Monday, November 28, 2011

Revisiting the Year 3 trend

I could see the Spaz excuse train coming from miles away, so last July I wondered why Spaz was still using his roster as a potential reason for struggles in Year 3. Forget about Spaz and many of his assistants being part of the staff that recruited our team, even a new coach should have most of his players in by his third year. Yet the Boston media and Spaz apologist accept the lack of seniors as the reason why BC struggled. Forget the sloppy line play, the strange in game strategies, or the inability to score points. Who does this in their third season?


Even Dan Henning -- who is the definition of Coordinator not cut out for the Head Coaching job -- was 5-7 in his fifth year. Yes, Dan Henning, in the middle of a gambling scandal and player apathy won more games than Spaz in his final year at BC. Ed Chlebek, who has the dubious honor of coaching the worst season in BC football history, had steady improvement and was 7-4 in his third year.


With Year 4 underway and a roster of experienced upperclassmen that he recruited, it is time to start thinking of Coach Flip and Spaz's excuses for Year 4. These are the ones I expect. Add yours in the comments.

-- "You can't expect to lose a player like Luke Kuechly and not expect a big drop off"
-- "We replaced Duke with Georgia Tech on the schedule"
-- "We are still dealing with Jags's poor recruiting"
-- "Montel Harris is still not 100%"
-- "The schedule is much tougher than last year (improved Army, Northwestern on the road)"
-- "Poor fan support hurts recruiting and our home field advantage"
-- "Rettig is still not developing"
-- "Injuries"
-- "The ACC is on an upswing, so things are tougher than they were for TOB and Jags"
-- "Still have many true freshmen on the two deep"
-- "The new turf in Alumni is making things too slick"

56 comments:

Mr. Tambourine MAn said...

I'll take a stab at a few others:

"The unexpected transfers of [insert whoever, but especially someone like Montel] and other dismissals hurt us a lot. I try to do what's best for these kids, but sometimes they won't listen."

"BC built its success on seniors and 5th year starters, its only year four, so there's still another year of growth needed."

"New Assistant Coach X is installing a new system that takes time"

"Spinney was the leader and play caller for the oline and it takes a while for a new starter to fill that role."

"Think of how much worse 2011 would have looked without a 2nd team All-ACC punter. Just the Notre Dame game along he probably saved us two opponent touchdowns"

bc1900 said...

A funny note from the NY Post today. The college football columnist has his top 10 in big bold lettering on his article today. After the top 10 it says "25 Boston College" I do not know if it is copy error or if it is him saying something about keeping Spaz. Lenn Robbins is the columnist. The poll can't be seen on the web copy.

Budlite said...

“It doesn’t matter”

EL MIZ said...

"We are who we are."

downtown_resident said...

"Kevin Rogers's health issues have continued."

BCballer said...

" Wuhhlllaaa, as I've said before, once again, the-ya, ya know, uhh, we-ya just have to, ya know, continue to correct the mistakes, ya know,uh, once again, we are fragile, ya know, and uh..."

I'll miss these eloquent diatribes.

mmason said...

Here's one:

"The Alums' heads keep exploding in the stands both at home and on the road and that distracts our players from a solid focus on the game plan."

Tim said...

"We can't be Harvard Monday through Friday and Oklahoma on Saturday"

Mr. Tambourine MAn said...

POTHOLES!

Knucklehead said...

"We are being outcoached."

Anfield10 said...

Others correct my current apathy if you wish, but here is my current feeling:

I do get all the anti-Spaz sentiment, I really do. I have to admit, initially I thought he deserved his shot, and then gave him the benefit of the doubt. I have fully turned against him. However, and you can blame this on Spaz or whatever, I find I am visiting BC blogs less and less because I am so tired of all the negativity. We beat Miami/Maryland/NC State, and all the comments and posts by ATL are about how much we won in spite of Spaz, or how Spaz still needs to go, etc. Everything is prefaced with "glad we won, BUT..."

We lose - it is all doom an gloom. We win, it is all doom and gloom because everyone says Spaz will be back and the program will disappear forever.

