BC fans had a good time in Cleveland. I guess there just
weren't enough of us to the Ohioans liking. In fairness, the organizers do admit that
Kent State didn't carry their weight locally. I've bemoaned our fan turnout before, but this is in no way BC's fault. We agreed to play at Kent State. It was only later that the folks in Cleveland and KSU asked us to move the game to the Browns Stadium. I fear we'll be hearing about this turnout during the bowl selections in December.
HD came out with her first ACC Power Rankings. The logic in who landed where is a little inconsistent.
Shortly after making the Colts roster, Jamie Silva was cut (see final note). I hope he catches on somewhere or maybe even gets moved to their practice squad.
Georgia Tech is focusing on special teams in the lead up to our game.
BC Guy Tom Condon and his newest partner continue to dominate the NFL agency landscape.
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15 comments:
Dammit, I really wanted to see Silva do well. This is a setback for him, but hopefully just temporary.
Cleveland actually did a pretty good job for the game. Good block party and good bars by the stadium (especially the Blind Pig aka Mary Anns). KSU people were fun and the whole pregame ordeal was a shitshow until we got in the stadium and saw how empty it was. Fortunately they sold beer inside. It seemed like there was a good turnout until we actually walked into the stadium. It was simply way to big for this kind of game. It's never a good sign when you can hear the buzz of the light towers over the crowd.
"However, four minutes into the first quarter, Kent State students, which occupied the area where the dogpound resides during Cleveland Browns' games, were forced to sit by ushers, eliminating much of the crowd noise at the start of game."
I'm guessing the BC old fart complained to the ushers. Down in front!
I'm shocked by the Kent State AD's comments in the second link. "I've heard Boston College only brought 500 fans..." Setting aside the fact that the BC fans who went to the game believed that half the crowd was pro-BC, was KSU's AD not at the game? Couldn't he have looked around to realize there were more than 500 BC fans?
And then of course he insults us by mentioning that they should have played a team like [that other Catholic school that plays football and loses to BC every year.]
Hey pal, you want to gripe about the attendance-- you ought to look in the mirror.
"[T]he most noise in the fourth quarter came from a group of about 20 [Kent State] fans that took it upon themselves to heckle Boston College's backup long snapper."
LOL. I know that guy. I sit in the second row in Section B at Alumni Stadium. I watch that guy and his little-buddy punter backup practice ALL GAME. If I didn't feel bad for those two, I might be tempted to heckle too.
I've bemoaned our fan turnout before, but this is in no way BC's fault. We agreed to play at Kent State. It was only later that the folks in Cleveland and KSU asked us to move the game to the Browns Stadium.
Although the attendance would have looked better in a stadium with 40,000 fewer seats (Dix), do you think BC attendance would have been significantly different had the game been played at Kent State? How many fans did BC end up bringing overall?
The problem is playing 12 games, number 1. It's tough to schedule non-conference opponents that will "fire up the base". Perhaps ND would have brought 20,000 fans to Cleveland to play Kent State. BC would never do that, for better or worse. If we played Ohio State in Cleveland, we would show up with a lot more fans, for sure. I blame GDF for some of this as well. As much as I hate to say it, if we opened up with a Big East opponent from the Northeast, we'd show up in force.
We've had this type of discussion many times before. There are a lot of teams in the BCS that wouldn't bring many fans to such a game.
This stuff about BC not traveling well is nonsense. If the game is important, BC fans will be there. The last bowl game we were in set an attendance record, helped significantly by BC fan turnout (I went for the 22-ounce beers). Who the F wants to spend at least a G-note traveling to Cleveland (of all places) to play Kent State (which won three games last year) during Labor Day weekend? Get real.
eagle1: said:
This stuff about BC not traveling well is nonsense. If the game is important, BC fans will be there. The last bowl game we were in set an attendance record, helped significantly by BC fan turnout (I went for the 22-ounce beers). Who the F wants to spend at least a G-note traveling to Cleveland (of all places) to play Kent State (which won three games last year) during Labor Day weekend? Get real.
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See, I think that attitude specifically is detrimental to BC's chances of being invited to bigger and better bowls (outside of automatic bids). In order for BC to enhance its image to the bowl committees, two things must happen:
1) travel well
2) spend money
Traveling must take place to all games/bowls--- especially the small, less interesting ones in "Cleveland of all places."
The fanbase has not yet established itself long enough to warrant a "just give us a big game and we'll show up" pass. It's a process, and the way you get there is by showing up wherever, whenever.
The Kent State AD obviously did not attend the game if he thinks there were only 500 BC fans in attendance. I was in Cleveland and I was in Jacksonville last December, BC fan attendance at both games was comparable, in the neighborhood of 3000. The Kent State fans I talked to after the game said a lot of people who might have otherwise attended the game didn't because they were still in Columbus for the post-Ohio State game tailgate when the Patriot Bowl kicked off. Sounds like the Patriot Bowl organizers need to take OSU's schedule into account, as well.
Sebastian:
I'm being realistic, and I don't think you are. Moreover, I made no mention of bowl games. This was not a bowl game. Anyone able to should travel to a bowl game, regardless of location.
BC graduates about 2,300 kids every year, not 10,000-15,000 like some of the bigger schools. Although I'd love to see swarms of BC fans hit every BC away game, regardless of location, notariety of opponent, or time of year, it's not going to happen. If you have the free time and funds to travel wherever, whenever, then good for you. Sadly, not all of us are as fortunate. Most of us need to be a little pickier.
There just isn't any logical way to say that this was an appealing match-up for fans of either school. Kent State got payed (and got a home-game, too) to lose to a BC team that needed a tune-up. Not exactly an enticing story-line.
If I could have made it, I would have been there, but to see my Eagles, not to see Kent State. If we were playing a comparable (to BC) BCS school from the Midwest (say Illinois) or a hyped mid-major (Central Michigan of this year's vintage, not two years ago), I would have been intrigued. But it's tough to be shell out a lot of coin, coin that I don't have in the first place, to see us play a team we're supposed to trounce.
In the end, though, the move to Cleveland doomed the crowd for this game. It alienated the KSU student fan-base and pushed the game off of national TV. Great crowds are student-fueled. Their absence explains the poor atmosphere in the stadium Saturday night.
I had a great time in Cleveland for short money. My gf and I took in the RR and Pro Football Halls of Fame, an Indians' game and an airshow. The food was good, and oh, I enjoyed the game.
With a group of five people, we drove out together from Chicago (5 or 6 hours), tailgated, went to the game, went out after the game, and shared a hotel room nearby. Minus the bar tabs, gas+game ticket+hotel was about 100 bucks per person. I'm sure a lot of the older fans don't like to travel this way, but for the more recent grads (twenty somethings), it really is NOT an expensive weekend if you can avoid airfare.
The airshow was pretty cool too.
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