Memorial Day

Today is a good reminder that BC has a permanent tribute to alumni who have died defending this country. You can read more about the Boston College Veterans Memorial here. Thank you to all of those men and women who have worn the uniform and defended our freedoms.

Florian to be a TV star and other links

BC guy Kenny Florian will be putting his Communications major to use as ESPN has hired him to be their lead MMA analyst for their new MMA show. Good luck to Kenny and hopefully he turns this into a solid post retirement career.

Luke Kuechly is considered one of the best LBs in our region.

BC is going hard after Connecticut prospect Tommy Jordan but he sounds sold on Florida.

You can catch Jared Dudley on ESPN's First Take Monday morning.

Will Noreen ever make up his mind and other links

Buried in this Notes column from the Twin Cities is an update on Kevin Noreen:

Mr. Basketball Minnesota Kevin Noreen of Minnesota Transitions has one recruiting visit left and is contemplating Washington or Oregon. Arkansas, Northwestern, Providence and Boston College remain in the hunt for the 6-foot-10 1/2, 232-pounder. The Gophers have shown cursory interest.

If he were still considering BC, wouldn't he have ended his world tour by now? Also, his collection of potential programs is varied with no real theme or tie. It is too bad he doesn't realize that Donahue's system is perfect for him.

BC seemingly has a high percentage of talent returning...most of the offensive skill players, LBs, etc. Yet using Phil Steele's calculations we are behind most DIA programs.

Congrats to Senior Rower Laura Petty who was named to the All-New England Region first team.

Baseball team bounced from ACC tourney and other links

After two tight games, the baseball team was on the wrong end of a lopsided game at the ACC tourney. The 12-2 loss ended their run in Greensboro and leaves the team on the bubble. The NCAA field will be announced Monday.

Kiwi's brother was in a bad motorcycle accident and remains in critical condition. Keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

BC just offered OT Paul Gaughan and has interest in Jack Tabb.

BC stays alive and other links

A comfortable BC lead fell apart this afternoon, but the guys rallied in what turned out to be an exciting extra innings affair. With the win and FSU's win later in the day, hope is still alive. The baseball team takes on the 'Noles next.

Eagle Action is holding a multipart interview with Steve Donahue. In part 1 he talks about the transition and his early recruiting efforts.

We haven't discussed Phil Steele much but BC players are scattered throughout his all ACC teams. Castonzo, Claiborne and Harris all made first team offense. Kuechly is the only one who made first team defense (Herzy is second team). Quigley also received first team honors.

Will Sean Duggan be BC's next Cincy recruit? His offer list is picking up.

Tough loss in ACC Tourney and other links

BC squandered a good effort from Pat Dean in the opener of the ACC Tournament and lost to UVA 6-4. Their next game against Miami is a must win. Here are some post game clips of Aoki and the boys talking about the loss.

Here is some much deserved attention for walkon Brendan Murphy.

Stewart Mandel acknowledges that the media often overrates Florida State while overlooking BC.

Ron Brace is hoping to put his terrible Rookie year behind him. He attributes most of his struggles to the mental complexity of the pro game.

BC guy Alejandro Bedoya was one of the last cuts for the US World Cup team.

I found this article interesting, especially given our past dependence on midwest talent.

Many are betting on Miami and FSU leading the ACC back to prominence. I think both programs are still a few years away from reaching their old form.

Gene promoted some long time Athletic Department staffers.

ACC Tournament Previews

As mentioned, BC is a bubble team for baseball equivalent of the big dance. They need a strong showing at the ACC Tournament to secure their spot. Play begins Wednesday. For those just tuning into BC baseball, here are some notes and links to get you up to speed.

-- BCeagles.com's preview and recap of the season
-- The games will be on NESN
-- A capsule of the relevant ACC news and notes
-- This Yahoo link covers all the postseason tournaments

Welcome new alumni and other links

Today a class of BC students graduated and officially became alumni. Although I am a little biased, you'll find that sports is one of the strongest pulls back to BC. I am sure that you have many great friends and met many great people (who knows, maybe like me you met your spouse at BC). As you travel and wear a BC hat or shirt, you'll run into random BC people around the country and world. And of course BC won't hurt your professional career. But as you get older and move on, add more commitments and complications to your life, there will always be BC sports. You'll turn on your TV and there will always be a fresh batch of athletes and super fans cheering them on to remind you of your time at the Heights. Don't hang on to tight though. There is a big world out there and you don't want to be talking about the glory days either. I guess my advice is to tune in when you can, always hope for an Eagles win and keep a small piece of BC in your heart.

If rumors are to be believed, Steve Donahue persuaded former Colgate commitment Danny Rubin to come to BC. So we will have at least one 2010 recruit.

Heading into the ACC Tourney, BC is squarely on the bubble and considered one of the last five in.

CFN came out with their ACC skill position rankings. They didn't think much of Shinskie but like Harris and Pantale.

Blackmon is ready for his position switch.

After a long hiatus, KSK broke out a new Matt Ryan explained.

