Towers on the Heights

I'm Back!!!

2010-04-02T11:42:00.001-04:00

Okay, don't jump out of your seats too high. My leg has fully recovered obviously, I caught up with all my school work and I settled into a nice new job.

Now I have some more free time and I feel that it is time for me to start blogging again!!

Check back later today for my first new blog post!

This is so exciting, I love writing. Go BC!

Down for the count for a bit

2009-11-02T09:59:00.000-05:00

As you know, I broke my leg and was out for a while cause of it. But I have just been extra swamped with makeup class work, extra work and just getting things in order. So I am going to shut things down here for a few weeks and see if I can get caught up.

Hope you don't quit on me as I hope to be back blogger soon enough.

Broken Leg

2009-10-17T19:31:00.001-04:00

In case you missed it on Twitter, I have been in the hospital all week with a broken leg in 3 spots. I had a rod put in and haven't been able to do much. So thats why I haven't had any updated.

Week 6 Pick 6

2009-10-09T09:53:00.004-04:00

And my dabbles in picking games with little success continued for another were here at Towers on the Heights. I have however, had my second consecutive winning record in picking ACC games, but it was still very ugly going 5-5 on the week. I will give myself some credit though, as I actually keep track of my picks and my mediocrity, unlike some of the folks at the Worldwide Leader. Here are my results from last week:

Anyway here are my results from last week:
ACC: 3-2
National: 2-3

Here are my overall records:
ACC: 9-16-0
National: 8-15-2

So once again, here are my picks for this upcoming week ATS, lets see if I can actually have some success, its highly unlikely, but atleast I'm trying.

All Odds taken from USA Today's NCAA Football Odds:
ACC Games (my picks in Bold)
Boston College vs Virginia Tech -13.5
Indiana vs. Virginia -6.5
Duke vs. NC State -14.5
Maryland vs. Wake Forest -10
Georgia Tech vs. Florida State -2.5

National Games (my picks in Bold)
Wisconsin at Ohio State -14.5
Alabama -6.5 at Mississippi
Connecticut at Pittsburgh -9.5
Michigan at Iowa -7.5
Florida -9.5 at LSU

Come back later for an explaination of my BC vs. VT prediction and check out RaycomSports.com Blog Nation for my BC vs. VT game preview.

Eagle Links - Week of 10/4

2009-10-08T09:37:00.004-04:00

Here are some of the links from the papers, articles and blogosphere from the past few:

October 8th:
Herald - Luke Kuechly Defying Odds
Herald - Eagles Show Up Critics
Herald - FSU President: Bowden's Job Safe For Now
Globe - BC Making Experts Look Foolish
WEEI - VTech Preview
Roanoke Times - Tranquill Unretires to Coach Offense
TechSideline.com - Game Preview
GobblerCountry.com - What to Watch vs BC
MetroWest Daily News - Kuechly a Freshman Sensation

October 7th:
Globe - No. 5 Hokies Need to Focus with BC Ahead
Washington Post - Anyone's Guess in ACC Atlantic
Washington Post - Hokies Will Need Balance Against Eagles
Roanoke Times - VTech Defense Looks to Cut Down on Big Plays

October 6th:
ACC Sports Journal - ACC Power Rankings
ESPN - BC's Shinskie Just Getting Warmed Up
ESPNBoston - Herzlich Love Being Around Team
Herald - Virginia Breathes a Little Easier
Herald - Trustee:Bobby Bowden Must Go

October 5th:
Globe - BC Finding Ways to Win
Herald - BC Flying into True Test
BC Receiving Votes in both Polls

HUGE PROPS to CSOM_97 from the Rival.com site EagleAction's Message Boards, for compiling these links! Thanks.

Come back late for my predictions!

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly - FSU Game

2009-10-05T15:07:00.003-04:00

Hey here we are, the Monday heading into the Virginia Tech game, sitting at 4-1 overall and 2-1 in conference. There aren't many fans out there who predicted BC would be this good thus far. I was really skeptical about this team but I have been proven wrong. The Eagles are going to continue to win as long as they continue to recruit the BC type of player that they have been recruiting for years. Now to look back at the FSU game:

The Good:

David Shinskie has put his best foot forward and has claimed that Starting QB spot.
Montel Harris looked as good as ever
The Offensive line dominated the game, they way we expected from the start of the season
Colin Larmond is a diamond in the ruff. Wow, we got ourselves a good one here.
Luke Kuechly is showing us that he is a top linebacker who should be on the field at all times
The end of the 1st half downpour, right when FSU was driving. Couldn't have happened at a better time.
Gary Tranquill's 1st half play calling. Great job at switching it up and keeping the 'Noles on their heels. No just do it for the whole game.
ESPN's Mark Herzlich Tribute. Not a dry eye on the gameday site!

The Bad:

The second half. Blew another big lead. Can't do that against a team like Virginia Tech.
Zone Blitz. We did this the whole second half and it didn't work. Need to work on it.
Fumbles. Very troublesome. The last thing we can afford to do it give free posessions to the other team.
The Defensive Backs. They get a partial pass because the defensive line is anemic at rushing the passer and they can't cover all day, but they got to pick it up a little.
The crowd at kickoff. Mark Herzlich addressed the crowd prior to the game but the stadium was half empty. Very embarassing for such a big game.

The Ugly:

The 3rd quarter. Only 2 pass players for Dave Shinskie after he had such a great 1st half? Enough "playing not to lose."
The Pass rush. Any half decent QB will tear this defense apart with that much time in the pocket. Got to get a little pressure.
Kickoffs. Kick the ball deep, I don't care if god is returning kicks. Giving them the ball at the 40+ yardline for free every drive is pointless. Atleast make them earn it.
Kickoff returns. Jeff Smith had a good offensive touchdown but his time returning kicks should come to a close. He is afraid of any human contact and should just be used as a speed guy on offense.

All in all, there is plenty to improve on as a team, but you can't complain about the effort. The team leaves it all on the field every game and that is a great quality. The Eagles have a lot of positives to build on and they will have a MAJOR test next weekend at Lane Stadium vs. the Hokies. Go Eagles!!

BC vs. FSU - My Pick

2009-10-02T14:23:00.002-04:00

This week, I have decided that I am going to give you guys a deeper look at my pick for the BC game. This weeks game, at home vs. FSU is a really confusing one to me, specifically because FSU has been so unpredictable this year. They played very well in a loss against a much improved Miami team, they then looked TERRIBLE while barely winning vs. a weak Jacksonville State team, then they proceeded to make one of the best BYU teams ever look like a FCS team and finally look brutal against South Florida. Who knows what is going to happen.

I personally, think it is going to be a very close game, especially now that the forecast calls for a 60%-80% chance of rain. The run games will be showcased and the team that can stop the run will probably win the game. That is one reason why I am kind of worried. BC's run defense has been alright, but it has been nothing special. However,I think the improvement we will see in Mike McLaughlin will really help out the Eagles.

All the hype around Gameday coming to Boston, and Mark Herzlich could help the Eagles come out flying and not let up all game or it could be a distraction, pump FSU and they Eagles could get blown out. There are too many variables for me in this game which is why I am not confident about this game at all.

Prediction: FSU 24, BC 21

Week 5 Pick 5

2009-10-01T21:37:00.004-04:00

Once again yours truely, was truely bad with his picks last week. But to my credit, I did pick BC right and was their really anyone outside of the USF fans who thought that they would beat an FSU team that just blew out a good BYU team.

Anyway here are my results from last week:
ACC: 3-2
National: 1-4

Here are my overall records:
ACC: 6-14
National: 6-12-2

So here we go again, if you are actually betting on a game, all you need to do is pick the opposite of what I pick and you got a sure thing!

All Odds taken from USA Today's NCAA Football Odds:
ACC Games (my picks in Bold)
Clemson -13 at Maryland
Virginia Tech -15.5 at Duke
Florida State -5 at Boston College
NC State at Wake Forest Pick 'em
Oklahoma -7 at Miami (Fl.)

National Games (my picks in Bold)
Southern Cal -6 at California
Auburn at Tennessee -2
Air Force at Navy -3.5
Penn State -6 at Illinois
UCLA at Stanford -5

Come back tomorrow for my game preview and links!! Go Eagles!

Eagle Links: 9/30

2009-09-30T16:28:00.003-04:00

Well it was a good weekend for the Eagles last weekend, getting their first ACC win under their belt, albeit in dramatic fashion, getting some very good QB play and having someone put their best foot forward in the competition, and last of all finding out that College Gameday was going to be coming to Chestnut Hill this weekend and doing a huge tribute for Mark Herzlich.

Speaking of Gameday, BC has announced the parking procedures for this weekend, and everyone with a parking pass will be allowed to park on capus and attend the live show (just no tailgating during that time).

ESPN has released a "guide" for what to do in Boston on this Gameday weekend. Its alright for the outside, but its meh for the people from around the area.

BC has released their Depth Chart for the Florida State game and there are two key changes on it this week. Luke Kuechly has moved from the inside to the outside (good news because he needs to be on the field as much as possible) and Shinkie has been named the stater (although Spaz says he will be playing both QBs).

HD gives us a nice little look into the game vs FSU this weekend.

Florida State (2-2) at Boston College (3-1) (ABC/ESPN, 3:30 p.m. ET)

The series: FSU leads, 4-3-0.

Last time: Boston College won, 27-17, in 2008.

At stake: Florida State’s direction this season. Which way are the Noles going to go, down or up? How will they respond to the loss to South Florida? BC proved it can overcome some of its deficiencies by playing smart, disciplined football and isn’t going to back down with College GameDay in the house to honor Mark Herzlich. If FSU loses for the third time this season, things could come unraveled in Tallahassee. And considering the way both teams played last week, anything is possible.

Of note: FSU defensive back Greg Reid ranks 18th nationally in punt returns averaging 15.7 per return. He also has averaged 25.8 yards on 10 kickoff returns and has returned an interception for a score. BC quarterback Dave Shinskie became the first Eagles quarterback to throw three touchdown passes in a single game since Matt Ryan did it against Michigan State in the Champs Sports Bowl on Dec. 28, 2007.

Today we just found out, Mark Herzlich is 99% cancer free! How great is that! Keep up the good fight Mark, we are all pulling for you!

Go Eagles!

Gameday to BC!

2009-09-27T16:29:00.001-04:00

The Gameday Crew is actually "coming to your city," and I am pumped! Should be a great day of tailgating, fun and football at Chestnut Hill! Be there early, Bring your signs!!! Go Eagles!

BC-Wake Forest Game Recap

2009-09-27T15:04:00.002-04:00

BC vs. Wake Forest - SB Nation Game Page

Game Recap

Box Score

Today, the Eagles were played the Demon Deacons in one of the key ACC games for BC. It was one of the best days of the fall thus far, in front of a packed house. Yes, I said it a packed house at Alumni stadium. You don't usually hear that about Alumni, but today was different. It was parents' weekend and all the parents are in town to visit there kids and most of the decided to head on over to the game. Boy was it awesome to see, they showed up, filled the stadium and most importantly they were loud and actually made a lot of noise. Once of the best crowds at BC in a long time!

For my whole game recap check out my Fan Post on BC Interruption.

Quick Thoughts: BC holds off Wake in OT

2009-09-26T17:52:00.003-04:00

Just got back from the game and all I can say is WOW! The Eagles had a 24-10 lead with 5 minutes left and they let Wake come back an tie it with some great play by Riley Skinner. Then the Eagles got the ball to start the OT and were held to a FG. When Wake got the ball the got two big plays right away of 11 and 9 yards to get the ball down to BC 3 yard line. That is where things changed, BC packed the box, forced Skinner out of the pocket and stripped him. Wes Davis then recovered the fumble and the Eagles held on!!!

Quick Thoughts:
-Let me start my thoughts off by saying the crowd was awesome. It was parents weekend and Alumni was packed, there were a few seats in the upper corner of the upper deck in the Endzones but thats it. The place was full. Not only that but they made a lot of noise, especially in overtime when the defense needed it. It was the best crowd I have experienced in a while!
-Shikie played pretty well. He struggled with overthrowing receivers in the first half, but settled down and played very well after. He had a touchdown taken off the board because of a dumb holding penalty by Matt Tennant.
-Defensive Line was AWFUL. They played awful in EVERY ASPECT of the game. Couldn't stop the run for the life of them, couldn't get any pressure on the cornerback which allowed Wake to comeback in the 4th. The need to play 10 times better if we want to have a chance again FSU.
-Mike McLaughlin was back but you could tell he was very rusty. He made a few tackles, but he didn't have that "I'm Mike McLaughlin and I'm going to rip your head off with this tackle" attitude and was a little slow. I suspect this will get better with time.
-The Offensive line had a very good first 3 quarters, but was very bad when we needed them in the 4th quarter and OT. They were getting stood up by a much smaller Wake Forest defensive line and its disheartening to see them playing this bad.
-Luke Keuchly needs to be on the field more. I don't care if BC needs to switch to a 3-4 to get him on the field with Mike McLaughlin. The kid is too good to be sitting on the sidelines.
-The Kicking game was very good. Apo hit all of his kicks. Quigley did very good on Punts and he was also kicking the ball off to the endzone every time. Much improved and it is a very good thing.

All in all, a win is a win and this was an important ACC win. The Eagles get FSU next week and it will be another huge game. If they can keep improving they have a chance to win the game and thats all that you can ask. Lets just hope the fans are as good next week as they were this week because we are going to need them!

GO EAGLES!

BC - Wake Forest Preview

2009-09-25T19:56:00.003-04:00

I have written up my preview for the game. If interested check it out on the Raycom Sports Blognation under the Eagle Bloggers section!!!

Wake Forest vs. BC - Game Preview

Go Eagles beat Wake!!!

Week 4 Pick 5

2009-09-24T11:38:00.003-04:00

Sorry guys, have been extra busy with my classwork this week so I haven't been able to update until now but I wouldn't miss out on a chance to make my weekly picks! So lets take a look at how I did last week:
ACC: 1-4
National: 3-1-1

Once again I was brutal in the ACC, so pick the opposite of what I pick. But I finally made some progress in the national scene!Overall I am:
ACC: 3-12
National: 5-8-2

So lets take a look at my picks for this week, so you can figure out who NOT to pick.

All Odds taken from USA Today's NCAA Football Odds:
ACC Games (my picks in bold)
South Florida at Florida State -14
North Carolina at Georgia Tech -2.5
Wake Forest -2.5 at Boston College
TCU at Clemson -3
Miami -2 at Virginia Tech

National Games (my picks in bold)
California -7 at Oregon
Fresno State at Cincinnati -15
Iowa at Penn State -10
Washington at Stanford -7
Notre Dame -8.5 at Purdue

These you have it. Come back tomorrow for my Knowing your Enemy series and a preview! Go Eagles!

Know your Oppoents: Clemson Tiges Defense and Special Teams

2009-09-18T16:32:00.003-04:00

In continuing what I strated in part one of this series, today I am going to take a look at the Clemson Defensive side of the ball and their Special Teams. Lets just right into things by looking at the Clemson defense.

Defensive Line: The Clemson defensive line is definitely one of the strengths of the Tiger team. Lead by heralded defensive end Ricky Sapp, the Tigers can get pressure on the QB and stuff the run. Last weekend vs. Georgia Tech, the Clemson comeback was led by defensive tackles Jarvis Jenkins and Brandon Thompson. So even though Sapp gets the most notoriety, these guys are no slouches by any means. Sapp will be complimented by Da'Quan Bowers at the other defensive end position.

Linebackers: If there is any weakness on the Clemson defense Linebacker would probably be that weakness. This corp is led by sophomore Middle Linebacker Brandon Maye, who a big, athletic, quick guy who is all over the field. He is flanked on the field by Will Linebacker Kavell Conner and Strong Side Linebacker Kevin Alexander. They are both good players, but they aren't guys who will blow you away with their skill.

Defensive Backs: The Clemson defensive backfield is led by strong safety DeAndre McDaniel. He is a big hitter and he is their leading tackler and also leads the team on defense in interceptions. He plays alongside free safety Marcus Gilchrist. Those two play in the inside while cornerbacks Chris Chancellor and Crezdon Butler play on the outside. Chancellor is a 5th year senior and is a great cover corner who will get the occasional interception. It will be in Boston College's best interest in throwing the ball to the other side of the field at Butler's side.

Now we are going to take a look at the dynamic special teams that Clemson puts out on the field.

Kicker: Junior kicker Richard Jackson is starting for the first time since coming to Clemson he have been good thus far this year hitting 5 of 7 kicks but he has yet to have to kick in a pressure situation. His inexperience as a starter and lack of experience in pressure situations must be alarming to Clemson fans.

Punter: Dawson Zimmerman has been decent for Clemson this year. Averaging 36.3 yards per punt in 8 punts this year. He will need to get a little more yardage however, once we get into ACC play.

Kickoff/Punt Returns: The dynamic duo of C.J. Spiller and Jacoby Ford are what make this part of the game very scary for opposing teams. Both of them having blazing speed who can break "the big one" on every kickoff/punt are a huge threat and make teams have to plan around kicking off to them.

There is your look at the Clemson Tigers! Hopefully you gained at least a little bit of knowledge for the game this weekend, but either way it was still fun researching this stuff. Go Eagles!

Week 3 Pick 5

2009-09-17T20:41:00.003-04:00

Last week was an improvement on the first week (Had no where to go but up) but it was still very ugly. Happily, the ACC teams on the field didn't look as bad as they did in week one! Here is a look at my records from last week:
ACC: 2-3
National: 2-2-1

Overall I am:
ACC: 2-8
National: 2-7-1

So lets take a look at my picks for this week, so you can figure out who NOT to pick.

All Odds taken from USA Today's NCAA Football Odds:
ACC Games (my picks in bold)
East Carolina at North Carolina -7
Boston College at Clemson -7
Nebraska at Virginia Tech -3
Florida State at Brigham Young -6
Middle Tennessee State at Maryland -7

National Games (my picks in bold)
Michigan State at Notre Dame -11.5
Boise State -10 at Fresno State
Utah at Oregon -4
California -14 at Minnesota
Tennessee at Florida -27.5

Once again, lets hope atleast one right this week!! GO EAGLES!

