BC Irrelevancy

[elimunelson]

Shaugnessy lamenting how irrelevant college football is in Boston now. As I've mentioned here, i'm a divorced Boston College fan. I still have visitation rights on certain weekends (had season tickets for years post Syracuse) but i'm 100% Orange rooting wise. I consider the downfall of BC football as a relevant option in Boston as much about the lack of regional opponents than the other options. No one cares about their football/hoops b/c they are playing teams that have zero cultural touch points. The curiosity of playing the Clemsons/FSUs were great for a few years but now no one cares.

It goes back to my original point on another thread that these divisions need to be blown up to account for geographical purposes.

BC-Notre Dame hardly even registers here anymore - The Boston Globe

 

[elimunelson]

Also, take it for what it's worth but Greg Schiano is supposedly the name they will be targeting if they fire Addazio.

 

[CousCuse]

Northeast football after expansion is like Germany after WWII, chopped up by occupying foreign powers.

 

[Trueblue25]

Also, take it for what it's worth but Greg Schiano is supposedly the name they will be targeting if they fire Addazio.

Very interesting.

 

[elimunelson]

Very interesting.

Makes complete sense to me. It's a bad thing for Syracuse because no matter how much we like to mock him, he will turn them around.

 

[nzm136]

I wonder how good of a DC Addazio would be. I know all his prior experience has been on O, but his teams (at least at BC) have been very D-focused.

I'm not sure if that's just his coordinators (i.e. Don Brown prior to going to Michigan) showing through, or if Addazio is actually good on that side of the ball.

Also, I'm not sure how well his schemes would work w/ a "score or fail fast" offense, but I do know the guy is a big Syracuse fan from when he coached here. He would be an interesting option at DC if he is in fact any good, and if his schemes would fit our offense.

I think that he would also have some recruiting gravitas in New England and the eastern PA/South Jersey/Maryland area.

 

[nzm136]

Makes complete sense to me. It's a bad thing for Syracuse because no matter how much we like to mock him, he will turn them around.

Maybe.

Greasy Greg was a good recruiter. He worked at RU because A) he got lucky w/ Ray Rice + surprisingly good OL in the same year, and B) he moved RU from recruiting nobodies to recruiting solid players.

BC doesn't have the same problem that RU had, as the Eagles have had decent/good recruiting classes. I'm sure Greasy would improve them, but I think that the gains would be a lot smaller. He's not a good X's and O's guy. He's more in line w/ his mentor in that he's good at recruiting, cheating, and looking the other way.

 

[RandomGuy]

Also, take it for what it's worth but Greg Schiano is supposedly the name they will be targeting if they fire Addazio.

Hadn't heard that...

Yeah. No one cares about college football in the Boston. The sports stations are forbidden to talk about it. Christian Fauria (NFL TE, does NCAA programming) sometimes jokes on the radio, " If I was allowed to talk about College football, I would say... But I'm not allowed to..(say what I just said)" It's a joke that they can't talk about it... Only time you hear about it, is when the game is on, and then it's forbidden.. It's weird. Even if they were top 25, I don't think they'd get much press. Don't think it matters who they are playing...

 

[elimunelson]

Hadn't heard that...

Yeah. No one cares about college football in the Boston. The sports stations are forbidden to talk about it. Christian Fauria (NFL TE, does NCAA programming) sometimes jokes on the radio, " If I was allowed to talk about College football, I would say... But I'm not allowed to..(say what I just said)" It's a joke that they can't talk about it... Only time you hear about it, is when the game is on, and then it's forbidden.. It's weird. Even if they were top 25, I don't think they'd get much press. Don't think it matters who they are playing...

They aren't forbidden to talk about it, no one wants to hear about it. I don't think that's a bad thing mind you. It's a marketplace of what interests people. The entire reason i brought up the article is that I feel like BC Football is trending even more downward with the loss of geographical rivals to at least prop up the interest vs playing Clemson/NC State. These aren't peer schools for BC or Syracuse. We're on the losing end of this scheduling nonsense.

