Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Don't boo Gene on Saturday

I hate telling fans what to do, but I want to be a bit preemptive with this post. We are in the final days of Gene Defilippo's tenure as AD, so I imagine BC will make note of it in some way on Saturday. While many frustrated and angry fans might want to voice their dislike one last time, the appropriate response is to clap or not do anything at all. Booing accomplishes nothing. He is being replaced. BC is headed in another direction. Gene's legacy is still to be determined, but even without knowing what happens next for the department, you have to credit Gene for always doing what he felt was right for BC. Booing sends the wrong message and is not who we are. Although many of the coaches he fired didn't get a clean good-bye, it is how things should be done. Let Gene leave knowing that most BC fans took the high road.

11 comments:

Claver2010 said...

Sorry disagree ATL.

Everything changed when he fired Jags, he made the program about himself. This is what he said at the press conference:

Today is a very difficult day for our football team, for our fans, our alums, and more importantly, me.

http://www.boston.com/sports/colleges/extras/colleges_blog/2009/01/defillipos_hard.html

I, for one, will be booing him Saturday afternoon, whenever he is honored.

He has destroyed the football program, one simply needs to look around at all the empty tailgating spots and seats despite this being Clemson and Parent's Weekend.

mod34b said...

Claver and others, I get why you want to boo, but let me offer you another perspective.

Clap and scream your heads of with joy because he is leaving. Applaud GDF's departure with great vigor!

Bon Voyage Coach Skip! Enjoy retirement.

And, keep it classy. We are not Maryland, or West Virginia or UConn.

Tim said...

This entire discussion presumes that (1) there will be lots of BC fans in the stands Saturday (2) who are knowledgeable and care about the decisions being made in our athletic department.

Somehow I doubt the 25,000 BC fans in attendance will care much one way or the other. The 10,000 Clemson fans aren't likely to care either.

eagle1331 said...

According to Blaud's latest post (yes, I know, he is awful) there are no plans to recognize him on Saturday. Like him or not, for the majority of his tenure, programs were on the rise. It was only in the last 4ish years that he thoroughly backtracked on the progress he at least was some part of. We do have several national championships during his tenure, the Yawkey Complex, and a lot more money coming in due to the ACC move... I thoroughly despise Gene and it is impossible to say what another person in his position would have done along the way, but Athletics during his tenure as a whole was improved...

Joseph said...

Claver: To whom will you be sending a message by booing?

perkindc said...

Booing Gene is asinine, classless and stupid. He actually had a pretty good run as our AD and now it's time to move on. Like or hate the current FB and BB results, but he is leaving BC Athletics in better shape than he found it. I look forward to the new era.

Big Jack Krack said...

I'm with Mod - Bon Voyage Gene! Enjoy retirement.

Lenny Sienko said...

To quote GDF, himself: "It doesn't matter"...what the alumni and fans think.

I'll stick with that.

Knucklehead said...

Finally a posting about Gene that is rational.

I am holding to my belief that the administration asked him to fire Spaz and he would not do it.

What does the last sentence about not leaving clean being the correct thing to do mean? Did I read that wrong?
The way he handled coaches is the reason for him not being AD anymore. It is his biggest weakness, he handled coaches terribly. He hired the wrong ones and then tried to cover it up by saying they had health problems when he fired them. When he resigned or was let go he claimed that he himself had health problems. What a goof.

Knucklehead said...

Whoever said to boo Gene may have gone to Boston College but certainly did not graduate.

eagleboston said...

Booing a guy on his way out is completely lacking in class. I am not a fan of Gene's, but one move alone deserves immense praise - the move to the ACC. Even though there are some posters that believe BC should have never left the Big Least, that move was the best thing to happen to BC athletics since Flutie's pass. The fact that I can sit 1,000 miles away and see more BC games than the local state college games speaks volumes about the move to the ACC. When we get a great coach that can capitalize on this national foundation, BC will once again be relevant. We are at true low point right now, but I'm 45 and I have seen 2 other BC eras that were disastrous. In both cases, we soon rose from the ashes and achieved success. The Eagles shall rise again.