ESPN still slighting BC in ACC Power Rankings

It is the offseason, but that doesn't slow down ESPN. They continue to fill up their ACC blog with power rankings. Any list or ranking is a good tool as it engages readers and helps improve search engine optimization. The latest poll ranks teams heading into 2015. Not so surprisingly, ESPN ranked BC 11 out of 14 ACC teams heading into next season.

In the power rankings, there is another team tied with BC, leaving only Wake and Cuse as lower than the Eagles. This also isn't surprising. Yet instead of explaining why BC is below so many (new QB, new OL), the recap focuses on Addazio's first two years. Adelson notes his success in beating expectations in Year 1 and Year 2. But she doesn't follow that logic and move him up in this ranking. With his track record, I would have put UVA (with London's hot seats) and Pitt (new staff) behind our Eagles. I also would have used the Power Rankings to question a traditional power. Why not put Virginia Tech low? They've been uneven the past two years. Or give Al Golden's critics fuel by moving BC ahead of the Canes. This is subjective, so ESPN should make it interesting.

In the whole scheme of things, it is good that expectations are so low this year. If BC can show just the littlest aptitude and get to a bowl, it will be viewed as a major accomplishment.

Religion, tax policy, reproductive rights BC Sports and other links

I knew the Brown post would upset people, but I thought my postscript encouraging everyone to vote showed that I understand this is a sports blog and there are two sides. Unfortunately political passion and debate shares many characteristics with sports debates. Unlike sports though, winning and losing is not as clear cut in politics. Sure, one candidate may get more votes, but the end results come in policy, legislation and our livelyhood. We have heated debates all the time on this blog and I hope that people don't forget that I am just one guy with my own opinion. I try to let others share their opinions on nearly anything in the comments. I've got a pretty long track record here and try to be clear in my opinions and agendas. I am not always fair. I am not always right (clearly). But I try to be straight forward and respectful. Now let us move the discussion to things we can all agree on like religion, economics and reproductive rights...

Here is another good feature on Herzy.

Matt Ryan made HD's ACC All Decade team. Kiwi got an honorable mention on the Big East squad.

Mixed reports on McLaughlin at the Shrine game practices. He's getting good marks for leadership and having trouble in pass coverage.

ESPN raises the wrong questions

This article on ESPNBoston is generating a bit of buzz for all the wrong reason. BC guy Brad Zak used the Haden situation to ask "is BC not the place to develop top talent?" I hate to be so blunt -- especially towards a BC guy -- but this is beyond stupid. If you want to measure BC's ability to develop top talent, you should probably use Wins and NFL Draft picks as a measurement, not how some teenage recruit panned out. In fact, Haden's situation should be more of an indictment against the flawed and foolish recruiting rating system so many fans are slaves to. It has been a while since I stated my case about recruiting, so let's use this article and Haden's issues to take another look.

First let me say that recruiting is important. You need good players to win and you need to sell potential recruits on your school. But overlooked in recruiting is eyeing talent. We give too much credit to the evaluators at Rivals, Scout and ESPN. They don't know anything. Sure they have some measurables and if all the big powers are going after a kid, it is probably safe to say he is good. But there are so many other factors in play, that using the recruiting systems as anything definitive is dumb. I always fall back to the NFL. Look how many top picks become total busts even though the NFL teams are able to make more informed decisions when they select their players. You also need to look no further than your real life experiences. If you've ever hired someone or worked in recruiting, you know how challenging it can be. Someone who looks great on paper or was great in job A doesn't always fit with job B. It happens.


Then there is just the unplanned. Who knows what would have become of Toal or Haden if not for injuries? You can't plan on a guy like Montel Harris stepping up and exceeding his recruiting rankings. That is not BC's fault. If Haden transfers and becomes a star at his next stop, I won't use that as an indictment against the staff either. Sometime players develop at different rates. Take Andre Callendar. After his second season, few would have predicted the dominant performance of his senior season.

But don't use my theories or anecdotes to judge the process. Use the recruiting services themselves. Below are the four and five star recruits from Rivals' database going back to 2002.

2002 -- Josh Beekman, Will Blackmon, Shadu Moore, Jeremy Simpson, Jim Unis
2003 -- Dorien Bryant, Andre Callender, Ryan Poles
2004 -- Brandon Robinson, Brian Toal (five star)
2005 -- Andre Jones, Pat Sheil
2006 -- Richard Lapham, Jordon McMichael
2007 -- Corey Eason, John Elliott
2008 -- Mike Goodman, Josh Haden, Okechuckwu Okoroha
2009 -- Dillon Quinn

If you look at this group and their careers, how can you put much weight into the star system producing stars? Some never stepped on campus or left shortly thereafter. Some had unfortunate injury situations and others just weren't that good. What's more interesting are the names that aren't on the list. Where's Matt Ryan, Herzlich, Silva, Tennant, Castanzo, Kuechly, etc?

