We are getting closer

Lots of sites and blogs have countdowns to the season. Today's from IMG was pretty good.

#CountdownToKickoff: 4️⃣7️⃣

“TOUCHDOWN BOSTON COLLEGE!HE DID IT! HE DID IT! FLUTIE DID IT!”@DougFlutie’s iconic Hail Mary TD pass in 1984 lifted @BCFootball over Miami 4️⃣7️⃣-45 👊💥

🔊 Credit - Kelley Communications #WeAreBC🦅 #HailFlutie pic.twitter.com/DVjjMZJgIj

— IMG Audio (@IMGAudio) July 16, 2018

Flutie talks up Dillion

I know he does the Notre Dame games on NBC. I know he has to be impartial. But clearly Doug Flutie loves BC and still follows the team closely. Look at his reaction to an AJ Dillon question. It's general, unadulterated gushing. Let's hope things fall into place like Doug says.

1984 @HeismanTrophy Winner @DougFlutie is in his 14th year as an @EasternBank "Partner for Good," He shared his thoughts on the Heisman chances of @BCFootball's @ajdillon7 - "He's a stud." pic.twitter.com/Z1V0au9xGz

— Tom Leyden (@TomLeyden) June 13, 2018

Bell honored and other links

These are mostly from earlier in the week, but I didn't have time to comment on them all here.

I always get a chuckle out of the awkward forced history required by our conference shift. This year at the ACC Tournament, the Conference will name Troy Bell and "ACC Legend" despite never playing in the conference. Troy certainly deserves to be recognized and there is no way the Big East will ever do it. In the end it is just another reason to bring a former player closer to the program. That's a good thing.

Snow Junior College named former Eagle Paul Peterson their new head coach. I am very happy for Paul and his success, although I wish his career path had him headed towards BC. Aside from a GA year under TOB at NC State, all of his professional experience has been out West. And the western FCS and JUCO ranks are very different from BC's niche. Hopefully he leverages success at Snow into either a head job at a four year school or as a coordinator in a Power 5.

Here is a link to Brent Musberger and Doug Flutie discussing the famous Hail Mary. He thinks it was the most special of his career.

The Women's Basketball team lost again.

"I don't believe it!" Voice of Flutie's Hail Mary retires

Brent Musberger is walking away from broadcasting. I will leave others to capture his career and legacy. Instead I will just remind you that he brought you this.

Revisit the 1985 Cotton Bowl

At this time of year I am used to watching BC in a secondary bowl. This year we got nothing. So I thought it was a good time to rewatch BC's biggest bowl game of the modern era. Below is the full 1985 Cotton Bowl. It was Flutie's last game and BC's last New Year's Day Bowl. The Cotton lost a little prestige when the Southwest Conference dissolved, but this was a huge deal at the time. Enjoy and hopefully we are back in a real bowl next season. 

Another verbal and other links

Local Mass DB Curt Bletzer committed to BC Monday. The Catholic Memorial product is the younger brother of current freshman Kevin Bletzer. His offer list is not impressive, but you assume the staff has a good feel for local talent and siblings.

ESPN posted a Wade-heavy preview.

SI's Media Column had two BC-related topics. Part of the focus was NBC's change-over from Mike Mayock to Doug Flutie on Notre Dame games. The other is an interview with Joe Tessitore.

German teen forward Richard Freudenberg plans to visit BC Tuesday.

1984 team returns and other links

BC will honor Doug Flutie, Gerard Phelan and other members of the 1984 team during the Syracuse game. The game is about the Seniors, but I hope returning stars help attendance.

The Women's Ice Hockey team continued their undefeated streak by defeating Yale Tuesday.

This article on the lack of popularity BC Sports in Boston made the rounds Tuesday. At this point I am beyond caring. BC needs to market better, but winning big is the only way our bandwagon will ever get attention of the local pro sports fans.