We went for the cash grab going to the ACC. It made sense then and it makes sense now. This is a business but ultimately it will be something that destroys the uniqueness of northeastern football b/c we are trying to rub elbows w football cultures that are completely different than ours.

 

[elimunelson]

I wonder how good of a DC Addazio would be. I know all his prior experience has been on O, but his teams (at least at BC) have been very D-focused.

I'm not sure if that's just his coordinators (i.e. Don Brown prior to going to Michigan) showing through, or if Addazio is actually good on that side of the ball.

Also, I'm not sure how well his schemes would work w/ a "score or fail fast" offense, but I do know the guy is a big Syracuse fan from when he coached here. He would be an interesting option at DC if he is in fact any good, and if his schemes would fit our offense.

I think that he would also have some recruiting gravitas in New England and the eastern PA/South Jersey/Maryland area.

I get the feeling Dino isn't the type to embrace people outside his circle of coordinators. I think he may have his hand forced if this is the beginning of a 2-3 win season but if he has his druthers and contractually controls final say on coordinators, i doubt we'd see an Addazio type at Syracuse.

Regarding BC, I think Don Brown makes more sense regardless of his age but Schiano has the backing of Belichick and will get another shot at a college gig. BC may be too far down the ladder for him but may be the allure of living in a beautiful area will be what gets him to give it a shot.

 

[jr4750]

Also, take it for what it's worth but Greg Schiano is supposedly the name they will be targeting if they fire Addazio.

Their new AD is from OSU, so the link back to Schiano makes sense.

 

[SmilinBob]

BC and Rutgers stinking up the place and if SU can beat Pitt and start to show some potential...things could get a lot better. This thing in the northeast is there for the taking...got to go out and take it.

 

[blizz]

I feel better about SU Football already. BC is irrelevant in their own town and we need to follow Duke...

 

[Alsacs]

BC doesn't matter because Boston has so many pro options.
The Patriots are gods.
The Red Sox are relevant.
The Celtics are popular.
Boston is one of the few US markets where hockey matters.

Plus BC isn't a state school and there's no local pride like there is in Syracuse for the Orange.
Boston has like 30 colleges within a 20 mile radius there so many different alumni from different schools that BC will never matter in the city.

BC has undefeated in 2007 for 8 games and was number 2 they didn't matter.

 

[RMH44]

BC doesn't matter because Boston has so many pro options.
The Patriots are gods.
The Red Sox are relevant.
The Celtics are popular.
Boston is one of the few US markets where hockey matters.

Plus BC isn't a state school and there's no local pride like there is in Syracuse for the Orange.
Boston has like 30 colleges within a 20 mile radius there so many different alumni from different schools that BC will never matter in the city.

BC has undefeated in 2007 for 8 games and was number 2 they didn't matter.

You lost me here...hockey matters in most of the large US markets. Do I have to list them?

 

[TheCusian]

Makes complete sense to me. It's a bad thing for Syracuse because no matter how much we like to mock him, he will turn them around.

I don't believe this at all. I'm not sure there is much difference between him and Addazzio. He's a good recruiter and decent DC. But he's a meathead.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

If I were BC, guy at top of my list would be Joe Moorhead, OC at PSU with great NE resume and HC experience. I would start and stop with him

 

[Alsacs]

You lost me here...hockey matters in most of the large US markets. Do I have to list them?

TV ratings would say otherwise.

The Bruins can beat the Celtics in local ratings.

The top US markets for TV ratings are Buffalo/Boston/Detroit/Pittsburgh/ Chicago.

The ratings aren't great elsewhere. During the playoffs cities get into
It. Not as much as Canada does in the regular season.

