Huge win for the women's soccer team. They went to Penalty Kicks in the quarterfinal game.
Rich Gunnell also got some media attention Wednesday. First with this ESPNBoston piece and then with this feature on Pete Mitchell visiting Rich in practice. Gunnell is nearing Mitchell's yardage record.
Although it is an off week, Bob Ryan felt it was time to give Spaz a little attention.
BC came in at 59 in this preseason basketball ranking.
Posts
39 comments:
Haden had some things to say, but there was a clear subtext.
he said
“I love the Boston College football team, I love playing with those guys and I didn’t want to leave halfway through the season the way that it did happen. But the way it happened, I got hurt . . . been like that since last year. I thought about leaving. I talked to my Dad and he told me to stick it out, try and stay in for another year. Another year came and I got hurt again. I’ve had all kinds of injuries, to my pinky, to my thumb, to my wrist, to my ankle."
Translation: I am a pussy and also hate the prepsters I have to see on campus
He said:
"You don’t understand how wide open I am now,” said Haden. “But I know I don’t want to go to a private school. Nothing against private schools, but I’d like to maybe go to a bigger school with more people. "
He meant: Boy I never want to go to class again.
agreed...kinda makes you wonder why he picked BC in the first place. when you step on BC you know immediately that it is different from a place like florida....it doesn't take a genius to figure that out.
I don't understand the vague statements about what "didn't fit." As very well expressed by Dustbowl, his hands probably didn't fit well with textbooks, but it's hard to know for sure.
Recruiting kids from the South is going to be a continued problem for this reason. Not only are the high-school acedemics down there generally weak, those guys sometimes have sex with farm animals, and we just can't allow that up here.
http://www.nydailynews.com/
news/2009/07/29/2009-07-29_south_
carolina_man_busted_for_having_
sex_with_horse.html
If you read the heights the racial tension on campus is getting out of hand. He is basically saying he doesn't want to go to another private school that is 80% white and he won't be treated properly as a football god.
BC STUDENT DEMOGRAPHICS
Total freshman enrollment: 2,167
Total undergraduate enrollment: 9,060
Men: 4,369
Women: 4,691
Male/female ratio: 1:1
Black: 6%
Hispanic: 8%
Asian: 9%
Native American: N/A
White: 71%
Out-of-state: 71%
Age twenty-one or younger: N/A
Retention rate: 96%
Freshmen who graduate within four years: 88%
Haden went to a small, private suburban DC prep school. I think you guys are jumping to conclusions on his ability to fit in. My guess is that if he were a top the depth chart and winning ACC player of the week, this wouldn't have been a problem.
Its hard to say what Haden's problem was with BC. Maybe his next college will shed some light on what he was looking for. However, I don't think we can discount the pressure put on him by his brothers' success and his family. Its hard to be content when you are constantly hurt, the number two guy and your siblings are winning national championships and are on the fast track to the NFL. Similarly, Tuggle had his NFL daddy to live up to. I think perhaps less than the average scholar-athlete, these two are looking for a place to have a second chance, get playing time and be "important."
So Haden doesn't feel BC is a good fit for him, chooses to leave, and all of a sudden it's because:
-as Dustbowl says, he's too dumb, doesn't want to go to class, and lacks intestinal fortitude?
-as Eagle1 says, the "high-school acedemics" (sic) are weak in the South?
How about no school is a one size fits all? This trashing smacks too much of a recently-dumped high school girl with access to MySpace.
haden is not a pussy and i doubt he cared very much about BC's demographics. saying "it wasn't the right fit for me" is the standard, classy way to explain why you're transferring. he could have bitched and moaned about the depth chart, the coaching, or play calling, etc. the guy was a big time recruit out of high school and now he's playing second fiddle to montel harris. if he thinks he can live up to his potential somewhere else, let him go. i hope he does well.
Did Haden punch your wife in the uterus? WOW.
Yeesh, some of these comments are way off base. Any actual information that he was a bad student or didn't like "prepsters"?
The dude was so amped to come to BC that he enrolled early to get to spring practice and got a tattoo of the school on his chest.
He probably saw himself standing astride 1,500 yard seasons and some national love.
Instead, he's watching hardly-recruited Montel Harris do what he was supposed to do.
Coupled with the injuries, dude probably just wants a fresh start.
After all, Whitey gave him the scholarship and a shot. I don't think he's as good as he thinks he is, but whatever...good luck to the guy.
Eagle1...do you love the irony of "acedemics" being weak in the South as much as I do? Yee-haw!
Hey, the goat was stuck in the fence. I was just pushing it through.
