When we used to play and upset Notre Dame annually, the game took on huge importance to the casual BC fan. During that time I always enjoyed upsetting the Irish, but tried to downplay the rivalry. I wished that those casual BC fans would instead put their ficus on our games that counted. This year is different. BC has nothing to play for. This year we need to upset the Irish just to give the season and rivalry a little boost.
One game shouldn't make a season, but if Addazio can pull off a win this week, it will answer the doubters and critics. If he and Fitch assemble an offensive gameplan that wins, then maybe their youth and injury excuses were legitimate. If the depleted DBs can stay with Notre Dame's talented WRs, then maybe Don Brown is a miracle worker.
Plus, winning will give the team confidence for Syracuse and for next year. It will help on the recruiting trail too.
But best of all, it would spoil another Irish season. If Notre Dame wins out, they are likely in the Playoff. Lose to us and they are out. Wouldn't that be nice?
I will preview our actual chances on Thursday, but for now, I hope everyone in the BC locker room believes we will win. Spoiling their season just might save ours.
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Five miles from our campus, Notre Dame is playing a home game with their fans in the stands, their name in the endzones, their merchandise in the souvenir stands, and their network broadcasting the game in the usual manner: a four-hour commercial for the University of Notre Dame.
Can someone explain to me why BC agreed to this? How does this benefit Boston College?
Because other than the names in the end zones everything would've been the same if it were a BC home game.
Lose to us and they are out. Wouldn't that be nice? You bet your ass it would!
If it wasn't BC, it would have been someone else (UMASS?). Notre Dame was going to Fenway regardless, BC not being there would have made the optics even worse. At least now we have a chance to shock the world and defend our turf.
Tim - I could not agree more. I summon the spirit of BJ Raji and Rich Gunell when it comes to dealing with the Domers.
The whole fake Irish thing about ND will be on display. Barf. BC is THE school founded by and for Irish immigrants not ND, yet we are supposed to pretend otherwise because some reporter made up the nickname "Fightin' Irish" in 1910. Nothing Irish about them.
It is hard to say who is more sickening: a) the actual ND students and alums or the b) legion of wannabe domers or C) the fawning media.
Bah! I wish this was not happening and not happening in Kenmore Square. Get ND outta my city. I'd rather see ND play Yukon in Fenway then BC.
The worst part about this is that since ND is the "home" team they had the lion's share of allotments. We have enough of an image issue re: support in the city of boston as it is, but when they pan to the stands and see one domer for every Eagle, it's not going to help our cause.
If we were good, this deal would seem great right now. Instead of a road game, we essentially wake up in our beds (well, the home game hotel) and travel an extra 15 minutes to fenway.
blist-
Obviously this saves BC some travel money, but I think that is far outweighed by the PR hit we take by broadcasting to the world on live TV for four hours that Notre Dame owns the city of Boston, not BC.
BCMike-
It will be much more than one Domer for every Eagle. More like a five-to-one ratio:
"Notre Dame will get the vast bulk of the ticket allotment in the small park, creating what many anticipate will be a mad scramble among locals for what is expected to be BC’s share of fewer than 5,000 seats."
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2014/05/22/tickets-will-scarce-for-notre-dame-fenway/Cbt0A04a6m3IlDDlZO6ISN/story.html
Its painful to see Fenway Park done up in the ND colors. You'd think they'd at least have the common decency, in our city, to paint one end zone in maroon and gold. But no, this is all about them and their team. Surprised no one has yet mentioned that Showtime has been following the ND team this season. They've been airing a weekly hour long segment.
Hopefully next week's has Coach Kelly explaining what went wrong in Boston.
S-o-S yes the BLue ND in Fenway is jarring and so in keeping with what these people are about: themselves.
The game is actually the crowning event. ND plans to take over Boston beforehand, including attempting to take some ownership of the historic events such as the Boston Massacre, Irish History, Irish immigration and a seminar on "The Future is Here: Boston as a model for Sustainable Urbanism" and being charitable "Combining Research and Practice to Serve the Poor."
They will take a shot at Catholicism in Boston too at "The Cathedral of the Holy Cross is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston and is the largest Roman Catholic church in New England."
3,000 Domers will also be running the historic streets of Boston. I hope some SOBs from Southie disrupt these pricks
"The Shamrock Series presents fans with an entire weekend of festivities including the Friday Football Luncheon, a traditional Friday night pep rally at an iconic location, Mass, service projects, a pre-game concert, academic and spiritual events, and so much more. Since the first Shamrock Series, we have seen Irish fans come out in full force in each city to take part in the Shamrock Series weekend events. The series offers fans the opportunity to experience Notre Dame Football in an incredibly unique and unforgettable way"
mod -
Just saw the full line up of events for this weekend. Makes me gag. You forgot to mention the lecture on St. Ignatius given by one of ND's Jesuit professors.
ND is doing everything they can to co-opt Boston as their city. Frustrating too because they know how unpopular we are in the city and they know they can get away with it.
Every other Shamrock Series game has been in a *fairly* neutral site. Yankee Stadium, Jerry World, Soldier's Field. This is the first game where it truly should be our turf, but they're taking it over. Anyone else feel a little bit cuckolded?
Hopefully Daz and Don Brown come up with some sort of game plan that reminds the Irish that they are in Boston.
Good God Saturdays, I missed it:
"Saturdays with the Saints"
St. Ignatius of Loyola, Reformer: Speaking up for Catholic Tradition
Fr. Brian E. Daley, S.J., Huisking Professor of Theology, University of Notre Dame
Free and Open to the Public
Boston Marriott Copley Place
101 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA 02116
Maybe someday we get a home game in the Bronx.
