Sharing disrespect and other links

If I wanted I could fill this blog up with thousands of posts about the media and other fans disrespecting BC Sports. It always feels like everyone is a doubter or a hater. But we are not the only fanbase that feels that way. Look at this post from a Syracuse site that is offended that a few members of the media think BC might be better than the Orange. I guess it is nice knowing we are not alone...it is also nice to know a few people also think we are better than Syracuse.

Day 2 went off without a hitch. The team leaders provided quotes on prep and each other.

BC's first opponent in the Puerto Rico Tip-off will be New Mexico.

This news broke earlier in the week, but Sonny Milano confirmed he's coming to BC and not heading to the NHL or Canadian Juniors yet.

Suggestion to the ACC: move the ACC Media Days to Bristol, CT

If you follow any of the national college football writers on social media, then you know the SEC kicked off its annual Media Days on Monday. There were streams, cut-ins to other ESPN shows, clips, and plenty of pundit talk. This comes as no surprise since ESPN partners with the SEC on their new network. Because they have the most rabid following and a bunch of colorful coaches, the SEC has turned a series of press conferences into an event. All the other conferences are just playing catch up. The ACC has tried various ploys to get more attention, but I think there is only one move left: move the Media Days to ESPN's Corporate Campus.

While Bristol is not ideal for non-ESPN employees and doesn't offer the boondoggle aspects of most of the traditional ACC Media Days locations, it does offer a bonanza of coverage. If ESPN hosted the event it would make their "car wash" sessions seem quaint. Coaches and players could be on all ESPN outlets all day for three days. The rest of the media might not like it, but who cares? As long as the recruits see the ACC schools as elite and as long as ESPN becomes that much more invested in talking and promoting the ACC. 

I don't know if this has ever been floated, but it should. The ACC has nothing to lose. They can always go back to Amelia or Pinehurst or wherever. But having Media Days at the center of the sports world makes too much sense not to try. It is what a smart, ambitious, forward thinking conference would do. It is what the SEC would do and that should be enough to beat them to Bristol.  

When does Jim Christian head to ESPN?

Despite numerous connections through friends and alumni, BC never really took advantage of ESPN's headquarters being down the road in Bristol. Our coaches and players were nonfactors on national TV. It was only after Addazio came on board that we finally had a coach willing and able to do the dog and pony show at ESPN. During his Heisman push, Andre Williams also spent a day down in Connecticut and it was all topped off with Addazio joining the Coaches Broadcast during the BCS Championship game. I know College Football is a bigger deal than college basketball and Addazio is a TV friendly personality, but I hope BC follows the same ESPN-friendly model with Jim Christian.

Despite the coaching change, Christian has some ESPN ready talking points that should carry him through any interview. He's a new coach taking over. The ACC is adding Louisville. Hanlan is coming back and BC should be better than we were last year. Plus there is bound to be a hot topic whenever he visits, that can fill an interview (see: Addazio's Tebow timing). It is not critical what he says or even what shows he gets on during his trip. What matters is the credibility and association with the ESPN family of shows and reporters.

Right now Christian should be focusing on recruiting. He still needs to find a player or two for next year and potential transfers for down the road. But come this summer -- when recruiting hits a quiet period -- Christian needs to get down to Bristol. Those relationships help our recruiting, help public perception and help market the program. Winning games is the most important thing Christian can do, but winning over the Worldwide Leader in Sports is not a bad move.

Reject the Amaker rejection narrative

Predictably as soon as Harvard announced Amaker was returning, the media started writing that he rejected BC. To reject something you have to be offered. Did anyone consider that maybe BC had concerns about another Ivy success story floundering in the ACC? Or maybe Amaker's inability to win big at Michgan caused some doubt?

As readers know, I was never excited about Amaker. I don't see BC fans years from now talking about letting Amaker get away.

The best news is that we are nearing an end.

The afterlife of a hit piece

Boston Media -- and especially the Sports Media -- love a good hit piece. It is a Boston tradition. Although out of the spotlight most of the time, BC figures have been subject to more than one over the years. One of the most glaring hits of recent was Bob Ryan's takedown of Al Skinner. At the time it seemed overly harsh and not surprisingly has followed Skinner around as he tried to work his way back into basketball. I don't know Ryan's motivations on the column or his sources, but I would venture to guess BC people fed him much of the fodder. And that is what bothers me.