 

[TheCusian]

They aren't forbidden to talk about it, no one wants to hear about it. I don't think that's a bad thing mind you. It's a marketplace of what interests people. The entire reason i brought up the article is that I feel like BC Football is trending even more downward with the loss of geographical rivals to at least prop up the interest vs playing Clemson/NC State. These aren't peer schools for BC or Syracuse. We're on the losing end of this scheduling nonsense.

We went for the cash grab going to the ACC. It made sense then and it makes sense now. This is a business but ultimately it will be something that destroys the uniqueness of northeastern football b/c we are trying to rub elbows w football cultures that are completely different than ours.

I think rubbing elbows with southern ACC schools is good for NE football like Miami was good for the BE. Further isolating from that culture would be more regional - but wouldn't help the national appeal. We had that in the last years of the BE - the league was on par with the ACC, but both were mocked nationally. Having BC, Pitt, and Syracuse in the ACC AND way more importantly winning national championships and OOC games v2 p5 have only helped us.

Going back to a regional NE brand would make us feel good and comfy, but would be horrible for monetary gains, reputation nationally, and recruiting. I think Syracuse and BC suffer from the same issues: WINNING.

 

[Newhouser]

Schiano will be offered bigger and better jobs than BC.

 

[Whitey23]

Schiano will be offered bigger and better jobs than BC.

Agreed, same with Moorhead.

 

[TheCusian]

Schiano will be offered bigger and better jobs than BC.

Everyone says that every offseason and the best he's done is position coach > DC at Ohio State. And we've seen Clemson and Oklahoma carve his defenses up (and Indiana a bit too). I don't think he's even a lock to not get run out of town in Columbus eventually.

EDIT: Clemson carved up the previous DC, but I think Schiano was on staff.

 

[SmilinBob]

Schiano will be offered bigger and better jobs than BC.

Like Northeastern?

 

[elimunelson]

I think rubbing elbows with southern ACC schools is good for NE football like Miami was good for the BE. Further isolating from that culture would be more regional - but wouldn't help the national appeal. We had that in the last years of the BE - the league was on par with the ACC, but both were mocked nationally. Having BC, Pitt, and Syracuse in the ACC AND way more importantly winning national championships and OOC games v2 p5 have only helped us.

Going back to a regional NE brand would make us feel good and comfy, but would be horrible for monetary gains, reputation nationally, and recruiting. I think Syracuse and BC suffer from the same issues: WINNING.

Maybe i'm just becoming eternally realistic but I see no scenario (absent a dream 1987 season) where the national ranking of the conference will be determinant of us having a successful season. The reason I was frustrated with the Big East was that it was going to be steamrolled w conference realignment and we were fighting for our existence. That existence was getting into a conference that would survive expansion. We won, thank the heavens. Ironic at the time, only Jim Boeheim pissed in the cheerios of this move b/c he knew his basketball team was going to lose its cultural/geographical footing in the Big East. They weathered the storm b/c they are a top 10 program. The hoops team could be put into the Pac 10 and would be successful to some extent.

Now that we have the money, the conference and I guess the non mocking nature of being with the ACC teams, I want to see it tailored to Syracuse's best interest which is playing teams that are more Syracuse-like. I don't care that Clemson and FSU has won the National Title. It doesn't move the needle for Syracuse at all or me. I'd rather us have all this money, be in the division with our conference peers and see us squeeze out our 8-10 win seasons again. Again, that's the pragmatist of Syracuse football speaking. I won't begrudge anyone who has loftier expectations.

 

[RMH44]

TV ratings would say otherwise.

The Bruins can beat the Celtics in local ratings.

The top US markets for TV ratings are Buffalo/Boston/Detroit/Pittsburgh/ Chicago.

The ratings aren't great elsewhere. During the playoffs cities get into
It. Not as much as Canada does in the regular season.

Try to get a ticket for a Rangers' game and don't forget the rabid fans in St. Louis or Nashville.

My point is there are plenty of US markets where hockey thrives. The fan bases, while not as large as the NFL or MLB, are very, very loyal and support their teams.