Oline pressure and other links

Everyone talks about our QBs, but the real key to the season might be the Offensive Line. Personally I think this unite comes together quickly.

The Heights put together a nice "Year n Review" feature.

Former BC Defensive End Brian Mihalik is going to convert to Offensive Tackle for the Steelers.

The perfect time capsule: The Heights archives

Long before social media, blogs, and message boards started tracking every aspect of BC sports, there was The Heights. The student reporters captured some of the smaller stories that the Globe and Herald ignored and the writing always had a tinge of fandom that any BC SuperFan could appreciate. That's why when an Eagle Outsider poster linked to the Heights Archives, I dug into the old stories. Personally I enjoyed rereading the editions from my time on campus, but there are literally thousands of articles to read. Enjoy, but don't blame me when you find yourself searching old stuff much longer than you planned.

Other BC voices

As the BC blogosphere and twitterverse have grown, we all seem to be commenting on the same topics. But there are some unique voices out there that might get lost in the noise. Here are some other BC folks who at times are overlooked or not given enough credit. Follow their work for insight, passion and humor.

BCMike: twitter and BC Draft. Mike is a fellow Georgia transplant and has been active on various BC message boards and platforms for years.

Dave Levy: twitter and Heights and Lows. Dave's twitter feed is not exclusively BC sports, but it is media and sports heavy. Heights and Lows takes a more lighthearted approach to BC sports.

The Heights: twitter and tumblr. The Heights Sports section is in the middle of a great run. For the past six or seven years they've been building their depth, improving their reporting and breaking more news.

Greg Joyce: twitter. Greg will edit the Heights Sports section next football season. With the fate of Spaz, Gene and the ACC in play, the Fall will not lack for storylines or news.

Stephen Sikora: twitter. Another Heights Sports staff writer. He live tweets during games.

Austin Tedesco: twitter. Austin closed the school year with a strong Steve Donahue interview.

Prof. Ed Taylor: ETEagle Blog. CSOM Accounting Professor and die hard BC fan.

Eric Hoffses: twitter. As I've said before, I am not a fan of Eagle Action, but I am a fan of Hoffses. He is easily the best guy covering -- not just commentating on -- BC sports.

Soaring to Glory: Blog. Their individual previews of the players are worth the read.

Around the Res: Blog. They are the only ones who can get Gene to answer their questions!

I know I didn't cover everyone. If there is someone or some blog that I overlooked, please add it in the comments section.

Heights' Donahue Q&A and other links

The Heights has been tweeting out quotes from their Donahue Q&A for a couple of days. Today they posted it. It is very thorough and well done. Donahue is more than candid and seems to have a good perspective on BC, his players and building the program. Hats off to the writer Austin Tedesco. He looks to have a bright future covering BC sports.

Donavan Henry -- who spurned Spaz's offer to play football -- explained his choice to pursue track to the Herald.

Track's Jon Vaughn is looking to build off of his strong indoor season.

Kent State named former Eagle Danielle O'Banion their new women's basketball head coach.

Kristin Igoe, Mikaela Rix, and Covie Stanwick earned All-ACC honors in lacrosse.

Former Eagle Rakim Sanders played well at the Portsmouth Invitational, but I still doubt he'll earn a spot on an NBA roster. What can Rakim do that 40 other potential draftees cannot?

Maryland athlete Daikiel Shorts is on BC's recruiting radar.

Heights Sports Editor signs off with strong column

For those who don't pay attention to these things, the Height transitions its staff on the calender year, not the school year. So that means the different editor jobs change around this time. With that, they all get to write their send off pieces. With his time nearing an end Sports Editor Paul Sulzer wrote a very strong column on Spaz. Go read it now. It's comforting to know that the next generation of Eagles do share our passion.

New recruit and other links

After a very slow few months on the recruiting front, BC added another linebacker. Bobby Wolford is from the Jacksonville area and was committed to BYU prior to his switch to BC. What I find interesting about the whole transition is that the Utah paper describes him as a devout Catholic who originally selected BYU because of its faith-based tradition. I wonder at what point the fish out of water aspect of being a Catholic at an LDS school made him decide to switch to BC? He is a solid addition to the class.

