Hoops, movies, Meter and other links

With the basketball season just a few weeks away, I am starting the hoops coverage over at Eagle Insider. Considering it is a transition year, I don't expect us to make the tournament. Neither does this blogger.

Here is BC's video of the Kent State game day experience.

If you are on Facebook, you should certainly fan the BC page and check out the hockey team's visit to Washington while you are there.

There are some agent rumors surrounding basketball transfer Matt Humphrey. I am not concerned about any of it. Clearly we didn't get the Matt or his friends as part of a package.

Jon Meterparel has been prepping for his current job for a long time.

It is nice to see Alex Albright finally healthy.

BC guy Jay Sartori is now Assistant General Manager of the Toronto Blue Jays. Congrats to him.

Ben Aflleck's new movie was based on a novel written by a BC grad Chuck Hogan.

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.

Miss Manners: You cheer for and attend BC, not West Virginia

Dear Miss Manners:

I was wondering what your thoughts were about this “First Down...Bitch” chant that has apparently been going around Alumni? As a grad in the class of ’08, we didn’t have stuff like this. It’s not even the profanity, it’s just stupid. The chant is not imaginative. It’s not creative. And it’s dumb. You know at some point BC is going to be losing a game, they’re going to get a first down, and the chant is going to come out. At that point, who cares? Look, I applaud the underclassmen and new Eagles for taking initiative and trying to start some new traditions. And it’s not that I’m offended by the language. I’m offended by stupidity and a lack of creativity, both of which this dumb cheer reeks of.

-- Matt '08

Matt:

You captured the problem with this cheer succinctly. It is neither clever nor creative. What ever points the BC students get for originality is negated by the stupidity of the chant. While you may not be offended by the language, there are sure to be plenty of fans who are. Anyone attending a college football game can expect to hear a few offcolor remarks, but a coordinated and consistent chant -- after every first down no less -- is too much. Boston College has an image and an environment that it protects and projects fiercely. Six thousand Superfans yelling "bitch" is not consistent with that image.

The SuperFan movement was organic and came from passionate students. BC grabbed a hold of it and helped turn a few yellow shirts into a tradition. The "First Down...bitch" is as organic. I expect BC to mute it with the same efficiency they helped the original SuperFans.

I am sure some of the "bitch" yellers will view BC and older fans as humorless or grumpy. What they don't realize is that the thousands of people annoyed by their cheer were once sitting in those same student seats. With time, perspective and a little class, they will realize that the "bitch" cheer doesn't belong at Alumni.

Five non-BCS schools we should schedule

Want to see a BC Athletic Department representative roll his or her eyes: suggest that BC should drop the FCS and MAC games and schedule non-conference games against Alabama, Ohio State and Texas every year. We all know it is not going to happen. The FCS game is a permanent slot on every FBS school's schedule. BC is also not going to ever play three BCS opponents out of conference in one season. That means with most of our BCS opponents spoken for over the next ten years (Notre Dame, Syracuse, USC, Northwestern) we should really start to get strategic and creative in which non-BCS opponents we should play. I have my ideas and would like to here yours. (Because BC doesn't have the money to buy games I am assuming that these agreements will always be home and home or on occasion a 2 for 1 in BC's favor.)


1. Northern Illinois The Chicagoland area is important for BC and BC football. We have a strong alumni base there. We continue to accept many students from the area and the football team is now recruiting the area competitively again. Given our history with the MAC, Northern Illinois would probably entertain a 2 for 1, since BCS programs rarely play at their stadiums. The only argument against playing there is that our Chicago fans already have Northwestern and Notre Dame games to attend. There are other pockets of alums that also deserve to see BC in person.

2. San Jose State My rationale for playing the Spartans is very similar to the idea behind playing Northern Illinois. I would much rather play Stanford or Cal in front of our Bay Area fans and alums, but we might have to wait seven or eight years before Stanford and Cal are open on the same year we only have one BCS opponent. We could probably get San Jose State on board in the near future.

