Luuuuuuuuuuuuuke!

I didn't really care who won the NFC Championship...or even the AFC Championship for that matter. But I kept smiling with every big play Luke Kuechly made.

He was a great and special player at BC. I am glad the rest of the world will get to see that in two weeks.

Congrats to the Mara Family

One of the things we sell to football recruits is that BC is a family and being an Eagle will open all sorts of doors. In football, no family or organization embodies that spirit quite like the Maras. Congratulations to them for winning another Super Bowl. Congrats to all the BC folks who work for the Giants. Congratulations to Chris Snee and Will Blackmon. I really feel great for Kiwi. He received a Super Bowl ring four years ago, but had to watch from the sidelines recuperating. This time he earned it on the field. The only bittersweet aspect to all of this was that Mark Herzlich didn't get to suit up. Let's hope he gets rewarded in another season or too just like Kiwi.

The Maras (and Tisches) also deserve credit for sticking with Tom Coughlin. I know many BC fans secretly wished he would finish his career in Chestnut Hill. That's not going to happen, but at least we can always say BC was where it all started.

Super Bowl Eagles

For the second time in five years the two NFL teams with the most historical ties to BC are facing off in the Super Bowl. Below is a list of the BC connections. (Be sure to add any that I might have overlooked in the comments section.) [UPDATED]

New England Patriots
C Dan Koppen -- BC 2003 (currently on the IR)
DT Ron Brace -- BC 2009
Defensive Assistant Brian Flores -- BC 2004
Scout Dujuan Daniels -- BC 2002
Robert Kraft -- member of the Board of Trustees

New York Giants
LB Mark Herzlich -- BC 2011
LB Mathias Kiwanuka -- BC 2006
G Chris Snee -- BC 2004
KR Will Blackmon -- BC 2006
Tom Coughlin -- Former BC head coach
Strength and Conditioning Coach Jerry Palmieri -- held the same position at BC under Coughlin
Assistant Offensive Line Coach Jack Bicknell, Jr. -- BC 1985, also coached at BC under Jags and is the son of former BC coach Jack Bicknell
Wide Receivers Coach Sean Ryan -- Graduate assistant at BC 2001-2002
John Mara -- BC 1976
Chris Mara -- BC 1979

Super Eagles

I can't read lips, but I bet BJ and Robert's celebration mentioned something about BC. Congrats guys.

BC back in the Super Bowl and other links

With the game on the line, look to the former Eagles to make a play! Congrats to BJ on his big touchdown and to Packer fans everywhere. Let's not overlook Robert Francois's contributions too. Also, good luck to the Steelers and the Rooney family (which has plenty of BC ties). I don't care for either team but will probably root for Green Bay because of their BC guys leading the way.

One of BC's top commits, Graham Stewart, will host Florida coaches at his house this week. Fortunately we are deep at LB, but I would still hate to see a kid ditch us so late in the process. Let's hope Spaz has someone camp out at the kid's house to keep him in the fold.

BC lost out on Brandon Clemons too. He's headed to Michigan State.

The hockey team pulled away from UMass-Lowell en route to a 5-3 win on Saturday night.

Women's basketball lost to Georgia Tech on Sunday and fell to 2-3 in ACC play.

Congrats to Carmichael, Dunbar

Congrats to the two BC guys who just picked up Super Bowl rings. With the win Pete Carmichael Jr (on Payton's left above) will enter next offseason as a hot coaching name. Who knows though, maybe one day he'll be back at the Heights.

I hope Dunbar gets another shot at the Super Bowl too. The ring is nice, but I would rather see him healthy.

Get to know Pete Carmichael Jr

With the Saints now in the Super Bowl, you will probably start to hear the name Pete Carmichael, Jr a lot in the next two weeks. Carmichael is the coordinator of the high-powered New Orleans Saints offense and of course he went to BC.

BC fans might not realize the Carmichael connection since he played baseball, not football, at the Heights. Pete's dad, Pete Carmichael, Sr, was a long-time BC assistant under Yukica, Bicknell and Coughlin.

Pete Jr hit many of the same stops as other BC guys including a stints at UNH and Louisiana Tech. His big break came in New Orleans as he got high profile positions like QB coach and now OC. In most years Carmichael would be a hot name and tabbed as a "genius" and whatnot. But with Sean Payton still calling the plays, Carmichael is left a little bit in the shadow. I think that will change this week as Payton and Brees will have a chance to shine the light on their valuable OC.

