Revisiting the Thanskgiving Weekend problem

The Syracuse SB Nation bloggers asked this week if BC-Syracuse can ever become a rivalry if it is played on Thanksgiving Weekend. Their logic is two-fold. First the weekend is filled with established rivalries, so the BC-'Cuse game will rarely gain national attention. Their second issue is that with students off campus and many Alumni and fans not near each respective campus, the atmosphere and ticket demand will never be maximized. I agree with their logic and think BC should never play a home game Thanksgiving Weekend.

I don't want Thanksgiving Weekend home games for the simple reason that the atmosphere is subdued. Even when we are really good it is an effort to get students back on campus. If you are flying that weekend, you are likely not changing your tickets. It also puts a strain on BC fans from beyond the Boston area to get back during a holiday weekend that is also one of the busiest travel weekends of the year.

If BC completely avoids home games Thanksgiving Weekend, then the Syracuse series has to find another date, because as it stands now, BC is hosting Thanksgiving Weekend every other year. Another permanent weekend might give the series a little bit more notoriety. Without the Syracuse series, BC can just be the road team for whatever other ACC team is not in a rivalry game. (It would be a rotation of NC State and Wake).

Football is a fun part of of Thanksgiving Weekend. I love watching BC play. Let's keep up the tradition...just not at Alumni.

No Thanks

Reader Matt sent an email regarding Notre Dame's annual Thanksgiving trips to California (rotating between Stanford and USC). I had also been thinking about BC's Thanksgiving games. While we won't copy the Irish's west coast swings, I do think the Irish are on to something. I don't think BC should ever play home games Thanksgiving weekend.

The biggest problem with Thanksgiving weekend is that most students are gone. I know campus is still open and they are welcome to return, but changing flights or rides is always easier said than done. This is a problem every school faces, but for state schools, the majority of the student population is still close. BC -- like Notre Dame -- has students from everywhere. Even if the school made an effort to get students back early for Thanksgiving, it is just not going to happen. To a lesser extent, the holiday also keeps some of our fans from outside Boston from making the trip back. They are shopping or traveling or with family.

We've played away games on Thanksgiving night, but I don't think we can ever host one on Thanksgiving Day. Part of it would be competing with the local high school game rivalries and the inevitable challenge from our Newton neighbors. But even a unique game on Thanksgiving or the occasional Black Friday game doesn't gain much for BC. We have our best attendance on Saturdays. When things are outside the norm, our non-local fans again become an issue.

The ACC rivalry with Syracuse is now locked in stone. We will finish our season with the Orange every year, with games rotating between Syracuse and Chestnut Hill. This is our best hope of overcoming the Thanksgiving challenge. If this becomes a heated rivalry, maybe, just maybe, students, non-local fans and even some bandwagon fans will want to get back for the game. Until then just be glad when we finish the season in Syracuse. It is just one less game where our stadium looks empty on TV.