out of the locker room had to squeeze by them.

And at the podium, when he and his teammates were done with their big interview sessions, Lamar Butler asked, "Can I keep the name tag?''