Again, I am not saying anyone is wrong in this. I would like an injection of new blood in the coaching dept. But I do find myself reading less and less on BC blogs because every blog poster and every commenter focuses solely on negative and the need to fire spaz.

mod34b said...

November 2010


GDF "Yes, I do believe that Frank Spaziani will lead us to the Orange Bowl within the next three years. We haven't played in a major bowl game since 1984, and I believe that Spaz will lead us to one. We are all spoiled, especially me. I hate losing and have suffered as much or more than anybody through our five-game losing streak. When I arrived at Boston College in 1997, the football team had three winning seasons in 10 years, was coming off a gambling scandal, and hockey had six consecutive losing seasons. Our record in football over the last decade is 88 wins and 40 losses, and we have been to 11 consecutive bowl games. "

November 2011

GDF : ""Nobody is more disappointed than (coach Frank Spaziani) and I,"  . . .

"They’re [the fans] not here every day," DeFilippo said. "They’re not here all the time. Spaz and I work 24/7 and they just have to trust us and understand that this program is headed in the right way. You have to remember when I got here in 1997, the football team had had three winning teams in 10 years. We’ve had 12 consecutive winning teams, 10 of those years we’ve won eight or more games, six of those 12 years we’ve won nine or more. Believe me, losing is totally unacceptable here and it will not happen again."

November 2012

GDF: "I am proud of our winning OOC record this year.  We are 3-1 Out of conference.  Although we were 2-6 in conference, we have overall shown marked improvement over last  year.  Winning.   Improving. We are fortunate that Spaz is again coming back to continue building toward a bowl-eligible record during the next 4 years.  Spaz is a great coach.  The best in the last 4 years at BC.

You have to remember when I got here in 1997, the football team had had three winning teams in 10 years.  That all Chnaged. Overall over the past 7 years our overall record is a winning record.   That is the BC way"

eagleboston said...

"Losing Luke and McGovern was just too much for our defense to overcome. Then, losing the new DC after the second game due to a severe bed bug infection was the straw that broke the camel's back."

hsk said...

"we are close but we are still far"

CT said...

We have too many white players and northern players on our team.
Our blog consists of mod34b's edumacated comments. Those factors alone should result in NCAA violations.

There are no excuses. The fact of the matter is that we have poor talent and poor coaching. Our skill players are below average for "major" conference play. Our offensive line--once a staple--is below average...as we saw a season ago in the opener vs. Kent State. Our defensive line...well, at least we graduate our players second only to ND. That'll get people to tailgates and into the stadium by gametime.

We play in a minor league conference. At least we have Syracuse and Pitt to add to our football cred in a year or two. You know, for those awesome TV markets.

Our coach loves BC so much that he gives crappy interviews, bad talks his own team, and regresses each year he coaches. We can't keep an OC. We're in the top 10...of worst offenses in FBS or D1 football. In a down year in a down conference, we won four games. Clemson--destined for the ACC champ. game--got crushed by USC. Wake got crushed by Vandy. Ga Tech by UGA.

Just think of all those missed bowl practices now. You know, like the past 12 seasons helped so much. 12 times 15...that's like, I don't know, 180 extra practices that made BC a perennial 8 game winner. With such a young team this year we're missing out on developing all that talent. The future doesn't look quite that bright, GDF.

Let's quit pretending to be a contender and contend to be a pretender. Like Northwestern. We are who we thought we were. Like TOB said, and we all criticized him for, BC is a 9 win ceiling unless they drop grad rates from the low 90s to the mid 70s.

Of course, we wouldn't have sanctimonious people on a blog talking about how we do it the "BC" way, that we're different, etc.

You simply can't have it both ways.

Next year, tailgate and raise a toast to that graduation rate. Get kicked out of the party by the Gestapo BC police, get to the stadium late, get criticized by your AD, and watch us score 10 points again. Then blog about how we're "different," and complain that we don't score enough and win enough.

About Five said...

Anfield
When reality is you are led by incompetence the dialog, blog and otherwise, is not going positive. Put in an excuse train coach and AD it salt into the wounds.

Have the AD be an arrogant meddler who thinks the problem with critism is the publics inability to understand what he knows is the "real truth"' and it is throwing gas on a fire.

