Tuesday, November 09, 2010

Tailgating at Duke, LSU and other links

Tailgating is on my mind with the recent news out of Duke. The school, which has permitted a student tailgate since 2003, canceled the event just in time for the BC game. The reason for the shutdown was a incident of underage drinking prior to last week's Virginia game. BC's never had any sort of sanctioned student tailgate, but the Mods served as the defacto substitute. I have not been on campus the past two years, but I've been told the pregame scene at the Mods has been subdued because of the fences, more IDing and apathy around the football program.


The converse of the BC/Duke experience is life in SEC country and no game day is more infamous than LSU games in Baton Rouge. To get a great feel of what it is like read this account from BC's own Andrew Sharp. Andrew captures the sort of awe any BC fan might have the first time he or she experiences the intensity of an SEC tailgate. I know we are not about to allow Winnebagos and huge grill/smoker combos on Lower Campus, but the lesson is that BC can do more to embrace the tailgate scene.


Former Eagle Robert Ziminski died in a car accident over the weekend. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family.


David Glenn looks at our basketball team but starts with a discussion of Al Skinner. I think he is right that Al Skinner wouldn't have been fired under the same circumstances 12 years ago. But in college basketball's new environment the head coach needs to be a marketer and a coach.


BC has interest in Florida prospect Juwan Caesar.


NC State has followed BC in offering a scholarship to Worcester WR Canaan Severin.


BC target Colin Thompson is also picking up more offers.

14 comments:

rumple said...

SEC tailgating + game is college football. It is not just another world. It is a Southern cultural experience a BC fan could not even imagine without actually going to such a real football game - an SEC game. I know it. I have lived it. Trust me, the SEC experience will not be coming to Chestnut Hill any time soon.

Ry said...

We'll always be hamstrung by space issues (nowhere to park RVs) and the cities in which we are situated. Boston isn't going to give us any more leeway than they already do unfortunately.

There are definitely those here who would love to see tailgating leave the mods permanently despite the fact that it has already been neutered to the point of embarrasment.

Unknown said...

Fact about the NC State who follows BCC,is good and interesting to read,also good to share.

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Walter said...

As someone that recently graduated, the mods tailgating scene was fine for at least my final two years at BC. This year (my first year back) i admit I haven not been impressed (save for the obvious Notre Dame), but while I was a student the mods were always hopping.

Just for the sake of being difficult even, I could do without the constant mention of how everything is better in the SEC. Why can't we make the most of what we have without always pointing to other people that have it better?

LSU has 16,000 more undergrads than we do and 10,000 more students (undergrad + grad) overall. Is that really going to be a fair comparison?

mod10aeagle said...

The article about Skinner's firing and the contrasting style of Donahue is interesting. I found myself comparing the situation around Skinner's demise with the current situation with Spaziani. Some strong parallels, I think. Both had achieved significant success at BC over many years of coaching. In Skinner's last two years as HC and Spaz's first two as HC, both teams were/have been dull and disappointing. Both coaches were awkward promoters at best, apathetic on average. Neither would ever leave BC voluntarily, whether out of loyalty or lack of alternatives may be debatable. I don't have a conclusion, and the similarities will end if the football team continues to improve and win, which I would certainly welcome.

I'm actually excited about the hoop season. Even though my expectations are low, I'm eager to see what they can do. There's a nice piece in today's Boston Globe that makes it sound like Donahue is really making progress and getting positive response from the players. Sounds like a brand new day, actually.

Unknown said...

I actually went to the LSU Bama game this weekend and let me tell you, there is nothing that BC can do to even get remotely close to what goes on at LSU.

LSU was quite simply the most incredible thing I have ever seen and there are really no concessions the city could make to ever make it 1/100th of LSU.

Eagle 1 said...

At 11:59 PM, Ry said...
"We'll always be hamstrung by space issues (nowhere to park RVs) and the cities in which we are situated."

Brighton campus is huge. Plenty of space there. If one could convince Menino that the City would gain financially from it, then the City would allow it. Menino is all about the cash.

Greg said...

I saw Jesus himself do a keg-stand at an LSU game...it was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen and I openly wept. BC should stop playing football because of how great LSU tailgating is...

mod10aeagle said...

Yeah, and where can I sign up to convert my BC diploma into an LSU diploma? Seriously, if you wanted the LSU experience, you should've gone there. You think that place is a circus only on game day? Get your grip back.

Ry said...

agreed, plenty of space on brighton, but we can't really consider it a long-term solution since a lot of it has been earmarked for construction and such.

Eagle 1 said...

Ry:

Sure we can.

10-year plan offers tons of open space:

http://www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/sites/imp/jpg/impmap_10year.jpg

30-50-year plan offers almost as much (and you know that BC will have gobbled up more local property by then):

http://www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/sites/imp/jpg/long_term_map.jpg

GP11 said...

Aside from tailgating... Take a look at HD's thoughts on the offensive and defensive player of the year status. I know there's little change we win both, but how crazy is it that we will have players in the top 3 of BOTH categories and are going to struggle to make a bowl. If that's not an indictment of the coaching I don't know what is.

CT said...

Sharp pretty much personifies a lot of northeastern college football fans--maybe not the group on this site--that didn't have the 24/365 exposure that the game has in the south. It's not an indictment of either side. Red Sox passion is different than Braves passion, just like Fall Saturdays are different at places like LSU. A lot of people like Bill Simmons at ESPN, b/c he's a Boston guy (and hates BC, right?). He knows and writes nothing about college football b/c he didn't grow up with it. His NBA stuff is really good, though. Celtics passion.

People can mock it. Complain about it. Compare diplomas. It's still a fact. The issue is not about playing in a minor league conference like we do or having fewer students, but how BC can improve the experience in the face of Burmese junta-like opposition.

That sort of passion drives program expectation, which sets standards.

rumple said...

ct. acc = 'minor league' conference. yeah. right on. u know ur stuff.

nobody in the ne knows jack about football. but we do. though. in the blood. in the bourbon. in the sack. eveywhere.