Obviously Gene is long gone and in fairness to him I read plenty of Globe hits prior to his arrival (one of the more memorable). Maybe it is a Boston thing to protect your sources and attack their enemies. Think of how out of place and inaccurate Sean McDonough's rant on Jags was at the end of the BC-Florida State broadcast. Who knows where he got his info or why he felt the need to protect Spaz (supposedly they are friendly). But none of it is necessary. So far Brad Bates has played things close to the vest and hasn't got drawn into any media ambushes. I hope it stays that way. Because in the long run there is no winning in any of this. It all just reflects poorly on BC and everyone involved. I feel for Al Skinner and hope that he gets a second chance. He was treated poorly. Age more than anything is probably going to keep him from getting another head job, but a smart AD somewhere will hopefully see past that.

Al's replacement is entering a critical point in his tenure. BC and Brad Bates will have to make a decision and stand by it. However, whatever they do, I hope they back it up with clear reasoning and stand in front of the decision. Gossiping behind closed doors to win the spin never looks good and never helps anyone in the long term.

Memory Lane courtesy of BC Athletics Facebook page

The Athletic Department's Facebook page posted this picture Thursday. It is the front page of the Globe the morning after the Flutie Hail Mary. My family was living outside of Boston at the time and I vividly remember this edition of the paper. I thought it was so cool to have the two pictures split and the path of the ball in the air. 

I don't know when BC sports will be the top story on the Globe/Boston.com again. They just don't care. We would have to do something on the level of Flutie for them to lead with BC. I also don't know when the Globe would ever get that creative with anything related to BC sports. This probably sounds more like a grumpy fan whining about the media than I want it to. I guess I long for the days when a newspaper or new organization can leave a lasting memory like this. This page added to my experience of the game. Let's hope we have some memorable games in the near future and all our outlets (blogs, social media, message boards, etc) react and enhance the games like the Globe did that day.

Suggestions for Mike Vega as he returns to the BC beat

After six seasons away, Mike Vega is back on the Boston College beat for the Globe. This is a good thing as no one has done it as well as Vega did from the '90s until 2006. Of course when he left, BC fans didn't know how good we had it under Vega. As he comes back to the Heights, he will find a very different program and the nature of a college beat extremely different. He's not asking for my advice, but these are my recommendations on how to make the most out of covering BC sports this school year.

Love your job
This is always a touchy issue in journalism and especially at a place like the Globe, where the biggest names are often the most critical and combative of Boston's sports institutions. I don't mean Vega should be a BC cheerleader. Just that he should show a passion and excitement for covering an interesting program during its rebirth. Blauds came back to the BC beat cranky and did some weird things along the way to antagonize readers (like becoming Spaz's biggest defender). Benbow is a talented writer who produced some nice BC features over the years but being on the BC beat didn't bring out the best in his work last year (covering a miserable team didn't help). I hope Vega does more than just the feature and notebook combos that usually populate the BC beat. He can do that in his sleep. He needs to do more. Put more of the notebook type stuff in a blog or on twitter. Do something extra. Write a national college football story once week that ties to BC (tv deals, schedules, etc.). The online college audience is huge. A few little things like that can spread Vega's work well beyond the core fanbase.

Don't blog unless you are really committed
With the Globe's paywall strategy and the New York Times killing their sports blogs, I have no idea if Vega is even mandated to blog. Unless he is going to fill it with unique content five or more times a week, he shouldn't even bother. Without regular content, the blog will never spread beyond the people who read the Globe/Boston.com stuff any way. If the Globe has shuttered the college blog, and there is stuff Vega wants to write that he cannot fit on twitter, he should start a tumblr and link it off of his Twitter profile.

Don't worry about ruffling feathers
If history is any indication, Vega is not going to piss people off around BC. He's a pro. But under the old regime there was always a bit of an issue with access. I hope that if something happens in football or basketball and there is a partyline and whisper in the background (whether it be about a player, coach or administrator) Vega pushes for real answers. Bob Hohler shouldn't be the one to handle stories that might offend. Steve Donahue will be on the hot seat this year. If we struggle I hope Vega is out in front of news regarding job security and the relationship between Bates and Donahue.

Interact with the online community
Things have changed since 2006. It is not just the Globe, Herald and Eagle Action. SBNation obviously has a huge BC presence. 247 is coming on strong. ESPNBoston produces good material. BC itself produces lots of good interviews and all access type features. Plus there are half a dozen bloggers and hundreds of BC folks on twitter. By the nature of his job and access, Vega will steer much of that conversation. I hope he does more than just post a story and let the masses run with it. Add flavor along the way and challenge those who disagree with your take. It will make the work better and will make the beat feel different.

I wish Vega the best and hope to have him on here eventually. He was always very nice when I was a student at WZBC but I barely interacted with him as a blogger before he was off to other things. Even if he doesn't do some of the things I suggest, I know he'll bring a professionalism and commitment that the Globe's coverage needs.

Get Tebow to the Heights!

