Who will be the next true freshman to make an impact?

It used to be BC redshirted everyone. That was TOB's preferred roster management method. As players have developed faster and as BC's needs have changed, we've started using true freshmen more often the last six seasons. Anthony Castonzo, Montel Harris, Luke Kuechly and Chase Rettig all played important roles in their first seasons. In 2011 many true freshmen played although none had the immediate impact that the four previously mentioned did.

Will 2012 see any newbies break out? I doubt we will see anyone start from Day 1 on the offensive line like Castonzo did. I also think our depth at running back will preclude the use of Craan. Despite Pantale going down, I don't think we'll use true freshmen tight ends. That really leaves the defensive side of the ball and wide receiver as areas where there are plenty of snaps and plenty of opportunity. Here are three guys who have a chance to breakout.

1. Harrison Jackson. I am not reading too much into the first scrimmage. Jackson's chances are based more on Martin's willingness to throw it often. Think of the Logan days. We threw it so often that all sorts of young players got the chance to step up.

2. Karim Zoungrana. Like Jackson he's in a high opportunity position -- WR. Because he enrolled early, Zoungrana also has a leg up on the other true freshmen as far as understanding the offense. Plus, he's old! Born in 1992, he's on average two years older than most of his freshmen teammates (why don't we recruit more Canadians?)

3. Steven Daniels. Although Daniels is trying to break into our deepest position, I like his chances to make an impact. He's essentially had his redshirt year by spending last season in prep school. His St. X teammates Kuechly and Duggan also got on the field early in their BC careers.

Pantale's surgery scheduled for Monday

BC Captain Chris Pantale will undergo surgery Monday to fix the broken bone in his foot. Recovery is scheduled for six to eight weeks. At this point a medical redshirt is unlikely. Pantale redshirted as a freshmen and as we learned with Momah, the NCAA is unwilling to grant sixth years unless the both redshirts are tied and documented to the same medical issue. Let's hope for quick and healthy return.

Team Poster 2012

Here is our 2012 poster. No stars, lots of players and an emphasis on BC's iconic buildings. I like it.

Ignoring the first scrimmage

BC held its first scrimmage of the preseason Saturday. The offense looked shaky at first, some key players sat out and some random players stepped up. In other words, it was the same first scrimmage we've been having since forever. At this point I won't worry. If the offense looks as bad by the fourth scrimmage, then I will worry.  Meter, Blauds and the Herald all provided coverage.

Thank you, Bob Ryan

Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan wrote his last column before his semi-retirement. He had an amazing body of work and covered some of the biggest moments in Boston and sports over the last 44 years. I owe Ryan a debt of gratitude on three fronts. First, as a young sports fan I lived for the Sports Reporters. The nature of how we discuss sports has evolved, but at the time that show was very important in shaping the arguments of the day. I loved Ryan's humor, passion and willingness to put Lupica and Conlin in their respective places. Later as a student broadcaster in the '90s, Ryan was always gracious with us. He would come on the WZBC with little notice, little prompting and answer any question we asked. Sports Media is filled with big egos, many of whom are cynical and dismissive of student reporters. Ryan was the opposite. He always took us seriously. For a guy who had grown up watching him pontificate on sports, talking to him a few years later was always a bit surreal. Finally I want to thank Bob for participating in a Q&A in the early days of this blog. Like my time with student radio, Ryan never questioned my legitimacy nor dismissed me because I was merely a blogger.

Many BC fans complained about his inconsistent stances on BC. They wanted him to be a fan like most of us. While he might not have been a BC cheerleader, Ryan was always very supportive of BC people, including this one.

BC Eagles United launch, Media Day follow up and other links

BC launched a new portal website for their social media called BC Eagles United. Currently it serves as a hub for all of BC's Athletics social media sites and will have games and other rewards opportunities. I don't know if it will take off, but I applaud BC's effort to create a new way to promote BC sports.

Outside of Pantale, Rettig was the main focus of Media Day (Globe and Herald).

Our Brockton DBs have been playing together for five years. Brian Miller and Bobby Vardaro also received coverage from their local paper.

Tom Coughlin and the Jay Fund gave out a college scholarship to a Florida girl. Of course the highlight of her day was meeting Herzy.

Cleveland.com posted a feature on future Eagle Drew Barksdale.

My post for SI on Spaz and other links

I wrote about Spaz's Hot Seat for SI's Friday roundup.

This is a fair take on BC's gameday experience.

Soaring to Glory has been busy this summer and here is their latest player profile.

CBS covered our key position battles heading into practice.

Pantale news puts damper on Media Day

Media Day is about fluff, a happy outlook and getting to know the players a bit better. Things didn't go according to plan though as BC announced that Senior Captain Chris Pantale broke a bone in his foot and will miss significant time. That's a tough loss out of the gate as Pantale has real potential and was hoping for a breakout season. Supposedly with Martin's scheme, BC can use more WRs in place of TEs, so I don't think it will derail the offense. It is also a chance for Naples to step up.

