Suggestions for Mike Vega as he returns to the BC beat

After six seasons away, Mike Vega is back on the Boston College beat for the Globe. This is a good thing as no one has done it as well as Vega did from the '90s until 2006. Of course when he left, BC fans didn't know how good we had it under Vega. As he comes back to the Heights, he will find a very different program and the nature of a college beat extremely different. He's not asking for my advice, but these are my recommendations on how to make the most out of covering BC sports this school year.

Love your job
This is always a touchy issue in journalism and especially at a place like the Globe, where the biggest names are often the most critical and combative of Boston's sports institutions. I don't mean Vega should be a BC cheerleader. Just that he should show a passion and excitement for covering an interesting program during its rebirth. Blauds came back to the BC beat cranky and did some weird things along the way to antagonize readers (like becoming Spaz's biggest defender). Benbow is a talented writer who produced some nice BC features over the years but being on the BC beat didn't bring out the best in his work last year (covering a miserable team didn't help). I hope Vega does more than just the feature and notebook combos that usually populate the BC beat. He can do that in his sleep. He needs to do more. Put more of the notebook type stuff in a blog or on twitter. Do something extra. Write a national college football story once week that ties to BC (tv deals, schedules, etc.). The online college audience is huge. A few little things like that can spread Vega's work well beyond the core fanbase.

Don't blog unless you are really committed
With the Globe's paywall strategy and the New York Times killing their sports blogs, I have no idea if Vega is even mandated to blog. Unless he is going to fill it with unique content five or more times a week, he shouldn't even bother. Without regular content, the blog will never spread beyond the people who read the Globe/Boston.com stuff any way. If the Globe has shuttered the college blog, and there is stuff Vega wants to write that he cannot fit on twitter, he should start a tumblr and link it off of his Twitter profile.

Don't worry about ruffling feathers
If history is any indication, Vega is not going to piss people off around BC. He's a pro. But under the old regime there was always a bit of an issue with access. I hope that if something happens in football or basketball and there is a partyline and whisper in the background (whether it be about a player, coach or administrator) Vega pushes for real answers. Bob Hohler shouldn't be the one to handle stories that might offend. Steve Donahue will be on the hot seat this year. If we struggle I hope Vega is out in front of news regarding job security and the relationship between Bates and Donahue.

Interact with the online community
Things have changed since 2006. It is not just the Globe, Herald and Eagle Action. SBNation obviously has a huge BC presence. 247 is coming on strong. ESPNBoston produces good material. BC itself produces lots of good interviews and all access type features. Plus there are half a dozen bloggers and hundreds of BC folks on twitter. By the nature of his job and access, Vega will steer much of that conversation. I hope he does more than just post a story and let the masses run with it. Add flavor along the way and challenge those who disagree with your take. It will make the work better and will make the beat feel different.

I wish Vega the best and hope to have him on here eventually. He was always very nice when I was a student at WZBC but I barely interacted with him as a blogger before he was off to other things. Even if he doesn't do some of the things I suggest, I know he'll bring a professionalism and commitment that the Globe's coverage needs.

Addazio feature and other links

In case you missed it, the Globe featured Steve Addazio this weekend. The Temple angle was interesting and shows how loyalty and dedication is all about perspective. I don't hold it against Addazio for leaving on Temple after two years. 99.99% of coaches would have done the same.

Four players from the Women's Ice Hockey team received invitations to the U. S. National Team Winter Camp.

Penn State is still coming after BC recruit Myles Willis. He says he's still committed to BC.

ICYMI the Moore piece and other links

I welcomed Julian Benbow to the BC beat hoping that he would bring new life to the same old coverage. He's been fine. Better than his predecessor but I rarely read anything that grabbed me like some of his work prior to moving to the BC beat did. That changed when I read his feature on Malachi Moore earlier this week. Moore's story is a good one and I felt Benbow's reporting and writing delivered it perfectly. Let's hope a few more gems like that come down the beat this season.

Dave Dudeck got the Globe/Herald treatment Friday. I've been happy with his play and think he'll blossom over the next few years. I did laugh at Spaz's nickname for him though. It wasn't the name or Spaz's delivery that struck me as funny. It was that Dudeck just assumed that Spaz didn't know his name.

BC continued to be one of the top scoring GSR schools. I don't expect this to change under Brad Bates.

WEEI's hosts have already chimed in, but now their writers are calling for Spaz's head.

This is the Golden Age of BC football coverage

How quickly things can change when it comes to media. Only a few weeks ago, it seemed like Boston's flagship newspaper might not even cover BC. Fortunately Julian Benbow started this week and has already written features on Bollman and the running backs. The Herald's Rich Thompson embraced his new role and is producing at least one BC article a day. This is probably the best combination on the BC beat since Vega and Shalin's days. But the two main papers aren't the only ones pumping out content.

Ironically, Blauds departure from the Globe has actually increased his BC coverage. His blog has near daily posts on BC. I still have issues with Blauds tone and approach, but now that he is on his own he seems to be taking BC and his readers more seriously. Better late than never.

Eric Avidon doesn't exclusively cover BC, but he does write more BC features than most other Boston-area sports writers.

I've sung Eagle Action's Eric Hoffses praises before. Fortunately Rivals is releasing more of his content to non-subscribers. We know about Heather Dinich at ESPN, but some might not realize that CBS Sports has an ACC blog too.

And when things are slow or there isn't much news, BCeagles.com can be counted on to put up player interviews.

In addition to all of this, there a multiple BC blogs and twitter accounts. Plus ESPN and the ACC put out plenty of video content.

I don't think we'll ever get as much news at bigger programs, but I think we need to appreciate how much original content and coverage we get now.

Still no BC coverage in the Globe but Benbow's on the way

The Herald wrote two articles following the team's second scrimmage (St. X feature and notebook). New beat writer Rich Thompson seems to be embracing his assignment and told me he plans to join twitter once the season begins. 

Across town things are a little different. The Globe did not send anyone to cover BC's scrimmage. Julian Benbow is scheduled to cover the team this fall. That's encouraging as Julian's BC basketball work has been very good. He's also on twitter and interacts with fans. Maybe Benbow will finally be the guy to unlock the Globe's potential in college football. One good college football feature or article can have a huge reach online. And BC's season is going to be a surprise or a disaster. Either type of year should provide plenty of interesting content.