However, you do have the answer. Ignore BC's existence like SpAz, Gene, Leahy, and the BOT ignore reality. Return after the mess blows up and there is reason to be optimistic.

TheFive said...

Gene D: "When I arrived on the Heights in 1997, our football program was emerging from a gambling scandal, and, beginning in 1999, we had 12 winning seasons in a row. So, really, a couple of losing seasons don't matter. Neither do you. Please just shut up, give me money, and allow my greatness to shine upon you."

evr2xl said...

CT,
It's not that we're better than other schools or that I think we are. But I for one am proud of the fact that BC tries to do both. It is possible as other programs have occasionally shown. And it has nothing to do with being sanctimonious. If it were really impossible to do both and schools had to choose - require athletes to be legitimate students or win games - then you'd have nothing to criticize. BC just happened to choose differently than what you'd prefer. Our only real gripe as fans of the program is that BC pays lip service to doing both and has the real option and opportunity to do both and yet makes no real effort.

EL MIZ said...

CT,

Stanford graduates 94%, compared to BC's 96%. They are the program we should strive to emulate. Is it hard to graduate players and be competitive? Yes, but not impossible.

Also, TOB may have been right that we have a 9-win ceiling, generally. (Jags disproved this a year later with TOB's players.) That said, we won 4 games this year. Which means we were 5 wins below where we should have been. Hence the discontent among many with regards to both Spaz and Gene for insisting things are great.

BCMike said...

Well, you know, I mean, as I've said before with a team that is, in as many years as you know, with this team, it's just more of a thing where the team is just going to be, not necessarily all the time, but you guys know as I've said before some of the time with teams I've had like this where you just aren't going to be where you know I mean, where I think we, or I know I, but you know I think probably we all know where we need to be and that's where we need to be if we're going to be successful.

Big Jack Krack said...

Meanwhile, let's continue to support the players.

Ct - this has nothing to do with color, but Larmond and a developing Coleman would be more effective in an offense better suited to utilize all weapons - ie, wide receivers and tight ends and backs out of the backfield - including the occasional fullback.

We got a sniff of this at Miami, when we were all saying "where has this (Pantale) been all year?" The OL finally improved ever so slightly enough to allow the TE to get into a pass pattern down the field!

On one play Larmond had shaken free and was wide open at the Miami 10 yard line, but Rettig couldn't get the ball to him due to pressure and decision-making, etc. I think Larmond has been very frustrated this year. It has to be a total effort. If the OL continues to have problems, a lot of the moves WR's can make simply go to waste.

I think Swigert and Amidon show great potential for their remaining 2 years, especially if we can ever open up this offense. These guys can be utilized much like the Patriot's utilize Welker et al. Amidon is pretty fast and Swigert is a football player.

Elliott is starting to show promise and Spiffy Evans might be pretty good. If we get Momah back and threaten to use both the big, tall WR and the big TE Panatale in the Red Zone - these other guys will get their opportunities.

Do we have any WRs on the commitment list?

Tim said...

Miz,
"Jags disproved this a year later." I never understood TOB's 9-win comment to mean that BC could literally never win more than 9 games a year. I think he was basically trying to convey the point that we were roughly a 9-win calibre program, at best. In other words, yes, we won 11 games in 2007, but we still had several WTF losses to inferior teams (Maryland and FSU), failed to win a conference title, and went to a second- or third-rate bowl. Sounds a lot like the TOB years, doesn't it?

NEDofSavinHill said...

