Friday fallout

Not a whole lot of news and analysis yet. I’ll rewatch the game tonight. However, the papers and message boards provided plenty of fodder for today.

First maddening quote: “They brought us here and wanted to take a shot at the moon.” -- TOB.

My reaction: Of course they did. A MAC school getting a BCS school to come to their stadium in primetime on ESPN. You know how a real team handles that challenge -- by stepping on their throats. Kicking them while they are down. Backing the bus over them over and over and over. What did we do up 21 in the fourth? Let them back in the game. Ugh. I am getting fired up again.

Second maddening quote: “We went to Pitt and their quarterback was a guy named Rick Trocano. We knocked him out. You know who the backup was? Dan Marino. He went about 20 of 30." -- TOB comparing facing one of the all-time greats to facing CMU’s backup Freshman QB.

My reaction: Give credit where it is due -- "this kid is tough. He looked sharp." Whatever. But don't put him in the same class as Marino. It just sounds and reads bad and is just more ammo for TOB critics.

Surprising quote: “So why did Boston College schedule this game? Why were the Eagles put at risk in last night's season opener at Central Michigan? On the face of it, BC faced what appeared to be a no-win situation: Lose and, well, the Eagles might as well walk back to Chestnut Hill; win, and it better be by a large margin.

Again, the question: Why did BC have to go to such great lengths -- chartering a flight to East Lansing, Mich., Wednesday night, then practicing at Michigan State's facilities yesterday morning before taking an hour bus ride north on US 127 four hours before last night's game -- to play its first game of the season at Kelly/Shorts Stadium?

Why go through the hassle of scheduling a road game against a Mid-American Conference opponent?

Ostensibly, it was to give BC a much-needed 12th game, but, in reality, it was a way to schedule an easy W." -- Mike Vega!! Vega who rarely takes the team or school to task asked the question that needed to be asked. He gave Gene a chance to answer: (paraphrasing) “blah blah blah 2-1 for one with the MAC, blah blah blah people cancelled on us, blah blah blah we can’t buy games.”

The two papers did a pretty good job. Yet neither gave any insight into the extent of Ryan’s injury or confirmed Raji’s status for next week.

After seeing his awkward start on the ESPN Season Preview show, I was really worried about Doug Flutie’s broadcast potential. Last night he was great. A natural. Very good voice. Picked up good things and while a little too forced jokey, I thought he did have chemistry with Craig James.

As you’d expect the message boards were vicious today. And we deserve it.

I have some good news and some bad news if last night is a real indicator of this team’s flaws. The good news: we are in for a bunch of passing shoot outs and I think Ryan is up for it. The bad news: more rollercoaster games and more frustration.