Pics of Ryan and Gonzo at Falcons camp

BC Mike took in the second day of Falcons camp and sent along these pics.

More Matt stuff and other links

This is probably the most positive column I've read on Matt from the local media.

Ryan Poles is one step closer to making the Bears roster.

One of the pluses of Silva signing with the Colts is the team's track record of keeping undrafted free agents.

This article looks at the ACC's struggles in the Big Dance and floats some possible solutions.

Tuggle at Falcons camp and other links

Father of future BC QB Justin Tuggle, Jessie Tuggle took in the first day of Falcon's mini-camp. He had very good things to say about BC.

Ryan is throwing to a familiar face as Tony Gonzalez earned an invite to Falcons camp.

Falcons fans are already sporting Ryan's No. 2 jersey.

There was a big turnout Saturday morning. Maybe Ryan will generate more interest than people expected.

BC guy and Matt's agent Tom Condon and his firm were the big winners on draft day.

Plug in the AJC

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution produced a "welcome package" for Matt and included a plug for this blog.

IF YOU'RE HOMESICK

> Atlanta Chapter, Boston College Alumni Association (www.bc.edu/chapters/atlanta).

> Atleagle.blogspot.com: Blog that's all BC sports all the time by Bill Maloney, class of '98.

> Atlanta Red Sox Nation: Decatur-based Meetup group (http://redsox.meetup.com/138). Next meeting: May 27.

Of course they made the classic mistake that all Eagles outside of Boston face: the assumption that we are all Sox fans. I am pretty sure Matt roots for the Phillies. Other than that, I appreciate the shout out. Welcome to Atlanta.

Forgot about 'Dre

27 running backs were drafted this year. Andre Callender was not among them. This wasn't a surprise. Entering the Draft, Callender was a borderline draftee. Guys who accomplished much more and showed greater upside found themselves going late in the second day.

What has surprised me is that AC is not making any news in this free agency period. Many of his teammates have signed as free agents or at least been through a tryout or two. Yet no word on 'Dre. He had a decent Pro Day and a great senior year. That should have been enough to generate interest. Maybe something is brewing that I am not aware of. I haven't seen anything to report. I don't think the NFL is missing out on some superstar, but I do think he can be a contributor and is underrated in the passing game. Hopefully he'll get a shot somewhere.

UPDATE: Dre is getting a tryout with the Giants.

Does Armstrong have any eligibility left?

BC guy, former Heights editor, and current SI.com writer Kevin Armstrong went under cover at one of those high school camp/combines as a QB. It's a good, light-hearted piece. As a follow up, I'd love to know more about the selection of participants and who picks up the tab for the event.

You can see Kevin's work here.



My scouting report. Kevin lacks the ideal size for a QB and his release is slow. 1 star.

See Matt in action and other links

The Falcons have opened their Rookie mini-camp to the public. If you're in Atlanta this weekend, you can drive out to Flowery Branch to see Ryan in his new uniform. I wonder if this is what Mrs. ATL_eagle had in mind for Mother's Day?

ACC Now is not optimistic about our upcoming season. The more I read, the more I sense a growing consensus. Everyone thinks we are going to struggle. I remain confident we'll be a bowl team.

Two BC spots cracked SI's 101 Things to Do Before You Graduate. (Thanks to Brian for the link.) Not trying to be a contrarian, but does anyone else think Maryann's is placed too high on this list?

Basketball highlights and other links

Here is a highlight package for the 2008 season. For more BC basketball stuff on Youtube go to BCHOOPS08's Channel page.

Here's a two part interview with Dejuan Tribble (Part 1, Part 2).

More offseason looks at the football team...one from Southernpigskin and one from a Notre Dame site.

Here is Nathan Gerbe's press conference with the Sabres. (Thanks to Nick P. for the link.)

Taking a look at BC's APR rating

The NCAA released its latest APR report Tuesday. As a refresher, the APR stands for Academic Progress Report. Myles Brand created the measurement to track the academic success of student athletes. Programs that fail to meet national standards are subject to scholarship penalties and other restrictions.

You can read BC's report here.