Know Your Opponents: Clemson Tigers Offense

2009-09-17T18:56:00.004-04:00

This Saturday our Eagles travel down to Clemson, SC and Death Valley to play Atlantic Division foe. The Eagles (2-0) are coming off two big victory's over weak opponents while the Clemson Tigers (1-1) are coming in off of an ACC loss vs. Georgia Tech. Although they are coming off a loss they are still a very good and will be a great test for the Eagles. However, this blog post is going to be the beginning of a new series where we take a look at our opponent in a very in-depth manner.

First we are going to take a look at the offensive side of the ball for the Clemson offense.
Quarterback: Out of the summer, the Clemson Tigers announced that Red-Shirt Freshman Kyle Parker had won the quarterback competition beating out Sophomore Willy Korn. Parker is a pro-style quarterback who has a very strong arm and can make the deep throw very well. He struggles with pressure as he is still adjusting to the speed of College Football and if you can get pressure on him you may be able to force him into a few mistakes. However, if you let him sit in the pocket and let him find his receivers he can make you pay.

Running Backs: C.J. Spiller is the main guy in the backfield and he isa huge threat for all defenses in the league. He is a dynamic back with insane speed who has gotten better at running the ball between the tackles and who can also catch the ball for the big play. Spiller is a game changer and is definitely someone the Eagles need to contain and not allow him to change the game. Jamie Harper is Spiller's backup but he won't see the field that much unless Spiller gets hurt or the offense is really ineffective.

Fullback: With a back like Spiller back there you won't see many, if any carries from the fullback Rendrick Taylor, but he play a big role in blocking and opening up holes for Spiller. As we know, all C.J. Spiller needs is the smallest of holes to make a huge play so he is a key player in the Tigers offense when he is on the field.

Wide Receivers: The Tigers suffered a huge blow this week when they found out Junior Wide Receiver Xavier Dye has left their football team. He was one of the few players who had much experience catching the ball outside of Jacoby Ford. While Ford is another one of those burners who can use his speed to kill you and make plays on the field, this allows the Eagles defensive backs to key in on him and slow him down. Clemson is going to need some of their younger receivers like Terrance Ashe, Brandon Clear and Marquan Jones to step up to help out Kyle Parker and fill in the void left by the loss of Dye.

Tight End: This position may help the Tigers stabilize the loss of Dye a little bit because they get a lot of experience and leadership out of Senior Michael Palmer and they are going to need all of what he brings to help offset the inexperience at the Wide Receiver position.

Offensive Line: The Clemson Tigers offensive line is probably going to be one of the biggest keys of the game. Their performance could win or lose them the game. Last year the offensive line was definitely the weak point of the Clemson team and last week they were man-handled by the Georgia Tech defensive line in the 1st half before they improved two-fold in the second half. If they play well and give Kyle Parker time to throw and open holes for C.J. Spiller to run they will most likely win the game. But if they allow BC to get pressure on the QB and stuff the run they may be in trouble. Left Guard Thomas Austin is probabl their team leader on the line, as he is their lone 5th year Senior on the line. Left Tackle Chris Hairston is the only on upperclassmen on the line (Junior) as Center Mason Cloy, Right Guard Antoine McClain and Right Tackle Landon Walker are all Sophomore's and are all the reason why we don't know what we will get.

Clemson's offensive keys to the Game:
1. Get the Ball to C.J. Spiler: He is their best offensive player and he needs to have the ball as much as possible with as many opportunities to make that big play, as possible.
2. Offensive Line: As stated above the Tigers have been inconsistant, at best, on the offensive line and they are going to need to get rid of the inconsistantcy and open up holes and give Parker time to throw if they want to win.
3. Hold on to the ball: BC's secondary is know to have a bunch of ball hawkers back there and the defense has been in the top 5 in interceptions for the past 3 years, so Parker is going to need to be careful and avoid turnovers for Clemson to win the game.

Come back tomorrow for a look at the Clemson Tigers Defense and Special Teams! Go Eagles!

Eagle Links: 9/16

2009-09-17T00:23:00.004-04:00

Lets take a quick look at whats going on in the BC world today:

The Globe is a little behind on the rest of the BC world reporting the Eagles landed Shakim Phillips. Hey, atleast they reported it!

The Heights headline "The real fun starts Saturday" is just PERFECT! I couldn't have said it any better. I cannot wait for the Eagles to show they can play a little bit.

Not BC related but the Yankees may just be hosting a bowl game. Hey who knows it may open up the path to more Cold Weather bowl games....not!

Usually Woman's Soccer is something that gets overlooked but not this time. This Friday the Eagles Woman's Soccer team will be holding a fundraiser for ALS. Always a good cause!

ATL has a nice little preview and questionnaire with a guest Clemson Blogger. You would never guess this, but once again the lack of BC speed comes up (rollseyes).

Here is a short little preview from the College Gameday guys:

I will be back tomorrow with my predictions and I will also be taking an in-depth look at the Clemson Tigers!

Eagle Links: 9/15

2009-09-15T20:02:00.003-04:00

Its been a few days since the Eagles improved to 2-0 on the young season by beating the Kent State Gold Flashes and there have been some good articles on the team and some other news. Here goes it:

The Boston College Marketing did something right for the 1st time in a long while. They started a Game Experience video series and it is a great look at some of the behind the scenes stuff that happens on Gameday. Definitely something I will look out for after each game.

BC found out the kickoff time for the Wake game was at 2 PM EST, but they also found out some bad news for that. They game will only be on ESPN360.com meaning many BC fans will be unable to watch for the third time in four weeks. ATLEagle.com takes a look at the downside of ESPN360 on the blog.

Today the Eagles got a huge announcement from one of their 2010 Targets. Shakim Phillis big Wide Receiver out of New Jersey committed to the Eagles. Shakim is Rivals.com 37th overall ranked recruit and the 5th best Wide Receiver recruit. If he signs a LOI in the Fall this is huge for BC.

The Globe actually thinks BC should stick with 2 quarterbacks. I for one don't, but hey you can't argue with results thus far.

Clemson put out some really great notes on the BC-Clemson game. Might be the biggest game of the year for these two schools.

BC at Notre Dame this year is actually a very pricey ticket due to the fact that so many people care about the game. But wait I thought Notre Dame hated everything that goes along with BC?? Oh wait, they just hate getting beat by the Eagles.

BC released their Clemson Depth Chart and Nathan Richman has taken the Starting Left Guard spot from Emmett Cleary. Hopefully this helps the line pick up their mediocre play thus far.

The #10 Ranked and undefeated BC field hockey team improved to 6-0 with a 7-1 win over Monmouth. The Eagles get Maryland, the defending national champion on Sunday in Newton.

The #10 Woman's team also improved to 6-0 with a 4-0 win over Long Beach State.

The Men's soccer team looks to get back on the right track after beating Fairfield this afternoon.

Go Eagles!

BC vs. Clemson - The ACC's Least Known Rivalry

2009-09-14T14:45:00.001-04:00

Check it out over on Raycom Sports Blog Nation!

http://bostoncollege.raycomsports.com/blog/2009/09/13/boston-college-vs-clemson-the-accs-least-known-rivalry/

Eagle Links to come later today! Go Eagles!

ACC had a decent day

2009-09-12T22:36:00.003-04:00

After the brutal week the ACC had last weekend, the ACC had a better weekend this weekend, albeit you couldn't get much worse. The ACC for the most part took care of business this week.

UNC won an ugly game 12-10 vs. UConn with a last minute safety on a holding call in the end zone.
Wake Forest turned things around this week coming from behind to beat Stanford 24-17.
Duke found its offense at took out Army 35-19.
Virginia Tech absolutely smoked Marshall 52-10.
BC of course beat Kent State 34-7.
Florida State almost suffered one of the biggest upsets this century being down 9-7 to Jacksonville State with under a minute left but they ended up winning 19-9.
Maryland also alomst suffered a big upset against another FCS team but wound up beating James Madison 38-35 in OT.
NC State pounded FCS Murray State 65-7.

The only blemish on the ACC's record this week was Virginia losing again 30-14, although this team it was expects against TCU.

Many of the games may not have been pretty but you can't argue with the fact that the ACC going 8-1 this weekend wasn't an improvement after the debacle last weekend.

BC vs. Kent State Preview

2009-09-11T21:04:00.003-04:00

You can find my preview for tomorrow game over on Raycom Sports blog nation!

Kent State at Boston College Game Preview

Check it out!

Week 2 Pick 5

2009-09-10T18:41:00.003-04:00

Last week wasn't a good week for me or anyone in the ACC. I struggled mightly with my predictions but I did as bad as Duke or Virginia (yikes!). Here was my record last week:
ACC: 0-5
National: 0-5

Well if last week was a judge on how I would do this year then don't use my picks for anything but lets see if we can turn it around this week.

All Odds taken from USA Today's NCAA Football Odds:
ACC Games (my picks in bold)
Clemson at Georgia Tech -4.5
North Carolina -3.5 vs. Connecticut
Stanford vs. Wake Forest -1.5
Kent State vs. Boston College -19
TCU -12 vs. Virginia

National Games (my picks in bold)
Notre Dame -4.5 vs. Michigan
Vanderbilt vs. LSU -14
Miami (OH.) vs. Boise State -36
UCLA vs. Tennessee -9
Southern Cal -6 vs. Ohio State

There you have them. Lets hope I get atleast 1 right this week (BC vs. Kent State). GO EAGLES!

Eagle Links 9/8

2009-09-08T22:33:00.004-04:00

Sorry for the minor impasse in posting, I was busy enjoying the rest of my labor day weekend after the huge win on Saturday. Back in the full swing of classes and such (and it sucks but you just gotta push through). But there were some good things being said about BC and its potential (because that's all we can comment on after playing an opponent like Northeastern.

Unlike some people, Scout.com actually has a going to a bowl (albeit the EagleBank bowl in DC) vs. Army in their Week 1 bowl projections. Hey, one step at a time.

Kent State's QB is very confident about beating BC next week. He is also very ignorant about the defense at the Heights, remember its not about who you lose, its about who you bring in to replace those losses. Good to see the Kent State coach showing some respect though.

Blaudshun thinks BC might actually be a contender again? Really, I could of swore this was the guy who thought BC wouldn't win a game and should move back to the ACC. Maybe he is being forced to change his tone?

HD also had some nice things to say about BC for a change. We all love to hate on her a lot but she is finally showing some respect to what happens here at BC.

Both QBs will be playing against Kent State and possibly after that. Spaz sticks with the old motto of "If it ain't broke." Hey, I can't decide who was the better QB after last week either.

Some BC fans on USCHO.com fan forums pieced together the BC hockey schedule in its entirety. It may not be perfect but its better than nothing. (Thanks to J.D. whoever you are).

Date Opponent Time Note
Sun 10/04/2009 St. Francis Xavier (ex)
Fri 10/09/2009 US Under-18 Team (ex) 7:00 ET
Sat 10/17/2009 @ Vermont 7:05 ET
Fri 10/23/2009 @ Notre Dame (nc) 7:35 ET
Fri 10/30/2009 Merrimack 7:00 ET
Sun 11/01/2009 @ Merrimack 4:00 ET
Fri 11/06/2009 @ New Hampshire 7:00 ET
Sat 11/07/2009 Northeastern 7:00 ET
Sat 11/14/2009 Vermont 7:00 ET
Sun 11/15/2009 Vermont 4:00 ET
Fri 11/20/2009 @ Maine 7:00 ET
Sat 11/21/2009 @ Maine 7:00 ET
Fri 11/27/2009 Clarkson (nc) 4:00 ET
Tue 12/01/2009 Merrimack 7:00 ET
Sat 12/05/2009 @ Boston University 7:00 ET
Wed 12/09/2009 @ Harvard (nc) 7:00 ET
Sat 12/12/2009 @ Providence 7:00 ET
Fri 01/01/2010 vs St. Lawrence (nc) 4:35 MT (1)
Sat 01/02/2010 @ Denver (nc) 7:05 MT (1)
Fri 01/08/2010 vs. Boston University 7:30 ET (2)
Sun 01/10/2010 Providence
Fri 01/15/2010 Maine 7:00 ET
Fri 01/22/2010 Boston University 7:30 ET
Sat 01/23/2010 @ Mass.-Lowell 7:00 ET
Fri 01/29/2010 Providence 7:00 ET
Mon 02/01/2010 vs Harvard (nc) 5:00 ET (3)
Fri 02/05/2010 @ Massachusetts 7:00 ET
Mon 02/08/2010 vs Northeastern/BU (nc) 5:00/8:00 ET (3)
Fri 02/12/2010 @ Mass.-Lowell 7:00 ET
Sat 02/13/2010 Mass.-Lowell 7:00 ET
Fri 02/19/2009 @ Northeastern 7:00 ET
Sat 02/20/2009 Northeastern 7:00 ET
Fri 02/26/2010 Massachusetts 7:00 ET
Sat 02/27/2010 @ Massachusetts 7:00 ET
Fri 03/05/2010 @ New Hampshire 7:00 ET
Sat 03/06/2010 New Hampshire 7:00 ET

(1) - Denver Cup (Denver, CO)
(2) - Fenway
(3) - Beanpot (Boston, MA)

One last thing. I have been invited to blog over at Raycom Sports.com as they are adding a blog nation there this year. You guys should all check it out as it will be me and a few other BC bloggers so it should be great. Here is the link: http://bostoncollege.raycomsports.com/blog/

Gameday!!

2009-09-05T10:54:00.002-04:00

Its finally here. Boston College Gameday is upon us and we are going to get to see our Eagles on the field again. The Eagles open up the season with the Northeastern Huskies here at Alumni Stadium. They hope to start the season off well and make some decisions on players at different positions. The Eagles are clearly more talented than Northeastern but here are my keys to the game:

1. Offensive Line must dominate. It is our biggest strength. We have a bunch of monsters there and 2 great running backs and they have to protect an inexperienced quarterback so we need them take control of the game.
2. No turnovers. If BC can keep the ball, their talent level will show and they will take over the game even if they are young. The QBs need to take this part of the game to heart and we can be success.
3. Wide Recievers. They need to cover for the inexperience at QB and make some good catches. They cannont drop the ball and they must get yards after the catch to help our QBs out.

If BC can do those things they should win easily!

GO EAGLES!! GO HERZY!

One Day to Game Day

2009-09-04T14:54:00.003-04:00

We are almost there, less than 24 hours away from the 2009 Boston College Football season opener vs. Northeastern. I am glad it is finally here and it couldn't have come fast enough after this brutal offseason the Eagles have had. Amid the firing of our coach, hiring of Coach Spaz, a rash of injuries, having our stud DTs drafted in the 2009 NFL Draft, losing our best player to cancer, the transfer of our only QB with experience and the bringing in of a 25 year old former minor league pitcher to compete for that QB job, the season is FINALLY here. Here are some links to keep you in the loop before the season starts:

HD posted all of the injury reports released by ACC teams for this opening weekend. Not surprisingly none of them come anywhere near the severity of the Eagles one.
For those of you who don't like links:

BOSTON COLLEGE

LB Will Thompson (shoulder) - OUT

LB Mike McLaughlin (Achilles) - OUT

FB James McCluskey (Achilles) - OUT

WR Ifeanyi Momah (knee) - OUT

DT Kaleb Ramsey (ankle) - DOUBTFUL

OT Rich Lapham (neck) - DOUBTFUL

FB Alexander DiSanzo (shoulder) - QUESTIONABLE

QB Dave Shinskie (rib) - PROBABLE

The students will be out in full force tomorrow, not only in their normal bring "gold" superfan shirts but also wearing eye black in honor of Mark Herzlich. I for one can't wait to give Herzy a standing ovation tomorrow but what the students are doing is going to awesome.

TOB and crew laid a HUGE egg on national TV in front of the whole world to open the season. I am disappointed that it makes the ACC look worse but I couldn't feel anymore "pride" in South Carolina for absolutely schooling TOB. Go Gamecocks (for one night anyway).

Great article this morning by Ron Borges about Spaz and him finally getting a real chance to coach the Eagles. I couldn't be happier that a true BC guy like Coach Spaz is actually getting a chance to be a head coach rather than some puppet looking for to boost his resume.

The Eagles got a big boost yesterday when Red-Shirt freshman Alexander DiSanzo was back at practice. He is still listed as questionable (as you can see above) but it is good to see its possible he could play especially due to the lack of depth we have there no with all the injuries.

The Globe actually has a great article on Steve Aponavicius and his legacy of being the fan who made the team to his earning the starting kicking role this year after not even being sure if he would be asked back for a 5th year.

Good article in Colin Larmond's home newspaper about his story and his rise to the top of the depth chart here at BC.

Now we are down to 22 hours and counting and I know Eagle Nation couldn't be more excited because of the tumultuous offseason. GO EAGLES!

Week 1 College Football Picks

2009-09-03T21:21:00.000-04:00

Each week I am going to be predicting the results of 5 ACC games and 5 National Games each week. I will keep track of my record and if enough people get involved I would even keep track your your picks and maybe even give out a prize for the winner. But we need some people to play in the comment section below. YOU MUST PICK THE SAME GAMES I PICK OR NONE OF YOUR PICKS WILL COUNT!

All Odds are taken from USA Today's odds page.
ACC Games (My Picks in Bold):
Alabama -5.5 vs. Virginia Tech
Maryland vs. Califorina -21.5
Baylor vs. Wake Forest -2.5
Middle Tennessee State vs. Clemson -20.5
Miami vs. Florida State -3.5

National Games (My Picks in Bold):
Brigham Young vs. Oklahoma -21
Connecticut -3 vs. Ohio
Missouri vs. Illinois -6
Georgia vs. Oklahoma State -5.5
Minnesota -6 vs. Syracuse

There you have it. My week one picks for both 5 ACC games and 5 national games. I will be back next week with the results and some new picks!

Eagle Links: 9/3

2009-09-03T11:04:00.003-04:00

Well there is a bunch of other news in the BC world outside of the Jagodzinski news so lets get to it:

Former BC linebacker Robert Francois, unfortunately didn't make the next round of cuts on the Detroit Lions squad. He was released as all NFL teams are trying to get down to the required number of players before the season starts. Its unfortunate but hopefull Ro-Fran uses it as a motivator and plays himself on to another team somewhere.

Former Boston College Defensive Back Mike Mayock has been selected to represent BC in the ACC Championship Game Legends Class. Mayock was an outstanding defensive back here at BC, earning 3rd Team All-American honors his senior year and intercepting 12 passes over his 4 year career at BC. Congrats Mike.