TOB was an historically good coach.1)- 8 straight bowl wins is 2nd only to FSU's 14. (2)- 6 straight over ND is 2nd only to USC's 8 (3)-a 5 game win streak over UNC in a 100 year rivalry (4)- only coach to beat all 12 ACC teams. These accomplishments are in the all time history of college football. Since TOB and his recruits left the program has gone back to the 4 win level it was at when he arrived. In TOB's last 5 years, he averaged 9 wins. Gdf had nothing to do win TOB's success. When GDF arrived at BC, Chet Gladchuk had already hired four great coaches: TOB, York, Skinner & Inglese. GDf had nothing to do with these four hires. GDF inherited four Aces, and he erroneously takes credit for their success. GDF fired or drove out the winningest coaches in BC football and basketball school history. TOB left because he didn't want to be stabbed in the back like Inglese and Skinner were . Gdf got rid of the winningest coaches in BC histoy and replaced them with duds.
An interesting question has emerged from the Fine scandal. Why was Gdf so anxious to make Syracuse our football rival? Did Gdf know Fine and Boeheim ? If so how? Did he ever have any discussions with either? When Gdf stated that "Espn told us what to do",he was referring to conference expansion. Did ESPN tell BC to renew the Syracuse rivalry. Who does GDF think he works for? BC or ESPN. Did anyone at ESPN tell GDF about the Bernie Fine matter or ESPN's possession of Fine's wife's audiotape? Did he have any information regarding Fine? Should Father Leahy investigate these questions? Should the Feds investigate the ESPN basketball commentators: Billas, Dickey V., and Digger, about their knowledge of the Fine matter? What was their role in getting Syracuse in the ACC. The people at ESPN condemned Penn State for their coverup of the Sandusky matter, while ESPN was covering up the Fine matter.

NEDofSavinHill said...

TOB was an historically good coach.1)- 8 straight bowl wins is 2nd only to FSU's 14. (2)- 6 straight over ND is 2nd only to USC's 8 (3)-a 5 game win streak over UNC in a 100 year rivalry (4)- only coach to beat all 12 ACC teams. These accomplishments are in the all time history of college football. Since TOB and his recruits left the program has gone back to the 4 win level it was at when he arrived. In TOB's last 5 years, he averaged 9 wins. Gdf had nothing to do win TOB's success. When GDF arrived at BC, Chet Gladchuk had already hired four great coaches: TOB, York, Skinner & Inglese. GDf had nothing to do with these four hires. GDF inherited four Aces, and he erroneously takes credit for their success. GDF fired or drove out the winningest coaches in BC football and basketball school history. TOB left because he didn't want to be stabbed in the back like Inglese and Skinner were . Gdf got rid of the winningest coaches in BC histoy and replaced them with duds.
An interesting question has emerged from the Fine scandal. Why was Gdf so anxious to make Syracuse our football rival? Did Gdf know Fine and Boeheim ? If so how? Did he ever have any discussions with either? When Gdf stated that "Espn told us what to do",he was referring to conference expansion. Did ESPN tell BC to renew the Syracuse rivalry. Who does GDF think he works for? BC or ESPN. Did anyone at ESPN tell GDF about the Bernie Fine matter or ESPN's possession of Fine's wife's audiotape? Did he have any information regarding Fine? Should Father Leahy investigate these questions? Should the Feds investigate the ESPN basketball commentators: Billas, Dickey V., and Digger, about their knowledge of the Fine matter? What was their role in getting Syracuse in the ACC. The people at ESPN condemned Penn State for their coverup of the Sandusky matter, while ESPN was covering up the Fine matter.

NEDofSavinHill said...

People at ESPN, ABC and CNN are disseminating false information about the Syracuse Bernie Fine sex scandal and the statute of limitations. Georgetown Law Professor, Toobin, said the Statute of Limitations had run on the Fine crimes. But the third Fine accuser said he was molested at an away game in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Statute of Limitations stops running when a perpetrator leaves the State's jurisdiction. Pennsylvania still can prosecute Fine within the Statute of Limitations. This also applies to allegations that Sandusky committed crimes in Texas.

Joseph said...

C'mon, man. Talk about reaching for some kind of guilt by association. pathetic. Sounds like you are ready to condemn Donahue even though he has yet to be in position to put his own veteran team on the floor. I can agree about Inglese (without knowing any inside dope), but TOB and Skinner were past their shelf lives and were voting present.

Anfield10 said...

Why do people keep holding Stanford and Wake up as shining beacons? I realize we are having a bad couple years here, but for the last decade we have been better than these teams consistently.

@AboutFive - you are right, and that is why I tried to ensure my comment didn't convey blame. I don't blame posters, or ATL, for being disgruntled or negative. I just hate that "it is what it is" and we are kind of stuck in this nowhere land. Reading BC blogs just brings me down nowadays, not much of a relief from the real world like it used to be!

evr2xl said...