What does it mean for BC? For the most part the news in excellent. The danger score is 925 and all of the BC teams are well above that number. The only team flirting with 925 is men's basketball and they are above the national average for hoops. The APR is calculated using a four year window, so our basketball number should creep up once the players who were kicked out mid semester cycle out of our average.

Hats of to the Athletic Department for keeping our athletes in school and on the path to graduation.

Another local commit and other links

Massachusetts product Aurthur Fontaine verbally committed to BC. For those who care, Fontaine is highly rated by most recruiting services.

Here are more details on Gerbe's decision. Give the financial considerations and all that he's accomplished in college hockey, it makes sense to move on.

MVN network had great things to say about Dudley's first year. I also agree with them that Larry Brown will love Jared.

Tony Barnhart has us just outside his Top 30.

BC and the ACC did very well in the NCAA's APR ratings. I'll have more on BC's APR status later today.

Gerbe going pro

Frozen Four hero Nathan Gerbe is going pro. Not too surprising. It is always nice to go out on top. Best of luck to him.

Full Season Prouty Ratings

Since I've just spent the past couple weeks using completely subjective measurements in rating the basketball players, I only thought it was fair to conclude with the objective. Below is the full season Prouty Ratings. (Prouty is an efficiency measurement used by some college hoops stats guys).

Here is the calculation:

Prouty Rating
[ {Points / (Field Goals Attempted * 2 + FTA) } +
{ (Points + Assists * 2 - Turnovers) / Minutes} +
{ (Rebounds + Steals + (Blocks / 2) - Personal Fouls) / Minutes} +
{ (Minutes / (TEAM TOTAL MINUTES / 5) } * Team Winning Pct} ] / 4

As I said when I produced the midseason ratings, this is not perfect. It does attempt to measure a player's contributions by combing offensive stats, possession stats (defense) and productivity. Here's how the BC players performed:

Rice -- 0.579
Raji -- 0.465
Sanders -- 0.450
Spears -- 0.420
Southern -- 0.391
Paris -- 0.360
Oates -- 0.354
Blair -- 0.337
Roche -- 0.333


Some thoughts...
-- The good news: our three most productive players return and two of our least productive are leaving
-- When reviewing the stats for the calculation, I was reminded how sloppy many of our players were. You don't expect inside players to have great assist to turnover ratios but Sanders (.63), Spears (.58), Blair (.43) were too careless.
-- If you take Rice out of the equation the rest of the team shot .626 from the line. Terrible.

Looking at next season and other links

I'm optimistic that our basketball team can be better next year. ACC Insider Carlton Tudor is not. He's predicting a 10th place finish.

Here is part three of the ACC football previews from David Glenn. Refreshingly, Glenn is the first guy I've come across that has an informed take on the defense.

The Sailing team continued its dominant season with another victory over the weekend. The win qualified the team for the ICSA Team Race National Championship.

Gerbe remains undecided on his college hockey future.

Track star Kasey Hill earned Eagle of the Year honors for women's sports. Some guy named Matt Ryan won the men's award.

Tom Coughlin still works overtime to honor the legacy of Jay McGillis.

More information on Brooks' transfer and other links

Looks like A.J. Brooks is headed the NAIA route. If Georgetown accepts him, he would not have to sit a year.

Here is an article on BC Guy and Hockey play-by-play man Jon Rish.

Are Matt Ryan's hobbies as notorious as Michael Vick's?

Can Spaz save the season?

I’ve been gushing about Matt Ryan to any Falcon fan who’ll listen. One recently said, “if he was so great, does that mean BC should suck this year?” My response: “not exactly.” I think the offense will struggle during the transition, but I also assume that the defense will offset many of the problems.

I’ve spent plenty of time criticizing Spaz, but we know what we are getting. In his time as our Defensive Coordinator we’ve held our opponents to an average of 20.2 points per game and 330.2 yards per game. Take a look at the consistency below.

