Friday roundup

Useless, premature Bowl forecast time! College Football News predicts we'll play South Carolina in the Peach/Chick-fil-A Bowl. Do they post these things to tease me specifically? I would looooove to play in the Georgia Dome...I just know that it is the longest of long shots.

Did you know our game against Kent State in Cleveland actually has a name and title sponsor? You can read the press release here.

ESPN's college football guys wrote about upcoming ACC storylines. BC is not among them.

Zoning in on Gibbs' zone blocking

As former BC consultant and Jags mentor Alex Gibbs continues his sojourn around football, his once secretive and protected techniques on zone blocking are becoming much more documented. My fellow Fanhouse blogger Stephanie Stradley found these videos on zone blocking related to Gibbs move to the Texans. Both are informative and give insight into the philosophies Jags is using at BC.

Here is an article on Gibbs' work in Houston.

Tough times for the ACC and other links

The ACC Now is predicting another rough season for the conference. I really don't care about outside perception since it is so predictable. "Life after Ryan" will be the theme the media takes. Assuming we start strong and stay competitive, you'll hear plenty of people refer to us as a "surprise team."

More developments in the Brady Smith case.

Tony Barnhart has clearly provided the best coverage of the ACC meetings. The latest news: lower ticket prices for the ACC Championship Game and questions about San Fran as a long term ACC bowl option.

BC continues to dominate TV ratings

BC fans are constantly reminded about our travel woes, but no one ever mentions our great TV ratings. We consistently break ratings records in our bowl games. When we were on the Raycom/Jefferson-Pilot package in 2005 the ACC syndicator had its best season ever (things were so good that ESPN hasn't allowed us to slip down to the JP game since). Further documentation:

Boston College's 14-10 win at Virginia Tech on Oct. 25 was the highest-rated Thursday night game ever on ESPN.

And that game went head to head with a Red Sox World Series game. If the Red Sox hadn't been playing we would have put up an even bigger number.

A few other notes from the article...
-- The nine game ACC football season was tabled for now
-- The GMAC Bowl in Mobile will be in the mix for future ACC teams

Boise, baseball and Bowden

After this season the ACC will longer be involved with the Humanitarian Bowl in Boise. Wanna take bets on which ACC team will get stuck there in the final year of the deal?

The Red Sox unveiled the logo for next season's ACC baseball championship at Fenway.

ESPN produced their ACC Atlantic outlook. Nothing earth shattering inside, however, I did enjoy this quote from Tommy Bowden:

"I don't even know where people are picking us," Bowden said. " … are we picked to win it?"

I think Clemson could be great this year...if Bowden doesn't screw it up.

Reason number 396 why I am glad we left the Big East

Did you see the news that East Carolina is willing to become a passive member of Big East football? Here are the particulars:

• Play a conference football schedule with zero compensation from the Big East so current members don't have to give up any of their share of revenue.

• Be responsible for negotiating a television contract for home games until the league wants the school to be a part of its package.

• Not expect any of the league's BCS revenue until earning a BCS bid of its own representing the conference.

• Come in as a football member only. Other sports would play in another league in order to not interfere with the league's current 16-member setup for all other sports.

• Show a solid track record of putting fans in the seats at home, on the road and at bowl games — all on a trial basis for a few years.

I am sure East Carolina is a fine institution. The program was a vital part of Jags and Logan's careers. However, that doesn't mean they would have generated any excitement in Boston had BC stayed in the Big East. This desperate marriage -- which is structured to prop up the unworkable 16 team basketball conference -- is a joke.

Old schoolers can complain all they want about the ACC, but it provided more stability, more revenue, more liked-minded opponents and more excitement. We should never look back.

Alums in the pros and other news

Quinton Porter is going north of the border to play football in the CFL. The article takes an angle that will probably follow Quinton the rest of his pro career -- "he was benched for Matt Ryan."

Former Eagle Chuck Kobasew signed an extension with the Bruins.

Jonathan Loyte is still looking for a team after not getting an offer from Tampa Bay.

Here is more on recent commit Arthur Lynch-Fontaine.

Interesting note: the ACC schedules the fewest cupcakes of any of the major conferences.

A Big Lead reader crunched the numbers and concluded that the BCS bowls are not very competitive. My bigger complaint is that New Year's Day is not as fun as it used to be. Now you get six games. Back in the day you could watch nine in day-long football extravaganza.

This is the best defense I've seen of Matt Ryan from a non-BC fan. (Thanks to Brendan O. for the link.)

A little more background on our new recruits.

Expanding the football schedule and other stuff

The idea of a nine game ACC slate has been floated around the past week. I don't see it happening as long as the regular season stays at 12 games. With teams like Florida State, Georgia Tech, and Clemson locked into annual non-conference rivalry games, nine games doesn't leave them much schedule flexibility.

An expanded basketball schedule is much more likely.

More fawning over Matt from the local media. Even Jags has good things to say.

ESPN put together their own Ryan timeline.

Fellow blogger Orson Swindle has put together a fan competition for a good cause. Support it if you can.

Pics of Ryan and Gonzo at Falcons camp

BC Mike took in the second day of Falcons camp and sent along these pics.

More Matt stuff and other links

This is probably the most positive column I've read on Matt from the local media.

Ryan Poles is one step closer to making the Bears roster.

One of the pluses of Silva signing with the Colts is the team's track record of keeping undrafted free agents.

This article looks at the ACC's struggles in the Big Dance and floats some possible solutions.

Tuggle at Falcons camp and other links

Father of future BC QB Justin Tuggle, Jessie Tuggle took in the first day of Falcon's mini-camp. He had very good things to say about BC.

Ryan is throwing to a familiar face as Tony Gonzalez earned an invite to Falcons camp.

Falcons fans are already sporting Ryan's No. 2 jersey.

There was a big turnout Saturday morning. Maybe Ryan will generate more interest than people expected.

BC guy and Matt's agent Tom Condon and his firm were the big winners on draft day.

Plug in the AJC

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution produced a "welcome package" for Matt and included a plug for this blog.

IF YOU'RE HOMESICK

> Atlanta Chapter, Boston College Alumni Association (www.bc.edu/chapters/atlanta).

> Atleagle.blogspot.com: Blog that's all BC sports all the time by Bill Maloney, class of '98.

> Atlanta Red Sox Nation: Decatur-based Meetup group (http://redsox.meetup.com/138). Next meeting: May 27.

Of course they made the classic mistake that all Eagles outside of Boston face: the assumption that we are all Sox fans. I am pretty sure Matt roots for the Phillies. Other than that, I appreciate the shout out. Welcome to Atlanta.