I am glad ESPNBoston is covering BC but this effort missed the boat. Maybe as a follow up, Zak should ask who is evaluating the evaluators?

Dinich takes a cheap shot at BC

From her chat today:

Brody (Miami)


What would be your ideal (plausible) matchup in the ACCCG?


Heather Dinich
(1:06 PM)


Miami and anyone besides Boston College.

I am sure that she was trying to be funny, but most Eagle fans will miss any humor. This just confirms to BC fans that the media is rooting against us.

Email exchange with Heather Dinich Part 2

In part two of my exchange I get into one of my sticking points -- the national media perception of BC sports. I also threw some short quick hitters. See what she says about TOB and her blog below.

ATLeagle: BC fans tend to get frustrated with the national media’s assumption that we’ll never be more than we are. In BC’s recent history I think both head coaches have used the media a bit to lower and reset expectations. From my vantage point I try to challenge that lowering of expectations (and only have to point to what Jim Grobe has done at Wake as huge example). Having observed BC from the Maryland beat and now as the ACC blogger, what do you think expectations should be for the program under normal circumstances (i.e. not in a season where there is a new coach, no QB and an All American battling cancer)?


Heather Dinich: Well, considering I started covering the ACC/Maryland/BC during the Matt Ryan era, I’ve been nothing but impressed with what they’ve done, but the fact of the matter is BC does not usually recruit the same caliber athletes programs like Florida State and Miami does. Nor does Wake Forest, as you pointed out. But Boston College does get blue-collar players who just LOVE the game of football and play every single snap with heart. With that said, under normal circumstances, I think the expectations for Boston College should be to win the Atlantic Division and the ACC title. They’ve already proven capable of that, but now have to take the next step and win that championship game. Heading into last season, I didn’t think they could do that, and my reasoning for that was, if they couldn’t do it WITH Matt Ryan, how on earth will they do it without him?

ATLeagle: Quick hitters:

-- Do you see a division realignment in the next five years?


HD: No, not in the next five years. The current schedule is set through 2015, so if anything were to happen, I’d imagine it would happen after that to be fair to all of the teams.

ATLeagle: Do you think Charlotte will draw more than 50,000 when they host the ACCCG?


HD: Ooh, that’s a good question. Obviously a large part of the answer depends upon who is in it. If one of the Carolina schools is in it – which is a very good possibility, then definitely. I think the chances for that kind of crowd are definitely better, though, in Charlotte (unless, of course, FSU and Miami are playing in Tampa).

ATLeagle: Do you still think BC will be in a bowl game?

HD: Sigh. No. Not with all of the unfortunate offseason news they’ve been dealt.

ATLeagle: Will TOB get to a BCS game before he retires?


HD: Yes. He’s a good coach and he’ll get there.

ATLeagle: Finally, what can people expect from your space this year?


HD: Tons of ACC coverage. More Q&As, more podcasts, chats, videos, predictions, analysis, links, previews, reviews, etc. My goal is to hit every ACC school every day this fall.

Email exchange with Heather Dinich Part 1

In the past year, no media member has generated more comments among the readers of this blog than ESPN's Heather Dinich. As the ACC blogger for the worldwide leader and as a woman, Dinich's work is especially under the microscope for the diehard BC fans. While I've had the occasional critical comment, in general, I've enjoyed Dinich's work and appreciate how prolific she's been (especially when compared the the BC beat writers). Now that BC seems to be the only ACC team generating news, it seems like as good a time as any to ask her a few questions. Part I of our exchange is below. Look for Part II tomorrow.

ATLeagle: You were/are part of a unique experiment from ESPN by having a blogger solely focused on one conference. I think I (and most BC fans) had high expectations when you started. After a season, criticism is natural. My main complaint is that you’ve stuck to a set formula, which is standard reporting, interviews and links to major media outlets. I guess I was hoping as a “blogger” you would dip into the grey areas and have more opinion, statistical analysis, and even humor. I also hoped you would support and link to non-mainstream media and other bloggers. How did your format develop over the season and are there ESPN mandated limitations and areas that you cannot go into?

Heather Dinich: Well, these are all good points, but one thing that’s important to remember is that we’re not the Page 2 version of ESPN.com. Our job isn’t to push the envelope, and we don’t want to lose our credibility as journalists first. I almost always see coaches’ eyebrows raise when you tell them you’re a “blogger” as opposed to a college football writer. In order to gain credibility with the people you cover, it takes a certain tone, and the best opinions are always based on fact. We do try to bring as much analysis as we can, and are encouraged to do that. As for linking to non-mainstream media and other bloggers, we have to be very careful we’re linking to factual information and accredited news sources.