3. Temple For years BC wanted Temple off the schedule and now I am suggesting adding them back! But my logic is a bit different now. When the Temple game was a Big East conference game, it represented a dead spot in the schedule. It was filler to pad the win total and generated zero excitement. At the time Temple was one of the worst programs in college football. Now things are a little different. They are much improved and might represent an interesting matchup on occasion. Plus with 12 games, you are going to play some lower level teams. So shouldn't BC play a team that it has a bit of history with? It doesn't hurt that eastern PA and New Jersey are still important recruiting grounds for us. And financially it is an inexpensive trip.

4. Navy Army is back on the schedule, so let's get the Naval Academy back on too. I assume BC has not been in a rush to play Navy because it would represent a very tough game. But assuming that Navy will maintain their current success another five to ten years is presumptuous. What BC should rely on is our history with the Service Academies and our inherent advantages over them on the football field. In most years BC would be a heavy favorite to beat Navy. Not scheduling them out of fear is lame.

5. Tulane Because our ACC schedule brings us south so often, I know Gene wants to visit other areas of the country. But that shouldn't prevent us from playing Tulane. Not only would it be a fun and unique trip for many BC fans, but we should also seek out like minded schools for our opponents. We take pride in doing things the right way and recruiting student athletes. Shouldn't we play other schools that do the same?

Reading the tea leaves on Big Ten hockey

The BCI crew took note of Penn State adding hockey and how it will impact BC. Their fear is that the money generated by Big Ten hockey via the Big Ten Network would give those six schools a huge advantage over traditional power conferences like the Hockey East. I actually think Big Ten Hockey helps BC. Let me explain:

-- The Big Ten is not done expanding. Despite the relative calm now that they've added Nebraska, I don't believe the Big Ten is done expanding. The Big XII is still in a precarious position as is the Big East and the Big Ten is in the catbird seat because of their TV money. When the next conference shuffle comes, the Big Ten will be influencing much of who goes where.
-- If hockey becomes a focus of the Big Ten Network, hockey programs will be needed too. Football will always drive the conversation and the network's revenue. Basketball is next. But hockey could become a lucrative staple of the cable network. So in looking for expansion candidates, you will be hard to pressed to find someone who does all three better than BC. What candidate, other than Notre Dame, would offer the Big Ten those three elements?
-- BC is still a better TV play than most schools out there.
Our ratings are strong on a local level and on a national level (for a non traditional power). The Big Ten has little market presence in New England or on New England cable systems (as a premium channel). BC would help on that front.

Now, I don't think the Big Ten officials are huddled in Chicago thinking "how can we get BC to defect?." They would never add us as a stand alone 13th team. But the hockey factor makes us that much more attractive as a school that might join with one or three other universities.

Despite our comfort in the ACC and being a founding member of Hockey East, BC would certainly entertain the idea. I know Father Leahy and Gene D dread the idea of going through another conference shuffle, but they also fear the idea of BC being part of a leftover conference. Money is important to the school but so is association. If we can have a financially stable conference and still be associated with Duke, North Carolina, and Virginia, etc, I think BC would gladly stay put. But if BC is left in a conference with the Big East retreads, the school wouldn't think twice about joining the Big Ten.

Why is the Virginia Tech game kickoff time still not decided?

The Virginia Tech game is two weeks away and we still don't know the kickoff time. Complicating matters a little bit is that the game is also Parents Weekend, so you have thousands of people who want to plan their trip to Boston around the matchup. In an ideal world, ESPN and the ACC announce kickoff times two weeks prior to game day. However, the network reserves the right to use a shorter window when the outlook is a little more cloudy. This is where the under-performing ACC becomes an issue. If Virginia Tech had beaten James Madison last weekend, the BC-VT game probably would have been in prime time. Since VT lost, the game becomes less important and worthy of a noon slot on Raycom. But much to the ACC's chagrin, Georgia Tech and Florida State also fell on their faces this weekend. None of these ACC teams are likely to be ranked by September 25. No ranking makes them less desirable to the casual fan. It will all be decided by next Sunday morning, but this is my guess of how it will play out.