I vote for CT as the next reader to post... dude is funny and knows what he's talking about
Haden was a running back who wasn't going to run much. When Montel broke the BC record he decided that with injuries and a big run from one of his best friends it was time to get healthy and go somewhere else and start over and make his mark. He's a kid and he never once dissed BC. You guys who don't get it and want to dismiss him with no respect and a lot of baseless conjecture should strap it on and take a few hits for BC football, as Haden did, before you talk. Then read some H.L. Mencken about talkers who don't know bleep. The kid was classy, and went to class.
He's going to finish and move on--all these posts about racism are stupid and poison the air. My advice as a long-time BC fan and alum (and I'm talking 40 years) is that if you learned anything at BC you learned not to talk unless you know.
I wish Haden well. Go Eagles!!
mmason, well put. As far as these transfer situations go, you can't do better than BC has done with Haden, Tuggle, and Davis. All parties have wished each other the best, kept the comments civil and positive, and kept the good name of BC and the respective student-athletes. We all know students that left BC at one time or the other, and most had legitimate reasons to do so (except those who transferred to South Bend or HC..yeesh). Here's wishing the men luck and that they land on their feet. Go BC!
I agree with Mmason. Have some class folks. Some of these comments and conjectures are out and out shameful. I expect much better out of the BC community.
I wish nothing but the best for Haden and I am grateful for his role in getting us to the ACCCG last season.
His brother plays in front of loud sell out crowds of 90,000 and wins national championships and he plays in front of 37,000 quiet puritans who are checking their Blackberry's for Red Sox scores. Not shocking that he feels like something is missing.
We all love BC but it is a niche environment in the college football world.
Heck, every BC alum & student, despite their love, would be lying if they were frustrated by aspects about their time at BC, whether the rules about drinking in the underclassmen dorms, the weather, the high rent off campus, the inability to have a car, the Perspectives requirement class, the unfriendly people, the abundance of New Jersey people, ETC.
The Heights is great for many but not for everyone.
Ahhh... death, taxes, and an underrating of a BC team. I love this kind of fodder. Does anyone else see the ridiculousness of BC being ranked behind the likes of traditional nobodies like UTEP and Old Dominion and LaSalle? And then to put VT up above us with the remark "has a shot" at their "2nd NCAA bid in 14 years." Woo-hoo! Man, our team must just absolutely eat this kind of snubbing for breakfast.
A guy who makes up excuses and quits because he has an injured pinky is a pussy and a quitter. Hardly a tough football player.
Who cares if he's got a tatoo.
Sure if he was successful, he would not have quit. But he did not succeed and he did quit. A winner never quits and a quitter never wins.
Why does he dislike private school. hmmmm.???..because they are not state funded? Probably not.
what is troubling here is the PC dicks on this board who think people are talking about race or saying the guy is dumb when this was never said (or smuggly sneering about the irony -- the irony!! -- b/c the word "acedemic" was misspelled by a poster. who cares.)
It is real easy to criticize a post by making up shit that was never said.
Dustbowl...Did you ever take any courses at BC? You sound like some
jackass wannabe who's trying out tough with some talk before you get the cojones to walk it. Ever watch Haden run the ball? Ever take a hit yourself to gain a yard against anybody? Why don't you make like a dustbowl and blow away?
If Haden had a real problem with the school (like racism) he wouldn't have nicely said "it wasn't a good fit" but probably would have felt hurt and angry and sad something more, so I think that particular claim is totally erroneous.
As for being a pussy - well that is just absurd. The guy is tiny, and takes an absolute beating. Sure some may laugh at a finger or pinky injury, but to a running back who has to hold on to the ball it is no small problem (nor would we consider it one if it caused him to fumble).
One last thing that hasn't been mentioned - I think Deuce Finch might have been a factor too. That kid has shown some serious potential, and while I don't know if he is as good as Haden, Haden surely saw that Montel was the starter and Finch was going to compete strongly for #2 so it was perhaps better to look elsewhere
I am honestly surprised at the crude/rude/unsubstantiated comments by some. It isn't being "PC" to simply not look for, or agree with, absolutely absurd rationalizations for a situation between a good kid and a good (read:great) school that just didn't work out.
Haden was a great recruit, played hard for us, and it just didn't pan out. I hope he does great wherever he goes - and hope Montel stays healthy!
That makes no sense. If you were trying to get another school to pick you up I would be saying no ill words about my previous school until I had locked into my other school. He would look like a jackass if he said it now because most coaches wouldn't touch him if he tried to start a firestorm by saying something bad.
All I am saying is that he probably didn't realize what it would be like going to a school with such a small african american population. Yes, he would have dealt with it if he was the #1 back but I am commenting on the fact he said he would never go to a private school again. That to me says something about private schools and the thing that jumps out to me is the lack of diversity of our student body as opposed to a state school.