Baseball gets into ACC Tourney and other links

After their weekend series with Georgia Tech, the baseball team did hold on to the 8th and final qualifing spot in the ACC Tournament. They take on Virginia Wednesday. They are in a round robin with Miami and FSU too. Unlike last year, this team is probably not postseason bound and will probably need to win the ACC to advance to the NCAAs.

The audio is not great and it is a bit anticlimatic, but here is the video feed of Suntrup's announcement.

BC held a Q&A with Steve Donahue and he claims that my pet peeve (2010 recruiting) remains a priority.

Out of the mouths of babes...

While cleaning up my one-year-old after lunch, she casually pointed to this logo on my shirt and said,

"Chicken!"

Suntrup is an Eagle

On Friday, highly touted Missouri QB recruit Christian Suntrup committed to BC. While it is way too early to speculate on Suntrup's future at BC, his commitment is a good sign that the staff's recruiting strategy and message is taking hold. Despite no previously established relationship with his high school, despite a now loaded QB depth chart, and despite plenty of offers from other programs, Suntrup decided to commit to BC now. Hats off to Dave Brock for closing out another prospect.

Suntrup seems like the type of QB we would and should recruit. Preppy, pro style, mid westerner who went to a Catholic High School. His transition to a place like BC should be pretty seamless. Suntrup is the type of guy who wants to be the next Matt Ryan. We might as well leverage that on the recruiting trail. Speaking of Ryan...the only downside I see of landing your top choice is that sentimental favorite and legacy John Loughery will probably go elsewhere.

Let's hope Suntrup gets plenty of press this summer and helps build momentum for this class.

HD stepping up BC coverage and other links

HD posted a feature on Kuechly and has had a few different notes on BC lately including Phil Steele links (1 and 2). Congrats to Heather for keeping things up with a new baby, I know from experience babies interrupt blogging. Now someone needs to remind me again why the Globe and Herald can't produce the same volume of content as HD? One other note: I plan on getting my copy of Phil Steele this weekend and will post my thoughts after reading it.

I was whining about Donahue's 2010 recruiting yesterday, so I should note that he added another body to the 2011 class. Let's hope something breaks soon for this summer.

Green Bay is using the spring to shuffle around all their BC players. Raji is moving to NT and Blackmon is moving to safety.

On the football recruiting front, BC is targeting Florida DE Clay Burton.

Even with a new TV partner, the ACC is likely to continue its Sunday Night Hoops package.

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This column from ACC writer Ken Tysiac has been making the rounds. Tysiac is anti-expansion as we all should be. The current ACC configuration is ideal. We should only consider expansion if our hands are forced. Until then lock in the current partners.

When do we start worrying about basketball recruiting?

May 19 marked another Letter of Intent day for college basketball. BC signed no one. With one month at BC under his belt, Steve Donahue is still without a committed recruit for 2010. That wouldn't be a big deal for a new coach if the problem wasn't already compounded by the recent transfers out of the program and by Skinner's empty 2009 recruiting class. At this point Donahue needs some warm bodies for practice. Because we still have good returning talent, Donahue doesn't need a high ceiling, impact player in this class...just a potential contributor. If he gets a player or two now and finds a transfer to join the program, he can avoid any pitfalls after the Jackson and Ellmore class graduate.

I still really like Donahue and his potential, so I am not worried yet. However, if by September we don't have any recruits or transfers I think Donahue will have built himself a big hole. If he wants to build something at BC and prove he can transition from the Ivy League, he cannot let the program bottom out in his second or third season. It will be used against him on the recruiting trail and will kill momentum and interest among BC fans. He needs to leverage Jackson and show improvement each year to gain wider credibility. That will be tough if he is playing a team of freshmen and sophomores in 2013.

So I will do my best to remain patient and stay on the Donahue bandwagon...let's hope there are some diamonds in the rough who feel the same way this summer.

Did the ACC help Notre Dame stay independent?

While ACC noticed, the college football world hasn't really made much of FOX's attempt to land the ACC. It should be a big deal that there is a new player willing to spend money. I am sure the Pac 10 and Big XII are now planning on FOX to open up the checkbook for them. However, I think a different program will benefit...Notre Dame.

One of FOX's objectives was a national Saturday game. Much of their fall Saturday's have afternoon baseball, so a national game would probably have to have a noon ET start time. The ACC could have accommodated that. The Pac 10 could not. The Big XII might but that means a lot of 11:00 am local starts. Notre Dame -- even with South Bend's funky timezone thing -- probably would be willing to play games at noon. It wouldn't be the same exposure they get from NBC, but money talks. If FOX pays the Irish in the neighborhood of the ACC's $17 million I am sure ND will play the early game Saturday.

If the ACC had taken the FOX offer, I doubt ESPN would have broken the bank for the Irish. They have enough content and get enough Notre Dame via their road games against other schools.

With FOX as a free partner with deep pockets, Notre Dame can either move or leverage the interest to get more money out of NBC. A decent contract will placate those around Notre Dame who want the Big Ten's money.