I've joked about the media asking Addazio about Tebow, but now that football's most famous terrible QB is in New England, I think BC should embrace Tebow and the circus that comes with him. Addazio should get him to campus or a BC practice the first chance he gets. Tebow can talk to the current players. He can tell the press about how great Addazio is and how important he was to Tim's career. Maybe we can even get Flutie to show up and have a Heisman to Heisman meeting. I don't care. BC doesn't have a lot of buzz locally or nationally. Addazio's day at ESPN was hijacked by the Tebow news, so this is our chance to get some attention in return. Is it shameless? Maybe, but I get the sense that Addazio and Tebow do have a connection. Tebow might enjoy a few minutes with his old coach and the media will enjoy yet another angle on the endless Tebow whirlwind.

Takeaways from Addazio's day at ESPN

While many coaches have spent time at ESPN, I cannot think of another who got so much airtime in one day. I also cannot recall any BC figure at any time getting that much attention from the worldwide leader in sports. Regardless of the Tebow nonsense, Addazio's day at ESPN has to be viewed as a huge success. Here are my thoughts and news of the day. 

-- The best moments of the day were his stint on College Football Live and his chat on ESPN Nation. In both forums Addazio was able to focus on BC. He reiterated many of the things we know like his focus on recruiting and his willingness to shape the offense to his talent. In the chat he also mentioned preliminary plans for a new practice facility and that he is taking names off of the jerseys.

-- I cannot recall a BC coach being so engaged with the media. I don't think Addazio is a great quote or has natural TV charm, but he has the right energy and attitude. He wasn't glib or boring or standoffish like some of our past coaches. He was himself. You can see how that same passionate and straight forward personality is paying off on the recruiting trail.

-- Addazio really likes Chase Rettig. I had heard this before through the grapevine, but Addazio was pretty effusive in his praise for our Senior QB. I know Addazio wants to run, but given our lack of depth at running back and talent in the passing game, I think we will throw a lot this season.

-- Addazio needs to do as much as possible to win over fans and media now. I think we are in for a major rebuild after this season (once Amidon, KPL, Rettig, etc graduate). Addazio makes a good case for his vision and BC's direction in these settings. The booster meetings have all been positive too. Load up on the good will tour now while he still has a clean slate.  

"...that's nice but let's get back to Tebow"

Before his media tour of Bristol began I predicted ESPN would focus on Tebow. It was worse than I thought. Mike & Mike, First Take, SportsCenter and The Herd with Colin Cowherd all peppered Addazio with questions on football's most famous free agent QB. I will have more on the actual BC talk in another post, but for now sit back and appreciate how ESPN can turn one guest into a pawn for their narrative.

Boston Magazine confirms Hohler is the Globe's hatchet man

Boston Magazine posted a great feature on the demise of the Boston Sports media. It is well worth your time and touches on how out of touch and provincial the biggest names can be. But what I found most interesting is that the article pulled back the curtain on how the tough news is covered. The beat guys can't risk access to the coaches and players they cover every day so they turn the hard news and gossip over to Bob Hohler. Although he hasn't put BC in his crosshairs lately, Hohler has written many negative articles on BC in the past.

So when you are wondering how player issues or coaching fights or other newsworthy subjects are ignored by the Globe or Herald, remember that access remains key. Or in a case like Blauds and Spaz, sometimes you just want to go easy on your buddy.

Checklist for a BC press conference

Brad Bates will introduce Steve Addazio to the BC media and community at 3 PM today. We've seen enough of these to know how to pull one off. Here is a simple checklist. (Add any of the other staples that I might have forgotten in the comments section.)

1. Be sure to acknowledge Jerry York's awesomeness.
2. Talk about how important it is to graduate players.
3. Say that BC is your dream job and the only one you ever would have left "_______" for.
4. Talk about your passion and how you can't wait to start.
5. Thank Father Leahy

One blogger's perspective on the coming Spaz narrative

As I predicted, now that there is no hope that he can turn things around, Spaz defenders and apologists are trying to shape the narrative that Spaz is a “good guy and great coach” who just couldn’t get the job done at BC. That is not reality. Spaz never should have been hired and has not done a good job while head coach. Whenever you talk or write about Spaz, his defenders always bring up Jags. Spaz’s predecessor hasn’t been employed by BC since 2009. He is irrelevant to the conversation and Spaz’s current situation. Spaz’s record is of his own making. It is not Jags or anyone else's. Show me any other fanbase in college sports that would accept that sort of logic in a coach’s fourth season?


