Cold causes Conte pipes to burst

Frigid temperatures caused a sprinkler pipe to burst during Sunday's basketball game. It is almost like Mother Nature wants news on the Sports Master Plan. As much as I would want to blame this on Conte being old and antiquated, the Boston Fired Department did blame the cold. This could have happened in a brand new building.

 

As far as real updates on the Master Plan and the Indoor Facility...nothing. I have been told the money is there and BC is trying to clear the local politics before an announcement. I hope I am still not writing that same update a year from now.

Why the BC basketball job still matters

I found myself defending the BC basketball job on some of the message boards Monday and felt I should bring the argument here...

I am constantly amazed by how little some BC fans often view our athletics programs. During the football searches, there were always some fans who voiced "BC is a terrible job. Who would ever want to coach here?" Now that it looks like basketball might face a change, you are hearing some of the same sentiments. "BC's _________ [insert: fans, facilities, recruiting base, etc.] are so bad, no one will ever want to take this job." Whatever you think of BC, know that this job is still very, very attractive. I don't know if BC will hire a big name. I don't know if BC will hire a good coach. Heck, Steve Donahue could still be our coach next year (that is another post altogether). BC and other programs make bad hires all the time, but it is never due to a lack of good, qualified or interesting candidates.



1. There are only so many jobs in power conferences. For everyone opening at a major college, there are dozens of guys who want the job. Especially in the ACC. Coaches as a group tend to be hypercompetitive constantly looking for their shot. The chance to go head to head against Duke, UNC and Syracuse is very appealing for some. Especially if the guy is an assistant at a big program or in a lower conference.

2. Historiclly BC has been a very good basketball program. We won Big East titles under different coaches. We've competed in the ACC. As you always hear during the Tourney, we have the most tournament wins without making a Final Four. The list of successful coaches who have come through BC is impressive (Daly, Davis, Williams, O'Brien, Skinner). That past success is encouraging to potential candidates.

3. The new coach will be able to get his players in the system quickly. It hasn't worked out well for Donahue, but most coaches won't shy away from having to restock the roster in two or three recruiting cycles. They won't be "stuck" with Donahue's guys. Plus most new coaches are going to come in with an understanding of who and who they cannot recruit. The program will be at a lowpoint. I expect BC will allow a few borderline guys in to help turn the tide early.

Every job has its drawbacks. Every coach who has a job can be selective about his next job. I don't know how the process will turn for BC. Trustees, ADs, Presidents and agents could all screw this up, but that doesn't mean the job is the issue.

Bring on the MEGAplex!

The winter has not been kind to BC's facilities. First a pipe burst in the Yawkey Center. Then the bubble collapsed due to snow. The final nail in the coffin was Syracuse announcing they were building an indoor practice facility. The sport facilities issues keep mounting for BC. Regardless of how you prioritize, most agree that BC needs the following:

-- Reconfiguration/renovation of Conte
-- Renovation and upgrade to Alumi Stadium (sound, scoreboard, seeting, etc)
-- Hockey practice rink
-- Indoor Practice Facility (primarily used for football)
-- More parking
-- A new Olympic length pool
-- A modern student athletic complex

That is an expensive tab. But I don't think money is our biggest challenge. Space is the primary issue. I also think the University has other priorities, so sports facilities always get a band-aid approach instead of a multi-year methodical solution. That needs to change. We need all of those things listed. We need elite facilities. And we need to break ground soon. In order to overcome the space issue, I think we should demolish everything we have and rebuild on the current footprint (look at the map above). It would take years and create a lot of juggling but it could be done. Georgia Tech -- another city campus with some land restrictions -- just demolished their basketball arena and built a new one on the same site. Alumni and Conte already share walls, so the concept of a dozen sports sharing an interconnected complex is not new to BC. By thinking of it as all one project, you can start to get creative with space and avoid duplicative areas.

I don't think the teams would suffer as we could find temporary homes for most of them (football at Fenway, hockey and hoops at the Garden). The biggest loser would be your average student who uses the current Plex. But missing out for one or two school years can be justified by the long-term needs served by the MEGAplex.