And the injury train continues here at BC. DiSanzo is the newest Eagle on the injury list. DiSanzo, a reshirt freshman, was scheduled to start at weak side linebacker vs. Northeastern is now out. Dan Williams looks to be the likely replacement. Boy BC is lucky to start the year vs. Northeastern.

The Globe has another good piece on all of the uncertainty at many positions going into this year. Writer Mark Blaudschun takes a look at the unaswered Quarterback, Linebacker, Defensive and Offensive line questions. Like I said above, boy is it good to start the year vs. Northeastern.

Anthony Coastonzo has become a rock on the BC Offensive line, starting 28 games in his first 2 seasons here at BC. The Herald takes a look at Castonzo and his growth as a player.

#16 Women's soccer did themselves right, shutting out the BU Terriers 2-0 for their second win of the season.

We will end it with CollegeHoops.net preview of the Basketball team this year. I think they are seriously under estimating the team this year but who knows. Not to mention who would ever accept to go to the CBI?

Join me later today for my Week 1 predictions!

Jeff Jagodzinski fired as OC in Tampa

2009-09-03T10:45:00.003-04:00

Now this is probably the first decent news us BC fans have gotten all year. Sure it sucks basking in someones failures but this couldn't have happened to a better guy. I feel bad for this guys family because they don't deserve this but he really does. He did EVERYTHING in his power to get out of his job at BC, he back stabbed the guy who took a huge risk in him (Gene D) and he gave up on the BC program.

Here is the official press release from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers:

The Buccaneers announced today that they have dismissed Offensive Coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski.

Quarterbacks Coach Greg Olson has been promoted to offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach.

Jagodzinski was named the Buccaneers offensive coordinator on January 29, 2009. He came to Tampa Bay after two years (2007-2008) as the head coach at Boston College. Prior to his stint at Boston College, Jagodzinski served as the offensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers in 2006 and spent the two seasons (2004-2005) prior to that on the staff of the Atlanta Falcons.

Olson joined the Buccaneers as quarterbacks coach in 2008 and was retained when the team promoted Raheem Morris to head coach. Olson previously served as the offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions in 2005 and the St. Louis Rams from 2006-07. He has also previously served as the quarterbacks coach for the Lions, Chicago Bears and San Francisco 49ers.

Head Coach Raheem Morris was set to address these moves at a press conference at One Buccaneer Place at 12:00 p.m. ET. That press conference will be carried live on Buccaneers.com.

Jagodzinski Dismissed

Who knows what Jagodzinski does next but we know one thing is for sure he won't be coming back to BC.

2009 ACC Football Predictions Part 3

2009-09-02T16:14:00.003-04:00

(Let me preface this saying, these are preseason predictions, I'm having fun with it. Although VT fans probably hate me now)

Here for the 3rd and final part of my short series taking a look at the ACC and making predictions for this football season. In this editions I am going to take a look at the ACC title game and make a prediction on that. Then I am going to take a look at the bowl eligible teams this year in the ACC and figure out who is going to go to what bowl.

In my two previous parts of this series I predicted the results of the standings in both the Atlantic and Coastal divisions in the ACC. In those I also had two definitive winners in each of those divisions. In the Atlantic I had Florida State finishing 9-3 at a 6-2 clip in the ACC alone at the top and In the Coastal Division I had Virginia Tech at 11-1 with a undefeated season in the ACC and battling to make the National Championship game.

So in my ACC Championship game we would have 2 highly ranked teams playing in the title game. If Florida State wins they could help the ACC in a huge way allowing two ACC teams to get to the BCS but if Virginia Tech would win the game it could send them to the BCS National Championship game, although they would likely knock FSU out of a BCS game. Both would be a great for the ACC but I think having 2 teams in the BCS would be better, as long as they both won. However, My Prediction: Virginia Tech beats Florida State 24-14.

I think Virignia Tech's win in the ACC will be good enough to get them to the National Title, yes I am calling it now. Now onto the other bowl projections, in my other predictions, I have 9 teams bowl eligible (6-6 or better, unless you have played 2 games vs. D-1AA teams). Here is how I think the teams will go to bowl games after Virginia Tech:
GMAC Bowl - Boston College
EagleBank Bowl - NC State
Emerald Bowl - Wake Forest
Meineke Car Care Bowl - Miami (FL)
Music City Bowl - Clemson
Champs Sports Bowl - Georgia Tech
Gator Bowl - North Carolina
Chick-fil-A Bowl - Florida State

And thats how I think it goes this year in the ACC, an impressive 9 bowl eligible teams, hopefully a 7-2 or 6-3 record in those bowl games with Virginia Tech headlining it with a National Title for our conference!

Come back tomorrow for a breakdown of BC's schedule and my game by game predictions to go along with my Week 1 ACC predictions that I will be doing all year long.

2009 ACC Football Predictions Part 2

2009-09-01T14:43:00.004-04:00

Back for part 2 of my three part series where I am taking a look at the ACC and making my predictions on how I think things will fall. In this edition we will be taking a look at the Coastal division and their OOC and Atlantic division opponents and predicting how they will finish this year.

The Coastal Division once again looks to be the better division of the 2, starting the season with 3 ranked teams to the Atlantic Division's 1. Many think that Virginia Tech also has a chance to compete for the National Title and think Georgia Tech and UNC are clear threats to make a BCS bowl. We will have to wait and see but this division looks very strong. Here is a look at the teams in the Coastal and a quick peek at their OOC schedule and the games against the Atlantic teams:
Duke:
OCC Schedule: vs. Richmond, at Army, at #25 Kansas, vs. North Carolina Central
vs. Atlantic: at North Carolina State, vs. Maryland, vs. Wake Forest

Georgia Tech:
OOC Schedule: vs. Jacksonville State, at Mississippi State, at Vanderbilt, vs. #13 Georgia
vs. Atlantic: vs. Clemson, at #18 Flroida State, vs. Wake Forest

Miami (FL):
OOC Schedule: vs. #3 Oklahoma, vs. Florida A&M, at Central Florida, at South Florida
vs. Atlantic: at #18 Florida State, vs. Clemson, at Wake Forest

North Carolina:
OOC Schedule: vs. Citadel, at Connecticut, vs. East Carolina, vs. Georgia Southern
vs. Atlantic: vs. #18 Florida State, at Boston College, at Wake Forest

Virginia:
OOC Schedule: vs. William and Mary, vs. #17 TCU, at Southern Mississippi, vs. Indiana
vs. Atlantic: at Maryland, vs. Boston College, at Clemson

Virginia Tech:
OOC Schedule: vs. #5 Alabama, vs. Marshall, vs. #24 Nebraska, at East Carolina
vs. Atlantic: vs. Boston College, at Maryland, vs. North Carolina State.

Virginia Tech definitely has the hardest OOC playing two ranked opponents and one of the top 5 preseason teams in the nations. While Miami (FL) and North Carolina both probably have the toughest schedules vs. the other half of the conference.

North Carolina has the easiest OOC schedule playing 3 very weak teams and playing a 4th medicore team in Connecticut on the road. Duke probably has the easiest schedule vs. the other half of the conference, while missing the top 2 projected teams on the other half (FSU and Clemson) and only have 1 of 3 games on the road.

Here is how I think each team fares this year and how the standings will look:
Team - Record (ACC Record)
Virginia Tech - 11-1 (8-0)
North Carolina - 9-3 (6-2)
Georgia Tech - 9-3 (5-3)
Miami - 8-4 (4-4)
Virginia - 4-8 (3-5)
Duke - 3-9 (1-7)

So that is how I think this have of the league will do. Come back tomorrow for my bowl projects, the ACC championship game prediction and more!

P.S. Check out the new design on the twitter site. Superfan Gold.

2009 ACC Football Predictions Part 1

2009-08-31T14:46:00.011-04:00

Its that time of the year, summer is ending, school is starting up again but most importantly another year of ACC football is starting up again. Teams are finishing up practice and are now gameplanning for their first game. The ACC as a whole is looking to prove that it is once again one of the top conferences in the NCAA and that is can compete with the SEC, the Big XII, the Big Ten and the Pac-10 for the national title. The ACC looks to have some strong teams this year that can do just that, with Virginia Tech starting the year off at #7 overall in the polls, Georgia Tech at #15, Florida State at #18 and North Carolina at #21 overall. In this edition, we are going to take a look at the Atlantic division and how I think it will pan out.

The Atlantic Division continues to look as close as ever. The past two years the top teams have finished a game or less apart and it looks to be the same again this year. Here is a look at the teams in the Atlantic and a quick peak at their OOC schedule and the games against the Coastal teams:

Boston College:
OOC Schedule: vs. Northeastern, vs. Kent State, at #23 Notre Dame, vs. Central Michigan
vs. Coastal: at #7 Virginia Tech, at Virginia, vs. #21 North Carolina

Clemson:
OOC Schedule: vs. Middle Tennessee State, vs. #17 TCU, vs. Coastal Carolina, at South Carolina
vs. Coastal: at #15 Georgia Tech, at Miami (FL), vs. Virginia

Florida State:
OOC Schedule: vs. Jacksonville State, at #20 BYU, vs. South Florida, at #1 Florida
vs. Coastal: vs. Miami (FL), vs. #15 Georgia Tech, at #21 North Carolina

Maryland:
OOC Schedule: at #12 California, vs. James Madison, vs. Middle Tennessee State, vs. Rutgers
vs. Coastal: vs. Virginia, at Duke, vs. #7 Virginia Tech

North Carolina State:
OOC Schedule: vs. South Carolina, vs. Murray State, vs. Gardner-Webb, vs. Pittsburgh
vs. Coastal: vs. Duke, at #7 Virginia Tech, vs. #21 North Carolina

Wake Forest:
OOC Schedule: vs. Baylor, vs. Stanford, vs. Elon, at Navy
vs. Coastal: vs. Miami (FL), at #15 Georgia Tech, at Duke

Wake Forest has the easiest schedule by far facing only 2 ranked teams (only one on the road) and having the weakest Non-Conference schedule.

Florida State has by far the hardest schedule in this half of the conference. They play 2 ranked teams in Non-Conference play (one on the road) and they have to play 2 out of the 3 ranked teams in the other half of the conference.

Here is how I think each team fares this year and how the standings will look:
Team - Record (ACC Record)
Florida State - 9-3 (6-2)
Clemson - 8-4 (5-3)
Wake Forest - 8-4 (4-4)
NC State - 7-5 (4-4)
Boston College - 6-6 (3-5)
Maryland - 3-9 (2-6)

There you have it, the Atlantic division in my view. Florida State definitely looks to be the strongest team this year. Let me tell you this too, I will be the happiest man in the world if BC proves me wrong but this is just how I see it right now.

Weekend BC Stuff

2009-08-30T10:51:00.004-04:00

Well I got my season tickets in the mail last week, and with those came an offer for two free tickets to either the Northeastern Game, the Kent State game or the Central Michigan Game. It was 2 free tickets so I was obviously going to take them up on that offer even though the games were nothing special. But the thing you guys will probably find weird is that I chose the Northeastern game. So let me explain why, well I won't be able to go to the Kent State game because I am playing in a charity golf tournament for a friends fallen brother so my sister will have to take those tickets. Since I was really getting these tickets so I could bring my cousin to a game I realized he would be going to boot camp at the time of the Central Michigan game, so even though it was the best game, it probably wasn't the best game for me.

Okay, back on track:
There is a good article on the BC secondary, where the players feel they are being overlooked and doubted while they believe they will be very good. I believe in the players too.

Eagle All Access found a great video on Joe Haden Jr. training his kids Joe (Florida) and Josh (BC) (and his other one Jordan (committed to Florida). Definitely worthy of a watch, very interesting video.

Mike Farrell of EagleAction gives us a list (on a paid message board so I have no link for you) of the 4 true freshmen who are definitely going to redshirt this year:

Dillon Quinn (which is a surprise, could he move to OT where BC appears very thin down the line?), Sterlin Phifer (started strong but was easily passed by Finch), Andre Lawrence and Jake Sinkovec. Apparently everyone else will play this year or at least start the year with a chance to play and will dress for home games.

BC field hockey (#14 in the naion) got off to a 2-0 start beating Vermont 3-0 and smoking William and Mary 7-2.

Decent article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution about Jesse Tuggle preparing his some for the spot light of him profile college football and the NFL.

I will be back later today with my ACC football previews.

I'm back!!

2009-08-27T20:26:00.003-04:00

Finally, I am back on the Boston College campus and am ready to start my Sophomore year here at Boston College. I am ready to get this blog and lets not forget the twitter site back and running with the site.

I have been unbelievably swamped with work and classes all summer. Here is a little info on what I had to do all summer:
-Worked at State Street for 50 hours a week
-Worked on a Golf Course on Saturdays and Sundays from 5:30 A.M. to 3:30 P.M.
-I took a summer Liturature Course for 2 times a week
-I took a summer Accounting Course for for 3 hours a week on Wednesdays
-I helped my parents move from Chicago down here to Boston. Including 3 drives from Boston to Chicago and back.

Yeah so as you can see, I didn't have much free time and whatever free time I had, I just wanted to relax and sleep. Therefore, I didn't have time for you BC fans but I am back and ready to go for the upcoming football season. The Football team didn't have much good news all summer either so they were like me. The only good news came when Mark Herzlich said he would be back on Campus for the fall Semester, even if he won't playing but he will be a huge moral booster for the team. Here hopes to be back for the 2010 season and we are all still praying he will do just that. Stay strong Mark.

The QB battle hasn't really cleared up over the summer. Both have played somewhat well in practice however they lack experience and consistency. Also with Shinske's hurt rib, who knows how bad that is. This article in the Herald makes it seem like BC will start the year with a QB by committee plan but I HATE THOSE. I really hope one of them shines (even if it is against Northeastern) and earns the spot after week 1. We will get killed vs. Clemson with a QB by committee, in my opinion.

Here are some more links to news about BC:
An Awesome T-Shirt put out by BC. I really hope these are out in full force next year on campus.

Nice article in the Globe about the Improvement of out QBs.

The Metrowest Daily News takes a look at our new front 7 on defense. Its little bit disturbing after seeing the defense last year, however it is a good read and I have tons of confidence in Coach Spaz.

ACC released the Basketball schedule. Can't wait for that season to start too.

EagleinAtlanta points us to a great read about Athletic Director Gene DeFillippo in Boston Magazine (who'd a thunk it).

Wicked cool article in a South Carolina paper about the players in the ACC thoughts about each teams fans. Some actually think BC are the Most Hostile.

Last but not least, I CAN'T WAIT FOR BC vs. BU at Fenway. Talk about AWESOME.

Sorry guys, I haven't been able to update.

2009-07-16T20:51:00.002-04:00

Sorry guys, Like I said earlier, I am going through a busy time right now. I just got a new job at an accounting agency and you know how thats like being the low man on the totem poll.

Then I had to help my parents move to Florida which took up a bunch of time. It sucks that I haven't been able to blog lately because of all of this crap and blogging is one of my favorite hobbies.

I will definitely be back blogging before the Football season starts and hopefully it will be sooner rather than later.

Please be sure to keep me bookmarked because this blog is not dead.

-Nick

P.S. I know we hate to criticize these kids but what Joe Boisture did was embarassing to him and his family. Its too bad kids can't make up their mind this generation.

Looking at the Depth Chart: Quarterback

2009-06-14T13:43:00.002-04:00

This is the first part of a new series that I am going to do which I call "Looking at the Depth Chart." Where I will take a look at each position on the depth chart one by one giving the position's strength's, weakness and my projected starters. Today, I am going to take a look at the quarterback position, the most unknown position on the team going into the summer.

BC lost 3 of their top 4 quarterbacks on the Depth chart last year (Chris Crane - Graduation, Dominique Davis - Transfer, Chris Johnson - Transfer). The only one who returns, Billy Flutie, is projected to be a wide receiver this year and he has only thrown 3 career passes in college, all of which were on trick plays. There are no other players on the roster who have had any experience at Quarterback in college. The Quarterbacks in the discussion are:
Codi Boek
Justin Tuggle
David Shinskie
Alexander Atiyeh
Mike Marscovetra
Billy Flutie

Strengths: While there are not many strengths for BC at this position, there are a few.

The biggest strength for BC at the QB Position is the fact that there is an open competition. While Cody Boek and Justin Tuggle saw the most action in Spring Ball, all six of the QB's I listed will have a legitimate shot to win the starting job which will mean BC will have the best QB on the roster starting for them next fall (not the least bad, like after spring ball).

The other strength of the Quarterback position is they have a mixture of young guys and old guys at the position. Shinskie and Boek are both Junior College transfers who have the maturity to play QB at this level while Tuggle, Atiyeh, Marscovetra and Flutie are still very young. Its a good chance for each of these guys to learn from each other and help them become better Quarterbacks.

Weaknesses: There are many more weaknesses at this position than there are strengths.

The first weakness the Eagles have here is probably the most important one. The Eagles have no one of the roster who has lined up behind the quarterback and taken snaps and thrown passes in a game in college. Like I said before Flutie has thrown 3 passes on trick plays but that is not that same. The Eagles are going to need someone to step up big time in order to make up for this problem.

Another weakness the Eagles have at this position is they have a bunch of young players competing for the job. Mike Marscovetra is a true freshman, Justin Tuggle is a redshirt freshman and Alexander Atiyeh is a sophomore. With all of these young guy you don't know if they have the maturity or the head to play quarterback at this level.

The last weakness this team has at the QB position is the fact that a guy who played Fullback last year is currently the favorite to win the starting job and a guy who played baseball for the past six years is another top candidate to win the job. Its never good when you have guys who haven't been playing quarterback steadly vying for the job because you don't know what you are going to get with them. This doesn't mean they can't be good, it is just a big question mark.

Prediction: The Eagles are going to need a bunch of the guys to step up and make the coaches give them the starting job. I do feel that Justin Tuggle will be that guy. Tuggle struggled this spring but watching him at practice you could tell he had the tools of a quarterback but just wan't executing like he should have been. I think Shinskie will also come in and prove that he can still play quarterback and will be ready to pounce if Tuggle or anyone else fails.
Here is how I think the QBs will be ranked going into the Fall:
1. Justin Tuggle
2. David Shinskie
3. Codi Boek
4. Alexander Atiyeh
5. Mike Marscovetra (Will be Redshirted)
6. Billy Flutie

That is it for the Quarterbacks. Tomorrow I will taking a look at the Running Back and Wide Receiver positions in separate posts!