Some hoped Carmichael would be interviewed for the Head job at BC after Jags was fired. I never got confirmation if he was interested or even seriously discussed. Now with his ascendancy into the NFL's biggest stage, we may not get a chance to ever see him on the Heights. Regardless, it is nice to have another BC connection to the big game.

Looking back at St. Pierre

If this blog had been around when Brian St. Pierre was quarterbacking at BC, I probably would have spent an inordinate amount of time criticizing him.

St. Pierre is an interesting link in the chain of BC QBs. He was TOB's first true QB recruit and served as the template for how TOB and Bible would recruit and groom QBs for the next ten years. Tall, smart, reasonable athleticism and arm strength, BSP came to campus, redshirted, was used as part of the second quarter experiment and then played as the starter his final two years. Things went according to plan until St. Pierre regressed as a Senior. All his major passing stats declined, but worse, his decision making and ability to play under pressure went away. I still remember him throwing a pass at a wide open Sean Ryan's feet in a tough loss at Pitt. BC went 9-4 in 2002, but St. Pierre was shaky (at best) in the big games and tough losses.

Perspective and time has been kind to BSP. He doesn't have the signature performance or charm of some other BC QBs, but as we've seen with Porter and Davis, BSP clearly wasn't rock bottom.

He's hung around the NFL since leaving the Heights waiting for his Matt Cassel-Kurt Warner moment to spring up the depth chart and save the day. It hasn't happened and may never. I still don't know if BSP has that special something in him. But by all accounts, he's a good guy, making a good living and still in demand around the league...as a back up.

His hometown paper still loves him and apparently the Cardinals owe him a bit of thanks for the win on Sunday.

I am not emotionally invested in either Super Bowl team. Given St. Pierre and Pat Ross's BC connections I will probably root for the Cardinals. Who knows, this might be the pinnacle of his career or maybe he'll finally get his shot. And not that he is waiting or cares, but I think I am overdue to thank Brian for his time at BC and for representing the school well as an alum.

Congrats Coughlin

Congrats to Tom Coughlin. I guess the Notre Dame game is now the second biggest win of his career.

Let's go Giants! Win one for TC

Because of my well-know allegiance to BC people down here often assume I am a Patriots fan. This week I’ve done a lot of explaining -- “I’m actually a Giants fan, plus I am rooting for Tom Coughlin.” The Tom Coughlin part generated a few curious looks, especially when I point out that Coughlin left BC right before I got there.

Guys who leave after a few successful seasons aren’t usually embraced by the fans of the program left behind. The spurned are often left bitter and think of what could have been. Yet even as a student enduring the Henning years, I never came across BC fans who hated Coughlin. If anything, he showed what BC could be. Fans always eat up the no excuses, gruff toughness that guys like Coughlin dish out (when it works). For all the rough and tough talk there was also a portion of the BC fan base who appreciated Coughlin’s strategic approach to the game and his eye for talent. His staff was filled with guys who would go on to be head coaches elsewhere. We knew we had a shooting star of a coach. The fact that he went onto Jacksonville and led the most successful NFL expansion since the merger only validated most opinions. He was a great coach and we saw it first hand. Coughlin’s persona and the blaze of glory he brought to the Heights would have cast a shadow on most programs. But that is not what lingers with BC fans. It Coughlin’s continued embrace of BC that has us cheering for him. The Jay McGillis stuff got plenty of ink, but that is only a portion of it. Coughlin thought enough of BC to send his children to the school. His son-in-law is a BC Guy. He has kept good relations with the school and the administration. It doesn't go unnoticed that he also seems to always have one or two BC guys on his rosters.

While I remain a Giants fan my emotional investment in the team has faded over the years (and mostly been replaced by BC). I don’t expect them to win Sunday but because of Coughlin I think the GMen have a chance. The win would cap a great career for great coach and a good “BC Guy.”

BC guys in the Super Bowl

Congratulations to Chris Snee of the New York Giants and Dan Koppen of the New England Patriots. They will be representing OLine U in the biggest game of the year. Congratulations are also in order to Tom Coughlin. He's a Syracuse grad, yet we all know he's a BC guy at heart. I'll be rooting for the Giants. Although I am in Atlanta now, I spent my formative years a few exits north of the Meadowlands during the Parcells era. My passion for pro football has waned somewhat but old loyalties die hard. I would also like to see the injured Kiwi pick up a ring with a GMen win.

It should be an interesting time on campus...like a Red Sox-Yankee game in February.