If Virginia Tech beats East Carolina... BC vs VT will be a 3:30 regional game on ABC. They can dump it on a few ACC markets and get a decent rating. This is where I predict we will play.

If NC State wins Thursday and Georgia Tech wins Saturday... GT vs NCSU will be in prime time. If one loses prior to the game they are probably still prime time. If both lose, they are probably going to the 3:30 slot and BC is back in prime time.

If Wake or Florida State lose...they will probably be on Raycom at noon. Both have very tough games. Neither will be ranked and neither have any household names that might be casual TV draws.

So final prediction:
ESPN Prime Time: Georgia Tech vs NC State
ABC 3:30: BC vs Virginia Tech
Raycom: Wake Forest vs Florida State

Blogpoll ballot Week 2

I didn't see much of the Penn State-Alabama game, but what I did see made me think the Tide are probably the best team in the county. Hence they kept my number one slot. Because of the lightning delay, I did see much of the Oregon-Tennessee game. Oregon looks very impressive and gets my number two slot. Everything else is a little bit of twisted logic and rational. I continue to sandbag BC because we didn't play great and because we haven't beaten anyone of note yet. But I do think our team can be very good. Also to explain a bit about what I watch and how much attention I pay. At this point with three kids under five, the 3:30 BC games are killers. I watch but my ability to focus or hear is blunted by the chaos that is going on around. So it is not until the second viewing that I am able to pick up on everything. As for the other games, most are on in the background and I watch while doing other things (work, exercise, etc.)


Games I watched
BC-Kent State 100% (twice)
Auburn-Mississippi State -- 50%
Notre Dame-Michigan 25%
West Virginia-Marshall -- 50%
Kansas-Georgia Tech -- 25%
Oregon-Tennessee -- 50%
Penn State-Alabama -- 10%
USC-UVA -- 50%
Duke-Wake Forest 20%

Eagle in Atlanta Ballot - Week 3

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Alabama Crimson Tide	--
2	Oregon Ducks	--
3	Ohio St. Buckeyes	3
4	Oklahoma Sooners	--
5	Texas Longhorns	11
6	TCU Horned Frogs	-1
7	Arkansas Razorbacks	-3
8	Nebraska Cornhuskers	-5
9	South Carolina Gamecocks	1
10	Michigan Wolverines	5
11	LSU Tigers	-4
12	California Golden Bears	--
13	Utah Utes	-5
14	Wisconsin Badgers	-5
15	Boise St. Broncos	-3
16	Auburn Tigers	--
17	Florida Gators	1
18	Iowa Hawkeyes	-1
19	Stanford Cardinal	--
20	USC Trojans	--
21	Missouri Tigers	--
22	Clemson Tigers	--
23	Boston College Eagles	--
24	West Virginia Mountaineers	-5
25	Maryland Terrapins	-1
Dropouts: Georgia Bulldogs, Penn St. Nittany Lions, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Miami Hurricanes, Florida St. Seminoles, Virginia Tech Hokies

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings »

Second viewing thoughts and grade report: Kent State

(Grades and thoughts are here this week. Still testing what drives traffic here and what moves the needle at Eagle Insider.)

For those of you who have been reading these recaps over the years, there is somewhat of a pattern. I am almost always more optimistic after watching the game a second time. Perhaps taking away the emotion allows me to view things with a more evenhanded perspective. Or perhaps the subtleties make me realize that the plays didn't just go wrong because "BC is cursed." Other teams make plays too. Watching back the Kent State game made me feel better. BC still has some glaring weaknesses, but most are correctable. With some tweaks here and there by the coaching staff, this team can compete and beat every team on our schedule.

Offense: B-

I only marked Shinskie down for six bad throws. Seriously! Sure, he got lucky on Swigert's TD, but overall he improved and made a few nice passes. He still locked in at times (the Lee TD) and still aired some of his early throws, like the pass intended for Montel, but he got better. So now that he has shown that he can spread the ball around, and hit spots, I would like to see him work in more slants and crossing routes. Marscovetra's two series didn't show us much. I didn't like the INT, but I think the limited playing time and the low scoring game (at the time he entered) invite a young QB to take risks and force things.