Spaz later explained that Ramsey and Miller were both dealing with injuries too.

The good news was that the media turned out in force. The Globe even sent someone!

Spaz was in a light-hearted mood and asked for pitches right down the middle.



BC Sports Information Department did a great job tweeting comments, taking pictures and shooting video.

There should be even more news tomorrow. And for those fans going to the open practice, be sure to take pictures and send them along.

Will Spaz let Bill McGovern really be Defensive Coordinator?

Spaz's issues with his offensive coordinators are well known. Supposedly Doug Martin will have autonomy and unrestricted play calling. We'll see if it actually becomes a reality. The less discussed coordinator is on the defensive side. Although Bill McGovern's first stint at BC predated Spaz's arrival, the two are tied together in most BC fans' minds. After Gene promoted Spaz, Spaz named McGovern DC. There are times though when McGovern is coordinator in name only. Gameplan preparation and calls within the game still have Spaz's fingerprints. Gossip says that McGovern is frustrated but didn't leave like the other disgruntled staffers because of his ties to the school and hopes of being a head coach somewhere. 

I think McGovern was a fantastic linebacker coach and a valuable recruiter. I don't know what to think of him as a DC. We added new wrinkles last year -- including extensive use of a three-man front. But how much of that was McG and how much was Spaz? We'll never know. I hope Spaz learns from the offensive issues and gives McGovern more autonomy. I don't think it can hurt the actually defense and it might improve staff morale. 

Linemen now "Blue Collar"

The BC linemen have been sporting these blue work shirts around campus. It's a symbol of the guys being "Blue Collar" and getting back to what made BC lines great. Is it gimmicky? Sure, but at this point I am willing to try anything.

(Thanks to Ryan for the pic.)

Filling in for Kuechly and other links

A nice post on Heights and Lows about replacing Kuechly. I agree with the points completely. Luke was great but our defense should still be very good.


There is lots of lost irony in Marshall calling Domenick LeGrande and Okechukwu Okoroha "BC guys." I wish them both the best and I am glad they are getting to play one more season.

BU transfer Jake O'Brien is headed to Temple instead of BC.

ACC Sports posted a Q&A with Emmett Cleary.

Both the men and women's soccer teams begin the season ranked.

The wrong BC Matt talked to Chase Rettig

Matt Hasselbeck knows what it is like to lead BC during rough times.

This offseason Matt Ryan took Chase Rettig to dinner and told him to have fun. I love Matt Ryan but I am not sure he's the former BC QB that should talk to Rettig. Matt Ryan's BC was a very different place. He had one offensive coordinator for his first four seasons. Ryan was grew into his role. Things were good.

Rettig hasn't had that same luxury at Ryan. His redshirt was burned to save the offense in 2010 only to see him get hurt. He came back but the offense still sputtered. Last year due to the staff meltdown, Rettig dealt with two more coordinators. Things haven't been fun and Rettig is being asked to bring BC back and in turn save Spaz's job. If anyone can relate to all this chaos, it is Matt Hasselbeck. He dealt with three BC head coaches in five years. The offense was constantly being tweaked. He took a beating in the pocket while trying to make something happen offensively. He had to lead players and set an example even though the coach had sort of lost the team. Hasselbeck has a tough, smart and hard working player. BC didn't turn around in his Junior or Senior seasons, but how he handled himself earned him a spot in the NFL. Rettig needs to hear about those trials. He's better than his stats or his record but only BC fans know it. A little encouragement from a guy who was also better than his stats or record at BC might make the difference this year and next.

Camp begins and Globe still without coverage

The Globe and BC both assured me that the paper would have a dedicated BC beat reporter this year. Well that person has yet to be announced and the paper did not cover the first day of practice. Nothing particularly newsworthy happened, but you would hope that they will begin coverage soon. Fortunately the Herald was there. They reported the most newsy event of the day -- the new captains. Metrowest's Eric Avidon also made an appearance at practice and emphasized the new attitude. 

I trust that the Globe will cover the team. I just hope they don't miss the opportunity that the preseason presents. Once the season begins, the beat falls into a fairly structured pattern. Now is the time for the new person to make a mark.

Tessitore feature and other links

SI.com posted a long feature on BC guy Joe Tessitore. Definitely worth the read. Joe is one of ESPN's rising stars and in my opinion the best college play-by-play guy they have. Of course now that BC has Friday night games in our future, Tess has moved on to ESPN's prime Saturday slots.

The players elected Jim Noel, Kaleb Ramsey, Emmett Cleary and Chris Pantale as team captains. Congrats to all of them.