The Job 
As we begin a search again it is important to remember what the job entails and why Spaz was never a good fit. Being a head coach is about more than football knowledge. That is the basic requirement. You need to have good people skills, management skills and organizational skills. You are in charge of more than a dozen staffers and grad assistants. A head coach is responsible for more than 100 players. And the job is not just babysitting those players. To be effective you need to develop them as football players and you need to find 20 to 25 high school students to replace your departing players every year. Finally the head coach must be the face of the program. He is the persona you are going to sell to recruits and fans. He is also the lead spokesman to the media. Spaz – even prior to becoming head coach – was considered a bit of a prickly personality, a disinterested recruiter and an awkward media presence. All those factors were the reason he didn’t get the job when TOB left. None of them changed two years later.


The stability of the hire
In the coming weeks you’ll read that BC turned to Spaz during its time of need after the Jags situation blew up. The timing and the situation were of BC’s making but they were highly unique. BC was also coming off two very successful seasons. Making a hire based on continuity and stability was not necessarily a bad decision. Hiring Frank Spaziani was. At the time BC had two better options than Spaz on staff. Steve Logan and Jack Bicknell Jr. were both very interested in replacing Jags. Both had previous experience as Head Coaches and both understood the demands of being a head coach. Of course neither were truly considered because Gene Defilippo wanted to keep his influence on the program. Gene knew that Spaz was more malleable and dependent on him than Logan or Bick ever would have been.


Loyalty
Defenders are quick to write about Spaz’s loyalty to BC, but I’ve never understood how you measure this or justify it as a reason for the hire. What other business, school or team would place a multi-million dollar organization in the hands of someone based on loyalty? You could argue that Barry Gallup has been more “loyal” to BC than Spaz ever was. He wasn’t really considered by Gene. Also where was Spaz’s true loyalty? Most who know him best say that he stayed at BC not solely because of his love of the school, but because he didn’t want to move his family and Gene promised him an important role with the new coach. If BU had an ACC football program and they had hired TOB, do you think Spaz would have stayed at BC out of loyalty? He stayed because it was best for his career and family. That is what 99% of us would do too. He should not be faulted for staying but the act shouldn’t be turned into some noble work of charity by Spaz.

Recruiting and rosters
Spaz has been quick to remind everyone of all the problems he inherited. Regardless of the validity of those problems, he has now had four years to fix them. There should be no holes in the roster or depth chart. If old players weren’t good enough, he’s had ample time to replace them with new players. He is not even using his full scholarship allotment each year. That’s neglect. There are many varied and successful strategies to recruiting. Spaz’s strategy has been to get low-hanging fruit who will commit to BC on his timetable (the summer). I have no problem with that if it works. Based on our declining record I would say it hasn’t. We’ve also had a fair bit of roster attrition. Some attrition is natural in college football, but you have to question the environment created when guys with completed BC degrees leave under varied circumstances. I know there are plenty of great guys on our current roster. But having great character on our roster is not a Spaz thing. BC has been recruiting and molding young men for decades. It predates him and is part of our culture. It will be part of our culture after he is gone too.

Staffs, Coordinators and Kevin Rogers
Coaching football is not a one-man band. You need trusted assistants at every position. Gene influenced Jags’ staff (and forced Spaz on Jags) and then did the same thing to Spaz. Perhaps that dynamic doomed Spaz from the start. How could he expect his staff not to undercut him with Gene when he had whispered to Gene and undercut TOB and Jags when he was an assistant? When the time came for his first staff, he went outside of Gene’s network to bring in his old friend (and twice retired Gary Tranquill). Tranquill could have been a good sounding board and adviser to a first-time coach but he never should have been put in charge of the entire offense. When Tranquill retired for a third time Spaz and Gene disagreed on the new OC. The compromise was Kevin Rogers. We all know how it ended, but no one wants to go on record with what led up to the ending. I was not there (obviously). Only the coaches were. It is alleged that Spaz punched Rogers at halftime of the UCF game. Spaz’s friend and confidant Blauds will acknowledge that Rogers bled from the mouth and there were angry words, but claims there was nothing physical. Did they serve shards of glass in the Coach’s Box at UCF? Did Rogers bite his tongue from arguing? Did he have miraculous case of 30 minute TB? The denials don’t even matter at this point. The staff changes tell enough of the story. This was not a good working environment. And because of that our offense has been dreadful for four seasons. How you prepare, the systems you use and how you teach impact the results on the field. Spaz never seemed to figure that out or trust anyone else enough to fix it for him.

Game Management
All of Spaz issues could be overlooked if we won more. That is that case at every school. But we didn’t. Our strategies and gameplans have been suspect many times. His use of timeout and the clock have caused endless frustration. In four seasons and almost 50 games, Spaz has never comeback from a deficit of more than seven points. How does that happen? We should have lucked into one small comeback over the years. But this is the same guy who trotted out the same defense for a decade. Why did anyone expect him to become a great situational manager once he was put in charge?