If we had some sort of historic gym or stadium I would be the first one in front of the bulldozer. But that is not the case. Alumni has moved locations and changed its look and configuration. As long as the Football portion of the complex is called Alumni, all will be happy. I don't know if we would still need basketball and hockey to share an arena. Maybe smaller, sport-specific locations would serve both programs better. But that sort of idea cannot happen as long as you view Conte as a stand-alone project.

BC has a master plan with some band-aid solutions for sports. I don't see a champion for my complete knock down idea, but Bates needs to at least consider something big. The same old approach will leave us behind the ACC and wondering what to do next.

Bubble trouble

As BCI first posted via @FaceOffKB5, the bubble over Alumni Stadium collapsed due to the blizzard. Mother Nature can wreak havoc on even the most sturdy of buildings, but this is not unexpected. Inflatable roofs don't do well under heavy snow. You only need to look at the issues the Silverdome and the Metrodome had with their inflatable roofs. I am sure the clean up will be relatively quick and I would hope BC has insurance for this sort of thing but it does raise the facilities question again. We need an permanent indoor practice facility. Patch working solutions is just going to lead to issues like this again.

Stokes Hall and what it means for sports

Stokes Hall -- BC's latest construction project -- is nearing its opening and receiving a lot of media attention. The project represents the University's commitment to the humanities, but I also think it could serve as a template for BC Athletics...and not just because it sits on the original home of Alumni Stadium.

BC has numerous Athletic construction project needs. Just at a high level, BC needs to renovate the Plex, finally build the baseball/softball complex, commit to heavy renovation or total rebuild of the Conte/Alumni complex and build an indoor practice facility (the practice facility might be shoehorned into the Plex or Alumni remodel). All might seem daunting to Brad Bates, but if he looks to Stokes, he will hopefully realize it can be done.

Use of Space
No one wanted to see the Dust Bowl go away, but BC needed the space. There are pockets around campus that could also support some of Athletic's needs. Bates and the planning team just need to be creative and also appease those who fear the loss of more green space or don't want a congested campus.

Raising Money
BC raised $78 million for the building, including a named donation for $22 million. If planned right and if they approach the right donors, Bates could easily raise more than $100 million. Now $100 million won't cover all the projects on the "To Do" list but it could cover the Plex and Indoor Practice Facility. The cost of the Alumni/Conte renovations really depend on how far BC is willing to go.

Think Big
Although it is nestled along what's left of the Dust Bowl, Stokes was a big undertaking and a big building. BC could have halved the square footage and still had a significant project. I hope BC thinks big on the sports needs too. I've referenced a Conte/Alumni renovation, but what about a full demolition and rebuild on the same footprint? That way we could build something that met our needs for football, basketball, hockey, hockey practice, basketball practice, football practice and meeting space. It would probably cost $400 million+, take three years and involve our teams using the Garden or Fenway for a few seasons, but long-term it would be worth it. The people who pushed Stokes thought that way. The people in charge of Athletics need to do the same.

Welcome to BC. Now get to work

One of the reasons I liked the Bates hire is that he's experienced in ways the other finalists weren't. These AD jobs are highly political. You have to deal with donors, administrators, coaches and your fellow ADs. Everyone's got an angle and an agenda. A guy new to this type of role or this many players might have been overwhelmed. Bates looks like he will be fine in that department. The parallels between the Miami community's reaction and are reaction to Gene's departure are noted, but after ten years, even the most loyal of fans will want some new blood and new ideas. On a whole you cannot question the success of Bates's tenure at Miami. I am not worried about what he did or didn't do at Miami. My concern is what he plans to accomplish at BC. Much of Bates' agenda will be determined by pressing needs and BC's overriding plans for the University, but with that in mind, I offer my advice to Mr. Bates.

