Tuesday, May 15, 2012

ESPN defends ACC deal, big hockey donation and other links

Given the growing criticism of the new ACC deal, ESPN felt the need to defend and explain the specifics of the agreement. What's interesting is that Syracuse and Pitt triggered the opportunity to evaluate the deal but was not a contracted "out" of the old deal. Still my point from yesterday holds true: ESPN needs to keep the ACC at parity with the other conference.

An anonymous donor gave BC a $5 million donation to to turn the hockey head coach position into a endowed job. I think this shows BC Development team that success in sports can open up wallets. BC is losing money ever day that Spaz is in charge.

This preview of the football team is spot on, very candid and depressing.

The ACC and Big Ten announced the pairings for the Challenge. BC will face Pen State on Wednesday November 28th.

Baseball lost to Maine 9-4 on Monday. The final series of the season begins Thursday against Duke.

Spaz believes the new playoff needs to have conference winners.

14 comments:

Big Jack Krack said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Big Jack Krack said...

What is the latest on Boston's pressure for BC to pony up Payments in Lieu of Taxes - PILOT? These extortion demands and other neighborhood issues must be solved to , among other things, enable the building of the baseball stadium on the Brighton Campus. Our baseball program is solidly second class, unfortunately.

The rest of the ACC must laugh at us in terms of the Pellagrini Diamond at Shea Field - if not our below-average team.

Let's go, BC - let's get our act together on baseball and all sports.

Do we want to excel, or just show up?

Big Jack Krack said...

I read the football analysis and I understand the issues.

We still have to play the games - and so do our opponents.

We could lose the Miami, (even0 Maine and Northwestern games to start the season 0 and 3.

Guess what else we could do? We could win all 3, and start the season off with a bang!

I'm in the 3 and 0 column right now, and I don't even need to explain it.

Go BC - let's lean forward and win.

MUD said...

"Let's Lean Forward and Win" that should be on the backs of next year's superfan shirts.

Something similar to "We're really trying here" or "Play to Compete".

Just spoke to a recent starter on the team who said all the players like Spaz personally, but that he is terrible as a motivator at half time. What's the job description of a D-1 head football coach again?

Let's get some TV announcer to coach our team. Then ESPN will feel obliged to show our games.

Tim said...

MUD-
Division 1 football players do not -- or at least should not -- need a rousing halftime speech to get them to show up and do their jobs. They are well compensated in the form of a $60,000 a year education, room and board. In theory, they should have their own motivations to win. I don't expect my boss to give me a pep talk every day at lunch.

Knucklehead said...

Tim,
That is the most ridiculous post that I have seen here on so many levels.

1) College football is all about the half time speech. Schools have built their entire image around it. See ND - Knute Rockne.


2) If there were ever a segment of the population that needs a fire lit under them it is college students especially ones that are on a full ride at a country club like Boston College.

3) College football players want/expect half time and pregame pow wow's. The entire sport is built around working hard, finding an edge over the coompetition, and this is the head coaches job. Spaz is too much of a synical wise-ass to put together a halftime speech. Considering that he was a Defensive coordinator for 20 years it seems like a rousing half time speech might have helped him personally in his career, but he doesn't care about giving extra effort when others have expectations riding on his performance.

Knucklehead said...

. . . If he were the head coach at Penn State I am for damn sure that he would deliver a half-time/pre-game speech. Although he would probably ask John Heineman to write it for him.

Joseph said...

These are not totally mature people and like most of us respond well to inspiration. Why are there motivational speakers at sales meetings? Why do preachers get all fired up? This is human nature, and if you are so internally motivated that you don't need an occasional(or constant)atta boy or pep talk then you are a very rare bird indeed.

Knucklehead said...

cynical

Tim said...

Let me be clear: I'm not defending Spaz, I just think there are far more valid criticisms of him as a head coach (in-game tactics, recruiting, etc.).

Sure, there's no harm in having a good coach who also gives rousing locker room speeches. But here's the rub: do you really think halftime speeches would have made any difference this year? (See: UCF 30, BC 3; Clemson 36, BC 14; VT 30, BC 14; FSU 38, BC 7). Our football team is bad, and no locker room speech is going to change that.

And yes, I stand by my assertion that 20-year old young men should have enough inner desire to win (isn't that why they're in the locker room in the first place?) to go out and perform without a fire-and-brimstone speech each week. They are essentially semi-professionals. This is not Pop Warner.

Knucklehead said...

The half time of the Central Florida game was the biggest eff- up that I can remember. Instead of fighting and being a wise-ass with his coaching staff or allowing assitant coaches to harass players a good coach would have given a speech that focused the team on UCF and NOT the bullsh&t that was going on in the locker room. We were in that game at the half.

The Duke game was close at the half.

The VT game was close at the half.

The Notre Dame game was close at the half.

Seems like the half time is a MAJOR issue with this program.

I have been saying this here for years. The in game adjustments are the worst in the league if not country on both offense and defense.

Maybe it is as simple as some positive energy at halftime that would make the difference.

EL MIZ said...

halftime scores of games mentioned by tim:

UCF 30/BC 3 -- at halftime, 6-3 UCF
Clemson 36/BC 14 -- at halftime, 23-7 clemson
VT 30/BC 14 -- at halftime, 7-6 BC
FSU 38/BC 7 -- at halftime, 28-0 FSU

i see two games -- UCF and VT -- where BC could have used a rousing speech, as both were winnable games at the half.

i dont think anyone is expecting spaz to bust out a "win one for the gipper" (or the flipper, GDF) every week. the general point is that Spaz is not a motivator -- unsurprising given his general commentary, which is terse, negative, unenthusiastic, and sarcastic. as the face of the football program, it would be nice to see someone who expects to win games or is positive.

whatever. i am sick of talking about spaz and random bits of his personality. the fact is, it is undeniable our record has gotten worse every year spaz has been here. this year's recruiting, which spaz alleged to be the best yet, featured a rash of defections at the last minute, and a bunch of replacements who were hardly recruited if at all by D1 programs.

the excuses are up. jags skipped town years ago. this is spaz's team, with players he recruited and coaches he chose (or he didn't run out of town). we will see this year whether spaz is moving the program in the right direction. if we can't win half our games (a low bar for a team that won 8-9 every yr for a decade), he should be fired. case closed. enough is enough spaz, win or go home.

Knucklehead said...

Football is the ultimate game of passion, pride, and upsets.

One of the major reasons it is popular is that the under dog can win if he trys harder and gives more effort. Boston College epitomizes it. The school won 100 games while TOB was here with 2 and 3 star players. The school had its highest rankings(except Fluite #4 ranking) under Tom Coughlin with 2-3 star type players, many of whom were local. The school was prompted by the ultimate underdog in Doug Flutie for 3.5 years. All that success was driven by either coaches or players who wanted to LEAD the school to wins.

There has not been a player leading the school to wins since Claibourne and Ryan. So the coach needs to lead the team to win. If he cannot recruit good players(he cannot), if you do not know game strategy(he does not), then you have lead with your attitude. Spaz' attitude is terible.

Result, losing records.

Big Jack Krack said...

Advice for Spaz - Say what you have to say before the game and at halftime. That is important.

But please leave time for one of your other coaches and/or your captains to step forward and rev everybody up.

Don't know about Martin or McGovern in terms of fiery rhetoric - or Bollman or Comissiong. If not one of them, let one of the young coaches take the lead.

I'll bet Al Washington could fire them up.

Let's go BC - find the right formula and let's go for it.

Play to win in 2012. We refuse to take a knee in 2012 - we're here to win!!!!

Let's give our players a chance, coaches - that's all they and we fans are asking.