History
We will get a new coach and be good again one day. But don’t let BC critics or Spaz apologists rewrite this decline. Spaz wanted the job for a variety of reasons, was a thorn in Jags' side while Jags was here and then led BC down this slow decline once he finally got his turn. He never should have been hired in the first place.

Still no BC coverage in the Globe but Benbow's on the way

The Herald wrote two articles following the team's second scrimmage (St. X feature and notebook). New beat writer Rich Thompson seems to be embracing his assignment and told me he plans to join twitter once the season begins. 

Across town things are a little different. The Globe did not send anyone to cover BC's scrimmage. Julian Benbow is scheduled to cover the team this fall. That's encouraging as Julian's BC basketball work has been very good. He's also on twitter and interacts with fans. Maybe Benbow will finally be the guy to unlock the Globe's potential in college football. One good college football feature or article can have a huge reach online. And BC's season is going to be a surprise or a disaster. Either type of year should provide plenty of interesting content.

Blauds leaves Globe, Globe to begin covering BC

I didn't intend to post about Mark Blaudschun leaving the Boston Globe. But then he wrote this on his new blog:

The crap that comes out of the websites about Spaz and the Eagles is mind boggling.

First, before I bury Blauds, let me share that both BC and the Globe confirmed to me that the paper/website will assign a new reporter to the BC beat. I encourage anyone with a passion for sports writing, an inkling of talent and the desire to take advantage of all the BC beat and the Boston Globe has to offer to apply. If you bring any talent or passion to the job you will be better than Blauds.

Blauds took over the BC beat in 2007. Prior to that he had been the Globe's national college writer. I don't know all the union politics of a big city paper, but from what I understand when the Globe eliminated the "national" college beat, Blauds was demoted/transferred back to BC. Maybe he was bitter about it. I don't know as I never talked to him about it. But he clearly didn't care much for the job, his readers or respect the team he was covering. Even now on his blog, he is still positioning BC as a second class citizen in college football. BC has its limitations and no team is perfect, but that doesn't mean that they deserved second class coverage nor third-class reporting. Blauds only broke news when it fell in his lap. Most of the time he was pushing out his dated, out of touch opinions on college sports. We all have our biases but his transparent pimping of the Big East partyline and his protection of Spaz was pathetic.

Blauds unwillingness to write in the offseason or embrace new media like his fellow college writers was a waste of a soap box. Despite the changing landscape, writing for the Globe still carries weight. Blauds never appreciated that. He can scoff at the BC websites but collectively we were producing ten times more content than he ever did.

It appears he's now going independent on his own blog. Maybe he'll finally understand how the world has changed. Maybe he'll realize on the web you have to build an audience. Maybe he'll understand that you have to defend your outlandish statements and you don't have editors back in the main office to clean up after you.

He started his blog with an interview with Mike Tranghese and a post defending Spaz. So it doesn't look like he will be changing his stripes.

I can't wait to see who the Globe assigns. Hopefully he or she will appreciate the job and do some interesting things with the opportunity.

Rich Thompson will cover BC football this Fall for the Herald

There is some news on the BC media front. The Herald assigned Rich Thompson to the BC beat for this Fall's football season. Rich has covered BC on occasion over the years, but mostly on the basketball side. Thompson is a welcome addition, as the Herald's focus has been spotty since Steve Conroy started splitting his time on hockey. Hopefully a new voice on the BC scene will also spark Blauds to improve his work.

For many years, BC fans' main source of news was Mike (Vega at the Globe) and Mike (Shalin at the Herald). We complained about their identical features and soft touch on the BC coaches. Little did we know how good things were. Since Vega's move in 2007, we've been left with a beat writer who seems to loathe his job and also makes excuses for our Head Coach. Blauds also rarely writes or tweets during the college offseason. That sort of editorial decision may have been fine 20 years ago, but now college sports is a year round news cycle. When you look at all the work produced by college beat writers around the country, it makes the Boston media look lazy or oblivious.

Thompson also plans to tweet regularly once the season starts. I hope he makes the most of this opportunity. It is a shame to see the beat neglected like it is across town.

High School vs College Sports coverage at ESPN, Globe and Herald

ESPN recently announced they will shutter their High School Sport coverage. This doesn't really impact BC, since very little of ESPN's high school stuff focused on New England nor incoming BC students. But it did get me thinking about the local coverage of high school and college sports in the Globe and the Herald. What's unexpected and frustrating is how good the high school sports coverage is compared to the college sports. For two struggling papers in a struggling industry, the Globe and Herald generate a ton of varied and in-depth high school coverage. And its not just football and basketball. The locals get plenty on women's sports, lacrosse and baseball.

