Newton turns to BC for more money

[Disclaimer: this is a non sports post, and yes my perspective is skewed as a BC alum living in suburban Atlanta. That said, I would feel the same way if I lived in Newton or if I was across the street from a major university.]

According to the Globe, Newton is facing a budget shortfall and looking to BC to help fill the gap. While I am all for being a good neighbor, BC should be very careful in how and what they do. Given the political climate in Massachusetts, BC should not allow for any precedent for taxes on their property or endowment. If BC agrees to any additional payments, it should be under specific terms and in exchange for leeway in the development plans and on-campus activities. As a reminder: Newton is the reason we can't have more night events on campus (specifically Thursday night ESPN football games). Newton is also the reason most of the new buildings are on lower campus and not near College Road. (I wonder how much of Newton's shortfalls can be traced back to frivolous lawsuits they've had against BC over the years?) If BC bails out Newton, they better get something concrete in return.

I love the Boston area and Massachusetts, but the growing sentiment to go after the schools is very disconcerting, short-sighted and dangerous. This editorial lays out my fear. The higher-education industry is one of the stabilizing forces in the area. Attacking BC and the other schools with new taxes puts them at a disadvantage. If these schools become less desirable (because of costs or value) then their endowments, their investments in the community, and their staffs will suffer. That hurts Massachusetts.

The not in my backyard mentality and soak the rich (in this case rich school) is never a good long-term solution. BC should use this moment to do some good for our neighbors, heal their relationship with Newton, and change the perception of the school within the community.

The future of BC housing and other links

BC unveiled its plan for the Brighton campus and for 2000 Comm Ave. Gotta love the jeering from the locals. It will be interesting to see who fills all the off campus apartments students currently use. I have a hunch the demographics will change and the Brighton folks will long for the days when students lived in the area. Here is BC's map of the plans.

Despite Miami's strong push, we are recruiting Florida product Lawrence Henderson.

ESPN.com named Flutie Boston College's "face of the program." Was there much debate in Bristol over that one?

Former Eagle Pat Ross signed with the Panthers.

Matt Ryan hasn't forgotten his Philly roots. (Thanks to John S. for the link.)

Another BC blog and other links

If you enjoy this blog give BC Interruption a chance. Started by two BC guys, it features a lot more hockey content than I can get to.

Here is another article on the new NCAA baseball schedule that references BC. It is also noted that like many of our other sports, the baseball team has one of the highest graduation rates in the country.

This article runs down the incoming college QBs and makes a quick reference to Justin Tuggle.

The mind behind the Big Dig is against BC's expansion...for traffic reasons. Anyone want to take a guess on which part of town he lives in? So he is all for spending the better part of two decades tearing up a city and spending billions in taxes but don't let BC build a dorm on the Brighton campus. Makes perfect sense.

The latter part of this article recaps a wrestling match between BC-bound Bryan Murray and ND-bound Lane Clelland. Clelland won, but Murray has the right attitude about their future matchups.

Neighborhood battle takes an unexpected turn

On occasion I interact with parents of BC athletes. One of my first recommendations is “don’t read the BC message boards.” I base this advice on history and the nature of the forum. Mostly unmonitored and relatively anonymous posters pick apart all aspects of the players and coaches lives with little worry about fact, slander or the consequences of their posts. I am not condemning the medium. I am active on one board and have spent numerous hours reading and enjoying both. They are vital to BC sports. However, every message board (including those outside of sports) builds up its own patois, list of references and humor that can easily be taken out of context by outsiders. At the end of the day, message boards are not for the faint of heart. If you are easily offended or sensitive, it is best to avoid and ignore them.

That preamble leads me to this bit of news via the Brighton blog: community activists are aware that they are being discussed and mocked on the BC message boards. For better or worse, BC is getting involved. The school has apologized for the behavior of the boards and may take action against Scout and/or Rivals.

In my opinion, BC should steer clear of this whole mess. Neither site is owned or officially affiliated with the school. If these remarks had run in the reader comments section of a Herald or Globe article, would the school feel the need to get involved? In my opinion these activists will never be happy with any BC solution for the Brighton campus (nor any changes to the main campus). Engaging in dialogue about these offensive comments or apologizing for the actions of anonymous message board posters just distracts from the bigger issue at hand -- the land. The neighbors have shown very little flexibility or willingness to discuss realistic solutions. Acknowledging this message board nonsense or even taking partial responsibility just reinforces the activists firmly-held (and unlikely to change) beliefs that BC and its community are a bunch of ogres trying to destroy Brighton.

As for the comments themselves…I don’t condone them. They are in poor tastes. But I don’t think anyone should give them any attention. I’ve seen much worse on the internet. The reality of today’s world (where anything can be said on a message board or blog and personal information is readily available via google) is that the minute these Brighton folks got involved and started writing, campaigning and giving interviews they opened themselves up as targets. (I should know. I receive all sorts of random and often harassing emails from people who don’t like BC sports.)

I would love to see this all get resolved. BC needs the Brighton campus. It would also add to the community around campus. But any long-time observer of the situation can tell you this won’t end smoothly or soon. Let’s move forward. The focus should be on solutions that work, not offensive online nonsense.