Been Super Busy

2009-06-13T22:34:00.001-04:00

Sorry guys that I haven't been able to post a ton lately, I have been Super Busy this past week with getting a new job at Apple and all the training they need to give you for some odd reason. But I will be starting a new series tomorrow looking at each position on the Football Depth Chart and discussion our strengths and weaknesses at those positions and who is projected to be the starter(s).

See you tomorrow! Go Eagles!

Tony Sanchez to Pirates

2009-06-09T21:41:00.001-04:00

Tony Sanchez has been selected at #4 overall by the Pittsburgh Pirates and has officially become the highest ever drafted Boston College Eagle. Unfortunately this means his Baseball career at BC is likely over, but its awesome to see an Eagle go that high in the draft!

Congrats Tony! Good luck in the future!

Eagle Links: 6/7

2009-06-07T22:40:00.003-04:00

First off let me say this: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME (That is why I am so late at doing this)! The big two zero. One more year until the greatest age that was ever created! Alright on to BC sports.

First of all Bill over at Eagle in Atlanta has some very cool pictures from Matt Ryan's football camp down in Atlanta. Go check it out!

There is a nice article in the Metro West Daily News from last night about Billy Flutie and his attitude about him maybe playing QB or staying at Wide Receiver. He does have a good attitude about the position.

Some nice praise in little snippet on an ESPN blog about our future QB Joe Boisture. Who we have learned from Rivals.com is going to be graduating early and coming to BC to play in Spring Ball. Which is huge for us especially with all the unknowns at the QB position. Its too bad he wasn't a year older.

BC's marching band has been added to NCAA Football '10! I know all you band junkies will love this. Now can they do it on the ice?

According to Scout.com BC has received commitment from a kid who left high school in 2003 to play in the Minors for baseball but it never worked out. David Shinskie supposedly has a big arm and since he is 24 he must have a good head on his shoulders. Not much risk here especially with our QB problems.

Off to pre-order NCAA Football '10. The BC band did it for me!

Eagle Links: 6/5

2009-06-06T00:40:00.003-04:00

BC's problems this year are way too similar to Virginia's problems last offseason. Its actually pretty scary how similar they are.

After winning the ~~national title~~, ~~finishing third~~ finishing 5th Nationally. BC sailor Adam Roberts won the award equivalent to the heisman in college football.

Apparently, BC was in talks with the ever hated but talks about lots Greg Paulus about coming to BC. Little did they know how much they could use another QB now. However, it wouldn't have been possible anyways because of the inter conference transfer rules.

Some of the Texas' players gear is going to the Baseball Hall of Fame after that epic 25 inning game. Apparently only one team played in that game.

Tony Sanchez is definitely a top prospect who will go in the first round of this years MLB Draft has also been named a finalist for the Johnny Bench award.

The guys over at Testudo Times have an early preview on ACC basketball for next year. They believe Rice leaving is going to be huge but I feel otherwise.

Eagle Links: 6/4

2009-06-04T17:59:00.003-04:00

ESPN is starting another one of those dumb visit the 50 states and vote on the best teams, players and other stuff from that state. But this time is CFB Live doing it so BC should get more than some air time when they come to Massachusetts on July 14th.

A few of the start times and TV coverage have been announced for ACC Football. BC will play both Northeastern and Kent State at Alumni at 2 PM EST and then will travel to play Clemson to play on Raycom at noon. Click Here for BC Schedule.

A little old but I thought it was worth while news and haven't seen it mentioned anywhere. Matt Tennant was named to the Remington Trophy Watch List. According to the website RimingtonTrophy.com, The Rimington Trophy is awarded to the most outstanding college offensive center in NCAA Division I-A football."

Coed Sailing may have a national championship system that is worse than the BCS. 2 days ago we were told they won another National Title, then yesterday they were 3rd and now we are being told they earned 5th place. Anyone have any idea what is going on?

8 former Eagles are being inducted into the Varsity Club Hall of Fame this year. Here is the list of Eagles:
Danya Abrams '97 (basketball)
Gordie Farkouh '83 (soccer)
Antonio Garay '02 (wrestling/football)
Becky Gottstein '02 (basketball)
Gerry Hamel '61 (baseball)
Craig Janney '87 (hockey)
Tom McManus '92 (football)
Tom Nalen '93 (football)
Click here for the full press release from BC that includes a tidbit about each player.

Go Eagles!

Eagle Links: 6/2

2009-06-02T21:21:00.003-04:00

Jeff from BC Interruption has a nice recap of the NCAA Baseball tournament and what the move to the ACC has done for the BC Baseball program.

Dominique Davis has been ruled out academically this year and is now transferring from BC. This is a positive for BC, in my opinion. Davis was given every chance to take the starting QB job for next year and even though he wasn't the best QB in the Spring, he was still being touted as the starter by coach Spaz. While all of this is happening, he doesn't have the intestinal fortitude to go to class and give a little effort? People like that who fold under minimal pressure are not people who I want being the starting QB on my football team. This is what many people call addition by subtractiong. Now its time to see if Justin Tuggle, Codi Boek or Billy Flutie can step up and prove they deserve to be starting this year.

BC also grabbed another commitment for the 2010 class in 5'10" Wide Reliever James McCaffrey from BB&N High School here in Massachusetts. McCaffrey may not be the biggest wide out but he sure can fly and everything I have heard about him is he works his butt off too. Good to see a local kid commit to BC and with such a good group of recruits from Massachussetts in the 2010 class, lets hope Spaz can keep most of them here!

The Globe is actually doing some good writing on BC of late. Their latest is a recap of BC's NCAA tournament play.

They also have a good breakdown of the Davis transfer and the remaining pieces left at quarterback for the Eagles. Looks like they are doing everything possible to keep their paper alive by sucking up to the locals.

Bill over at Eagle in Atlanta has a nice piece on the media coverage of the BC Baseball team becuase of their good tournament showing.

BC vs. Army Preview

2009-05-31T10:14:00.003-04:00

Hey, they played 3+ games yesterday and if they want to stay alive they are going to need to win 2 games today. BC had the unfortunate draw of having to play Army after losing less than 11 hours ago in the 25th in but here is my preview of the game.

The Eagles, who are running out of pitchers will toss:
John Leonard (1-4, 7.24)

Leonard has an inflated ERA and a bad record because he struggled heavily for the first half of the year but he has been much better in the second have pitching pretty well and earning Coach Aoki's trust. Leonard is going to need a HUGE outing today to save the BC bullpen after last night and to give them a chance to play Texas again.

BC will probably run out the same lineup but they may have Tony Sanchez DH and have Harry Darling catch this game. Sanchez had the misfortune of squatting for 25 innings behind the plate last night. Here is my lineup projection:
CF Robbie Anston .358 1 HR 29 RBIs
2B Matt Hamlet .311 0 HR 11 RBIs
DH Tony Sanchez .355 14 HR 48 RBIs
3B Mickey Wiswall .318 14 HR 62 RBIs
1B Mike Belfiore .286 11 HR 60 RBIs
SS Barry Butera .333 4 HR 34 RBIs
C Harry Darling .292 0 HR 13 RBIs
RF Andrew Lawrence .320 3 HR 19 RBIs
LF Mike Sudol .275 6 HR 28 RBIs

The Eagles keys to victory for this afternoon's game are:
1. Pitching: The Eagles have taxed Mike Belfiore and Chris Kowalski out of the pen so they are going to need to have guys such as Leonard to step up today and have HUGE performances.
2. Hitting: The Eagles looked ugly at the plate last night and need to get the bats going against the Black Knights.
3. Execution: The Eagles we unable to steal, hit and run and most important sacrifice bunt yesterday against the Longhorns and if they want to win they need to execute them to perfection.

The Eagles are going to have a tough time coming out to play today after such a draining physical and mental defeat and are going to need to score early and often to get over the loss quickly, if they want any chance of winning. The Eagles most definitely want a rematch against the Longhorns and hopefully the can win today and get one.

The Army Black Knights look to take advantage of the long, tiring game the Eagles played last night and win to move on. The Black Nights are a pesky club that don't go away which is something the Eagles would love for them to do but it just won't happen.

The Black Knights will throw:
Kirk Porter (6-3, 4.19)

Porter is their 3rd starter who missed some of the beginning of the year after have torn labrum surgery. He is a ground ball pitcher who has a NASTY breaking ball. The Eagles need to work the count against him and try to get him out of the game early.

The Black Knights will probably roll the same lineup today against the Eagles:
2B Zach Price .347, 0 HR, 24 RBIs
CF Andy Ernesto .307, 3 HR, 38 RBIs
SS Clint Moore .391, 10 HR, 60 RBIs
DH Joey Henshaw .388, 12 HR, 70 RBIs
1B Kevin McKague .387, 6 HR, 42 RBIs
3B J.P. Polchinski .277, 7 HR, 32 RBIs
RF Kyle Fleming .288, 6 HR, 34 RBIs
LF David Darnell .250, 1 HR, 11 RBIs
C J.T. Watkins .256, 2 HR, 28 RBIs

The Black Knights keys to victory are:
1. Getting to the Bullpen: The Eagles bullpen is taxed and the sooner they can get to the Eagles pen the better for them. The need to take advantage of the 25 inning game BC just played.
2. Hitting: They are a big hitting club and need to continue that today against BC in order to have a chance at a rematch with Texas.
3. Pitching: They have gotten good pitching thus far in the tournament, giving up on 7 runs so far and they need to continue that against the struggling BC lineup.

This game should be very interesting. Army has the distinct advantage of not having had played a 25 inning game, 11 hours ago and needs to use that to its advantage. While BC has the confidence of know that they can play with anyone by almost being the #1 overall seed in the nation last year. GO EAGLES!

BC vs. Texas Recap

2009-05-31T09:45:00.002-04:00

Well I am pretty sure I can do this in a few words, such as TWENTY-FIVE INNINGS, but it is much more deserving of a bigger and better look. The Eagles lost a heart breaker, 3-2, against the #1 overall seeded Texas Longhorns at the Longhorns home stadium in 25 innings. Sure it is disappointed to lose, but there is this feeling of extreme pride and accomplishment after this game. I mean the huge underdog Eagles come into Texas' home stadium push them to the brink of elimination, shut them down for 23 innings and end up losing it on a wild pitch that was inevitable with a catcher who had been squatting behind the plate for 25 innings. I mean sure BC could have won and it would have been much more satisfactory but losing kind of puts a game like this into perspective. Each closer when a complete game (9+ innings), Outfielders player all 3 positions, Pitchers hit and run, infielders played the outfield, umpires throw out players when it wasn't necessary, there was 3+ games played in 1 game, a ton of records were broken. Just a ridiculous game and one that the players on both sides of the ball will never forget and neither will I nor the rest of college baseball.

Some epic pitching performances tonight by both teams and that is really the story of the game so I will tell you about them. Chance Ruffin, the Texas starter threw 6.1 innings of 5 hit, 2 run baseball while Pat Dean, the BC starter, tried to one up him and threw 7 innings of 9 hit, 2 run baseball. But that wasn't it, the Texas closer, Austin Wood, came in threw 13.0 innings of scoreless, 2 hit baseball while throwing 12.1 hitless innings aswell. BC closer almost matched Wood step for step throwing 9.2 innings of 3 hit, scoreless baseball in relief. The Eagles ended up using 7 pitchers while the Longhorns tried to make their kids arms fall off by using only 3 pitchers. The Eagles had 16 chances to end it at plate but Texas pitching was too good and the BC hitting looked off. However, It was a remarkable game that I hope I get a chance to watch again in my life because it was that good.

I will have my BC-Army Preview up momentarily! Go Eagles!

Boston College vs. Texas Preview

2009-05-30T10:51:00.002-04:00

After such a great win in a game where they played bad for 8 innings on day 1 of the NCAA Tournament the Eagles will have a lot of confidence going into tonight's game vs. #1 overall seed Texas. The Eagles must be super excited to have gotten by game 1 while still having their best pitcher available in Pat Dean. The Eagles are going to need Dean to pitch well tonight if they want to have any chance to beat the Longhorns. If BC is somehow able to pull out a win vs. the Longhorns tonight they will be in a great position to move on to the Super Regional so we are going to have to hope and pray they are able to pull it off!

The Eagles Projected Starter tonight is:
Pat Dean (6-4, 3.36)

The Eagles will probably go into the game with the same lineup they used against Texas State but they will probably hope the offense comes alive earlier tonight. Here is BC's projected starting lineup:
CF Robbie Anston .358 1 HR 29 RBIs
2B Matt Hamlet .311 0 HR 11 RBIs
C Tony Sanchez .355 14 HR 48 RBIs
3B Mickey Wiswall .318 14 HR 62 RBIs
1B Mike Belfiore .286 11 HR 60 RBIs
SS Barry Butera .333 4 HR 34 RBIs
DH Harry Darling .292 0 HR 13 RBIs
RF Andrew Lawrence .320 3 HR 19 RBIs
LF Mike Sudol .275 6 HR 28 RBIs

The Eagles are going to have to play one of their best games of the year to beat the Longhorns as they are the #1 overall seed in the tournament for a reason. Dean is going to need to shut down the Longhorns offense while the Eagles offense is going to need to be patient get on base and manufacture runs with a home run or extra base hit or two to drive in the key runs.

My Keys to the game for the Eagles:
1. Offense: The offense was shut down for most of the game by Bobcats Ace Kane Holbrooks and are going to need to fair better against the Longhorns #1 ERA pitching staff. The Longhorns have the best and most deep pitching staff in the Nation so the Eagles are going to need some key offense.
2. Defense: BC was terrible in the field yesterday against the Bobcats. They had 2 errors and looked uncomfortable in every aspect of the game on the Field Turf and need to play better against the #1 Longhorns.
3. Coaching: The Longhorns are an even better small ball team than the Eagles but it will be a good matchup of strategy. The Longhorns are 1st in the nation in Sacrifice Hits while the Eagles are 3rd in the nation in Sac Hits so we are going to need some good strategy to beat the 'Horns.

The Longhorns are not an offensive oriented club as they are the 200th Ranked offense in the nation but they have the best staff in the nation. The Longhorns win games by manufacturing a few runs then shutting down the other teams offense.

The Longhorns projected starter tonight:
Chance Ruffin (9-2, 2.96)

The Longhorns will throw out this lineup against the Eagles tonight:
2B Travis Tucker .286, 2 HR, 23 RBIs
1B Brandon Belt .340, 8 HR, 37 RBIs
3B Michael Torres .317, 2 HR, 28 RBIs
C Cameron Rupp .273, 8 HR, 39 RBIs
SS Brandon Loy .312, 0 HR, 23 RBIs
DH Preston Clark .254, 1 HR, 18 RBIs
RF Kevin Keyes .295, 4 HR, 33 RBIs
LF Tant Shepherd .260, 2 HR, 21 RBIs
CF Connor Rowe .272, 6 HR, 33 RBIs

The Longhorns are great team and even though they don't have a high powered offense, they don't need that to beat you. Like I said before Texas will put up 3 or 4 runs then just shut down your offense. The Longhorns are definitely going to be super tough for the Eagles tonight.

My Keys to a Texas victory tonight:
1. Pitching: This is no different from every game for Texas. They have the best staff in the Nation and will look to hold the Eagles to under 3 runs.
2. Small Ball: The Longhorns need to manufacture runs whenever guys get on base because they aren't a team that will score 10 runs a game.
3. Coaching: Just like for the Eagles, this is a matchup game where both teams will try to do the same thing and which ever team gets the better coaching will have the better chance at winning.

This is going to be a very tough one but I can't wait to watch! GO EAGLES!

Surprise on the Golf Course

2009-05-29T19:49:00.002-04:00

I was only able to check the scores a couple times on the golf course and that last time I was able to was when they were down 5-2 after 7. Boy was I surprise when I heard on the radio driving home that they Eagles were up 8-5 after 8 and a half and I was even more surprised when the final score was 8-7. Boy I probably would have passed out and died if I was watching so golfing just may have saved my life. What a HUGE win for the Eagles and their program. Playing a bad game in the field and at the plate all game then still coming up with a huge comeback.

The biggest key for the Eagles is that they were able to saved their #1 starter Pat Dean for the winner of the Texas/Army (most likely #1 overall seed Texas) game that is in progress now in Austin, which gives the Eagles a real chance to win that game and give them a chance to move on to the super regional.

Please go to BC Interruption to get a small recap and their thoughts on the game and the normal struggles of a BC fan as I am not able to give my thoughts because I was unable to watch.

Anyway LETS GO EAGLES! Keep it up!

Eagle Links: 5/28

2009-05-28T16:27:00.003-04:00

Articles are popping up here and there about the Boston College baseball and its players. This one is about shortstop/outfielder Barry Butera.

HokieHaven.com put out their top 5 running backs in the ACC, unfortunately their ridiculous bias comes out. Ryan Williams a redshirt freshman is listed as the 4th best (along with Darren Evans at 2nd, which is justified), all while leaving out Montel Harris. All I can do it laugh at that, a guy who hasn't played a game in college is better than I guy who had an awesome freshman season while only getting about 60% of the carries.

Lots of Austin Regional Previews coming out. Two of the better ones come Rivals.com who put theirs out earlier today, with some very good words about BC and The College Baseball Blog who put theirs up last night with snapshots of each team. Not to forget the BC vs. Texas State Preview that I put out earlier today.

CBS College Sports All-Access is streaming the game for free tomorrow at 2:00 PM EST! Click here to find the stream! That is awesome!

I'll be golfing all day tomorrow so I won't be on here but I will be following from my iPhone so GO EAGLES!!