Anfield,
We may have had a more sustained period of consistent success than either of those programs, but Stanford especially has recently shown the heights of success that are attainable with the right personnel and attitude.

Big Jack Krack said...

Ned - whatever happened with Inglese? I thought she was a pretty good coach, and hadn't done anything to merit getting let go. Or did she "officially resign?" I was surprised at the time.

I don't believe Crawley has been much of an upgrade - if any.

In terms of wide receivers, I have been looking back on some of our guys since Tom O'Brien got here up till the present. I'm sure I'll forget some - but it seems that we have always made due with under-the-radar type guys with a few exceptions.

It's true that we are probably not as good, but neither is the team - especially the blocking.

A strong offensive line and good blocking from the FB (if used) will free up the receivers - or good scrambling by Paul Peterson :-)



Here are most of the guys since TOB's first year -
D. Crittenden; A. DiCosmo; J. Walker; D. Harding; K. Hemmings; J. Burke, D. Dewalt; R. Reid; G. Adams; J. Hazard; T. Sele; J. Lilly; T. Gonzalez; W. Blackmon (when he was used as a receiver) K. Challenger; B. Robinson; L. Lester; B. Flutie; L. Anam; J. Jarvis; C. Megwa; R. Gunnell; C. Larmond Jr; I. Momah; J. Coleman; D. Elliott; B. Swigert; A. Amidon; S. Evans - and other recruits who left the program.

Tim said...

BJK-
I'd love to see Paul Peterson take his coaching career back to Chestnut Hill some day.

http://www.suutbirds.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=20100&ATCLID=1369060

Soxx22 said...

When talking about WR talent at BC, who was the last drafted WR from BC? not even Tom Waddle was drafted. Its amazing to think that we never get NFL talent at WR considering that we run a pro-style offense and often have NFL caliber QBs.

Tim said...

This is a great initiative:

http://www.bc.edu/content/bc/offices/pubaf/news/2011_jun-aug/jfk-video-splash.html

I'm so sick of being constantly embarrassed by our students' lack of class at sporting events (e.g. all the moronic "you suck" chants, etc.). I hope this has some effect.

Ry said...

this about says it all

Big Jack Krack said...

Tim - I was at Notre Dame in 2004 when Peterson calmly brought the Eagles back from 20 t0 7 to victory in the last minute 24 to 23!!! What a thrill.

Also the Bowl win in Charlotte against UNC when he suffered a broken leg - what a player and leader and all around great guy. Yes, bring him back East.

Soxx22 - I hope it wasn't Brian Brennan, because that would have been 1984.

Wasn't Kelvin Matin drafted by the Cowboys in 1987?

Wow - that's a long time since we had a WR drafted.

I agree with this - "Its amazing to think that we never get NFL talent at WR considering that we run a pro-style offense and often have NFL caliber QBs."

Tim - I recently met a couple at a Memorial Golf Tournament in Charleston for an Infantry Captain KIA in Afghanistan. There was a retired Colonel there with his wife (Reserve Colonel) - both health care professionals.

The husband was a Virginia Grad and loves to travel around to college football games.

Guess where this couple was treated the most rudely? Yes, I'm sorry to say it was at Boston College. The gentleman stated that he was very surprised because BC is an "academic school" and he was disgusted because he claims fans were "throwing things at us (Virginia fans)".

Anyway, I'm all for good sportsmanship and only get upset by and heartily boo unsportsmanlike conduct.

Treat fans - who have travelled a great distance in many cases - like you would like to be treated when you go to their school for a game.

"You suck" and "First down, bitch!" chants make me sick.

Of course when 3 defenders run our star player into the sideline bench (WVU players purposely put Esposito out of the game in the earlier 70's that way) - that's a whole other story. No guarantees then! :-) I go wild at times, but only when provoked by unsportsmanlike conduct.

Big Jack Krack said...

Ry - thanks for posting that article. It's nice to see a dissenting opinion published somewhere.

Eagle4life said...