A Syracuse blog took a look back on Addazio's relationship with Syracuse and what could have been with their hiring history.

Opening up the video vault

Every once in a while I step across a link to BC minutia and I get excited to share it. I know that only someone reading a BC blog like this is looking for a random assortment of partial BC's football broadcasts. If you haven't been and are looking for one of those classic internet time eaters, go to the page and watch 15 or 20 minutes of one of these old games.

The page is heavy on the Flutie era, but there is a freshness to watching these games that I rarely get. I've seen the Miami game a million times and the West Virginia game is often on ESPN Classic, but I've never seen the Alabama or Penn State games prior to this page. Now go enjoy ten hours of random BC watching.

As a parting gift for the Addazio fans, here is a clip of BC vs Temple in 1984:

Who had it best?

After yesterday's post on the worst of times, I thought it might make sense to determine whose four years on the Heights were the best. As always leave your opinion below.


Class of 2008

• Four winning and exciting seasons of Football
• Matt Ryan's various comebacks topped off by the Virginia Tech game
• The final year in Big East basketball and our strong start
• The Sweet 16 run in 2006
• GameDay on campus for basketball and football
• A National Championship in Hockey
• The move to the ACC

The only dark clouds during this four years were all about the near misses. We almost went to the Fiesta Bowl when they were freshmen. We almost won the ACC Tournament against Duke in 2006. We lost the ACC Championship. We came up short in a few Frozen Fours. But overall this was a great four year run.

Class of 1994

• David Gordon's kick
• Knocking off North Carolina en route to the Elite Eight
• The rise of Tom Coughlin
• A Thrilling Beanpot win in 1994

The highs for this group were really high, but there was also plenty of lowpoints. Hockey endured the Cedorchuck mess. Prior to the Elite Eight run, JOB's basketball teams underachieved. Football was great but they still only witnessed two winning seasons.

Class of 1985

• Four years of Doug Flutie culminating with the Heisman and Miracle in Miami
• A Frozen Four appearance in 1985
• Four really good basketball years, including one Elite Eight and one Sweet 16
• One Beanpot title

In my opinion this was probably the ultimate time to be a BC fan. The Flutie years changed so much about the school and where were are today. Flutie was also the most exciting player in college sports. That is something we've never come close to recapturing. He also was embraced within Boston. Maybe that had more to do with him being from Natick than BC capturing the imagination of the locals, but that added to the moment. The basketball run was very underrated too. BC was playing really good basketball and the Big East was at its apex. 

Johnny Manziel has good taste

"This is a moment that I've dreamed about since I've been a kid running around the backyard pretending I was Doug Flutie throwing Hail Marys to my dad."


Johnny Manziel was born in 1992. Yet the Texan knew enough to pretend to be Doug Flutie. Regardless of who coaches BC, we need to keep selling the Flutie Hail Mary to potential QBs because this is proof that even 28 years later, they are already dreaming about it.

Flutie talks offense and other links

Doug Flutie is usually out in front with positive BC spin, but even he can't escape the fact that our offense is terrible.

BC grad and former BC assistant Jason Swepson is the new head coach at Elon. If he does well there, he will be in line for bigger jobs.

Even though we have some bad losses, Andy Katz still thinks we can be a factor in the ACC.

2012 recruit Devin Mayo is waiting a BC offer.

There was nothing insightful about this Kraft Bowl article, but I appreciate that Rettig's hometown paper cover the Bowl.

Sample vuvuzelas played over BC's biggest moments

As you know, I am a fan of the vuvuzelas. In honor of the World Cup, Youtube has created a feature that allows you to play the horn over highlights. Just click on the soccer ball icon on the right side of the time box on any Youtube clip to hear it (sorry but the feature doesn't work when embedded). You can listen to the Flutie Hail Mary

Or Matt Ryan at Virginia Tech.

Now that the U.S. is out of the Cup, there won't be much of a BC angle. But let's hope Charlie Davies is a big factor in 2014.