I would like to think this is a measured business decision on the parts of the paper. I am sure they rationalize the allocation of resources by saying they sell more locally because of high school sports or that it is cheaper to cover. But even though much of the Herald's coverage is rolled up by its local town papers, this still cannot make sense. Based on the Globe's own displays of popular articles, high school sports barely registers. Declining subscriptions of all papers surely aren't impacted by high school sports or else you would see even more coverage around the nation. People like seeing their friends and family in the paper, but how many people does one softball pitcher from Quincy know? It just can't be moving the needle. If ESPN cannot make money on it, I doubt the locals are.

What I think happens with high school coverage is that people at the papers care more. The young writers assigned to the beat are aggressive and looking to hone their skills and get noticed. The editors who assign the stories are probably a little older and members of these communities. They perceive more value to that coverage because it is hyper-local and personal. It is not speculative piece on the BCS or which school is moving to what conference. I also blame the more experienced writers on the college beat. I know in the past summer was always a time for them to take off or relax a bit. But those days are gone for most college writers. It is now year round beat. There is plenty of news and features that can be run. If bceagles.com and the online sites can create content year round, why can't the Globe or Herald? I know we care more, but we are also generating page views. Those are lost opportunities for the papers. And with the viral nature of sports, a good BC or college article can bring in 100 times more traffic than a high school story. Think of how many tweets or links you've read in the past two months from Florida papers regarding FSU or premier college writers from newspapers getting linked nationally. That's not happening in Boston. It is a shame too as I think local college coverage will continue to die. I just wish some of those promising local high school writers were given the same encouragement and support to cover the local college landscape. The old guard is failing us and its employers.

Blauds writes worst BC article in history

The line-by-line takedown of a mainstream article by a blogger is a trope at this point. Yet after reading Mark Blaudschun's feature on Spaz, I felt there was no other choice. I hope Blaudschun didn't spend much time on it since he could have just asked Coach Flip to write the article himself. Prepared to be pissed...

When you are the coach of a team that went 4-8, as the Eagles did this season, you get a lot of questions. When you coach at BC, where the underground chatter overwhelms the public utterances, you can easily be swept away.

This season, some of the feedback was downright vicious, coming from all areas, including the student paper, whose sports editor wrote a sermon-on-the-mount column telling Spaziani and the local media what was wrong with the way things were being run at BC.

“I view it as my duty, therefore, to keep the administration honest, especially when The Globe and The Herald refuse to do so,’’ wrote the editor.

“With the football team struggling through its worst season in over a decade, the two most prominent papers in Boston have accepted the excuses of head coach Frank Spaziani and athletic director Gene DeFilippo at face value. They have chalked up the team’s record this year to injuries, youth, and bad luck. Neither The Globe nor The Herald has criticized the decisions from the sideline.’’

Blauds and BC have no idea what real scrutiny is like. "underground chatter" vs "public utterances" is part of every sports fanbase in the country. In fact in most places the "chatter" is not underground. It is in your face every day. Do you think the Patriots would be worried about "underground chatter" after losing 2/3rds of their games? How about the Red Sox? Or what about the teams of the SEC or Big Ten? One of the reasons the Spaz hire and Gene's actions get so little notice is because in general our fanbase is loyal, has relatively low expectations and doesn't like to air laundry publicly. Gene and in turn Spaz have taken that relationship for granted and blatantly insulted any logical fan with some of their self-serving comments.

Thank God for The Heights Sports Editor Paul Sulzer for using his platform to state the obvious and give voice to the ignored. Blauds is just upset that a Senior in college out worked him and called him out for his hack efforts.

Other criticism comes in Internet chat rooms, where it is easy to throw grenades without attaching a name to them.

I love the Internet chat room cliche. Does anyone at the Globe read what Blauds is writing? Look at any Boston.com article on BC and you will see tons of comments attached by readers to those articles. It is not chat rooms that are harboring these BC fans. It is on blogs, message boards, Twitter, Facebook and other media. And for every anonymous grenade thrower, there are hundreds with their names and BC affiliations attached who aren't afraid to share their opinion. If Blauds every actually paid attention to Twitter he would see dozens of Spaz's former players mocking him and criticizing him openly!

It has been a tough year for the AD, whose public utterances have created a firestorm in some quarters. Much of it has come from DeFilippo simply telling the truth.

It could be a dreary winter at BC, with both the men’s and women’s basketball teams looking like bottom-feeders in the ACC. Even the men’s hockey team, which has national championship trophies on display, has hit some speed bumps.

But BC does one thing as well as anyone. It brings in good kids who become better adults. For the most part, it turns out poster boys for everything a parent wants in a child, people such as Matt Ryan, Luke Kuechly, and this year’s Scanlan Award winner, Ryan Quigley.

I could go on and on with Gene's firestorm comments but one thing he is not doing is telling the truth. Anyone with rudimentary math skills can tell you that. Basketball and hockey are unrelated to Spaz and the problems with the football team. You can certainly question some of Gene's decisions regarding those sports, but no one is calling for his head because of that.