• You are not hiring a football coach for Miami of Ohio. You are hiring a football coach for Boston College. I understand all the niceties to the media, but Frank Spaziani will not be coaching BC Football next fall. Because of timing, BC will be one of the better jobs available this offseason. We do not have to settle for anyone or take a flyer on an up and comer. You can make your pick of several exciting and sought after candidates. I don't know what preliminary budget BC has given you for the hire, but even if we pay in the bottom half of the conference, we will still have great possibilities. Our last two football searches were all about prior relationships with your predecessor  Don't make that same mistake. Find the best person for this job.
• Don't accept "but that's how we've always done it" as an answer from your staffers, BC leadership or employees. One of the things I appreciate about Bates is that he is not a boat rocker and seems to be a consensus builder. That's also a nice change from recent past, but that doesn't mean Bates shouldn't challenge current lines of thought. I am glad BC went for someone from outside our community. All aspects of the Athletic Department need to be evaluated. In his speech he mentioned game day experiences and marketing. But I also think how we deal with media, how we deal with Newton and the surrounding communities and how we operate within the ACC need to be improved or changed. 
• Get ready to raise lots of money and spend a lot of time looking a blueprints. I know there are many factors in play, but it is embarrassing that the baseball field hasn't broken ground. People look at Alumni and Conte and talk about seating configuration or air conditioning. Those issues are minor. Both buildings have long overdue basic maintenance investments. The Plex is a joke. Plus we need a practice  facility. Based on the Athletic Capital campaigns announced at other private schools, these projects are going to cost hundreds of millions of dollars and require careful planning. For example the Plex cannot come down until its replacement is up. Instead of renovating Alumni/Conte do we tear down and rebuild on the same footprint (with a new indoor football practice facility and second hockey rink)? Those ideas have been discussed. Now they need action. 
• Ask what sports we need to play. Every team has its supporters, but how long can BC sustain its current mix of teams? For all those Lacrosse lovers, I don't think it will ever return. In fact it is more likely other sports will join Lax in the used to have a team category. I think Gene was happy to put those issues on the backburner, but budget wise and scholarship wise it needs to be considered. 
• Have fun. One thing that wasn't mentioned today but needs to be remembered, is that beyond our academic mission or promoting the school, sports are supposed to be fun. Aside from a moment here or there, BC sports have not been fun in the past few years. Winning will help, but how we approach the games, celebrate the big and little moments and embrace each other all contributes to the level of fun around the program. If you want to change that, it starts with you. Be thankful that you are working at one of the best athletic programs in the country and at one of the best schools in the country. There are tens of thousands of people who love BC and want you to succeed. Engage those people, entertain those people, and keep those people in mind as you make decisions. When things are good at BC, they are really good. Help rekindle that and we'll be forever thankful.

Revisiting a Boston (BC) Olympics using London as an example

During the 2010 Winter Olympics I tossed around the idea of Boston hosting a summer or winter games. My point then remains that the same: Boston is ideal because the local universities could already supply many of the venues. The big obstacle would always be the main stadium for Track & Field and the opening and closing ceremonies. Nearly every city that hosts is left with a White Elephant that costs hundreds of millions of dollars. But London may provide a solution. They built their Olympic Stadium as a temporary venue. It looked great on TV, holds enough for the games and can be shrunk as soon as it all wraps up. Londoners haven't decided what they will do with the space. There are a few different bidders looking to take over the remains of the stadium. Boston would probably have similar suitors depending on the location. I would guess that UMasss Boston would want a small stadium or maybe the Revolution would want to convert it to a soccer only facility. The possibilities are endless.

I would still love to see Boston host the games and wish our partner Fenway Sports Group would get behind it. I am practical too. This wouldn't just be a vanity project for BC. It would be a backdoor way to get the IOC to fix the air conditioning in Conte!

Light the lamp Conte

Not really a picture of Conte Forum at the scheduled drop of the puck.

BC started their march towards another Hockey East crown by beating UMass 2-1. But before I get into that, I want to comment on the pregame power failure at Conte Forum. The entire building lost power for several minutes causing a delay in the game as the lights are slow to relight. Supposedly the cause of of the outage was a power station in Newton and impacted other parts of town. Even though the failure wasn't related to one of Conte's issues, why doesn't the building have a generator or two just for times like this? Conte needs a major renovation and BC can't keep delaying the project.

As for the game itself, UMass outplayed BC for most of the night, but Milner kept BC did enough to keep BC on top. BC can wrap up the series with a win Saturday night.