The ACC is playing checkers with TV deals while the other major conferences play chess. This is pretty damning for any remaining Swofford defenders.

Ron Brace is ready for a big year. So is Luke Kuechly. Meanwhile Alex Albright might play both ways this fall. Mark Herzlich will get his shot at starting too.

CBS outlays pretty realistic best and worst case scenarios. I'll post mine closer to the opener.

Reggie Jackson has a chance to break into the Thunder's regular rotation.

Q&A with author and BC dad Stephen Amidon

When I interact with BC parents, I don't think many of them fully understand our emotional investment in teams their children play on. We're fans (and bloggers) with limited connection to their kids, yet we live and die with their games as if they were family. We glorify their children when they perform well and bluntly criticize the little things when times are rough. After reading his book Something Like the Gods, I think I Stephen Amidon (Alex's father) understands. His book takes a historical look at the evolution of our relationship with athletes. From ancient Greece to today's multimedia jock, Amidon does a very good job of relating our current passions with sports heroes. If you like history and the history of sports, you'll enjoy the book. 

With the season approaching and his book available online and in most major bookstores, I asked Amidon a few questions. His answers are below.


ATLeagle: The book has a historical and anthropological tone. Are you that analytical about sports when you are watching as a fan? What are you like on a Saturday in the Parents' Section at Alumni?

Stephen Amidon: I am not analytical at all. In the Parents' Section, I am a nervous wreck who occasionally experiences moments of delirious joy. I try to keep an outwardly calm demeanor, but on the inside things can get pretty hectic. In fact, the intensity of being the father of an athlete is one of the reasons I wrote the book. I wanted to explore exactly why we are so enthralled, captivated, moved and occasionally infuriated by the athlete. Nothing really matches the feeling of being a fan whose home team or favorite competitor is in the midst of a tough contest (even if your son is not out there!). Your daily life is suspended; you are taken to a place where everything is more extreme, more raw. You are totally focused, which is rare in our distracted world. Something Like the Gods is my attempt to analyze and, hopefully, illuminate that experience.

ATLeagle: You write extensively about race and sports. From a personal perspective how prejudicial do you think the leaders in sports are today? For example, your son is a white wide receiver who played high school football at a prep school in Connecticut. Yet his track experience showed that he had speed. If Alex had shown the same raw talent but been black and from Texas do you think he would have been recruited differently? Did most FBS programs assume he was going Ivy League?

Stephen Amidon: Yes, Alexander's experience was pretty unique. Because he went to a prep school that was not primarily known for football (it was traditionally more of a lacrosse/hockey school that does indeed feed into the Ivies), he was not really on many people's radar until he went to a combine in Philadelphia and put up some interesting times and scores. And then he attended the BC camp in the summer before his senior year and that's where he was offered a scholarship. We accepted right away - it felt like a perfect fit at the time and still does. So yes, if he had gone to high school in Texas or Florida, I think the experience would have been very different, a lot busier and more drawn out, fraught with dilemmas and choices. To be honest, I think this is more a question of geography than race. If you live in a big football market, you get more attention. As for racism, from an historical perspective, things are far better than they have ever been. Racial stereotypes still exist, but they tend to be a lot less toxic. You're right - because Alexander is white, people tend to assume he is a possession receiver, when actually he is very fast, and can function as a deep threat for the Eagles. Racial attitudes were a lot worse even in the 1970s, when I played sports. I played JV football in Maryland and was made the starting quarterback over a black player named Michael Anderson, even though he was better than me. But the coaches bought into the ridiculous myth that blacks were in some way ill-equipped to play quarterback. It still makes me cringe to think about. We were 1-9, by the way. Our single victory came when I turned an ankle and Mike played QB.

ATLeagle:  I love college sports but I often have to ignore all the corruption, hypocrisy and exploitation that goes into the system. In the book you researched all sports going back to the very first athletes. Did you ever come across a popular sport like college football that unraveled because it didn't police itself well?


Stephen Amidon: I cannot think of any major sport that completely unraveled due to lack of policing, but there are two that came very close. The first is college football in the first decade of the twentieth century, which was almost closed down by President Teddy Roosevelt after an epidemic of on-field deaths. The creation of the Flying Wedge formation a decade earlier meant that helmetless, lightly padded tacklers would often find themselves on the receiving end of five or six crushing blows while trying to get at a runner. The results were truly shocking. Twenty players died in 1904, thirty in 1909. Authorities responded with an ingenious solution - they invented the forward pass, opening up the game and saving it in the process. The second sport that almost ended was Major League Baseball during the 'Black Sox' scandal, in which eight members of the Chicago White Sox, including 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson, were convicted of throwing the 1919 World Series after being bribed by a syndicate of gangsters. In response, baseball owners brought in a tough-minded federal judge, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, to serve as commissioner and clean up the game. Among other things, he instituted a stringent set of anti-gambling rules that are still in effect to this day, as Pete Rose can attest. I think the key in both these cases was that strong, decisive leadership came from political figures outside the leagues to address the crisis. Perhaps there is a lesson here for the NCAA.