Flutie still a fan and other links

ESPNBoston posted a Q&A with Doug Flutie on his latest news. He mentions Billy and BC sports throughout. Since this is Billy's last year, I fear we might not see Doug as much in the coming years.

Andy Katz thinks Reggie could skip his senior season and enter the NBA draft in 2011.

BC grad Kofi Sarkodie-Mensah aka Kofi Kingston will be wrestling at the DCU when WWE hits New England.

Most of you probably read this but it looks like the Hockey team's T crash may have been the fault of the T Driver.

Flutie could be key benefactor in O'Bannon case

For those not following it, former UCLA basketball star Ed O'Bannon is suing the NCAA for not sharing revenue generated from his likeness. This is a potential huge lawsuit impacting thousands of former college athletes given the millions of dollars of royalties at stake. As for Fluite, being part of one of the most famous plays in college football certainly has its benefits, but Doug does not receive any money from the NCAA. So every time that highlight is shown, ever time his picture is put on some memorabilia or he is used in a video game, he does not get paid but the NCAA does. Heck even Phelan and Bicknell Jr could be on the receiving end of some nice pay days due to their involvement.

I know there are many lawyers who read this blog, so feel free to chime in in the comments. Although O'Bannon brought the case, I imagine the class action nature of the suit will complicate things and dilute some payouts. But Flutie definitely should have money coming to him given how much others have made off of his play over the years.

I don't think this will change the nature of paying current student athletes. Hopefully it will be resolved with some clear guidelines for future use. These kids put a lot on the line and deserve to share in some of the wealth they generate.

Buffalo Wild Wings and ESPN get it right

During the season ESPN and Buffalo Wild Wings have counted down the top 30 plays in the last 30 years. This week they named Flutie's Hail Mary No. 1. For those who don't remember the game or think it has been eclipsed since, let me set you straight with some context.

-- Flutie was a huge star. He was Tim Tebow before Tebow. What's amazing though about Flutie's prominence was he did it from BC and prior to the internet, ESPN's talking heads and when there was only one game on a week. Glowing features in Sports Illustrated were big factors in making him a household name. He graduated holding most college football passing records.
-- Miami was a big deal too. '84 was a down year for the 'Canes, but they were the defending National Champions and had gained a big following. Just watch ESPN's new documentary "The U" to see how hot the 'Canes were.
-- Both teams were cutting edge. We take passing for granted now, but at that time teams like Nebraska and Oklahoma were dominating with ground attacks. Miami and BC were using pro style offenses and were setting records for passing and points.
-- It was the only game on during a Thanksgiving weekend. Once again this was before there were 300 channels and every game was on tv. The whole country tuned in and the drama only built.

The game was that good. So good we are still talking about it 25 years later. The Hail Mary is No. 1 because it was the culmination of this momentous game and the conclusion of one of the most historic college football careers. It is No. 1 because everyone remembers where they were when they watched it. As I said at the beginning, ESPN and Buffalo Wild Wings got it right.

Dana Bible has cancer and other links

Sad news from Raleigh as former BC assistant Dana Bible has been diagnosed with leukemia. Keep his family in your thoughts and prayers.

November 23 marks the 25th anniversary of Doug Flutie's famous Hail Mary. You often hear how Flutie changed BC, but Forbes notes that it changed the college TV landscape. Here is a refresh for those who were born after the famous day.

Luke Kuechly was named ACC Freshman of the week.

Both soccer teams continue to advance in their respective NCAA Tournaments. The men face Drake next Sunday. The women play Stanford on Friday.

Incoming QB Chase Rettig's season is over after losing in the California playoffs.

Flutie statue and other links

Plenty of coverage of the Flute ceremony:
-- BCeagles.com (with photos)
-- Boston.com
-- WBZ (with video)
-- NECN (with video)

The Hockey team lost to Notre Dame Friday night.