Austin Regional: #3 Boston College vs. #2 Texas State Preview

2009-05-28T12:13:00.001-04:00

Boston College comes into the NCAA tournament for the first time in 42 years and it has a very tough matchup ahead of them. In fact, the last time the Eagles made the NCAA tournament in 1967, current head coach Mik Aoki wasn't even born yet. The Eagles will face the Bobcats of Texas State (41-15), an at-large bid out of the Southland conference, at the University of Texas' UFCU Disch-Falk Stadium in Austin, Texas. But Coach Aoki is taking the difficult task at playing in the #1 overall national seed's homefield in stride saying to the Globe this morning, "We're excited about playing games at the University of Texas with its great tradition," said Aoki yesterday before the Eagles went through their final practice session before flying to Austin this morning. "It's truly college baseball royalty." The Eagles are going up against the high powered Bobcats offense and are going to need some stellar pitching this weekend to have any chance at all. I have done some scouting on the Bobcats and feel I have enough info on the team to give you guys a good preview of the game on Friday at 2 PM EST.

The Eagles are coming off a great showing at the ACC tournament going 2-1 while beating Georgia Tech handily and blowing out Miami. They Eagles have 2 very solid pitchers at the top of their rotation and could go with either one of them against Texas State, My guess is they go with Senior Captain J.B. MacDonald, because they are going to need Pat Dean in a tough game vs. Texas is they win OR in a must win game if they lose.

Here are the possible BC Pitchers for the weekend:
Pat Dean 6-4, 3.36
JB MacDonald 5-7, 4.70
Mike Dennhardt 5-1, 4.97
John Leonard 1-4, 7.24

The Eagles key pitchers out of the Bullpen are:
Mike Belfiore 5-1 2.15 8 saves in 25 apperanaces
Kevin Moran 5-2 2.84 0 saves in 23 apperanaces
Nate Bayuk 0-0 3.38 1 save in 29 apperanaces

The Eagles will expect to go into the game with the same lineup they used in their last two ACC tournament games:
1. CF Robbie Anston .358 1 HR 29 RBIs
2. 2B Matt Hamlet .311 0 HR 11 RBIs
3. C Tony Sanchez .355 14 HR 48 RBIs
4. 3B Mickey Wiswall .318 14 HR 62 RBIs
5. 1B Mike Belfiore .286 11 HR 60 RBIs
6. SS Barry Butera .333 4 HR 34 RBIs
7. DH Harry Darling .292 0 HR 13 RBIs
8. RF Andrew Lawrence .320 3 HR 19 RBIs
9. LF Mike Sudol .275 5 HR 25 RBIs

With John Spatola .304 3 HR 23 RBIs, being the only somewhat reliable player off the bench to help the Eagles if need be.

The Eagles are know to be a small ball team and according to one Texas fan, "The Disch (UFCU Disch-Falk Field) might be the most pitcher friendly park in America. The infield is very slow, designed that way for the way the Longhorns like to play small ball with a lot of sacrifice bunts and sigles and doubles rather than trying to hit the long ball.

As stated above, the prevailing winds also tend to keep balls in the ball park. Your only real hope to conisistently hit the ball out of the park is to drive the ball low and hard down either line. If it gets up in the air, particularly betrween left and right center, its going to die."

Which may benefit Texas BUT it also benefits the Eagles because they aren't a team who will out slug you. It has been well documented that coach Mitch Aoki's philosophy is score one run an inning usually through sacrifices and small ball seeing as the Eagles are 3rd in the nation in sacrifice hits.

The Three Keys to the Eagles success this weekend are:
1. Starting Pitching: The Eagles are able to hit and score with the best of them so the key is going to be whether or not th Eagles can keep the other teams from scoring.
2. Tony Sanchez and Mickey Wiswall: These two are the best offensive players for the Eagles and are both going to need to step up even more for the Eagles to avoid losing 2 games.
3. Winning Game 1: Teams who lose game 1 don't usually move on because you then usually have to win 4 games in a row in order to advance to the Super Regionals.

The Texas State Bobcats, as I said before have a high powered offense that has lead them all year through their conference and earned them an at-large bid in this tournament. The Bobcats were the regular season champions in the Southland conference, but were upset in the Conference Tournament by Sam Houston State in the title game. The Bobcats may not play in the ACC like the Eagles, but they have a very good game and are a great matchup for the Eagles.

The Bobcats have a very good ace in Kane Holbrooks, but they may choose to risk it and try to win game 1 with their second starter, Zach Tritz, who isn't nearly as good as Holbrooks.

The possible starters for the Bobcats are:
Kane Holbrooks 10-1 3.34
Brian Borski 7-3 3.89
Zach Tritz 8-2 4.75

With these guys out of the Bullpen:
Tyler Brundrige 3-1 3.42 3 saves in 32 appearances
Michael Russo 4-2 3.86 6 saves in 23 appearances
Lance Loftin 3-0 3.09 1 save in 20 appearances

The Bobcats have a very high powered offense and look to keep that going into their first NCAA tournament since 2000:
1. RF Tyler Sibley .369 10 HR's 38 RBI's
2. CF Bret Atwood .373 1 HR 30 RBI's
3. 1B Paul Goldschmidt .353 17 HR's 85 RBI's
4. DH Keith Prestidge .370 7 HR's 49 RBI's
5. LF Spenser Dennis .408 6 HR's 49 RBI's
6. C Ben Theriot .346 6 HR's 36 RBI's
7. 2B Kyle Livinstone .322 5 HR's 32 RBI's
8. 3B Jordan Kopycinski.298 1 HR 8 RBI's
9. Jason Martinson .302 7 HR's 39 RBI's

They also have two reliable players and hitters off the bench that they can use at any time to replace anyone in the lineup in Lance Lofton .304 6 HR's 30 RBI's and Kyle Bubitza .299 6 HR's 21 RBI's.

The Bobcats three keys to this tournament will be:
1. Paul Goldschmidt: He is probably the best hitter in this regional and the Bobcats offensive production is usually based around him.
2. Pitching: The Bobcats can hit with the best of them but they aren't very deep in pitching. They did well in the Southland but things are much different facing teams from the ACC and Big XII.
3. Confidence: Some Southland conference teams may come in against ACC and Big XII teams, but if they Bobcats want to win they need to come in believing they can win.

This team is pretty solid and the coach from Lamar stated this might be the best team in Southland Conference history. These guys play the game right and enjoy playing together. The Eagles and the Bobcats look to matchup very well and should be a GREAT game tomorrow.

Go Eagles!

Q&A with Travis Everette

2009-05-27T12:42:00.004-04:00

Travis Everatte is an associate with Rivals.com who was there to specifically help them blog about the ACC Baseball Championship. Therefore, I contacted him and asked him if he could answer a few questions for me and he was super kind and actually answered them for me!

TOTH: Can you explain to me and other BC fans what making the NCAA tournament after years of mediocrity and a move to such a tough conference means to the program?

TE: I think it is a huge step in the right direction for the players and coaching staff at Boston College. Coach Aoki and his staff have done an amazing job turning that program around and I have no doubt that they’ll continue to be competitive and give the rest of the league fits in years to come. Playing in the NCAA tournament will only add fuel to that fire.

TOTH: Why do you think Boston College and the ACC were looked at by the committee as lesser teams than the Big 12 and SEC schools?

TE: I don’t know that you could say that the ACC teams were looked at as lesser teams. I thought that everyone from the league who had a legitimate case for being included in the tournament was invited. I also think that the right teams got host spots and #1 seeds. I do think that UVA got a raw deal on their regional assignment being shipped all the way out to Irvine and having to face Stephen Strasburg in the first game. Duke’s RPI was a real killer but if you get down to it, I have little doubt that they are a better squad than either Baylor or Oklahoma State, so I guess you could make an argument that they were shorted, but it’s really not a strong argument because in my opinion none of those three should be in. All in all, I think the league got a pretty fair draw.

TOTH: Do you think the Eagles can use their success this year as a spring board for the program or is this just a fluke and they will go back to mediocrity after this year?

TE: I sort of answered this in question #1, but I’ll say it again: I think Boston College is going to be very competitive for a long while, particularly as long as the current coaching staff is in place. Coach Aoki was very impressive during the ACC tournament. That was the first time I”ve had the chance to interact face to face with him and I came away thinking that he was one of the more engaging coaches in the league. Also, make no mistake, Boston College is tremendously talented. They have some kids who can really compete with the best teams in the league. If they continue to mine that northeast talent pool, they will be just fine.

TOTH: What do you think has been the biggest key to Boston College's success this year? And do you think coach Mike Aoki should get more praise for what he has done in such a short time with this team?

TE: I don’t think there is any magic recipe to their success. They’re winning with talented kids playing hard and smart who are coached by a solid coaching staff. That will get it done every time.

TOTH: On to the NCAA tournament and the Austin Regional specifically. Since I and many BC fans haven't got to watch a ton of college baseball, what are some quick strengths and weaknesses for all of the teams in the Austin Regional?

TE: That regional should be one of the more interesting ones to watch. Obviously Texas is the #1 national seed for a reason. They are a tremendously talented team both on the mound as well as at the plate. I think the interesting thing about that regional is Texas State at #2. Honestly, that’s a pretty good draw for Boston College. The Bobcats simply aren’t a #2 seed in my opinion. I think that Boston College will be playing in the winner’s bracket game against Texas. That’s a game I would like to see.

TOTH: Some predictions. Who wins BC or Texas State in game 1? Then how many wins do you think BC can get? Finally, does BC have any chance at all at making it out of this regional?

TE: Boston College most definitely has a chance to advance. In this format, that winner’s bracket game is huge. If they can manage to get past Texas there, I think they have an excellent shot at advancement.

TOTH: Who wins the whole thing?

TE: It’s impossible to predict this tournament with any accuracy whatsoever, so I’ll just go with UNC. They’re the most experienced tournament team in the whole thing and I think it would be fitting for them to finally get it done with the least talented of their recent squads.

TOTH: Lastly, not neccessarily BC related but after the message the committee sent Rhode Island this week, what incentive is there for small northern schools to keep their baseball programs around?

TE: This committee was criminal in their treatment of Rhode Island. If I were a participating member, I would be absolutely embarrassed at the inclusion of Baylor and Oklahoma State while not having Rhode Island in the tournament. Of course they aren’t going to ever have a complete resume when compared to a warm weather school, but they did absolutely everything you could ask of them to improve their schedule and they won the majority of those southern games. I think it is an absolute travesty that they aren’t in. It does send the wrong message to northern schools. I do hope that the schools up there won’t allow the most biased chairman in the history of the committee (and that is saying something) to dissuade them from participating in our national pastime.

I would like to thank Travis so much for taking the time out of his day to answer my questions and give me something to write about on the blog! Go Eagles.

Eagle Links: 5/27

2009-05-27T10:56:00.003-04:00

There is a nice little article in the Globe this morning about BC and their trip to the NCAA tournament.

The boys at BCInteruption had a nice Q&A session yesterday with the people at the College Baseball Blog about BC and their NCAA run.

Mickey Wiswall has been spectacular all season and the Herald is giving him some nice print time this morning. Good to see the Eagles are getting some nice publication in both papers after all getting to the NCAAs is a huge accomplishment.

BCI made a good point on Twitter. In the NCAA Lacrosse championship, when the attendance is down it is the economy. But when it comes to football and the ACC championship game, its the matchup and the BC fans.

Tony Sanchez gets a lot of love nowadays and it is a great thing for BC and their baseball program. The College Baseball Blog have him as one of the top 50 players in college baseball.

BC Hockey has got the insurance goalie that they were looking for incase Muse can't get back from his hip surgery before the season starts. The Eagles have added goalie Parker Milner from Waterloo and forward Brooks Dryoff from Phillips Andover.

I'll be back later with a Q&A with Rivals associate for the ACC baseball tournament, Travis Everette.

Memorial Day Eagle Links: 5/25

2009-05-25T16:44:00.003-04:00

This afternoon the Eagles awaited word from the NCAA about whether or not they had made the 2009 NCAA Baseball Tournament. Well at about 12:36 they found out the good news that they were in the tournament but they also found out the bad news that they were in the #1 overall seed in the tournament, Texas' bracket. The Eagles finally made it back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1967, but they are going to need some stellar pitching from Pat Dean, JB MacDonald, Mike Dennhardt and John Leonard if they want to do anything in this regional. The Eagles will play the Texas State Bobcats (41-15) from the Southland conference on Friday at 2 PM EST.

Here is what the Bracket looks like:
#1 Texas (40-13-1)
vs.
#4 Army (34-19)

#2 Texas State (41-15)
vs.
#3 Boston College (33-24)

The bracket is a double elimination which gives the Eagles some flexibility but I feel if they want to have any chance they are going to need to win the first game against the big bats of Texas State on Friday. I will have my preview of that game up by Thursday night!

Ivan Maisel has gone crazy on us, he believes BC should have a football game against Auburn at Fenway Park. I think having a game at Fenway may be huge for BC as they definitely need to do something to boost casual fan interest here in Boston and I think a game at Fenway may just do that. What I'm not sure of is playing Auburn. 1. I don't think they would want to play us and 2. I'm just not sure an Auburn/BC matchup would be that interesting for the casual fan.

A little old but The College Hockey News believes the Boston is a shoe in to host either the 2013 or 2014 Men's Frozen Fours. They believe the TD Banknorth Garden could "submit a bid written in crayon comprised of nothing but “we want to host the Frozen Four” and they’d probably still be the favorites for 2013." Well let me send a box of crayons to the TD Banknorth Garden, I want the Frozen Four back in Boston!

There have been rumors from Pittsburgh that a BC wide receiver is going to transfer to Pittsburgh (thanks to Eagle All Access for the link). They have stated that it may be Colin Larmond trasfering to Pitt but Mike Farrell from Rivals.com shot down the rumors quickly by saying,

I've been hearing rumors that Larmond is the rumored transfer to Pitt and, first off, I don't think there's a transfer to Pitt unless it's Hayden-Martin and it's not Larmond according to numerous sources.

Just wanted to end these Larmond rumors before they gain momentum.

Mike Farrell

Alright, off to do some scouting and searching for video on the Texas State Bobcats baseball team!

Day 2 Recap and Miami Preview

2009-05-22T11:02:00.003-04:00

Yesterday the Eagles defeated the #14th Ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 7-3 riding the coat tails of Mickey Wiswall at the plate. Wiswall was unbelievable yesterday. The Eagles had the bases loaded with no outs in the first and Mickey came through with the teams first clutch hit of the tournament. He singled to right and drove in Anston and Hamlet. But he wasn't done in the third he came up to the plate with Tony Sanchez on first and he absolutely BOMBED on to right about 20 rows up into the bleachers. Then he decided he wanted to show off some more but going deep over the Blue Monster to the opposite field. Yep Mickey drove in the Eagles first five runs and was a stabilizing force after the Yellow Jackets got it to within one in the 5th. Anston knocked in the other 2 runs for the Eagles in the 6th to finish the scoring for BC.

However, hitting wasn't the only strong point of the day for the Eagle on this day, senior captain JB MacDonald started off the game throwing 4 awesome scoreless innings but struggled a little in the 5th gaving up 3 runs. He finished a very strong outing with 3 runs on 5 hits in 5 innings pitched. But the star of the day on the mound was Relief pitched Kevin Moran. He was spectacular for the Eagles coming in, in the 6th and just shutting the Yellow Jackets down for 3 innings while only giving up 2 hits and striking out 2. Moran was the player of the day in my book, boy was I impressed. I was also impressed with Belfiore who came in, in the 9th and was unhittable. Throwing 94 MPH and lots of movement, its now wonder why he struckout 2 and is a real MLB prospect.

The Eagles were super impressive yesterday and may have just locked up an NCAA bid with the win but they still want to get a higher and higher seed so they have to come out and beat Miami today. The Eagles played Miami 3 times this year losing 2 out of 3 but in the one game they won was a blowout, 13-3. The Eagles need play like that again and they need a good offensive showing to go along with some great pitching by Pat Dean today if they want to have any chance of beating the Hurricanes.

Lets go Eagles!

Day 2 of ACC Baseball!

2009-05-21T15:31:00.003-04:00

THE EAGLES UPSET THE YELLOW JACKETS!! WHAT A HUGE UPSET! This almost completely assures the Eagles of an NCAA tournament birth and they aren't done in the ACC tournament yet!

The Eagles won 7-3 today behind the bat of Mickey Wiswall. 3-4, 2 Home Runs, 5 RBis. Wiswall had a brilliant game today. But the player of the game was relief pitcher Kevin Moran. WOW. He came in right after GT got it to 1 run and shut them down for 3 innings. He only gave up 2 hits and no runs. Spectacular. Definitely of the player of the game.

I'll give my full recap later on today. Right now the Eagles got to root hard for the Hurricanes vs. the Seminoles because if the Seminoles get to 2-0, the Eagles are eliminated. So lets go Canes!

BC Baseball and ACC Tournament

2009-05-21T11:59:00.003-04:00

The Eagles made a ton of mental mistakes yesterday playing FSU. The coaches sent Tony Sanchez on a single to left from second where he got thrown out at home. So instead of having the bases loaded and 1 out, they had men on 2nd and 3rd with two outs and the next batter hit a groundball up the middle that Sanchez definitely would have scored on. The Eagles ended up losing 7-2 but at the time it was only 2-1 and it might have changed the game.

The Eagles play GT today at Noon on NESN and they will try to keep their ACC tourny and NCAA tournament hopes up.

JB MacDonald is on the mound today and he needs to have a huge outing for the Eagles today!

LETS GO EAGLES!

#8 Boston College vs. #1 Florida State

2009-05-20T12:17:00.004-04:00

Our 8th seeded Boston College Eagles are slated to take on the 1st seeded Florida State Seminoles today in the first day of the 2009 ACC baseball tournament.

Boston College Eagles (31-23, 13-15)
Starting Pitcher: John Leonard (1-3, 7.24 ERA)
Leonard is the 5th Starter for the Eagles and they just hope he is able to go out there and give a few solid innings and keeping the Eagles in the game. If Leonard is able to keep the game close, that bodes well for the Eagles as they have the offensive ability to pull off the early upset in the tourament.