I never said he didn't like the academics or hinted he was a racist. He just might not have felt comfortable and don't say he should have noticed on a campus visit. He would have been on campus for one weekend with all football players at their parties. How can you not like a school with 50 jersey chasers after you.
mmmmmmmason....you ask some dumb questions (answers yes, yes, yes, no).
But who cares if someone went to BC or not. Isn't that beside the point. Does it make you a regular genius to be a BC grad? It as about as relevant as the irony some find in "acedemic."
Haden is faulted not for being unable to take a hit on the field, he is being faulted for not being able to take a hit off the field (e.g. depth chart)
I wish Haden well, but let's not applaud a quitter or make more excuses for him. Its unAmerican.
I can't imagine that one of the first questions Haden would've asked other black players/students at BC wasn't about their experience at a school where blacks make up such a small part of the population.
I think it would've been smarter to transfer after the season. In that respect, I agree with Dustbowl. But, um, I post irrelevant things, so my opinion doesn't matter. Besides, calling Haden names far removed from the situation, as Mr. DustBowl did, is poor form.
Oh, and mmason is not a regular genius, he's an irregular one. Matthew is the regular genius.
Mr. CT:
Speaking of poor form, how does your use of the word "whitey" rate?
"After all, Whitey gave him the scholarship and a shot."
Should we know that the delicate genius was being "ironic"?
Matthew the toady, what did CT mean?
Dustbowl--your tone, language, and demeanor are rude, insulting and an embarrassment to anyone who has a BC diploma--this board isn't intended for your calling people pussies, or PC dicks or coming up with phony "I wish Haden well" comments after the fact--you're like Clausen going up to Gunny with a "Good game!" at the end of the ND game after bush league trash talking for 4 quarters. Do you think my questions were "dumb" because you had one word answers for them? I asked them because it's hard to believe you got a degree from BC and if you did it lowers the value of mine...Get it?
DustBowl, so if you were stuck in a dead-end job you knew you would be forced to leave/retire in two years, you'd just suck it up and not seek better opportunities elsewhere? You call it "quitting"; I (and apparently others) call it "intelligence and acknowledging reality."
mmmmmmmmasson....
This board isn't intended for your calling people jackass wannabee or coming up with dumb questions with out factual relevance.
ha!
what is happening to this comment section? dustbowl please stop disgracing this fine blog
if he were a top the depth chart and winning ACC player of the week, this wouldn't have been a problem.
EOS
Ok, so I misspelled "academic," and I get the irony. I sometimes struggle with that word and "alcohol," which sometimes sounds like "alcahol" to my fingers, especially when I'm drinking.
Bottom line: The staff needs to be careful during the recruiting process. Kids leaving the program gives the program bad press and dissuades other football players from coming to BC. Before offering a scholarship, Spaz, et al., must strongly consider whether a particular recruit can hack the books at BC. We're used to getting 2-star and 3-star kids from quality high schools in the north, so we haven't had to focus on that issue. Now, we're reaching for 4-star and 5-star kids from crap schools in the south. If we're not careful, we're going to invite players through the door who simply can't handle the "academics" and will part ways with BC solely because of that.
Dustbowl, in relation to your comment "why does it matter if I went to BC":
BC is unique in bcs football circles that the almost all our support comes from alumni. As such, our actions (even including comment posts) reflect on each other, the students, and the college itself. So when you start calling a 19 year old a "pussy" and without any evidence correlate his desire to move to a larger university due to race ("prepsters") and academics ("going to class")it reflects
badly on all parties involved. In general, regardless of opinion, make it respectful for all parties involved until more facts are known.
Man, bye weeks suck!
Man, you said it, mod10aeagle.
I missed checking in a few days, and catching up by reading all this nonsense absolutely blows.
OC guest blogging?
Trashing Haden, then arguing about?
Puh-leeze. Move on.
Go 'Noles! Beat Clemson.
And please, God, end this bye week.
Seriously, stop the ridiculous speculation. Tale the kid at his word--"it wasn't the right fit." He doesn't owe us a detailed explanation why.
Haden is taking the high road, and some of this crap being said about him and his motives is disgraceful, especially when there is absolutely nothing to substantiate it.
He's a good player and I wish him the best wherever he lands.
foodie -- you are bringing your own biases to bear by interpeting prepster to equal race.
as for BC being unique, not so. U Miami, Duke and Wake all are private schools.
A blog, is a blog is a blog...not a reflection of the university. I think people get that.
But enuff of this nonsense.
Let's beat UVA with our MAN Montel Harris amd let's hope Clemson does what it does best: choke!
You're pretty much the alpha and omega of nonsense. But don't stop now. Quitter.
Besides, as a whitey, I can say whitey.
If, for example, you wanted to say 'douchebag,' you certainly could say that.
The blog suddenly got less fun. Boo.
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