Boston Magazine released a
feature on Gene. In full disclosure I was interviewed by the writer, however, none of my quotes were used. The only critical voice you find in the piece is Greg Barber. Barber brought up the problem Gene had with Mark Whipple's desire to bring in his own staff. Gene tells Schwartz he only "recommended strongly" some names. I've never really delved into this, but if you don't think Jags got the job initially because of his prior relationship with Gene and his willingness to have Spaz, McGovern and Siravo on his staff then you are wearing blinders. Now, I am sure Gene only "strongly recommended" the staff to Jags too. But none of these guys are dumb. It is just like the real world. If the person hiring strongly recommends something, you make a decision. Do I want this job under these conditions? Whipple wasn't willing to compromise. Jags was. Look who got the job. Are we better for it? So far. Schwartz did a good job given the limited space and angle the magazine wanted to take. Definitely worth the read.
In better news, Herzy is back on campus and remains optimistic about 2010.
A few ACC players think BC is one of the tougher places to play. (Thanks to Brian for the link.)
McLaughlin sounds less optimistic about getting on the field soon. It is not my career but if he isn't ready by October, I would like to see him get a medical redshirt.
Dime checks up on Troy Bell.
Here is the latest on Dominique Davis.
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Nice that the article on Davis gives him (and BC) credit for a win over Vandy in the bowl game last year. Good research.
GDF is GDF - we know that.
As I mentioned below - This is great health news for Herzy, who still has some hurdles. You've got to love his optimism and enthusiasm - terrific guy.
As for football - wouldn't it be great to have him back in 2010, when our sucessful season will land us in the ACCCG in Charlotte before a sellout crowd of 73,000 fans!!!!! Maybe Mike Mclaughlin should really take his time, and do it right, getting a medical waiver for this year, so he can play alongside Herzy next year. However, he's not getting any younger.
We can bite the bullet with these good young LBs coming up.
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The short pants worn by college football players are ridiculous - as the ones displayed by D. Davis at Fort Scott Community College. Wow! What a change!
I didn't like this observation - MOST HOSTILE FANS: Boston College. “They talk a lot of trash, and you hear a lot of screaming. You might have someone throw something at you.”
If a fan throws something at anyone, especially a player - that's ignorant and should have no place at BC. WVU fans are known for that sort of thing - hopefully not BC.
I agree with BJK that throwing items on the field is classless and has no place near a BC game, but I love the "hostile" shout out.
I'm not one to call every conference game a "budding rivalry" as some are apt to do, but it is interesting to note that those players citing the "hostile" nature of games at Alumni were all divisional foes, which does speak to the growing gamesmanship/spiritedness/visceral response to our contests, which I think is the backbone of true conference "belonging" (and sort of subtly refutes part of the ludicrous arguments offered by Big East apologists from the past couple of weeks).
I refuse to believe that we lost to Vandy, so I like the alternate reality in which Davis led us to the win. I have regrets, too. Like watching him trying to complete a 10-yard hook pattern. Now that is regret.
The GDF article underscores why we'll never have a big-time coach (or perhaps, likely won't) due to the annoying meddling of an adminstrator and his overall "success" as BC defines it. Nowhere does the article mention whether GDF thinks national championships in football or bball is a reasonable goal, given our limitations. The writer assumes it at the end, but doesn't get any input from the main character. Hmm.
"WINNING AT BOSTON COLLEGE is a difficult trick. DeFilippo often jokes that some alumni want the school to be Harvard on Monday through Friday, and Alabama on Saturday afternoon."
Again, can it be done? Probably not, but I'd like to hear it.
"In order for BC to upgrade its athletic reputation from Notre Dame Lite to something like Duke or Stanford..."
I'm really hoping that the writer meant something other than aspiring to the athletic reputation of a Stanford. Did he mean "academic" reputation? Otherwise, we'll need to start recruiting some swimmers. And build a better pool.
BC will not win a national title in football in the foreseeable future. We are competing against schools with much larger student populations, way higher athletic budgets and much better recruiting regions (let's face it, New England boys are known for baseball and hockey, not football).
There are about 100 other schools that will not win a title either. Only the large, well-funded, academically challenged schools will win titles until such time that the NCAA begins to enforce the fact that college football should be about scholar athletes. Thus, title contenders will be Texas, USC, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Florida and perhaps 5 or 6 others. That's it.
This does not mean BC fans should give up or feel like we are settling. Our goals should be 1) develop players 2) graduate players 3) contend for the ACC. There is nothing wrong with that and I would argue that our program does more with fewer resources than 90% of institutions.
I could take or leave GDF. Like any administrator he's had his ups and downs. But the article about him irks me.
Aside from the "Notre Dame Lite" BS the general tone is just backhanded.
For example, regarding Jags:
"The episode was an embarrassment for BC, which came off looking as if it considered its football program on par with the NFL. This fall will likely see more humiliation for the school. The Eagles start the season with their third coach in four years and are picked to finish last in their division
1) I was not "embarrassed" by the Jags situation.
2) Anyone who thought the issue with Jags was that BC thinks our program is "on par with the NFL" is a jackass, period.
3) Even if we finish 4-8, fail to win our third consecutive division title, and/or don't make it to yet another bowl this year, I doubt any of us will feel like we are seeing "more humiliation".
Just had to get that off my chest.
Just doodling and wondering what GDF would have done if Rick Pitino was our coach? He would have had to fire him quicker than Jags, right?
You can always tell when I'm sitting in a hotel room :-)
I'm with you Eagle in Brighton - loud and deafening is good.
I agree AlbanyEagle. I'm with you on points one and two, and to point three, that's supposition. We'll "likely" finish last?
Did the writer look at graduation statistics under GDF? The mention of the added revenue in the ACC was a nice one, as was the 40% rise in applications from the South. Maybe that ESPN Big East blogger should read that. Nah, that'd contradict his (wrong) opinion and we all know how thin-skinned writers are.
Of course BC won't win a national championship in football (or likely won't). The recruiting disadvantages are huge huge huge. All we can do is be consistently good and perhaps our brand name will travel a bit more.
BUT, our bball program suffers from far fewer self-imposed limitations and could very much win a national championship at some point. To me, that thought isn't a stretch. And that'd do almost as much as winning a BCS title to make BC a national university. Of course, Skinner only recruits cast-aways (to both our benefit and detriment, I'd argue), but that's another story. Oh wait, no it isn't.
It seems everyone has a short memory around here.
Was it not just 2 seasons ago we were #2 in the country until a rain soaked game against FSU at Alumni Stadium? That team consisted of exactly what every BC team does - BC guys, unheralded recruits, overacheivers, true STUDENT athletes.
Yes, we may never have another Matt Ryan, but why give up on believing in our ability to contend just because the typical media hype says we can't? We proved them wrong 2 years ago and we can do it again.
Yes, but that was about halfway through the season. It's of little use to be leading a marathon at Mile 15 if you have no finish.
We lost three times in '07. Not really even close.
Can it be done? Perhaps. Hope is the most potent elixir.
To me the Stanford/Duke comment was talking about the athletic dept as a whole with the academic integrity still intact. No more, no less.
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