Projected Lineup (Subject to Change):
CF Robbie Anston - (.366, 1 HR, 25 RBIs)
LF Andrew Lawrence - (.326, 3 HR, 18 RBIs)
C Tony Sanchez - (.353, 14 HR, 47 RBIs)
3B Mickey Wiswall - (.311, 12 HR, 57 RBIs)
1B Mike Belfiore - (.286, 11 HR, 59 RBIs)
SS Barry Butera - (.330, 4 HR, 33 RBIs)
2B Garrett Smith - (.297, 1 HR, 25 RBIs)
DH Mike Sudol - (.270, 5 HR, 20 RBIs)
RF John Spatola - (.304, 3 HR, 7 RBIs)

Florida State Seminoles (40-14, 19-9)
Starting Pitcher: Sean Gilmartin (10-2, 3.71 ERA)
Gilmartin is the ace of the Seminoles staff and has been dominate all year holding opponent hitters to a .222 batting average against him. He has the ability to shutout the best of the best offenses. The Seminoles are hoping for a strong and long outing from him which would mean a great start and hopefully a win. The Eagles need to get him to early and often if they want a chance to win this game.

Projected Starting Lineup (Subject to Change):
CF Tyler Holt - (.402, 5 HR, 25 RBIs)
SS Stephen Cardullo - (.370, 10 HR, 37 RBIs)
LF Mike McGee - (.363, 16 HR, 65 RBIs)
2B Jason Stidham - (.340, 9 HR, 57 RBIs)
3B Stuart Tapley - (.301, 13 HR, 53 RBIs)
C Rafeal Lopez - (.298, 4 HR, 26 RBIs)
RF Ohmed Danesh - (.275, 5 HR, 29 RBIs)
DH Tommy Oravetz - (.267, 6 HR, 28 RBIs)
1B Jack Posey - (.222, 5 HR, 28 RBIs)

The Seminoles are the ACC champions but the Eagles have beaten them twice this year. They need to put together a great pitching performance and a great offensive performance. The Eagles are going to need their best performance of the year in order to take this one and have any chance at making to 2009 NCAA Baseball tournament. GO Eagles!

Eagle Links: 5/20

2009-05-20T11:40:00.003-04:00

The best news of the is Comcast has decided to add ESPNU!!! Which is great news for all of us BC fans. We can now watch Football games, Basketball games AND hockey games along with a ton of other college sports. This is just awesome for someone who has missed a ton of games because I had to deal with Comcast.

There is a great read on ESPN.com right now about Matt Ryan and what he is doing for the Falcons and their fans.

Now I wasn't sure about President Obama before today. Obama is taking shots at Notre Dame football. My respect for him just skyrocketed.

Thats all I got for you guys today but I am working on putting together a preview for the Eagles game today with Florida State in the ACC Baseball Tourament.

Eagle Links: 5/19

2009-05-19T15:01:00.003-04:00

The Globe's interview with Mark Herlizh revealed that he is starting Chemotherapy today. This is the beginning of the LONG and hard fight for Mark. Once again, Get well Mark!

The ACC Journal previews Division "A" in the ACC Baseball tournament that includes our Eagles. He explains that going winless could and would most likely kill BC's chance at an at large NCAA tournament bid.

Four Eagles were named to the All-ACC teams yesterday. Tony Sanchez was the lone Eagle on the All-ACC First team, while Robbie Anston, Mike Belfiore and Mickey Wiswall were on the Second team. The Eagles will start play in the ACC baseball tournament on Wednesday at 4:00 vs. Florida State.

Check out this great Herzlich interview with ESPN a few days ago!

LETS GO EAGLES TOMORROW! BEAT THE SEMINOLES!

Busy Weekend with the family

2009-05-18T13:02:00.003-04:00

I know all of you aren't Boston sports fans, just BC sports fans but I am going to go on this little rant any way. What a tough, tough week/weekend to be a Boston sports fan.

Well start on Thursday, first early in the afternoon we find out that BC star linebacker has Cancer. Then we go on to the Red Sox game in the afternoon. The Red Sox get up early but go on to blow the game to the Angels. Next the Celtics game 6 was on, up 3-2 in the series and having a chance to close out the series. They played terrible and lost handily. The last game of the day was the Boston Bruins game 7. They also played like crap but they forced overtime. Then Scott freakin' Walker the villian scored the winning goal to ruined us Boston sports fans day.

Friday wasn't bad because on the Red Sox won but they were the only team on. But Saturday was another brutal day. The Red Sox were up 4-0 early and blew the lead allowing the Mariners to come back and win.

Sunday was garbage aswell. The Red Sox lost on a last inning error where again. Then the Lakers went on to win their game 7 where the Celtics go blown out again.

Ugly sports weekend for the Boston Sports fan BUT I myself had a great weekend with my Brother's college graduation and his graduation party.

Eagle Links: 5/15

2009-05-15T17:12:00.003-04:00

Herzlich is trying his best to make this deadly and horrible news and turn this into an good thing (somehow). He is doing his best to be an inspiration to others. Go Mark! You know you have everyone in the US on your side!

There has been an outpouring of support for Mark. Some at Maize n Brew, The Smoking Musket, Gobbler Country, CollegeGameBalls, TechSuperfans! and more! Just search the internet for Mark Herzlich and you will see.

The Boston College Eagles baseball team is still fighting for an NCAA birth but they are no longer fighting for an ACC tournament birth. They beat the #4 North Carolina Tar Heels yesterday, 3-1 to clinch their first ever ACC tourny bid. However, today they are going to lose after JB MacDonald was able to follow it up giving up 10 runs on 12 hits today.

BC Sailing continues to dominate the college circut, earning their second consectuative conference title.

Mark Herzlich has cancer

2009-05-14T15:15:00.003-04:00

I know I'm a little late to break the news but I would really like to express my deepest and sincerest sympathies to Mark. I mean College is supposed to be the time of your life especially when you are about to be heading into your senior season of football and then you get this news. How horrible, it almost brings me a tears. NO ONE and I mean NO ONE should EVER have to deal with this horrible disease of MANY forms, but especially young people just entering into one of the greatest times of their live. My prayers and I know everyone else in the BC communities prayers are with Mark and his family.

Don't worry about football at all. A disease like this puts things into perspective and just goes to show how unimportant football really is.

GET WELL SOON MARK! Sack this thing, like you do with opposing QBs.

Eagle Links: 5/13

2009-05-13T15:01:00.003-04:00

There was one cool new rule change, that occured this week at the ACC meetings. Now away teams in ACC contests no longer have to wear their away jersey's anymore, as long as both teams sign off on it PRIOR to the game. Both teams can wear their light colored jerseys or both can wear their dark colored jerseys. I love this rule and think it is cool to see each teams colored jerseys more often!

HD grades the coaches in the ACC using recruiting stars and discriptions. Spaz was rated as a three star "player".

The Bleacher Report put together a great article on coach Spaz and his tenure here on the Boston College staff and the impact he has made while being here.

Another great article from the Bleacher Report about Joe Boisture coming to BC and looking to be the next Matt Ryan.

Speaking of Matt Ryan, this one writer believes that there is a very strong possibility that he can win the MVP award this 2009-10 NFL football season.

There was a nice breakdown in the Orlando Sentinal about the BC Eagles after the spring from last week.

The move to the ACC

2009-05-12T11:42:00.003-04:00

In response to the link I posted earlier about the West Virginian writer saying that the BC move to the ACC hasn't worked, I am going to list the pros and cons of being in the ACC vs. the Big East.

The first few years of being in the ACC have been very good to the Eagles there have been much more pros then cons. Here they are:
Pros:

More Revenue
Better competition
Better bowls (although we may never get selected to them)
More and Better Recruits (although our former coach didn't help this last year)
Improvement in our sports outside of Football and Basketball
Better TV contract
Better places to watch BC play an away game
More National Exposure

Cons:

A lot of Travel
Bowls prefer lesser teams because of the amount of travel we have to do.

Then there is the Big East. I am going to give some hypothetical cons towards being in the New Big East.
Pros:

Less Travel
More Natural Rivals
Play good old basketball Rivals such as St. Johns, Georgetown, Villanova and Providence
Being at the top of the conference year in and year out.

Cons:

Playing UConn
Less money in our pockets
Weaker competition in Football
WAY to many teams in Basketball
Lesser Bowls
Less appeal to new recruits
No way BC gets the money they have from the ACC to do their current expansion project.

So in review, there isn't much that makes the Big East more appealing to Boston College than the ACC. The move to the ACC has been a HUGE success for the Eagles thus far and BC will not be switching conferences again any time soon. No matter how hard the members of the Big East was them too.

Eagle Links: 5/12

2009-05-12T11:06:00.006-04:00

Kevin Challenger got some former BC Eagles to help him run a local football camp in Canada. Good to see that Challenger is doing good things with his life after BC.

EagleAction.com has a nice little article called the Eagle Draft where they picked the top 15 most important players on the BC football team.

This West Virginian writer thinks the BC move to the ACC hasn't worked and that BC should move back to the Big East. Boy is he wrong.

One EagleAction reader BCMike, the creator of the Spaz Mobile has decided to put together another nice little photoshop.
Boy would that be nice, our own little bowl that we could go to and watch without having to pay a thousand bucks just to get there! Nice work BCMike!

Eagle Links: 5/10

2009-05-10T21:28:00.003-04:00

Sorry its so late but I was out all day so here we go.

The Globe has a nice little interview with from BC Eagle Hockey Star Patrick Eaves, currently playing in the playoffs with the Carolina Hurricanes.

This Michigan paper has an interesting tidbit about Joe Boisture, who is going to be playing in the Army All-American game next fall.

Mike Belfiore's walk off grand slam gave the Eagles the win over Le Moyne College this afternoon. The Eagles are still in contention for a spot in the NCAA Baseball tournament.

Mark Herzlich gets some high national praise. USA Today lists him as the #4 Senior prospect in the nation. Looks like it was a good idea for Herzy to stay in school!

Thats about it for today! Hopefully there will be some more BC news tomorrow!

Geoff McDermott to BC??

2009-05-08T18:06:00.004-04:00

Due to the lack of news around BC today, I am not going to do the Eagle Links today. The only news around BC involves a former basketball player wanting to play football.

If the name Geoff McDermott is not familiar to you, it may just become very familiar to you. Geoff McDermott is a former Providence College basketball player who just finished up his 4th and final year of basketball eligibility. In his 4 year career at Providence, Geoff was one of their best and was their most consistant each year and he ended up with over 1,000 points and over 1,000 rebounds at PC. He is a ridiculous athlete, at 6'8", 235 pounds he had the ability to play both gaurd and forward at Providence. He has great versitility which will also help his chance on making the BC football team, IF indeed he wants to transfer here.

Now the issue if he decides he wants to try to play football again is what position is he going to play. It is no secret that QB is a need here at BC AND Geoff McDermott was one of the better QBs in the nation while in high school. However, many think that there is no why he could memorize the offsense and take a run at playing QB in the short time he would have to prepare, especially when all the QBs on the BC roster already have a HUGE head start. Therefore, that leads us to a few different positions. With McDermott's size and versitility many feel he has the ability to play TE, DE or LB and I tend to agree. Tight End would be a good spot for a guy with his size and speed however BC is stacked at the Tight End position right now and it would tough for McDermott to earn some playing time there. Linebacker is another great possibility for McDermott as he is the same size at Mark Herzlich but even taller. He combination of speed and size would be a perfect replacement for the injured Mike McLaughlin. But, I feel that the defensive end position would be the best place for him to play at BC. As I have stated many times already his great size and speed would make a perfect pass rusher and BC could really use some help at the defensive end position.

Lets hope we can see Geoff playing with the Eagles come this summer!

Twitter the new trend

2009-05-08T13:13:00.004-04:00

Just like atleagle joined Twitter yesterday, I have decided to follow suit and join up as well. Almost every blog I read has a twitter, so I felt like it just had to be done. You can find me @totheights and I hope this will help me build my community around here!

Eagle Links: 5/7

2009-05-07T18:37:00.003-04:00

The biggest news of the day comes from the zoning board in Brighton. BC's plans for expansion were finally approved after heavy complaining (more like whining). This should help the baseball and softball teams as they are scheduled to get bigger and better facilities.

No ACC baseball at Fenway. Commissioner Swafford says its for economic reasons. Its a good think he doesn't give a crap about the economic situation us here in Boston are feeling as well. Looks like we will be labeled a "non-traveller" indefinitely. It would be nice to actually feel like we are wanted in the ACC, with the amount our teams have done for the conference.

Norm Reid (I have never heard of him before), the man who overseas the bubble here at BC doesn't seem to worried about ours after the Dallas Cowboy's one collapsed. According to ESPN, "[Reid] doesn't think BC will make any drastic changes when raising the facility again in the winter"

Heather Dinich of ESPN, gives us her spring wrap-up for the Eagles. Also, a little on the shocking side, James McCluskey has a torn achillies. Which is something I did not know, as you could tell from my position previews.

Rivals.com has BC baseball as a 3 seed in the Gainsville regional. Along with Florida, Bethune-Cookman (who we have beat) and Coastal Carolina. I for one am just hoping BC makes the baseball NCAAs.

2010 Football Position Previews: Special Teams

2009-05-06T10:09:00.003-04:00

This is the third and final part of my 3 part, "wicked early" break down of the Boston College football team in 2010. I am going to continue this 3 part series by doing the special teams of the football team, giving my own personal views on each player!

Kicker Position

Steve Aponavicius: Sid-vicious is BACK! He looks to be a big part of the offense this year because with an inexperienced QB, BC will look to settle for field goals in order to get points on the board. Aponavicius has been solid this spring making most of the kicks he has been asked to make.

Nate Freese: Has yet to be on campus because he is still a high school Senior but he will look to earn a chance to kick for the Eagles this summer. With such a shaky kicking game, if he is able to be somewhat consistant he may just earn himself that playing time. Also with Bennett leaving school, he may have an opportunity to take over the kickoff role.

Prediction: Aponavicius kicks field goals and does kickoffs.

Punter Position

Ryan Quigley: Quigley came in last year as a freshman and struggled at times, but for the most part he was a solid punter for the Eagles last year. Most punters tend to get better as the get more experience and strength so we can hope for that out of Quigley next year in his sophomore season.

Gerald Levano: Levano also came in last year as a freshman, but he was redshirted so hee didn't see much playing time. This year he will be the backup punter and if Quigley faulters at any point in the season, I am sure Levano will be ready to step in am get some playing time for the Eagles.

Prediction: Quigley is our punter.

Kick/Punt Returner Position

Jeff Smith: As all avid BC fans know from 2006 that Jeff Smith knows how to return kicks and definitely knows how to get into the endzone. If Smith is able to stay healthy and willing to be hit, he will have a very good year and will be out kick returner.

Rich Gunnell: Gunnell may not be the fastest or the most agile person on the team but he is the best at catching the ball and running it. Which makes him a perfect candidate for the Punter Returning position. He returned a punt against Virginia Tech last year and I think he we can count on another one this year.

Montel Harris: Montel is a good combination of speed and power which makes him a very good candidate to return kicks. Last year he was one of the Eagles leading return men and this year he hopes to do more of the same.

Clyde Lee: The breakout player of the Spring has added speed and size to his alreay quick frame which definitely makes him a good candidate as well. Lee has had the praise of all of his teammates this spring and looks to transition that onto the field this year.

Josh Haden: Haden was injured last year so he wasn't able to show of his ability to run and run fast in the open field, much last year. BC needs to do everything in their power to get him the ball in the open field and using him as a kick returner would be perfect.

Prediction: Smith is the main Kickoff Return man, Gunnell is the main Punt Return man while all of the others get their chances as well.

Thank you for joining me and I hope you liked my previews!

Eagle Links

2009-05-05T21:18:00.001-04:00

My friends Jeff and Brian over at BC Interruption have come up with a new BC recruiting tool (with help from a reader) after all the news about Rutgers' Helicopter and Auburn's Stretch Hummer Limo. I personally think the Spaz Mobile (as I like to call it) is the best of the three!

Good B.J. Raji article from a few days ago in the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel.

Former Boston College Football player Vinnie Ciurciu comes back to area as the 6 year NFL vet signs with the Patriots.

Nice little Q&A posted on the globe site with Ron Brace at Pats rookie camp.

2010 Football Position Previews: Defense

2009-05-05T12:21:00.003-04:00

This is the second of my 3 part "wicked early" break down of the Boston College football team in 2010. I am going to continue this 3 part series by doing the defensive side of the football, giving my own personal views on each player!

Defensive Tackle Position

Damik Scafe: Coming into Spring Ball Damik had some huge and I mean REALLY huge shoes to fill as he was the favorite to start at defensive tackle in place of B.J. Raji and Ron Brance. Well let me tell you he stepped up his game big time this spring. He dominated the strength of the offense, the Offensive Line and has gotten bigger and stronger from last year to this year. There will still be some drop off with the loss of Raji and Brace, but it will be much smaller than what most of us thought because of Scafe's play.

Kaleb Ramsey: Kaleb has been working with Scafe all spring and he been player really well for himself. Scafe explains, "He's playing next to me at defensive tackle and he's doing a great job. We work well together and talk a lot, and we have a great chemistry going right now." If Ramsey and Scafe can build some what of a similar relationship to the one Raji and Brace had, BC may not be in as bad of a spot as most people think.

Bryan Murray: Murray worked with the 2nd unit for the spring and he struggled to get going at first but progressed all spring and culminated with a good spring game. He definitely has the size at 6'2" and 292 pounds to be a very good DT but he is still young and inexperienced so a year as the third DT in there should do him some good.

Dillon Quinn: Is still a high school senior right now but he was the best recruit of the BC 2009 class. We have all heard about his strength and size therefore come this summer he should be a very good backup who might even challenge for some playing time.

Prediction: Scafe and Ramsey are the starters with Murray getting plenty of playing time.

Defensive End Position

Alex Albright: Alex Albright has been fantastic for the past two years when he was on the field, but that was his biggest problem. He has had back to back season ending injuries and it has now become a big problem for him. If he can stay healthy he will definitely be the teams best end for the Eagles but we just got to hope he can stay healthy.

Jim Ramella: Ramella filled in last year for Albright went down and he will be a big part of the defense again. He will be asked to not only pass rush this year but also help the tackles inside at stopping the run. Ramella has been a steadying force on the BC defense the past 3 years and hopes to continue that in his senior season.

Austin Giles: Austin Giles is another player like Jim Ramella, who has when asked, stepped up and filled in for injured players and has done a faboulous job. He is one of the better tacklers on the defense which helps him stop the run and can get to quarterback. He will be a big part of this defense next year.

Max Holloway: Another one of the young guys, trying to earn themselves some playing time on the 2010 BC team. He progressed well this spring and finished up strong with a nice sack in the Spring Game. Holloway is probably the backup at one of the end spots right now.