ATLeagle: Although women have been covering sports for decades, I think modern media and the 24/7 nature of ESPN and the internet has changed things a bit. People feel like they know a writer/personality and have open platforms on which to comment on your looks, voice, etc. While you don’t get the attention that an Erin Andrews gets, are you conscious of the gender focus in your readership? Does it bother you? How do you deal with it among fans and the people you cover?

HD: Ha … no, I’m definitely not EA, thanks for reminding me. But yes, you’re right, I do get some … hmm, interesting … comments sometimes that my male colleagues won’t. No, it doesn’t bother me. I’ve been doing this since I was 16 and working for my local paper while I was in high school, so I’m pretty used to being the minority. How do I deal with it? I usually ignore it. I do, however, tend to forget that women read my blog, too.

PART II Tomorrow.

Dinich and Jags and other links

Dinich posted her first BC piece of the day. In it Jags gets a little defensive about last year's running game.

The Toal story sounds more optimistic in the Herald than it did in the Globe.

BC field hockey player Kathleen Murphy serves as a great example of toughness and heart.

Dinich in Chestnut Hill

My Everyone's favorite ESPN blogger is at BC Wednesday. Check out this blog and her blog for updates.

Akins adjusting and other links

No story from the Globe or Herald. Thankfully bceagles.com and ESPN filed practice reports. Akins seems to be adjusting to corner without issue.

BC decommit Arthur Fontaine commited to Georgia. Call it sour grapes, but I am not too concerned about Fontaine.

Here's an article on the development of Claiborne and Flutie.

This article on Will Blackmon really bugged me. He was afraid of punt returning during his time at BC!! Why didn't the coaches do something about that? Glad to see he is adjusting now. Will's a good guy.

The Islanders named BC Guy Scott Gordon head coach.

Good ESPN, Bad ESPN

I've been surprised by how little attention the Raji-Brace combo recieved in the national publications. ESPN's Bruce Feldman rectified that by calling them one of college football's best-kept secrets. If you haven't read Feldman's book on recruiting yet, go out and pick up a copy. Great read and insight into the recruiting world. (Also, keep an eye on Chip Kelly -- the first guy mentioned in the article. You never know who will end up where.)

On the flip side, I had to mention HD's passing swipe at BC in this post.

Chris Crane won't make you forget Matt Ryan, and Jeff Jagodzinski won't make Eagles fans forget Tom O'Brien.

Poor form and really her first misstep since launching the ACC blog. I hope she doesn't fall into a rut with the BC narrative. Close observers know how BC fans feel about TOB. And no one expects Crane to be Ryan.

Respect from the coaches and other links

Most of the media has BC in the 40s. The first coaches poll showed a little more respect. BC did fall in the others receiving votes category, but still managed the fifth most of the others. That translates to 31st. Maybe the coaches realize there will be life after Ryan.

This blogger likes BC yet is only predicting seven wins.

HD considers Doug Flutie and Matt Ryan two of the most clutch players in ACC history. Should Flutie even count? He never played a down in an official ACC game. This companion article also gets into clutchness and has a quote from Jags.

I went into the SI archives to find this short piece on Paul Peterson.

Mutual Admiration Society

It has come full circle rather quickly around here with Heather Dinich giving me a shout-out on her blog. I've been linked from all sorts of different places but this is the first one from ESPN.com. Thanks to Pete from Boston (who I don't know) for the leading question to HD.

Heather Dinich's power blogging turns its focus to Chris Crane

Yet another solid article from ESPN's new blogger Heather Dinich. I don't know how she is keeping this up. And it's not like these are all "let me tell you what I think" posts or link dumps. She has quotes from Logan (who, to my knowledge, is not even at the ACC meetings) and mixed in some of the Purvis stuff from Sunday. If she keeps up this pace during the season, we're in for a treat. Why can't the Globe provide this much BC and ACC coverage?

Flutie Ice Cream, ESPN bloggers and other links

Flutie has always been willing to pair his name with a good cause. So have Ben & Jerry's. Therefore Doug Flutie Hail Mary Berry Fat Free Smoothie seems like a perfect summer treat that also helps fight autism.

Did anyone elso notice Heather Dinich started an ACC blog last week on ESPN.com? How did I miss this? Certainly something worth following. If only the Globe or Herald would get in the BC blogging game. Dinich's post about the toughest places to play inspired a few others to weigh in here and here. My simple take: there's Clemson and there's everything else.

The ACC Now's J.P. Giglio doesn't think much of our chances this year.

Here's a preview of Virginia Tech.

Yet another preview of the ACC.

Former Eagle Derrick Rossy is picking up random boxing titles as his career progresses.