2008 football, Corey Raji, Harvard tutition and other links

This season is not yet over, but people are already looking ahead to next year. Tobacco Road insider Caulton Tudor expects us to finish at the bottom of the Atlantic Division. I think next season will be a real challenge. Every team on our schedule should be better and we'll have an untested quarterback. At this point -- with the full schedule and potential staff changes unknown -- I think 7-5 and a bowl berth would be a very good season in 2008.

The ACC named Corey Raji the Rookie of the Week.

Harvard is restructuring their financial aid and tuition requirements to help the middle and upper-middle class. This is long overdue and will hopefully have a ripple effect on all private, elite colleges. I wish BC had been at the forefront of this effort. I assume that if Harvard is successful with this, BC and other schools will not be far behind.

In other news related to the BC experience, Father Leahy is considering moving all undergrads on campus. Not sure how I feel about this. I enjoyed living off campus my Junior year. It would be nice to give every student the option. Forcing kids to stay on campus won't change the dynamics with the neighbors. They'll always have something to complain about.

Duke is still looking for a new head coach. This article mentions Steve Logan. This one does not. I think Logan will be at BC next year.

BC recruit Max Halloway played well in a Florida All Star game.

Big plans and other links

BC announced its plan for the St. Johns land as part of a massive expansion of the campus. This is great news. Hopefully the locals won't slow the process down in court.

Here's a look at how the coaches voted. TOB liked BC. Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio didn't.

Incoming BC football player Dominick Le Grande was named Player of the Year by the New York Daily News.

Michigan State is excited about playing BC. I know our guys are going down early and will go to all the parks. Not a New Year's Day Bowl, but these guys earned the trip.

This is a little old, but Matt Ryan won the Unitas award.

Alumni gets louder and other links

The neighbors are going to love this...we're improving the PA system at Alumni. (Thanks to Anthony for the link.)

A great article on new offensive coordinator Steve Logan.

Ian and I will be pounding out ACC preview stuff over at the Fanhouse in the next week or so.

Logan and other links

Rivals published a nice interview with new Offensive Coordinator Steve Logan.

While we are trying to add games like USC, our conference rival Clemson is softening their schedule.

I get fired up about BC sports. These people get fired up about BC for a different reason.

More Brighton campus nonsense

This blog will remain focused on BC sports, but all this nonsense over the school's plans for the Brighton campus needs a little attention. (Plus it is the summer.) Check out these two letters to the editors of the TAB.

On quieter nights, slammed car doors, skateboarding and shouting continue to awaken us. Another unpleasantness — student houses are uncared for and marked by trash.

First of all, most BC students don't have cars and even fewer have skateboards so it is probably not a student making that noise. Shouting? Perhaps. Uncared for houses? I'll give them that. But to get this supposed blight out of the neighborhood, shouldn't you welcome more on campus dorms? Not according to this different complainer.

How exactly is BC taking students OUT of the Allston-Brighton community by placing them precisely IN the heart of that community, i.e, in the former archdiocese’s grounds? The argument that students are better monitored in dorms than in off-campus apartments is irrelevant and misleading, unless BC is willing to provide security guards whose duty would be to guarantee the good behavior of every student who will roam in and out of the proposed residence, freely enjoy the grounds around it, and drive in and out of the proposed dorm.

We all know that BC will not do so, if nothing else because it would be unconstitutional. The right way to for BC to get students OUT of the neighborhood is to increase the density of dorms in the BC Chestnut Hill campus.

More dorms on Lower is the answer (since attempts to do anything on upper, college road or newton has already been shot down), eh? Have they seen how dense Lower is? There is no where else to go. The author of the second letter also disputes the whole "didn't you notice the school when you moved in" arguement with some claim that they've been their for generations. Nonsense. And I know from prior generations, BC kids haven't changed much either.

There is really no pleasing these people.

Meet the neighbors; Ticket issues…at Tech

The Globe profiled some of BC’s local and vocal critics. Included in the article is the Brighton blogger I linked to last month. The article rehashed many of the same old laments from both sides. I strongly side with the school in this sort of stuff. All of these neighbors benefit greatly from BC, BC predates all of them, and BC makes an effort to be a good partner and member of the community. What happens in return? Lawsuit after lawsuit. Keeping BC from building dorms yet complaining about off campus students is the ultimate proof that there is no pleasing these people. While I like the green space that the new Brighton extension represents it would serve these neighbors right for us to put a few mega dorms and the student center over there.

Donor Based Seating Somewhere Else
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before…city school with a midsize stadium implements a donor based seating program to stay competitive in today’s college sports. Numerous longtime fans object and give up there tickets. In this case, it is not BC, but fellow ACC school Georgia Tech. This move was the talk of Atlanta sports radio this morning. A point that came across, that I think often gets missed when BC fans discuss this, is that this move raises the bar and expectations for the program. Watching the Athletic Department pat itself on the back about seven or eight wins and a December Bowl is not acceptable when you are asking people to shell out big bucks. I don’t think the donor based seating concept is perfect but if it gets our fan base more engaged and puts greater expectations on the program, I am all for it.