Things I don't want to hear as practice officially starts

Practice begins Monday.The offseason issues we've been dissecting will now get that much more attention locally and nationally. Although I know we will hear about the following endlessly, I hope the media at least tries to come up with something new and avoid the hollow excuses of seasons past.

1. Spaz finally has his guys. This was used as a major excuse last year. If we win this year or lose this year it won't be because of "Spaz's guys." Spaz and his recruiting coordinator have been around for the recruitment of every player on the roster.

2. New vibe around the offense. I like Doug Martin and think he'll be a breath of fresh air. But we won't know what the offense is really like until Miami. Let's not forget the "new" offense and the great feel the players had for Gary Tranquill, Kevin Rogers and Dave Brock.

3. Injuries. We will lose players in practice. Someone will get lost for the season.You know who else will deal with those issues? Every other team in college football.

4. Replacing Luke Kuechly. We will miss him but every college in the country is replacing a great player. Linebacker is our deepest position and the front seven is much improved. Kuechly will be missed but he shouldn't be an excuse for losing.

Spaz Uncut

Every year at the ACC Media Days, accfootballnews.com plops down a camera at each coach's table and hits record. It's barely edited. What I appreciate about the clips are how the coaches come off in their most natural state. Usually by the time they get to the table interviews they are tired of talking and repeating the same cliches. There are fewer cameras and plenty of tape recorders around but the interactions are much more casual. He's still "on" but for a guy like Spaz you get a better feel for what he can be like in private. Here are the two videos. In the first he mainly discusses Penn State. While Spaz doesn't really say much about Paterno or the NCAA decisions, I am glad he always says the focus should be on the victims.

In this second clip, he's asked about Penn State again, but mostly he talks about improving on last year. Of course he takes a short shot at the bloggers and the twitterers and people on the internet. It's similar to the quip Blauds made this week. This just reinforces what I've told people before: all of these coaches have thin skin and definitely follow what is being said and written. (The only exception to this is Al Skinner, who really didn't follow it.)

Overall Spaz comes across perfectly fine here. He's not embarrassing. He's not exciting. He's Spaz. What else should we expect at this point?

Miami Game point spread and other links

The major sports books released the point spreads for the opening weekend of college football. Miami is currently listed as a 1.5 favorite over BC. I know I've started sipping on the Kool-Aid, but I like BC with the points. We're at home and Miami is rebuilding too.

Another BC target, Orlando WR Jeff Badet committed to USF.

Oprah visited BC (check out the pic of her with Father Leahy). She was there to visit students from her South African Academy. The students are at BC this summer as part of a program to acclimate themselves to U. S. colleges.

BC posted a Q&A with Chase Rettig. Everything he says is encouraging, but I love that Matt Ryan reminded him to just have fun. Fun is one thing that's been lacking from BC football for three years.

This is HD's preview of our summer camp.

The Globe wrote the rare, rare story on a new BC golfer.

Herzy's second year and push to grow his role is one of the big storylines coming out of Giants camp.

Key Players for 2012: Tahj Kimble

This is a series on the key players for the 2012 season. Big things are expected for some, while others will need to improve over their previous performances. If 2012 is a good year, it will be in part due to the key players overachieving.




Sophomore Running Back, Tahj Kimble

What he's been: Kimble spent his first season of eligibility as a change of pace back. He only started one game and only ran for 156 yards. Kimble was more valuable as a returner on special teams. Kimble isn't as big as the other running backs but he's shifty and has decent speed. While his stats weren't impressive, his TD catch against Duke was the type of play that makes me think he has potential to be very good.

What he needs to be: We need a play maker. I don't know if Kimble will still be on special teams. I don't know if he will be given a chance to be an every down back. But there should be enough opportunity somewhere for Kimble to make a difference. He can use that potential and help BC's offense break out of its doldrums.

Why I like his chance to shine: Maybe I am grasping at straws or playing too much on the Logan-Martin connection, but I see Martin using Kimble like Logan used Andre Callender. With Logan, Callender became one of BC's best pass catching running backs. Using a RB in the passing game has been nonexistent since Logan left. It's a shame since it can be a great outlet for a maturing QB. If Martin is true to form and wants to  shake up the offense, he will throw the ball to Kimble.  And once he's established as a threat, that will open up other things around the field.

Most of the players I'm counting on are upperclassmen. But the odds say some of the younger guys will have big seasons too. I think Kimble could be one of those guys. The key will be his maturity and Martin finding a way to get him the ball.

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.