We should have hired Mike London when we had the opportunity. He has totally turned that program around.

They are 8-4 and have a Top 25 recruiting class. He also had roots with BC since he was an assistant previously.

But Flip decides to promote Spaz so he has his puppet. If London was head coach and Spaz stayed at DC, we would be heading in the right direction.

Now we are just stuck on a long road going downhill...

neenan said...

BC football has "too many white guys"?? Really?

Is that a joke gone awry? Sadly, no, it is another offensive remark by CT. Hard to believe this ass-clown went to BC. CT -- STFU, ok?

A brief CT history and of those with the good sense to call him out:

Oct 2009 -- CT: "ga. tech is arguable, only b/c half their student population is asian and in the library and taking their education back to their home countries to build a better bomb."

Nov 2009 -- CT on Josh Haden's transfer: "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."


Dec 2009 -- CT: "don't let roche pass you in the 'white-guy-that-plays-bball' talent contest"

Jan 2011 -- CT: "you can't have a white guy returning kicks. Especially when he catches punts at the 5 and lets the punts in front of him drop and roll past him 20 yds. White dudes with no speed equals long fields with no hope."

Jan 2011 -- Walter on CT: "Since when is it okay to just be casually racist and say that a white guy can't return punts?"

Jan 2011 -- Joseph on CT: "The remarks about 'white Return players' is totally stupid and unworthy of any BC grad."

Jan 2011 -- CT to Joseph: "Asians are pretty fast. That'd be cool to have one returning punts."

Jan 2011 -- EagleBoston to CT: "What does race have to do with the guy returning kicks? Last I checked, this was the year 2011, not 1955. And it is not being politically correct to call out someone making a blatantly racist comment. This blog has no place for bigotry and when we refer to the BC student athletes, we should be commenting on their talent and abilities, not the color of their skin."

Anfield10 said...

evr2xl

You are right Stanford has reached dizzying heights this year and last, and Wake did make an Orange Bowl once but I for one would take our last 12 years over those teams couple of years. Don't get me wrong, this is not an "I'll settle for mediocrity" argument, it is just saying that I would rather be really excited for my team and watch us be good and have high expectations for ten years than I would have a flash in the pan Orange Bowl year. Anyway, I am not sounding like I intend - believe me, I want championships and success too. I just am not enamoured with Wake or Stanford or NW's couple good years. Stanford may prove me wrong, but I feel like once Luck leaves they may descend once more, a bit like Kansas or Ole Miss who had one or two heady years followed by the basement.

All that said, we definitely need a new direction. I am a 49ers fan and it is amazing to see what a good coach can do - I felt like that team had talent the last few years, and it took Harbaugh (yes, yes I know - STANFORD! haha) to come in and galvanize. I feel the same with BC - we have the talent, I just want someone who embraces it and revels in the challenge (a la Harbaugh). Unfortunately I am resigned to at least one more season of this.

Anfield10 said...

In other news, anybody have any inkling or idea when we might hear about Kuechly's future? When do kids normally announce if they are staying? Last I saw he was projected around number 12, so my hopes are likely in vain.

Anyone know what Logan is doing these days? Any chance for a return as OC, or is that just wishful thinking?

EL MIZ said...

jimmy, do you keep a file on every ATL poster on just on CT? that was an interesting expose into race-fueled commentary on a college sports blog.

i think the point with stanford and WF is that they have broken through to the big time bowl games. that's what its all about right? getting into the orange bowl, the only "legitimate" bowl that we really have a chance to play for. the silly meineke car care bowl (BJK i was at the car care bowl and that ND game in 2004, great times) or other bowls like that are completely irrelevant.

i think TOB's point in saying we have a 9 win ceiling was that we would never make the orange bowl. we would never play in january. i do think that we can graduate players at a good clip, be halfway decent every yr (going to those irrelevant beef o'brady bowls) and every once in a while make an orange bowl when a transcendent player passes thru (much like it looked with matty ice).

there is no reason BC cannot do that. hence the maddening excuses piped by geno and his boy frankie about how we are "constrained" by the players (who were recruited by the coaches) and a general lack of a program. instead of a bunch of excuse makers i want people who try to achieve big things.