Here is more on Evan Ravenel.

Sean Williams is expecting to be traded.

Flutie: much more than a statue

Friday the school honors Doug Flutie with a statue outside of Alumni. It's a nice tribute and he is certainly deserving. Part of me thinks it is not enough. Flutie will always be remembered for the Miami pass and the Heisman but time has not bee kind to his records or his influence on the game.

Flutie shattered dozens of passing records when he played. More wide open offenses and longer seasons have made some of his numbers pedestrian. They weren't. Flutie's output through the air was unmatched even by his contemporaries like Marino, Elway and Kelly.

We also take for granted dual threat QBs these days. There wasn't much of that in the early '80s. Running QBs would throw the ball less than 10 times a game, while pocket passers weren't nearly as agile as Doug.

To get a feel for what he did be sure to check out the video clip on bceagles.com. They have a 1984 piece from Dick Schaap that begins to put things in perspective.

There have been many great BC athletes before and since Flutie but I don't think we'll ever see someone change our school and his sport like Doug did.

Replacing a QB, Part 5: Life after Flutie

Whatever the general expectations are for this season, Chris Crane has nothing to complain about. If he thinks he has big shoes to fill, he needs to talk to Shawn Halloran. Halloran had to follow the productivity and the school-changing legend of Doug Flutie. Over the course of his career, Halloran acquitted himself well, but his first year as a starter was rough.

What happened in 1985?
Bicknell kept the Flutie offense in place. Despite missing out on a bowl BC still played in 12 games (they were part of the Kickoff Classic), so Halloran actually threw as many passes as Flutie did in the ’84 season: 423. It’s what happened to those passes that became the story. Halloran did not come close to Flutie’s 60% completion rate, only threw for 13 TDs and had 23 INTs. The passing yards declined from 3,634 to 2,935. More worrisome, the points per game fell from 37.4 to 18.5 points a game. BC followed its best season of the modern era with a disappointing 4-8 record.

What is different for 2008?
Although there was some talent left on defense (Ruth, Romo, etc) most of the skill position heroes from 1984 were gone. Crane inherits most of Ryan’s receivers. Also, the offense will adjust to Crane’s skill set. One of Halloran’s challenges in 1985 was that the schemes were often the same as 1984 yet he didn’t have Flutie’s mobility nor accuracy. Unless he proves to be more capable than he's playing now, it is highly unlikely Crane will be in the pocket chucking it 50 times a game like Ryan. Halloran was also younger and less experienced than Crane will be heading into this season. Although bigger than Doug, Halloran was not the same sort of athlete Flutie was. Crane is actually more athletic than Matt Ryan.

What is the same for 2008?
The defense will have to carry the team. Unlike the post Foley era, the Flutie transition and the Ryan transition will happen under the same head coach and same offensive coordinator.

Conclusion
Things won’t be as messy as they were in 1985. The schedule sets up better, the skill positions and offensive line sets up better and the defense should be very good. Although Crane lacks game experience, he won’t be as raw as Halloran was when he first started. If we go 4-8 this year, it won’t Chris Crane’s fault. Many other things will have gone wrong.

Flutie Ice Cream, ESPN bloggers and other links

Flutie has always been willing to pair his name with a good cause. So have Ben & Jerry's. Therefore Doug Flutie Hail Mary Berry Fat Free Smoothie seems like a perfect summer treat that also helps fight autism.

Did anyone elso notice Heather Dinich started an ACC blog last week on ESPN.com? How did I miss this? Certainly something worth following. If only the Globe or Herald would get in the BC blogging game. Dinich's post about the toughest places to play inspired a few others to weigh in here and here. My simple take: there's Clemson and there's everything else.

The ACC Now's J.P. Giglio doesn't think much of our chances this year.

Here's a preview of Virginia Tech.

Yet another preview of the ACC.

Former Eagle Derrick Rossy is picking up random boxing titles as his career progresses.