Harris got the touches, but couldn't find his holes or his rhythm. Most of his troubles were due to the offensive line and Kent State's scheme, but Montel did lose one carry. Fortunately BC held on. The much bigger problem with Harris was his pass protection and blitz pick up. It is so strange too to watch it happen. Since Sirmans took over as RB coach, our running backs have been great at picking up blockers. Saturday was the sloppiest effort since Sirmans has come aboard. Harris was slow to react and didn't do his usual solid job of keeping guys off the QB. Phifer was good in mop up duty. McCluskey got plenty of reps as a lead blocker but didn't get to do much else. (Let's throw him the ball soon.)

The WRs and TEs were excellent. I only counted two drops. Lee especially did a great job of pulling down tough passes. Swigert did a nice job adjusting in traffic on his TD. Pantale and Anderson both played well. Coleman continues to play beyond his years (for a guy who hasn't played much football, he showed a good football IQ in recovering a fumble).

The biggest problem on the whole day was the offensive line. I know Kent State crammed the box and made an effort to stop the run, but there is no excuse for some of the things that happened. Too many times Kent State DEs and LBs were allowed to run freely into the BC backfield while our lineman turned the wrong way and blocked no one. And some of the mistakes came from some of our smartest and most consistent players like Claiborne and Castonzo. What was going on? Were the line calls not getting communicated? Can experienced Seniors be that lost? What ever is wrong is coachable, because this unit has talent. Coaching OLine is probably the hardest job in football. Not because it is technical, but the opposite. The techniques are pretty basic. What is hard is getting five ginormous men to act in concert together. BC did not show that unity this weekend. From the outside and as a long time observer, I think there must be communication issues. How else can you explain guys letting men run free. Communication mix ups would also explain why and how Harris was so out of place on pass protection. One other note about the oline: Spinney looked pretty good when he filled in for the injured Nathan Richman.

I am neutral on Gary Tranquill and this game had all the elements that leave me torn on our ancient OC. I think Tranq does a good job making adjustments, but I think we waste too many possessions trying to figure out what will work. Aside from wasting time, my problem with the "testing/probing" mentality is that you never establish an identity and it seems to create confusion. I also think we need a little variety in the red zone.

Defense: B

Alex Albright had his best game in years. In addition to his INT, he also was in on many tackles and showed the burst that has been missing since 2007. Newman played well early but then didn't do as much late. Scafe looked pretty good as did Ramsey. Rudolph made a few plays. Although no one broke the game open, I liked the hustle and discipline of some of the young guys like O'Neal and Kasim Edebali.

I still can't get over how much ground Luke Kuechly is able to cover. His speed is very underrated. He had another solid game and I only saw one missed tackle. Herzy continues to look better with each play. He made some nice open field tackles. KPL was good although he got a little tangled up in pass coverage. Morrissey was OK. It was nice to see DiSanzo back on the field. He missed an early tackle but settled down for a nice game. The others are still not being used much...which is a shame.

All the DBs looked better than last week. Donnie Fletcher had a nice game (including special teams). Davis got a little lucky with the INT, but turned it into something big. Noel made a big play and showed great awareness.

This was a pretty conservative plan but it worked. I would hope that all the wrinkles are being saved for ACC opponents. I also can't complain since the plan was close to what I recommend Thursday: "Giving Spencer multiple looks"

Special Teams: B+

Aside from Freese's shanked opening kick off, Special Teams played well. The kick and punt coverage were much better (with special mention for LeGrande).

Quigley was fine.

I know Gause scared some people with his sloppy and reckless form, but I think the aggressiveness is just what BC needs. It is so much better than watching endless fair catches.

Overall: B

If the offensive line had played better, I would have given the whole game a better grade. We have two weeks to fix that and Harris' blocking issues. Other teams will see what Kent State did and challenge BC with a crowded box until BC shows it can handle the pressure and stunts. That's on Spaz to make sure we are ready. But overall I felt he had the team ready for this game and made adjustments as needed. Now let's hope he has the team peaking when we take on Virginia Tech in two weeks.