Prediction: Albright and Giles get the starting spots while Ramella plays just as much as them and Holloway is ready to step in if injuries happen.

Linebacker Position

Mark Herzlich: What can you say about this man? He is a man among kids. He is already on the Lott Trophy watch list and is expected to be a top 20 pick in the 2010 NFL draft. He was the ACC Defensive Player of the Year last year and will be the best player on the BC team this year. Expect bigger and better things this year, if that is even possible.

Mike McLaughlin: He was the second leading tackler on the defense last year behind Herzlich but might not see a minute of playing time next year. He injured his Achilles during the winter and his recovery time line in a mystery to everyone, we will just have to wait and see.

Will Thompson: Well McLaughlin may be out and the Eagles have lost Robert Francois and Brian Toal, but Will Thompson played awesome during the spring with the second most tackles behind Mark Herzlich. Thompson looks to fill the holes left by Francois and McLaughlin.

With the likelyhood of McLaughlin missing the 2010 season the Eagles will be looking for a 3rd starting linebacker and it is likely a 4 man cometition. All of these guys have shown flashes of brilliance during the spring and it will be fun to watch this battle unfold this summer. The cadidates are:
Dan Williams: The biggest of the 4 but he has all the instincts you want in a starting linebacker.
Nick Clancy: The quickest of all of these players and he has plenty of size to go with that speed. Size and Speed is always a good combo in a Linebacker.
Mike Morrissey: Morrissey is the smallest of these guys but he is probably the hardest hitter of them all.
Alexander DiSanzo: DiSanzo is the best tackler of the bunch and he always seems to be in the right spot at the right time.

Prediction: Herzlich and Williams are starters, Nick Clancy wins the 3rd spot but Williams, Morrissey and DiSanzo will be used often.

Safety Position

Wes Davis: Davis is a good combination defensive back. He can cover wide receivers in open field while stopping the run if needed. He had a good spring and he receiverd the Jay McGillis Memorial Scholarship because he was such a good player and student.

Marty Bowman: Has very good speed and is a good run stopper he has the ability to play both safety positions and play cornerback if need be. He is a versitile player who has the right size to be a very good safety.

Okechukwu Okoroha: Okechukwu had a great spring and is a probably more of a corner back than a safety but the CB position is stacked right now. He is looking to get on the field in anyway possible and he definitely has the skill to switch over to the free safety spot and succeed.

Stephen Atkinson: Atkinson didn't stand out this spring, but he is still probably third on the depth chart at the safety position. One thing that he has against him is he is a bit undersized for the safety position. He may add size over the summer but can still be a viable option for the Eagles.

Prediction: Davis starts at the Strong Safety position, Bowman starts are the Free Safety position.

Cornerback Position

DeLeon Gause: He dominated this spring even after switching sides of the field. The quarterbacks didn't just struggle cause of inexperience it was because the cornerbacks like Gause were playing awesome. He got injured last year and wasn't 100% but expect him to be ready next year and expect him to be one of the better defenders.

Roderick Rollins: Rollins is looking to come into this year and help fill the loss of Kevin Akins on defense. Rollins is a very good cover corner who can hit with the best of them. Expect him to challenege for the second starting corner spot.

Donnie Fletcher: Was another one of those guys who had a great spring and he finished it up spectactular with a Spring Game. He had eight tackles and 2two pass breakups. Expect him to challenge with Rollins for the second starting corner spot.

Issac Johnson: Issac Johnson played as a true freshman last year but he didn't start. He is looking to come into next year with a starting role but with the brillaint play of Gause, Rollins and Fletcher it will be hard for him start. He should see plenty of time on the field however.

Prediction: Gause and Fletcher get the starting spots with Johnson and Rollins seeing the field often.

The Eagles defense looks to be a stregth for them again this year as they have a ton of talent and are stacked at the Linebacker and Defensive back positions.(which is a surprise as the defensive back position was considered a weakness last year). Herzlich, Albirght and Guase look to be the best players on the defense. Also, I expect some of the incoming freshmen to also be in the mix at some positions.

Tomorrow I will finish up this series with a special teams preview!

Toal gets "cut"

2009-05-05T12:00:00.002-04:00

Brian Toal was given a tryout by the New York Jets of the NFL and supposedly he had a very good mini-camp. However, the Jets did not sign him and give him a chance to earn a spot on the team at training camp.

One New Jersey writer says "Interestingly, the Jets didn't sign linebacker Brian Toal, the New Jersey native and former Boston College star. It's believed the club has concerns about his size (6-foot, 238 pounds), attitude, and injury history."

Size, sure he is not even close to the size of a prototypical Linebacker in the NFL. Injury history, sure he has missed 2 whole years with 2 different injuries while at BC. Attitude? Now there is no way Toal has an attitude problem. He is one of the nicest persons I have ever met in my life and he would do anything to play the game of football. He loves the game and I don't see where this is coming from. It is either a flat out lie or some false speculation.

Hopefully Toal gets a shot at someone else's training camp because he surely deserves one.

2010 Football Position Previews: Offense

2009-05-04T16:23:00.007-04:00

This is the first of my 3 part "wicked early" break down of the Boston College football team in 2010. I will start off this 3 part series by doing the offensive side of the football, giving my own personal views on each player!

Quarterback Position

Dominique Davis: Davis came into spring camp in the lead for the starting QB position but did not do anything this spring to strengthen that lead. However, even after a mediocre spring, he finished strong in the spring game going 20-of-40 for 145 yards with one interception. Davis is still the leader for the starting spot in 2010 because of the experience he got in 2009 but he is going to need to pick up his play in order to hold that lead.

Justin Tuggle: Tuggle came into spring camp, coming off of a full season of practice after being redshirted last year. After, Davis' struggles to end the year last year, many BC fans tabbed him as the savior for this BC offense. But he didn't show much of that in spring practice. He is very raw and still very young so he may emerge in the summer, who knows. He went a very paltry 2-of-7 for eight yards with no TDs or no INTs in the spring game to end his bad spring.

Codi Boek: Came into camp much differently then Davis and Tuggle, as he was just looking to find some playing time at whichever position he could. Whether it be Tight End, Running Back or Quarterback and you could tell by his commitment that he just loved playing the game of football. But, boy did he surprise us. He came in and was the best of the 3 QB for most if not all of the spring practices. He didn't finish up very good going 2-for-10 for 14 yards in the Spring Game, but Boek is one to watch out for come Summer time!

Prediction: Dominique Davis will be the starter

Running Back Positon

Montel Harris: He established himself as one of the best running backs in the ACC last year as a freshman and did nothing to hurt himself this spring. He was the same old Montel and just ran with power and speed as usual. Harris with definitely be a key cog in Boston College new run first offense next year.

Josh Haden: Was the other freshman running back last year for the Eagles. He was the running back who could break away in open field due to his tremedous speed and could catch the passes out of the backfield. But his freshmen season was hampered by injuries and he came back this spring still trying to get to 100% so he wasn't tested that much this spring. But he, like Harris, with be a key to the running game again next year.

Jeff Smith: Kind of like Boek at the Quarterback position, was the surprise of the spring at the runningback position. He has breakaway speed and we all knew that from his kick returning ability but we have never really seen him as a runningback. But he shined, showed he could hit the corner on the outside and break-away, he could run between the tackles and that he could read defenses. He was the best offensive player in the spring game with 40 years on 16 carries.

Prediction: Montel Harris will start but with BC's new run first, second and third approach, Haden and Smith will see plenty of time on the field.

Fullback Position

James McCluskey: McCluskey has been fantastic as this position the last 2 years, blocking, running and getting the short yardage when we need it. He suffered a season ending injury last year and hasn't practiced in the spring but he looks to be the only person vying for the job right now. There will probably be some seldom used Running Back, Linebacker or Tight End that will fill in the backup role for McCluskey next year.

Prediction: McCluskey takes the starting role and with the impressive Springs by Chris Pantale and Jordan McMichael at the Tight End position, Lars Anderson is moved here as the backup.

Wide Receiver Position

Rich Gunnell: Was arguable the best reciever for the Eagles last year and will be back next year to lead the wide receiving core next year. He will need to step up his game big time as he will have a young and inexperience Quarterback throwing to him next year.

Billy Flutie: Looks to have improved him game going into this year and hopes to earn to more playing time at the wide receiver positon. He has the size and strength to be a good possession receiver who can work the middle of the field and played very well during the spring. He looks to be one of the many wide receivers to see the field next year for the Eagles.

Clyde Lee: Clyde was another one of the surprises of the spring as he showed up bigger and fast then he was last year (Redshirt). He is someone who can burn down the field and catch anything. He is someone almost every team in the nation would love to have. He will definitely see plently of playing time next year with both the offense and the special teams next year.

Justin Jarvis: Jarvis did a commendable job as the slot receiver at times last year. He made plenty of clutch catchs for us and I was very thankful we have him. He will be back this year and I think he is prone to have his best year ever with much more playing time. Watch out for Jarvis this year as he could be a go to guy for our QBs.

Colin Larmond: Larmond is a bigger Clyde Lee and he may even be faster than him too. Larmond showed some flashes of what he could do last year after we were pounded by injuries at the WR position. He has the potential to be a star reciever and this year could be his break out year.

Other Potential Sleepers: Ifeanyi Momah, Clarence Megwa and Ryan Lindsey

Prediction: Gunnell, Lee and Flutie will be the starters with almost all other receivers seeing plenty of time on the field.

Tight End Position

Chris Pantale: Came into spring as another Redshirt Freshman but he was probably the most impressive player at camp and definitely the best Tight End there. He has shown he can run good routes, catch the ball and use his agility to his advantage. He finished off his fantastic spring with five catches for 45 yards in the Spring game and looks to carry that momentum into next year.

Jordon McMichael: Was another Tight End who impressed this spring. The Junior has begun to use his size to his advantage and at 6'5", 262 lbs, it can be a very big advantage for him. He is someone who can block and who is big enough to get open and be a perfect target for our inexperienced QBs.

Lars Anderson: Lars wasn't terrible this spring but he didn't really show much improvement from last year. He has decent size and can catch the ball for the most part, even though he did have a huge drop last year. Like I said earlier, with the great performances by the other two Tight Ends, expect to see some playing time at FB for Lars.

Predictions: Chris Pantale is the starting Tight End as he is the better receiver and McMichael is brought in for most blocking plays. Lars Anderson gets moved to FB.

Guard Position

Thomas Claiborne: Claiborne stepped in last year as a sophomore and played remarkably well. Some would even say he was the second best player on the Offensive Line last year. He is a big body who has a really big mean streak and can just drive people off the ball at will. He is also versatile and can play Center, like he did at points last year, or Tackle if need be.

Nick Rossi: Has some big shoes to fill as he is slated to take over the Guard spot that opened up from Clif Ramsey's graduation. Unfortunately he did not play very well during the spring getting beat over and over again by Damik Scaife and Jim Ramella as the defense dominated most of spring ball.

Nick Halloran: Was another one of those redshirt freshman last year who is looking to grab some playing time next year on the offensive line. He didn't really show much this spring though but I am sure he will be ready is Nick Rossi faulters at any time next year.

Prediction: Claiborne and Rossi get the starting guard spots. With Halloran ready to pounce if someone gets hurt or struggles.

Tackle Position

Anthony Castonzo: The big, tall and very good tackle will be back for his 3rd season at BC and he just keeps getting better. He was the best Offensive Lineman this spring and he seems to have taking responsibility of leading more on the offensive side of the ball. Look for Castonzo to be back blocking the blind side for whoever wins the QB position.

Rich Lapham: Rich Lapham had some big shoes to fill last year, taking over for Josh Beekman and he did a good job. But this year he is going to need to be even better with an inexperienced QB and a whole new offense.

Mike Goodman: Was a highly rated Offensive Lineman coming out of high school and is coming back this year with a goal to earn some playing time. He is probably the guy in line to take over if any injuries or struggles happen at the tackle position.

Emmett Cleary: Redshirt last year and is coming back this year as another young guy trying to earn some playing time. He should be in the mix if injuries happen on the O-Line.

Prediction: Castonzo and Lapham get the start but watch out for Goodman as he should be very good.

Center Postion

Matt Tennant: Was the stabilizer on the offensive line last year and will be the same thing this year as the only senior in the mix. He was throughly missed when he had to miss a play here or there due to injuries or other reasons. Tennant is going to be back and should be in the mix for ACC 1st team next year!

Mark Spinney: Another young guy trying to earn some playing time. He probably won't take over if Tennant gets hurt as Claiborne will probably be moved to Center but he should be good in the near future.

Prediction: This is an easy one. Tennant starts and hopefully gets all the playing time here and avoids injury.

The offense looks to be very young this year but they have a lot of talent around the QB position which makes it much easier to break in a new Quarterback. The Offensive Lines and Running Back positions are the biggest strengths of this offense and should continue to be throughout the year. If one of the 3 QBs can step up and play well, BC could be very dangerous on the offensive side of the ball.

Tomorrow, I will be taking a look at the defensive side of the ball.

Chris Crane latches on!

2009-05-04T16:00:00.003-04:00

Albeit with a team that is set at the QB position for years, Chris Crane is going to get a chance in the NFL. He has signed with the Indianapolis Colts this afternoon!

Congratulations Chris!! Best of luck to you in the future! You definitely have the size to be the next Matt Cassel.

Now lets hope Clif Ramsey gets a shot somewhere.

BC Sports Rundown

2009-05-04T11:17:00.004-04:00

Baseball played a 3 game series with Miami (FL) this week and struggled until yesterday, where Pat Dean pitched a gem for the Eagles. The Eagles lost the first two games of the series until Dean's brilliant preformance, where the Eagles won 13-3. Dean threw 7.0 innings of 4 hit, shutout baseball and Barry Butera and Mark Belfiore led the offense again. The Eagles are now 29-19 overall and 12-13 in the ACC. They are firmly in the ACC tournament right now in the 8th slot, a half game behind Duke and two and a half games in front of Georgia Tech. The Eagles play 2 versus Lemoyne this weekend at Shea Field, then UConn again on Tuesday.

On to the NFL Draft, only two Eagles got drafted last weekend, B.J. Raji (9th to the Packers) and Ron Brace (41st to the Patriots).

Pats coach Bill Belichick had some good words about the BC defense. He said, “BC has a good system defensively,” he continued on to say “It’s a big transition to the NFL, that goes without saying. But in relative terms, (Brace has) probably had as good a preparation for it as anybody else had in college football.” Send that to all of BC's recruits!

Although BC didn't get many draft picks, many of their players have latched on with NFL teams (either as signings or with tryouts):
Robert Francois signed with the Vikings
Brandon Robinson signed with the Eagles (the NFL kind)
Kevin Akins and Brian Toal (two supposed tweeners) have gotten tryouts with the Jets
Ryan Purvis signed with the Buccaneers and is reunited with Coach Jags

Hopefully Chris Crane and Clif Ramsey can latch on somewhere and get a fair shot!

Some other big news for BC football this weekend was BC got another recruit to nab their third of the year already. Please welcome OL Seth Betancourt to the 2010 Eagles! Betacourt joins QB Joe Boisture and LB Kevin Pierre-Louis on the commit list!

Last but not least the Men's Basketball team is going to play in the Paradise Jam down in the U.S. Virgin Islands to start the year next year! Another year, another preseason tournament for BC!

Ron Brace to....

2009-04-25T20:45:00.002-04:00

THE NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS!!!

I LOVE IT. Ron Stays home and comes to my favorite team.

I was sitting in my dorm room yelling and cheering.

Congrats Ron! You and B.J. Putting BC on the map again!

Go Eagles!

B.J. Raji to....

2009-04-25T17:09:00.003-04:00

...the Green Bay Packers!

Congrats B.J.!!!!

Another BC top 10 pick!

Big Day for The Eagles

2009-04-24T23:59:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow, April 25th, 2009 is a big day for the Boston College Eagles football team.

First of all it is the Jay McGillis Spring game where the boys who have been practicing and scrimmaging hard this Spring get to show off and in some cases fight for a starting spot on the roster next August. For those of you who are unable to attend, Boston College is broadcasting the game on their website FREE of charge. (I know people will jump at this because who doesn't like free stuff)

Next the NFL Draft. BC has numerous players entered into the draft, lead by the Highly Touted prospect B.J. Raji. Pete King says he is going 6th to the Bengals. If Raji indeed goes top 5 or 6 it will be huge for BC. Producing 2 top talents in 2 years? That would be a huge and I mean HUGE recruiting booster, meaning there could be even more top talent coming from BC in the future.

Here are a few of the other BC players that could get drafted:
Ron Brace - DT (Likely 2nd Round)
Clif Ramsey - G (Likely 4th or 5th Round)
Brian Toal - LB (Likely 7th Round)
Chris Crane - QB (Likely Undrafted)
Ryan Purvis - TE (Likely Undrafted)
Kevin Akins - CB (Likely Undrafted)
Robert Francois - LB (Likely Undrafted)

Not the biggest or best BC draft class but there are some solid prospects and I expect everyone of them to get tryouts or drafted with teams because they are solid.

Oh and on other BC Football news. BC vs. Penn State?? Maybe.

Back from London

2009-04-24T23:57:00.001-04:00

Just finished up doing a half-Semester in London, England and let me tell you...IT WAS AWESOME. I will be posting much more now that school is basically done and I am actually in the US.

I'm back

2009-04-03T00:00:00.003-04:00

Sorry for the lack of posts folks, I have been very, very busy with school and work.

Lets update the baseball teams results:
After a huge win vs. Clemson in the first game of the series, they ended up dropping both games of the double header. In the first game they lost they lost 7-6 in a really close one and Clemson came back from behind to win 5-3.

This week the Eagles got back to their winning ways. They beat Northeastern on Tuesday at home 11-2 behind the 6 scoreless innings on the mound from Pat Dean. Mike Belfiore continued his remarkable year at the plate with a solo homerun. The Eagles then traveled down to Storrs, Connecticut to face the Huskies from UConn. The Eagles were down 4-3 entering the 9th and they came back behind the bat of Junior Tony Sanchez went 3-for-4 with two homers and three RBI for the Eagles, as they pulled off a 5-4 victory.

The Eagles host the NC State Wolfpack for three day series starting tomorrow.