Year	Points Allowed Per Game	Total Defense Per Game
2007	20.4	284.2
2006	15.7	310.8
2005	15.9	311.7
2004	16.9	332.8
2003	25.5	358.3
2002	19.5	338.7
2001	18.9	299.9
2000	23.1	349.0
1999	25.7	386.4

(Note: last season’s points allowed number is a bit deceiving. Remember that the offense allowed five INTs for TDs.)
Now, allow me to make some broad assumptions:
-- I am assuming the linebackers will be better (good depth and Toal’s return)
-- I am assuming that the defensive line will be better (good young players at the Ends, good experience and Raji’s return)
-- The secondary will struggle (no Silva, no Tribble)
-- Our opponents will not have the same generous field position they had last season (it can’t get much worse)

Based on those assumptions, I think Spaz can produce another unit that limits our opponents to less than 20 points per game. In seasons where we limited our opponents to less than 20, we’ve averaged nine wins. I am not predicting nine wins, but our defense should keep us very competitive.

Detroit loves Gos and other links

The Lions fans may not be excited about Gosder Cherilus, but the media can't get enough. Here is another positive article on the first rounder.

The baseball team swept a double header with Maryland on Saturday.

Tom Anevski is familiar with his surroundings in Cincinnati.

David Glenn posted Part 2 of his ACC Spring Review.

More Eagles in rookie tryouts and other links

Ryan Poles played great this year. He would have been drafted but faced a huge setback when he blew out his Achilles against Notre Dame. Fortunately the Bears are still giving him a chance. If he's healthy, Poles will be a good NFL player. Larkin is also getting a shot with the Bears.

Silva is making the most of his chance with Indy.

The AJC's Tony Barnhart defended the ACC in this article.

Tom Anevski will get a tryout with the Bengals.

Dap for Jeff and Brian

I've never met them, but I think Jeff would be Tony and Brian would be Wilbon.

I wanted to take a moment to recognize BC Interruption. The new blog is really coming into its own.

In blogging a good gimmick goes a long way and Jeff and Brian have found one. They take the best segments from Pardon The Interruption and apply them to our little world of BC sports. They've quickly found a rhythm and voice for the blog and have a funny fresh take on BC. I hope they keep up the good work.

Haden getting notice and other links

SI mentions Josh Haden as one of the early enrollees who should make an impact next fall.

Two of our opponents are expected to be Top 25 teams next fall.

The ACC-affiliated Congressional Bowl in Washington D.C. received NCAA approval.

Here is an early fantasy football read on Matt Ryan.

The Lions confirmed they will use Cherilus at Right Tackle.

Ryan in SI and other links

Matt didn't get the cover, but SI's Peter King did write a nice feature on the process of drafting him. Readers outside Atlanta are already latching on the racial divide aspect of King's article. Braves & Birds explained it well in their critique of the Ryan pick:

Ryan is not coming into a good situation with the Falcons. Leaving aside the mediocre receiving corps and substandard offensive line, Falcons fans are not happy with the drafting of Ryan. Speaking in broad stereotypes (always a recipe for disaster), the Falcons' fan base is primarily composed of two groups. The first group are African-Americans, some of whom still like Mike Vick and most of whom are well aware of the racial coding that goes on when the media slobbers all over Ryan for being a "leader" and "polished." They aren't going to be overly excited for a great white hope, given the circumstances. The second group are college football fanatics who view Falcons games as dessert after the main course on Saturday. (I would put myself in this group. I would also assert that there isn't tremendous overlap between group one and group two because college football unfortunately tends to be a white sport, especially in the South. I digress.) Southern college football fans, almost universally, view Ryan as an average college quarterback who has been hyped beyond his merits because he played in the Northeast. This group is also not happy with the Ryan selection.

Whereas most top five picks are greeted with unabashed, oft-irrational enthusiasm by the fans of the teams that draft them, Ryan is not going to get the same love in Atlanta. Atlanta fans tend to be a lot more positive and forgiving than, say, Philly fans, but the particulars of Ryan's drafting mean that he is going face an especially empathetic fan base. This is why the purported rationale of the Falcons to take Ryan for marketing purposes is so weak.

As an Atlanta resident, I think the racial divide is Arthur Blank's problem. Ryan just needs to win and play well. The rest will take care of itself.

Speaking of race...Deadspin played "gotcha" with a Notre Dame club in Pennsylvania. Nothing BC related in the link, but given what just happened on our campus, I think the thug label is too often thrown around.

Here is more on Pruitt signing with Detroit.

Former BC assistant Erik Johnson is now the new coach of the women's team at University of Denver.

Kevin Challenger has already been traded. Life is tough in the CFL.