Building block win

Far from a perfect game but it is another positive win. BC showed definite improvements from last week and definite improvements from the first half to the second half. I was a little alarmed by the offensive line breakdowns. It will be interesting when I watch back to see the causes of the problems upfront.

The lesson of the day is that the ACC is wide open again. I'll have second viewing thoughts and grades up late Sunday.

In-game comments post: Kent State

Spaz keeps talking up Kent State, but I am still not worried. Hopefully this game is uneventful and Shinskie takes a big step forward. You can leave your thoughts and posts on the game here or join the discussion on Eagle Insider or follow me on twitter.

I will probably tweet periodically through the game and may have a comment or two at half time.

Hindsight is 20/20: Did BC dodge a bullet on Bruce Pearl?

Image courtesy of Vinny's temporary Pearl blog from last spring.

Since he arrived on the national scene, I've been a big Bruce Pearl fan. Part of me hoped that he would one day come back to Heights to coach BC basketball. Even though I knew it was a long shot, when the BC job opened up this spring, I prayed that a miracle would happen and Pearl would return to his Alma mater. We are lucky he didn't.

Tennessee has just self-imposed sanctions on Pearl and his staff for recruiting violations and lying to the NCAA. Although the staff and coach have fallen on the sword and cut Pearl's salary, the NCAA can impose additional sanctions too. It is going to be messy for Pearl for a while and he will have the cheater tag for the rest of his career. If he had come to BC, the sanctions wouldn't have followed him, but the black cloud would have. BC would have been in a situation similar to when Kelvin Sampson coached Indiana while his old school suffered for his misdeeds.

Instead we now have Steve Donahue and his squeaky clean image. He's not as charismatic as Pearl, but Donahue has the chance to build a program the right way. And doing it the right way is probably healthier than any emotional shot in the arm that Pearl might have provided.

I guess my biggest disappointment in all of this is losing faith in Pearl. I knew he wasn't great at keeping his kids out of trouble, but assumed that as a former whistle blower he would at least play by the rules. Now he is just another shady coach of a big-time program.

Pearl served his career penance for being a whistle blower. Maybe now this experience will be another humbling lesson and chance to rebuild. I will be rooting for him, but will never pine for him to return to BC as a coach and basketball savior.

Hockey schedule and other links

The Hockey team released their schedule today. The usual stops and dates are here. The circle your calendar game will be the home opener against Merrimack. That night BC will raise the banner on our latest National Championship!

Dave Shinskie is saying all the right things...now he just needs to do them.

SI.com's NFL Draft crew think Castonzo is overrated.

Soccer America held a Q&A with Alejandro Bedoya.

This Friday Focus examines the gaps in BC's zone defense.

Could there be another Catholic school playing FBS football? Villanova is reviewing a plan to join the Big East in football. I don't know how they will pull off the transition given the expense of a team and finding a stadium. I don't think this will ever happen nor have an immediate impact on BC, but long run it might hurt a bit. Villanova would be playing in one of our traditional recruiting hot beds and selling the same sort of experience we sell to recruits.

Game Watches: Kent State

I know ESPN U now has a wider audience than it did two or three years ago, but a sports bar might still be the only option for many of you. And since it is on ESPN U, you will not be able to watch the game on ESPN3.com. So far Game Watch notices have been light. I imagine there are still BC fans meeting in the normal hangouts in New York and San Francisco, but I haven't heard anything official. Certainly send me a note if there have been changes in venues.

Chicago Game Watch
Trinity
2721 North Halsted Street
Chicago, IL 60614-1413


Denver Game Watch
Big Game Restaurant & Lounge
1631 Wazee St
Denver, CO 80202




Washington, D.C. Game Watch NEW LOCATION**
The Rookery
2519 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC

Isaac Johnson gone and other links

The rumored is now confirmed as Isaac Johnson is no longer on the team. I wish I had a smoking gun to explain why Johnson left, but all I am hearing is that he doesn't like BC and wasn't thrilled with the depth chart or playing time.