We get what we ask for. We want the money and are willing to bow and scrape for it Thinking BC will lose by less thn 30 points is filly. We've let ND take over our city and they will rub our face in the mud.
We get what we ask for. We want the money and are willing to bow and scrape for it Thinking BC will lose by less thn 30 points is filly. We've let ND take over our city and they will rub our face in the mud.
In my very humble opinion, this is an asinine, infuriating, nauseating PR disaster. I cannot imagine what made BC agree to this (other than $$$). Coming into our backyard with the intent of showing that they own Boston... what complete idiot(s) thought this was a good idea?
The only way to reverse this disgrace is to win
Sorry - unless this was foisted upon him by someone higher up in BC whoring for money - this game and the circumstances impacting the BC brand in its hometown lead me to conclude one thing - Brad Bates is a dope.
BC doesn't choose the venue for ND home games. ND can play wherever they want. BC is happy to play ND anywhere. The BC AD had no impact on the locale.
On the bright side, even if ND wins out, there's still no way they make the playoff.
NED, BC did not have to agree to be a doormat in its own city and should have said NO, loudly.
I wish that BB (who is proving to be a rotten and uninspiring AD) said: "When you come to Boston to play BC you play on BC's term and at Alumni. See you in South Bend."
As Dixie said, this is a PR disaster. BC is an afterthought in its own city courtesy of ND and with BC's own complicity. Of all schools, why should BC ever ever take a back seat to these arrogant, selfish jerks.
Brad, you should have said "NO." Let them set up a "classic" game with freakin' Yukon. The Less We have to do with ND, the better. Right now 33,000 tickets go to ND and 5,000 to BC. 90% of the bars around Fenway are exclusively leased to ND. WTF Brad?
And Brad you should fire the Fenway Sports Group who is supposedly rep'ing BC on sports marketing and branding for setting up this shitshow. Really, our own sports marketing firm set this up and BB said yes.
The arrangement with Fenway Sports Management is a joke. According to FSM's own website, their biggest accomplishment is getting meatballs served at BC. I'm not kidding:
http://www.fenwaysportsmanagement.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Meatball-Obsession_BC-Case-Study.pdf
Also note their description of BC :
"BC has won a record five NCAA College championships and sent more than 40 alumni into professional sports leagues."
What is this record that we hold? And I'm pretty sure we've sent a heck of a lot more than 40 players into the pros over the years.
http://www.fenwaysportsmanagement.com/portfolio/#bc-athletics
The other bizarre aspect to this is that the Notre Dame mens hockey team is playing at UMASS Lowell saturday night instead of at Chestnut Hill. We are playing UNH at UNH.
Who is running the marketing department at Boston College? Mr. Moe, Mr.Larry or Mr. Curley?
Boston College could have had standing room only in Conte on Sturday if they simulcasted the football game while the hockey team was playing.
I am a marketing genius. So you all know.
I have tickets to Fenway as well. Would have dumped them in a heartbeat if the above was going on as well.
NBC owns ND hockey. Don't want to cannibalize their own product. Forgot. $$$$$$
The hockey aspect is very strange since in the last few years there has always been a Friday night ND-BC hockey game as a prelude to the football game on Saturday. Was always nice to leave the weekend at least 1-1.
Knuck
I'm going too, Te'o's girlfriend is taking me!
agree regarding Fenway Sports and have been asking for years what good they've done. attendance is declining, the product is declining, the atmosphere at games is still weaker than should be acceptable. not sure what they're getting paid to do.
regarding the game being with ND paint in the end zones and them getting most of the tickets, who cares? my BC in person BC memory was the Paul Peterson comeback in South Bend in 2004. there was absolutely nothing better than being with like 5 BC fans (including ATL commenter MUD) in a sea of sad and cursing ND fans. they can have the bars around fenway and the end zone paint, JUST GIVE ME THE W BABY! this should be Addazio's super bowl, i sure hope we see them pull out all the stops. GET US THE W, EAGLES!
*my BEST in person BC memory
This is what Boston College Football posted on Facebook in response to a comment on the game:
"Unfortunately the ACC scheduled this game as an away game for us since Notre Dame now falls under ACC scheduling rules. Therefore it was Notre Dame's choice to have it at Fenway as their home game. We are just excited to be a pet of the first American football game at Fenway since 1968."
So BC had no say in this? Sounds pretty defensive to me (not to mention in dire need of proofreading...)
If true, it makes me hate them even more.
"We are just excited to be a pet of" ND -- pretty much sums up BB. Freud would agree.
I am not buying this BC-had-no-choice bs. So if BC wanted to reschedule the 2017 ND game from BC to SF, it could do that and keep 80% of the tickets? Seems highly dubious. BC must have agreed to this Shamrock biz.
Recall ND's tactics... they first started hinting in the press that they would be playing UConn at Fenway....Then suddenly dumb-dumb BB signs up BC for the doormat roll.
"Pet", indeed.
I'm not buying it either.
There is absolutely no scenario in which Boston College wins this game. None.
This team has the worst offense that I have ever seen in college football.
Brad Bates is a dope. Probably a very nice guy. But still a dope. There is no way ND plays this game without BC's full consent. Assuming for one ridiculous moment that ND was not required to obtain BC's consent, do you think ND would be so politically stupid under these circumstances as to ignore strong objections from Bates and Leahy? Please.
The only way this thing turns out to be positive for BC is if it pulls off the upset of the decade. And unless most of the two deep for ND comes down with a massive case of the crabs or other debilitating affliction by game time - that is fairly unlikely to happen (even though I will be clicking my heels and chanting "fairy tales do come true" during the game).
I hope no one ends up in the bullpen or the dugout.
Stupid.
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