"don't whine. don't complain. don't make excuses." -- the 3 "don't"s that were a staple of the most successful coach of all-time john wooden's basketball program. sadly our coach and AD whine, complain, and make excuses seemingly every day.

Knucklehead said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Knucklehead said...

Boston College has not been to a big time bowl since the 1940's. When the team was undefeated in 1940/41 it beat Tennessee in the Sugar Bowl. Boston College was NOT awarded a National Championship even after going 11-0.

In the 1980's with Doug we went to a Cotton Bowl . . . which was more esteemed then than it is now . . . but are you kidding me how was that 84 team not put into one of the big time bowls. You would ahve thought that the Orange Bowl would have loved to have Doug back.

In the 1990's we lost at home to WestVirgina on ESPN. David Green the BC running back fumbled the ball late in the game . . . we choked . . . and lost out on going to the Sugar Bowl.

In 2000's we lost to the Bernie Fine Syracuse Orangemen in a game that would have put us into the big bowl.

The point is that BC has never been able to put it all together. There is always something. The good thing about the FBS and ACC is that there is a championship game. So IF we were to win it we would automatically qualify for the Orange Bowl . . . nobody could take it away from us.

I am waiting for Dan Shaunessey to write a book called the "Curse of Leahy." We haven't done ANYTHING sine Leahy left for Notre Dame.

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE BC football. Someday we will make a BCS Bowl or a Final Four.

Thank God for Jerry York.

janebc said...

I hold the institution responsible. Boston College has allowed GDF - who has single-handedly set BC football back years- unchecked power and no accountability, to the point where he tells the fanbase "it doesn't matter" what they think. I'm afraid I cannot invest in BC any longer financially or emotionally until GDF is gone and Spaz leaves for a Division III program more suited to his coaching abilities.

matthew2 said...

I love the sensisitivy reflex when it comes to race... how many white RBs are there? I want a black RB on BC. Does that make me a racist?

It's hard to argue the fact that there are more black skilled athletes. I don't mind white guys on my team, they are just harder to find. Wes Welker and Jordy Nelson can play for BC any day.

And why wasn't anyone offended by CT's northerners comment? Geography doesn't elicit the same response?

Sidenote: Evan Ravenel just checked in for the Buckeyes. He's played double digit minutes for one of the best teams in the country.

blockparty said...

evan ravenel getting big time minutes off the bench for ohio state. yes, that evan ravenel that was played sparingly during his time at bc. good luck to him, i hope he becomes a PTPer playing next to sullinger. hes a big body with a lot of athletic ability.

Big Jack Krack said...

Since our outlook is shaky at best - wouldn't it be nice if the fans could count on a good game day experience, at least - for mingling and spending time with like-minded alums and their families.

If we think we can't get our team back to a more competitive, exciting state - maybe we should concentrate on a complete reassessment of the game day experience - which is as low as our team's current ranking.

My question - when did the big changes (begin to) take place - I need to refresh my memory.

No parking around the resevoir; no parking in the neighborhoods - on Commonwealth Ave, Lake St. etc; busing to and from the stadium from Rt 128 Needham and Brighton, etc; BC Gestapo patrolling the tailgate area - small and restricted as it is; Newton Firefighters patrolling the garages on our private campus and issuing citations and ordering generators shut off; DBS -seating; Flynn Fund Parking Permits only; restricted areas on campus to tailgate; restricted walk-on tailgating; no tailgating on Brighton Campus (more obvious) - on and on. Everyone must leave quickly after the game, etc.

It's totally absurd.

I need to conduct the research and any help will be appreciated.

Here's a quick idea. Flynn Fund Parking gets the prime spots roped off and can enter 1 hour ahead of everyone else and set up hassle-free. Perhaps more space provided for each vehicle for better set up - some additional perk(s).

Unsold Flynn Fund Space - unsold capacity, so to speak is first come first served 3 hours (or 4 hours) before game-time - $30 or $40 or $50 per car. This includes the Brighton Campus, where "Picnic-Style Tailgating is permitted (no grills; open fires, etc.)