In other news B.J. Raji might be in big trouble. It is being reported that he failed a drug test at the combine. They are also saying that he tested positive for marijuana at BC too. I have never heard that but this will hurt him ginormously and cost him millions of dollars. Hopefully he slips to the Patriots though!

In other news the BC Men's Tennis team is ranked for the first time ever. Congrats to them.

The Women's basketball made a great run to the Final Four of the WNIT. Unfortunately, they lost to South Florida in very good game, that ended up looking more lopsided then it really was.

With Spring Ball underway there is a 3 way competition going for the starting job. However Spaz isn't very impressed. He says that they all need "practice." Well it is good that there is a lot of time until the season starts but it is never good when the QBs are struggling.

Baseball Results and Other Links

2009-03-26T11:13:00.003-04:00

The Eagles baseball team started that week off the right way with a great performance at Hartford. BC scored 4 runs in the top of the 9th to grab the 8-4 victory lead by the brilliant performance on the mound from Pat Dean (7.0 innings, 1 ER). The Eagles bats were also great, lead by Mickey Wiswall who had 3 RBIs, Andrew Lawrence who had 2 RBIs and Mike Belfiore who had the game winning double in the ninth to give the Eagles the win.

BC Baseball then struggled at Holy Cross yesterday. Losing 8-2 to the Crusaders in an all around bad game. Mike Belfiore and Micky Wiswall did all they could at the plate, knocking in the Eagles only 2 runs but that wasn't enough. Taylor Lasko struggled in the start pitching on 2.2 innings, giving up 5 hits and 3 runs. Although the Eagles struggled Matt O'Brien was a brightspot out of the pen, pitching 2.0 scoreless innings.

Other Links:
The Women's Basketball team put away BU in their second round game in the WNIT on Monday. The Eagles won 68-53, lead by usual suspects Carolyn Swords and Stefanie Murphy. The go on to play St. John's in New York tonight in the 3rd round.

Nick Petricki's tenure is done at BC. He has signed with the San Jose Sharks' AHL team, the Worchester Sharks. Petrecki had a brilliant year as a freshmen at BC, being on the of backbone's to the national championship team but he didn't have a very good sophomore year. Petrecki played undisciplined and was very inconsistant.

The Men's Basketball team is looking to play a familiar foe. Villanova is a great program and would be a great addition to BC's non-conference schedule.

Heather Dinich of ESPN talks with Montel Harris about the BC offense. Some good stuff in their about the new offense the Tranquill is trying to implement at BC.

Baseball wins the rubber game

2009-03-23T19:07:00.003-04:00

The baseball team finished the weekend off well. They took the rubber game of the series with 5-2 to victory over Maryland. Sophomore Kevin Moran was the key to victory, after Mike Dennhardt struggled in the start pitching only 1 and 1/3 innings. Moran came in and pitched 4 and 2/3 scoreless innings of relief giving up on 4 hits in the process. Sophomore Micky Wiswall and Junior Barry Butera's performances at the dish also helped the Eagles pull out a much needed win. Wiswall went 2-for-3 with 2 RBI's and Butera went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in the sixth inning.

The Eagles improve their record to 13-6 overall and 4-3 in the ACC. The Eagles travel to Hartford to play on Tuesday and to Holy Cross on Wednesday. Then they host their first ACC series on Friday when Clemson travels to Shea Field.

Baseball this weekend

2009-03-21T20:13:00.003-04:00

The Baseball team was playing a three game series against Maryland this weekend and they started off very well. They beat Maryland in the first game of the series, 6-2. The bats of Sophomores Mike Hamlet and Barry Sudol were the keys on offense and Senior JB MacDonald shut down the Maryland bats.

In the middle game of the 3 game series this afternoon the Eagles played well enough to win but Maryland got a walk off single by Taylor Buran to take the second game of the series. Sophomore John Leonard got the start and picked very well, he ended up with a no-decision.

BC finished up the series with Maryland tomorrow at 1 pm at Maryland's Shipley Field.

Went from a huge day in BC sports to an awful day

2009-03-20T23:15:00.001-04:00

Both teams, Basketball and Hockey, lose.

I gotta sleep this one off. Tough night.

Hockey East Semifinals: Live Blog

2009-03-20T20:29:00.039-04:00

#6 Seed Boston College vs. #1 Seed Boston University

Introductions have begun.

National Anthem just finished being sung. Puck is about to drop.

BC 0, BU 0 - Game on

BC 0, BU 0 - Yip hitting from behind. 5 minute Power Play for BC.

BC 0, BU 0 - Power play was awful. BU kills it off.

BC 0 , BU 0 - BU PP, Ferriero for hitting from behind.

BC 0, BU 0 - BC kills off the Power play.

BC 0, BU 0 - BU PP, Orpik for interference.

BC 0, BU 0 - BC kills off the penalty. 5:00 minutes left in the 1st period.

BC 0, BU 0 - John Muse is playing awesome so far. 2:48 left.

BC 0, BU 0 - End of the 1st. Good first period up and down action with a lot of penalties. Shots BU 9, BC 7.

Keys to the second period:
1. Stay out of the Box:C took to many penatlies that period. BU has a great PP and BC can't keep giving them opportunities.
2. John Muse: Keep it up. Playing very good again.
3. Scoring the First Goal: Score the first goal and put the pressure on BC but even if BU scores first, they got to keep their poise and not panic.

BC 0, BU 0 - Flurry of action to start. Shots for both teams.

BC 0, BU 0 - No whistles until the 15 minute mark. Fun period thus far.

BC 0 , BU 0 - BU Power Play on a questionable interference on Orpik.

BC 0, BU 0 - BC kills it off with some great blocked shots. No shots on Goal for BU.

BC 0, BU 0 - Another AWFUL call. BU PP. 4th in a row. This is getting out of hand.

BC 0, BU 0 - Another nice kill. Muse is playing great. Bad icing though so they can't change the dead tired PKers.

BC 0, BU 0 - Up and down action. Still waiting for the first goal. 5:31 left in the 2nd.

BC 1, BU 0 - Smith bats in a rebound out of mid around. Called a goal on the ice and is currently under review.

BC 1, BU 0 - It Stands. Ben Smith from Brian Gibbins at 17:50 of the 2nd.

BC 1, BU 0 - BC finally gets a power play. With 1:30 left in the 2nd.

BC 1, BU 0 - End of second. Another great period by Muse but it was huge to get the goal.

Keys to the third period:
1. John Muse - has gotta keep doing what he is doing. He is playing real good.
2. Score - If we score again BC will put all the pressure on BU. (Plus you can't win if you don't score more than the other team)
3. Stay out of the box - Like I said after the first. BU is unreal on the PP and if we keep giving them PP opportunities they are going to score.

BC 1, BU 0 - Puck is about to drop in the 3rd. Lets go Eagles.

BC 1, BU 0 - BC PP. Shattenkirk rough.

BC 1, BU 0 - BU kills it. 16:34 left.

BC 1, BU 0 - Another BU penalty followed by the patented whining by Jack Parker.

BC 1, BU 0 - BU kills it.

BC 1, BU 0 - BC penalty. Interference.

BC 1, BU 0 - BC kills it. 10 minutes left.

BC 1, BU 1 - Damn. 1-1.

BU 2, BC 1 - Wow.

BU 3, BC 1 - John Muse decides to stop playing. 3 goals in 45 seconds on 3 shots.

BU 3, BC 2 - Gibbons cut the lead in half. BC looks desperate but I'm not sure it is going to be enough.

BU 3, BC 2 - Muse is pulled. One last chance.

BU 3, BC 2 - 6 seconds left, faceoff to the left of Millan.

BU 3, BC 2 - Just short. Tough, tough day.

Good night folks, really really tough night. I'll try my best to recap it tomorrow.

NCAA Round of 64: Live Blog

2009-03-20T19:29:00.027-04:00

Welcome to the Towers on the Heights live blog of the NCAA Round of 64 game between your Boston College Eagles and the Southern California Trojans.

BC 5, USC 5 - Rice makes his first 3.

USC 10, BC 7 - At the first TV timeout BC has been playing well but they gotta play better defense.

USC 12, BC 9 - Rice has started out awesome, 3-3 FG, 7 points but is getting no help.

USC 16, BC 13 - 2nd TV timeout. BC is rebounding well, but Southern has to do a better job on Taj Gibson. Rakim Sanders has picked up his second foul and is on the bench. Reggie Jackson has come in for him.

Aside: I got my second TV set up for the upcoming hockey game!

BC 18, USC 16 - After a slow start everyone is playing much better.

Aside2: UMass-Lowell ties is up. Game is going to OT, so our game won't start until later.

BC 23, USC 18 - BC is getting physical on the defensive end, Dunn is playing awesome. Raji is hitting shots which is great and Roche just drills a three!

BC 23, USC 18 - Third TV timeout. Nothing has change but Rice just got a nice jump ball on Hackett, USC had the arrow though. 7:22 to play in the 1st half.

USC 25, BC 23 - BC has gone cold from the field missing their last 4. Sanders, Southern and Trapani back in.

USC 27, BC 25 - Fourth and final TV timeout of the half. USC went on a 9-0 run but Raji makes two free throws to end that. BC is struggling on defense as USC is moving the ball well. 3:51 to play in the half.

USC 29, BC 27 - Raji is playing really, really well.

Aside3: UMass-Lowell beats Northeastern!

BC 32, USC 30 - Southern is playing much better in the lane. Challenging everything. Trapani makes 2 free throws.

BC 34, USC 30 - Halftime. BC finished the half awesome. Finishing on a 7-2 run.

Halftime Analysis: BC played pretty well overall in the half. They started off really hot hitting about 60% of their shots then cooled off a little and USC grabbed a seven point lead, behind the dominance of Taj Gibson. Southern played Gibson much better then Dunn therefore he is going to need to stay out of foul trouble and on the court to keep BC in it. Sanders got into foul trouble early as well, he picked up 2 quick ones and sat for the rest of the half but Corey Raji really stepped up and played his best half of the year. He was able to score inside and outside and play some nice defense. Rice has played a much better first half then his previous 5 or 6 games, he started off 3-3 with 7 points but then struggled after getting his normal rest with 3 TOs. But overall there is not much to complain about.

Keys to the 2nd half:
1. Stay out of Foul trouble: Sanders and Rice both have 2 fouls, so they need to stay out of foul trouble because BC needs them on the floor to win.
2. Defense on Gibson: Gibson was almost unstoppable in the first half and Southern and Dunn need to do a better job on him in the second half. He does have two fouls so our best bet may be getting him off the court with foul trouble.
3. Rebounding: If we can stay on the boards and keep USC from getting 2 chances BC has a great chance to win.

Second half to come to go along with the Hockey game!

BC 37, USC 30 - Rakim starts the half of well with a 3 pointer.

BC 37, USC 35 - USC responds with 5 quick points.

BC 39, USC 37 - Taj Gibson is a monster but he has 3 fouls. BC needs to attack him.

BC 42, USC 41 - Trapani hits a three but Southern doesn't play very smart and picks up 2 more fouls in like 14 seconds to get his 4th.

BC 44, USC 42 - BC is playing dumb out there. Taking terrible foul after terrible foul. Rice has 3, Sanders has 3, Southern has four.

USC 48, BC 44 - This team is playing awful. Taking stupid shots, taking stupid fouls, not playing defense. If they keep this up they are going to lose.

USC 52, BC 47 - BC can't do anything right, right now.

USC 56, BC 47 - Terrible, this team just stopped playing. Al Skinner is flat out getting out coached by Tim Floyd

USC 56, BC 47 - Southern does what needed to be done. Posts up Gibson and gets him to 4 fouls. BC needs to take advantage.

USC 62, BC 50 -USC can't miss, it is unreal.

USC 64, BC 51 - BC can't hit. USC can't miss. Al Skinner has been embarassed this game by Tim Floyd

USC 65, BC 53 - Its sad that Rice has disappeared with his career on the line. He had a great two years but has degressed in the past 2 years.

USC 72, BC 55 - Game. Sad performance in the second half but the team looks to be a very good team in the future. Al Skinner needs to find a better game plan whenever we play USC.

Join me in the Hockey Blog as we hope one team can stay alive in the Postseason.

Huge Day in BC Sports

2009-03-20T14:09:00.000-04:00

I am not sure if I can emphasize this enough, but I'll try: TODAY IS A HUGE DAY IN BC SPORTS. We have NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament action and we have Hockey East Semifinal action. I am going to preview both games for you.

I'll start with the Basketball Game first:
#7 Boston College (22-11) vs. #10 Southern California (21-12) - 7:20 PM EST.
Boston College has had 6 days off since they last played vs. Duke in the ACC tournament. BC came oh so close in that game, losing by only 1 with a last second jumper from Rakim Sanders bouncing of the front of the rim. BC is also going to be making the trip back to the NCAA tournament after a year hiatus. They were one of the big surprises on Selection Sunday as well, not because they got in but because they got such a high seed (7 seed). The Eagles must have been exstatic to get out of the 8/9 slot due to who they would play if they are able to get past the first round.

Now onto the game. They are going to be facing one of the hottest teams in the NCAA tournament in Southern Cal. The Trojans caught fire at the end of the year winning 5 in a row, including 3 in a row to win the Pac-10 Tournament. They are considered the best 10 seed in the tournament by some people however they did finish 5th in down Pac-10 this year. USC should not be under estimated because they do have a great team and do play some great defense. But they do struggle mightly on the road, having only won 3 games on the road all season with one of them being against Chatanooga and the other being against lowly Oregon. BC may just have another advantage against them as well. They are going to be playing in the Metrodome in Minneapolis and it is often said that your shot changes in a dome. Therefore, BC playing in the Georgia Dome last week in the ACC tourament will give them a huge advantage against USC who hasn't played in a dome all year.

USC has some very great players which is going to lead to some very great matchups in this game. I am going to give a little preview of a few of those in this game:

DeMar DeRozan (USC) vs. Rakim Sanders (BC)
DeMar DeRozan is one of the premire Freshmen around the country and he is also one of the most athletic players in the nation. Rakim Sanders is also one of the most versitile wings in the nation as he can post up in the paint or drill the open three pointer. This is going to be the most intreging matchup of the game as these two will probably going to be going head to head on both ends of the floor. Rakim Sanders is known to be one of the better and most aggressive defenders in the ACC while DeRozan has been a question mark all year. If Rakim Sanders can hit his shots early and get hot he can definitely get the better of this matchup but if not BC may be in trouble because DeRozan is very good on the offensive end.

Marcus Simmons (USC) vs. Tyrese Rice (BC)
Marcus Simmons is known to be USC's lockdown defender. He was able to shut down UCLA's best guard Darren Collison in the Pac-10 and has really come on in the second half of the year. While Tyrese Rice is considered one of the best Points Gaurds in the country as he can put up 40 points in any game. Rice has struggle for the past couple weeks as he has only been shooting around 35%. But he seems to always show up in big games and this is probably the biggest game of the year. If Rice can take Simmons off the dribble and get to the rim a lot, I like BC changes but if Simmons is able to force turnovers BC may just be in trouble.

Taj Gibson (USC) vs. Josh Southern (BC)
Taj Gibson is the Pac-10 defensive player of the year and he can block almost everything on the defensive end but he can also put the ball in the basket on the offensive end. Josh Southern has matured over the season and his post game on both ends of the floor has improved greatly. The key to this matchup is foul trouble, if one of the two is able to stay on the floor while the other is in foul trouble then that team will be in trouble. Both of these guys have had trouble stay on the floor all year so if either team wants to win, these two need to stay discipline and stay on the floor.

There you have it...If BC can win two of the three matchups I think they will win. My prediction for the game BC 75 USC 71.

Now onto the other important game of the night....
#6 Seeded Boston College (18-13-5) vs. #1 Seeded Boston University (29-6-4) - Appox. 8:00 PM EST.
The rivalry renews. This time in the Hockey East semifinals. If you looked at the BC hockey team after the third BC/BU game (where BC lost 5-2) you would have thought these teams won't meet in the postseason this year because BC was playing that bad. However, Jerry York has worked his magic again and somehow got BC to win 5 of their last 6 beating Northeastern once, Providence twice and sweeping New Hampshire in the Hockey East Quarterfinals last weekend. This team just seems to love the playoffs and they seem to just know how to win when they need to and they sure need to win this game. BC is playing for their NCAA tournament lives, they are currently in 17th in the PWR rankings (the rankings the NCAA uses to select the field) and can only have any shot at the making the field if they win tonight. BU has a #1 seed all but locked up but they still have something to play for. BC has knocked BU out of the playoffs many a times in the last decade and this is their chance to do the same and you better believe they will be ready to play and I'm sure Coach York will have his boys ready to play as well. There are several things I think BC needs to do in order to win this game and I am going to give them to you along with my prediction for the game.

TOTH's Keys to the Game:
1. John Muse - if BC wants to have any chance, John Muse has to continue to play the way he has been playing in the last few weeks. He shutout UNH last Saturday, a week after recieving the Hockey East defensive player of the week title. He needs to build off of that success in order for BC to win.
2. Defense - I am not going to sugar coat it, the defense has been terrible all year up until the last few weeks as well. They need to play more responsibly defensively, not turn the puck over in the defensive and neutral zones. BU has some great scorers and play makers like Colin Wilson and Matt Gilroy so BC needs to be extra careful around them. Petrecki needs to continue to be physical but he also needs to be smart and not get goaded into stupid penalties. If they play well, John Muse plays better as does the rest of the team.
3. Brock Bradford - BC needs to go up early and Brock Bradford is one of the best goal scorers in the country. If Bradford can give BC a lead early it is going to give them a huge confidence booster which could be the key to victory.

My Prediction: I think BC plays extremely well but I think they fall just short because of their weak backend....BU 3 BC 2 in 2OT. (I sure hope I am wrong though)

Here's to a great a great day for BC sports and I sure hope both teams can pull out the victories leading to an even better night!

GO BC!

Welcome to the Blog!

2009-03-20T14:05:00.000-04:00

Hello, my name is Nick. I am currently a Freshman at Boston College and am a HUGE BC sports. I follow all sports from Tennis to Volleyball to Baseball to Football. I am starting this blog to try to keep everyone informed of what is going on with BC sports. I will do my best to recap events, share pictures, share stories and more.

If you guys have any comments, suggestions, questions or anything email me at the link on the right hand side.

-Nick