I am glad Blauds recognizes that BC produces good kids, but that is part of the culture that preceded Coach Flip or Spaz ever setting foot on campus. Coach Flip is quick to take credit for it, but there are thousands of BC athletes in all sports who come in as good kids and leave as good adults that never say more than two words to their AD. And most become good adults because of who they are, the values their families had, the environment in which they matured at college, the education they received and often because of the coaches and assistant coaches they had while at BC. This has little to do with Gene or Spaz. They didn't create this culture. They are just care takers. BC will be producing great student athletes long after these two excuse makers are gone.

I'll skip over the talent and record issues Blauds gets to next. It is just more fluff that no critics are really concerned with. I want to get to the most egregious stuff Blauds spewed.

Were mistakes made? Of course.

Dubious coaching moves during games caused some inner turmoil. The issue of fan treatment is ongoing. But BC fans are different than their brethren. The core base is loyal beyond belief and needs to be treated with extra tenderness and consideration.

The student body can be indifferent to the point of distraction. Let’s face it, BC athletics is not the only game in town, unlike many other college outposts. Not even close.

But the bottom line for BC is that Spaziani is the man in charge, and he sees a big picture that many outsiders - and even insiders - do not.

Mistakes? There are too many to recount. But that is what all the Spaz apologists fail to address. Forget talent. Forget Jags. Forget injuries. Spaz is not a good in-game decision maker. He is cowardly in his approach and a fool when it comes to use of timeouts or scoring. This is costing BC games. There is no one to blame.

Dubious coaching moves didn't just cause inner turmoil. They created a meltdown at halftime of the Central Florida game that led to Kevin Rogers' firing. God forbid Blauds ever dig deeper on that. I get in trouble for passing on gossip, but given the statements last week in the Globe regarding Spaz possibly taking over the defensive reigns regardless if McGovern got the UMass job and the weird statements he's made regarding the Offense, do we just want to call it inner turmoil? People reading between the lines would say Spaz doesn't have a ton of goodwill on the staff.

The biggest part of the problem is that Spaz is not the man in charge. Coach Flip is. If Spaz was the man in charge he would have 100% say in his own staff.

“In this world, as you go forward, success is important,’’ said Spaziani, who in three full seasons at BC has compiled a 19-19 record. “It is the barometer that everybody measures you with.

“Success is subjective. It is someone else’s measuring stick for what you did. That’s the way the world works. We have to function in it.

I don't think Spaz gets it. One of the beauties of sports is that success is not subjective. If you are an artist or a teacher or a lawyer or a business person, success has a degree of subjectivity. Your measuring stick might not be the same as your competition or your peers. In sports, someone wins and someone loses. It is objective. 4-8 is not the same as 8-4.

There will be issues, of course. Internal staff changes could be coming.

But Spaziani says he sees a clearer picture than anyone else. He sees a foundation being laid for not only next season but the year after that and beyond.

“To the guys coming back,’’ said Spaziani, “you’ve seen the edge. Why did we get better? You kept working and you started to get an edge. You need to keep that edge.

“Step back, nonbelievers. There is a foundation here.

“In four years, we won’t be talking about 4-8. We won’t be talking about who is in the Orange Bowl. We will be talking about what we did.’’

If we don't turn the corner, there won't be a "year after that and beyond." Spaz is on the clock and so is Gene. The anger you read and hear now will only grow as these two continue to insult their critics with nonsense.

Spaz is talking about four years from now. I am not trying to be an ageist, but Spaz will be 65 next season. In four years he will be eligible for Social Security. People are questioning his desire and motivation now. Are we to expect him to have a burning desire in four more years?

In an era when coaches are fired after two years, when critics call for their heads after only one season, BC is different. Give DeFilippo credit for having patience under fire - heavy fire in some quarters.

Changing head coaches would mean more turmoil. Four coaches in seven years is not the way to build a program.

Frank Spaziani knows that. And while there are no guarantees that things will improve dramatically next season, there is nothing to say they won’t.

BC is not different from other schools and Gene DeFilippo is not patient. He fired Jags after two years and showed no patience. Do you think he is going to show any patience with Sylvia Crawley? Would a patient program be on their fourth offensive coordinator of the Spaz era?

I could list dozen of programs that have had frequent coaching changes over a short period of time. Turnover doesn't matter when you make the right hires. When you have the right coach the progression is obvious. Just like the decline is obvious now.

But if four coaches in seven years is even a consideration, why isn't that Coach Flip's fault? How does he escape blame from Blauds? Coach Flip let the winningest coach in BC football walk. He fired Jags after two seasons. He made the decision to promote Spaz, even though he himself didn't give the job to Spaz two years earlier.