The amount of spaces available can be announced ahead of each game on the Athletic website.

Let's put some ideas together and then formulate a plan - a White Paper for BC to consider - not just the Athletic Director.

I'm rambling on - sorry.

EL MIZ said...

BJK for AD! keep going, these are all great ideas. if we are going to hit the glass ceiling every yr with our 86% recruiting rate and best coach in the last 15 years, the least we could do is enjoy a cheeseburger and beer at a tailgate and not be harassed by the various Powers that Be (everyone from the BC Police, Newton FD, and even the rent-a-help that BC gets that wear those yellow jackets who are HUGE jerks and offer zero assistance).

AlbanyEagle said...

True story:
Got a call from a BC student just a few hours ago, asking me to renew my Flynn Fund donation. I told her that while I intend to continue giving to BC, I refuse donate to the FF, as doing so implicitly condones and supports all that GDF has done to stain and embarrass our great University. I'm afraid I went off on a bit of a rant, but the kid took it well.

Interestingly, she actually laughed a little and said she's been hearing a lot of the same. She also assured me that comments like mine/ours are being anonymously recorded and reported (to whom I don't really know).

At the very least it sounds like people are starting to talk with their wallets. Join the fight if you can. Be heard. Save BC!

Ever to Excel!!

CT said...

Was my BC Police Gestapo comment not racist or insensitive? Come on, Jimmy, you searched for my comments. I'm flattered. I think our President is incompetent. He's black. Does that make me racist in the other direction...you know, like, really racist? He is from Chicago, you know. That probably means he'd be a lousy football player. Only b/c he'd ask the late-arriving crowd to pitch in and help the inferior team give more so that they can tie the game.

How very enlightened of you to not state the obvious. Are you one of the many Marxist professors I had in grad school? I love academia, you know. Full of books and talk and all sorts of smart stuff with smart people who solve the world's problems one class at a time. Not so much the doers...but the thinkers. The elite that keep the publishing industry afloat. You know, not so much accountable, just kind of critical. I aspire to not offend the sensitivities of a Jesuit education while at the same time accepting the fact that there are currently no starting cornerbacks in the NFL that are white and exactly how many BC skill players in the NFL in the last...oh, I don't know, 25 years? To some, that might be a statistical anomaly. Almost hard to do. To others, a racist comment.

To the earlier poster, I would argue that to compare us to Stanford is inane. IMHO for the younger crowd. They might just happen to have the best QB in recent memory and be living off the spoils of a halfway decent coach who has turned the 49'ers into a playoff team. Where was Stanford before this? Where will they be after the Harbaugh/Luck effect wears off (check out those offensive stats...min they scored was 28 this yr). Time will tell.
But to say "it can be done" is missing the forest for the trees. Capture that two year run from Stanford. Go ahead. Harbaugh was 29-21 in four years. They're 100-98 since '95.

This ass clown would politely suggest that we recruit more passionately in the south and accept the B.J. Raji's of the world into our loving and accepting arms as well-molded Jesuit mentees are wont to do. Even you Jimmy are welcome into our multicultural embrace as we celebrate the gifts God has bestowed on the speedy and more agile among us. May the Lord accept us for who we are, some slow to the edge, some rather quicker to the perimeter. And may Wes Welker restore your faith in the egalitarianism that Barack so longs for in our bankrupt world.

Amen.

neenan said...
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Bravesbill said...

Why are liberals so eager to use the race card?

neenan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bravesbill said...

Except that liberals are always the ones to pull the race card in every given situation like you have.

matthew2 said...

yes, I'd rather be a racist, Jimmy. You can have Toby Gerhart as your feature back any day of the week.

Some people take themselves too seriously... I understand what is "acceptable" when it comes to being PC in a public forum... but I thought this was a realistic enough bunch that could acknowledge the fact that blacks are more likely to occupy skill positions in high-level football.

Oh, sorry.. African Americans... oh sorry, they might not be of African origin... "people of color"... even my closest black friends would laugh at you all.

Damn... I remember when I used to fight with bravesbill too...

neenan said...
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matthew2 said...

Thanks, I feel enlightened. And all of a sudden I trust you too.