This article on Herzy's nun friend reflects really well on Mark and BC.

More press for Johnathan Coleman.

Catching up with one of my favorite Eagles, Paul Peterson.

Ticket sales for the ACC Championship Game have been strong.

BC-Kent State preview

I am not scared about this game nor am I building up an opponent like Lou Holtz might, but this is easily the best Kent State team we've faced. They have a good mix of returning starters, a solid defense and showed signs of life in their passing game last week. BC should control, but it will require a little more focus and intensity than playing Weber State did.

Narrative talking point that you’ll tire of by the end of the game. "Eugene Jarvis is only playing with one kidney..." First let me state that I am not making light of Jarvis's toughness nor the seriousness of his injury. I just fear that since it was BC that knocked him out of his Senior season, and it was that injury that led to the discovery of his single kidney, that we will be hearing a lot about the sixth-year Senior's story. Jarvis is one of the toughest 5'5 running backs you will ever see, but he is not the key to this game. BC has proved as much in the past two Kent State games.

Three Simple Keys
1. Give Spencer Keith multiple looks. We were fairly vanilla on defense last week. I don't expect Spaz to show all his cards with Virginia Tech looming but we do need to mix things up with Keith. He is efficient and accurate and will move the ball if we just play base D with our standard zone. A few blitzes, dropping more guys into coverage, or something to keep him guessing.
2. Move Shinskie out of the pocket. Shinskie is not Michael Vick, but he moves better than most recent BC QBs and he seems pretty comfortable rolling out. A few bootlegs or other designed plays to get him on the move might create some easy plays and help improve the offense and his efficiency.
3. Improve kickoff coverage. We finally have a kicker who can actually generate a touchback. But on the returned kicks we looked a little slow and out of position in a few spots. It must be tighter for this game.

Gambling Notes
-- Kent State is 3-29-1 in their first road games of the year.
-- Doug Martin is 1-12 vs BCS teams
-- Spaz is now 7-1 at home

The current line is BC-17.5

Factoid
After this game, BC is not scheduled to play another MAC team until 2015. Our last MAC-less season was 2001.

Scoreboard Watching
Miami takes on Ohio State and Florida State plays Oklahoma. For better or worse, how these two play will determine the national perception of the ACC. If we ever hope to get two ACC teams into the BCS, we need both to win convincingly.

I hope to see...
A better defensive effort. I know it was the first game and I know most of the yardage came after the game was no longer in doubt, but I really want to see a better effort from our defense. They have enough talent to be dominant and need to establish that mentality early in the season.

BC is in trouble if…
Shinskie has another rough day. I am not harping on his mistakes. I actually thought he did some nice things. But if he puts up similar numbers against Kent State, it doesn't mean we will lose, but it probably means we will have a tough time with good defenses.

Bottom Line
We didn't learn much from last week. This week will be a better indicator of what's ahead. I still believe in this team's potential for greatness, so I am expecting a very, very good performance. I think Shinskie will be better and the defense will be intense for 60 minutes. BC controls and gives us hope for Virginia Tech.

Final Score: BC 31, Kent State 6

Recruiting news and other links

OL recruit Robert Trudo will make his official visit to BC this weekend.

BC is trying to get ahead with Michigan recruit Matt Doneth.

New Jersey product Antoy Alosi is waiting on a BC offer.

We are only one game in, but I am really enjoying the Johnathan Coleman coverage.

Here is an ACC basketball preview that predicts big things from Reggie.

The BC women beat Brown on Wednesday night.

'Number' problem with new Under Armour jerseys

Question: Which BC player is that in the picture below?



It looks like 19, Isaac Johnson, but I couldn't tell and watched dozens of times on ESPN3.com trying to confirm [UPDATE: Reader John M. swears it was CJ Jones]. I wasn't the only one who had problems. This quote is from BC Athletic Director Gene DeFilippo:

Many fans have contacted us about the new football jerseys, and I agree that the numbers were very difficult to read. We have been in touch with Under Armour and we are doing everything we can to get them altered in time for Saturday’s Kent State game.