There is no easy way to handle this link other than to report that BC lacrosse player Michael Racanelli died. Very little information is available.

Here are some good takes on the basketball game last night from The Heights and the Herald.

Two takes on the Spaz situation

The divide on Spaz will soon be the public narrative whenever BC takes the field. Every week at least one writer will take him down, while another provides some sort of cover. You saw it Monday with different takes from the student paper and local paper.

The first is Paul Sulzer of The Heights:

BC is still paying for the mistake of hiring an unqualified head coach. The Eagles are one of four BCS conference teams without a win over a Division 1 team. They might be touchdown-plus underdogs against all but two of their remaining opponents (Maryland and NC State). Their current recruiting class ranks outside the top 50, according to Rivals.

If the cupboard was bare before, it's about to become barren.

The second is from Eric Avidon of the Patriot-Ledger:

Spaziani has a pedigree, developing superb defenses for years as a coordinator at BC under Tom O’Brien and Jeff Jagozinski – the coaches whose sudden departures damaged two of BC’s recent recruiting classes, players who would now be in their third and fifth years in the program, respectively.

Now because one is a BC student and one is a professional, you might say that one is more informed or appropriately dispassionate. I would disagree. What is poor professional form is taking the depth argument at face value and not digging deeper.

Spaz could have veteran talent if he and his staff had managed things a little differently. There was no more obvious a reminder than Saturday when the Raycom broadcast flashed back to the end of the 2009 BC-Wake Forest game. In the winning play freshman Isaac Johnson knocks the ball lose and it is covered by Junior Wes Davis and freshman Alex DiSanzo. Now DiSanzo and Johnson were contributors as freshmen and on the field in the most important play of the game. Yet neither are with the program now when they would be Juniors. Spaz apologists will say that neither were good guys and didn't belong at BC. Johnson was from Everett and DiSanzo was from Don Bosco. Aren't those the type of guys BC has thrived with over the past 15 years? When does Spaz and his staff get the blame for not finding a place for those guys and keeping them as part of the program?

More credit to The Heights and to Shinskie

Commentor mod34b pointed this out and I felt it was worth mentioning to a wider audience. Based on how it looked, I assumed Shinskie's TD to Swigert was a little lucky. It was behind Swigert and in between three Kent State defenders. Swigert made a great adjustment for his first touchdown. As it turns out it wasn't luck. From the Heights:

“They were playing man to man, and the defender wasn’t really looking, and I saw Bobby put his hand up,” Shinskie said. “I underthrew it because the guy had his back turned, and Bobby made an easy comeback to the ball.

“It was a great catch by Bobby, his first touchdown, I feel good for him.”

Hats off to the Heights writer Gregg Joyce for getting the quote and explanation. And hats off to Shinskie and Swigert for making the sorts of adjustments you wouldn't expect from two relatively inexperienced guys.

Now being a blogger who is watching on tv thousands of miles away, my opinions are often wrong since I don't have the benefit of asking the players and coaches what happened. I am glad the Heights included these quotes. They are the type of wonky stuff I love that the Boston papers seem to overlook or ignore.

New look for The Heights and other links

In honor their 90th anniversary The Heights has updated their web site. Definitely check it out and I recommend reading the Heights' sports section on a regular basis. Over the past few years it has been the launching point for some very good BC writers.

In other news to be proud of, BC continues to be the leader in graduating its student athletes. Football should be especially proud since it is only one of six programs with a rate above 90%.

Disney is honoring Herzlich with its Disney Spirit Award. Well deserved. I wonder if they have optioned his movie rights already!

Although we've had a special connection with the Cincinnati area, even the folks back in Ohio realize how special Luke Kuechly is.

Since we bypassed hoops recruits last year, these are the names you need to know for next season.

Like Kuechly, I don't know where we would be without Montel Harris.

The Seniors are looking to close out their final home game with a win.