What does this all mean for BC? If Notre Dame joins another conference, we will probably never get back on their schedule. As long as they remain independent, they will have to talk to us...especially if there is pressure from their TV partners to find attractive, and proven ratings grabbing opponents.

More on the ACC TV deal

So the smoke has cleared a bit and now we can analyze the ACC's new TV deal with ESPN.

1. It was better than anyone thought. ESPN passed on their exclusive window earlier this spring and lowballed the ACC until the end. Thankfully FOX came in with a full court press and forced ESPN's hand. ESPN also needed the ACC now more than they did last spring. With Turner entering the college hoops world, ESPN needed to secure the flagship college hoops conference for content. ESPN also rebranded ESPN 360 into ESPN3. As part of that they need a major conference willing to put their games online. The SEC was not willing. The ACC was.

2. Some of you will still have a hard time seeing all of BC's games. Because we are now in bed with them, this means more games on ESPN U, more games on ESPN3.com and continued regional partnering with Raycom. Sorry folks. If your cable company doesn't step up, consider a dish or fios.

3. ESPN will sell some of their games to Raycom. Instead of Raycom bidding seperately they have agreed to buy ACC games from ESPN. That means there will still be regional, syndicated broadcast coverage of ACC sports. It is to be determined if this will carry ESPN branding, ACC branding or Raycom branding, but it will be a Raycom production and probably have the same affiliate network Raycom now has.

4. The ACC is betting on the future. The ACC's deal is smaller than the SEC's. It is also shorter. So next time the ACC will negotiate before the SEC. The thought process with this is that the economy will be better, there is an advantage for setting the market and the power football teams (Miami and FSU) will be stronger.

5. This helps protect the conference but doesn't guarantee anything. The deal is strong and makes it much less likely that anyone will bolt but it is still short of the Big Ten and the SEC's deals. As long as there is money on the table, teams will listen.

ACC and ESPN reach TV deal

I'll post more details and thoughts later today but the good news is that ESPN and the ACC agreed to a new deal worth a reported $155 million per year.

Baseball beats Dartmouth and other links

The baseball team used their make up date with Dartmouth to help improve their record. The 10-4 win moved the Eagles to 28-23. They will play another non-conference game on Tuesday against St. John's.

The Ravens are giving McLaughlin a shot as a fullback. Hopefully he makes it. The odds are not in his favor since he is learning a new position at the highest level. The flipside is that they must like him as a long snapper and special teamer and think moving him to a thin part of the roster is a way to keep him on.

This is a terrible article about expansion trying to play it smart. The only reason I am noting it is because it continues to use the "BC is an afterthought in Boston" theme as an excuse to call our move to the ACC a mistake. What all these guys fail to realize is that staying in the Big East would have generated less interest in BC within Boston and although we don't dominate the Boston market like some colleges dominate their tiny markets, we are a consistent ratings winner. And our ratings in Boston and nationally mean more than scoring a 91 in a four-tier TV market does for some of these other schools.

Noreen tripped up by ACC rules and other links

Kevin Noreen's status is still up in the air, but it looks like ACC transfer rules will keep him from going to North Carolina.

Former Eagle Stalin Colinet now counsels high school athletes on the recruiting process.

Here is more on Donahue's first verbal -- Dennis Clifford. Tyler Harris is another 2011 prospect for Steve Donahue. We are also laying down roots for the 2012 class with targets like Kaleb Tarczewski.

The Herald had a nice and rare feature involving BC Track.

Softball season ends in ACC Tourney and other links

A disappointing season came to a close today as the softball team lost to No. 1 seed Georgia Tech, 8-0 in the opener of the ACC Tournament. The team finishes the season with a 16-33 record.

I asked Bruce Feldman about BC's chances in his chat on Friday. He still thinks we are second tier.

The news that Miami and Notre Dame are renewing their series is bad for BC. It is one less open date for the Irish and another ACC team on their schedule. However, if Notre Dame stays independent, our chances of getting them back on the schedule improve. As an indy they won't be able to play any Big Ten or SEC teams late in the year. The ACC and BC would accommodate them and give them much needed October and November dates.

This has been around a bit, but I thought some might find the analysis interesting. I always put a lot of weight into returning starters, but this study shows it is not a significant factor.

QB recruiting and other links

BC is being aggressive again on the QB recruiting front. Christian Suntrup is one of many QB targets in this class. BC is also talking to Pennsylvania QB Matt Johnson.

Akil Sharperson is coming to BC as a preferred walk on. He seems like a special kid.

BC, Duke and UNC were the top ACC performers in the academic progress report.

Here is another wrap up of the ACC meetings. The GMan thinks we will sign with ESPN.

If you missed Jared Dudley on First Take, you can click on this link via his twitter account.

Although they still haven't signed many guys, Donahue's crew has been very active. BC has interest in Wisconsin product Paul Jesperson. Meanwhile Kevin Noreen seems to be talking to everyone and remains undecided.

This baseball america blog mentions BC commit Kevin Walter and speculates that if he is drafted high enough he might skip the Heights and sign with an MLB team.

Former Eagle Razzie Smith is trying to make a go of it in the CFL.