BC's italics numbers have always been hard on the eyes but UA's new piping on the numbers have made it nearly impossible to tell players apart. Not a great start for our new apparel partner. Let's hope things get fixed quickly or this could be a long season for anyone trying to ID a BC player in the stands or on TV.

Support Red Bandanna Run 2010

Many of you know the story of Welles Crowther and the work his family is doing in his honor. They are holding their annual Red Bandanna 5k Run/Walk September 18, 2010. It is a Saturday without BC football, so if you are looking to support a BC cause, register that morning at 7:30a.m. at Lyons Hall.


Last year they raised nearly $15,000 with this event and hope to pass the $20,000 mark this year. Like last year you can also give via active.com/donate/redbandanna.

Blogpoll ballot Week 1

I've had a slight change in philosophy. In past years, I would always try to be consistent week to week on voting. If a team looked bad but won, they usually held their spot on my ballot. Not so this week (and maybe this year). Instead I will use a subjective mix of resume ranking and power ranking (meaning do I think they are the best team right now regardless of record). I grouped a bunch of the ACC teams together, since I think they are all in the same boat. Despite BC's hohum effort, I kept them ranked based on potential. Maryland is probably the biggest surprise. I know they barely won, but I think they are much improved and I think Navy will serve as a quality win for them. And as I said on Twitter last night, I am still not a believer in Boise State.


Games I watched
BC vs Weber State 100% (twice)
Michigan vs UConn 50%
LSU vs UNC 50%
Virginia Tech vs Boise State 100%
Tulsa vs East Carolina 50%
Notre Dame vs Purdue 20%
USC vs Hawaii 50%
South Carolina vs Southern Miss 50%
Florida vs Miami (OH) 25%

Eagle in Atlanta Ballot - Week 2

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Alabama Crimson Tide	1
2	Oregon Ducks	2
3	Nebraska Cornhuskers	4
4	Arkansas Razorbacks	5
5	TCU Horned Frogs	5
6	Ohio St. Buckeyes	-5
7	LSU Tigers	--
8	Utah Utes	12
9	Wisconsin Badgers	8
10	South Carolina Gamecocks	4
11	Georgia Bulldogs	2
12	Boise St. Broncos	7
13	Penn St. Nittany Lions	-7
14	Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets	-3
15	Michigan Wolverines	--
16	Texas Longhorns	-11
17	Iowa Hawkeyes	-2
18	Florida Gators	-10
19	West Virginia Mountaineers	-3
20	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	1
21	Miami Hurricanes	2
22	Florida St. Seminoles	--
23	Boston College Eagles	2
24	Maryland Terrapins	--
25	Virginia Tech Hokies	-22
Dropouts: Auburn Tigers, Pittsburgh Panthers, Stanford Cardinal

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings »

What Boise State's win means for BC

Now that they've cleared one hurdle Boise State will become one of the focal points of the college football season. "Will they go undefeated?" and "Should they be in the BCS Championship Game?" will be debated endlessly. In a way a Boise State run might be just what college football and BC need. If you get a Paper Tiger, small-market champion, the TV networks and the power conferences might finally break down and get a true playoff. BC needs to support any playoff effort since we are nonfactors in the bowl process. Under the current system BC will only get into the title game with a perfect season. With a playoff, we would only have to win the ACC. A playoff is more merited based. A playoff doesn't care about ticket sales. A playoff might mean home games at Alumni. A playoff will mean more money. BC needs to get behind the playoff movement. All that said, I think Boise will lose a regular season game this year and fall out of the discussion.

Meanwhile Virginia Tech looked like the team we have come to know so well. Plenty of speed, but stagnant offense and certainly vulnerable. That game will be a huge test for Spaz. Not only does he need to get the team ready for their first ACC game, but he also needs to develop a game plan that is not as conservative (cowardly?) as last year's VT game. Even with our problems, it is a winnable game.