Blauds is right that there are no guarantees things will get better. But what is guaranteed is that Spaz's approach will cost us wins and both Spaz and Gene will continue to make excuses for their losses and take credit for things that are about BC and not about them.

Does anyone from the Boston media want to talk to Spaz?

It is one thing for the Boston media to ignore BC. I can live with that since there are usually bigger stories out, like say the Penn State molestation scandal. But the more telling sign of complacency in the local sports media field and on the BC beat is that no one has gotten a quote from Spaz on the subject. Here is a BCS head coach who played under and revered Joe Paterno and was a peer of Jerry Sandusky. No one thought to get a reaction quote on the case? Florida papers asked Al Golden about it. Other Big Ten coaches avoided answering questions, but at least they were asked.

Like Golden, I am sure this is very painful for Spaz. But the beat guys as journalist at least need to get an official "no comment" on the subject. Complacency in the media makes them less relevant and also enables cover ups like went on in Happy Valley.

Round up of growing Spaz criticism from national outlets

The national guys are starting to weigh in with Spaz comments. Some are more critical than others and some deflect blame from Spaz to Jags or Gene. In the end though I think Spaz will be judged by his record and how the team responds in the second half of the season. Of course the best line of the week was from SBNation as they quoted an exchange between two BC fans on BCI.

SBNation's Exchange of the Week:

SoaringToGlory: Never in my wildest dreams did I think we’d be flirting with a 2-win season.

CSOM_97: FLIRTING? We are whoring ourselves out on a cheap crack-infested strip in a bad part of Detroit on the off chance Richard Gere happens by with our second win

SoaringToGlory: Please tell me no gerbils will be harmed in the making of this football season. That would be the last straw.

Pat Forde's Forde Yard Dash:

Coach who should take the bus to work
Frank Spaziani (38), Boston College. Spaz was dealt a bad hand when running back and preseason ACC Offensive Player of the Year Montel Harris got hurt and missed the first three games. But still, the offensive ineptitude in Chestnut Hill has been sobering.

In Spaziani's first year as head coach, the Eagles averaged 24.8 points per game and went 8-5. Last year the scoring dipped to 18.5 points and the record to 7-6. This year BC is 1-4 and averaging 20.6 points -- but just 14.5 against FBS competition. And after playing four at home in the first five, the next three are on the road.

ACC Journal:

There Are No Winners In The BC-TOB Divorce

Pre-snap Read:

This season is turning into a disaster for Spaziani and Boston College. Just through the first week of October, the Eagles have lost to Duke for the first time since 1927 and at home to Wake Forest for the first time since 2003. And before that, B.C. was absolutely manhandled by a U.C.F. team that went on, after that victory, to lose to F.I.U. and B.Y.U. in consecutive weeks. This isn’t the Titanic. It’s not the Poseidon Adventure. Boston College’s season is going down like the Andrea Doria: it’s not like no one thought the Eagles were unsinkable, but few thought things would go so foul, so fast. Someone will be held responsible; Spaziani will be the fall guy, and I won’t argue that it shouldn’t happen.

The Alphabetical:

Q is for Quaeritur. Latin for "the question is asked," as in "who was the last ACC team to lose to both Wake Forest and Duke in one season?" Boston College, the double-barreled shotgun of eastern seaboard football failure just went off in your mouth, because you are the answer thanks to a 27-19 loss to Wake this past Saturday. We remind everyone that Boston College fired a perfectly good coach because he went on a job interview, and deserves all of this.

Yahoo! Sports:

FRANK SPAZIANI. Boston College fans seem like a basically patient, reasonable lot, especially when it comes to a guy who helped bring the program back from the brink in the wake of an epic gambling scandal in the mid-nineties. But the two most high-profile B.C. blogs on the web were unequivocal after Saturday's 27-19 loss to Wake Forest: It's time to fire Frank Spaziani as head coach. Like, yesterday.
With the loss, the Eagles fall to 1-4 — the one win coming against an FCS patsy, UMass — and have now lost home games to Northwestern, Duke and Wake Forest in a span of a little less than a month. Of course, that was supposed to be the easy part of the schedule. From here, forget extending the 12-year bowl streak: If they can't beat similarly flailing N.C. State on Nov. 12, they're spiraling fast toward 1-11.

Stewart Mandel:

And while I'm not sure whether to blame coach or athletic director for this one, Gene DiFilippo's well-intentioned but risky decision to fire Jeff Jagodzinski in January 2009 when he interviewed for an NFL job is costing Boston College dearly today. While Frank Spaziani is the easy target to blame for the Eagles' downward spiral (they're 1-4 so far this year), a team can't go through three coaches in four years and not have it affect recruiting.