bosoxs45's Blog

On occasion I interact with parents of BC athletes. One of my first recommendations is “don’t read the BC message boards.” I base this advice on history and the nature of the forum. Mostly unmonitored and relatively anonymous posters pick apart all aspects of the players and coaches lives with little worry about fact, slander or the consequences of their posts. I am not condemning the medium. I am active on one board and have spent numerous hours reading and enjoying both. They are vital to BC sports. However, every message board (including those outside of sports) builds up its own patois, list of references and humor that can easily be taken out of context by outsiders. At the end of the day, message boards are not for the faint of heart. If you are easily offended or sensitive, it is best to avoid and ignore them.

That preamble leads me to this bit of news via the Brighton blog: community activists are aware that they are being discussed and mocked on the BC message boards. For better or worse, BC is getting involved. The school has apologized for the behavior of the boards and may take action against Scout and/or Rivals.

In my opinion, BC should steer clear of this whole mess. Neither site is owned or officially affiliated with the school. If these remarks had run in the reader comments section of a Herald or Globe article, would the school feel the need to get involved? In my opinion these activists will never be happy with any BC solution for the Brighton campus (nor any changes to the main campus). Engaging in dialogue about these offensive comments or apologizing for the actions of anonymous message board posters just distracts from the bigger issue at hand -- the land. The neighbors have shown very little flexibility or willingness to discuss realistic solutions. Acknowledging this message board nonsense or even taking partial responsibility just reinforces the activists firmly-held (and unlikely to change) beliefs that BC and its community are a bunch of ogres trying to destroy Brighton.

As for the comments themselves…I don’t condone them. They are in poor tastes. But I don’t think anyone should give them any attention. I’ve seen much worse on the internet. The reality of today’s world (where anything can be said on a message board or blog and personal information is readily available via google) is that the minute these Brighton folks got involved and started writing, campaigning and giving interviews they opened themselves up as targets.

I would love to see this all get resolved. BC needs the Brighton campus. It would also add to the community around campus. But any long-time observer of the situation can tell you this won’t end smoothly or soon. Let’s move forward. The focus should be on solutions that work, not offensive online nonsense.

Jags has done the following things in his FIRST YEAR that O'Brien could not do in TEN YEARS: -
Make an ACC Championship Game -
Win 10 regular season games -
Beat Miami -
Beat 3 ranked teams on the road -
Create Heisman hype -
Create national championship hype -
Top 10 ranking -
Top 5 ranking -
Top 2 ranking -
Win a game when it matters

Manny Rameriz did a radio interview to media members today. His response if the Red Sox do lose: "It's not the end of the world to me.I don't care if we lose." Heard this on 890 ESPN Boston.

 

 

 

 

 

Now do you believe in Jeff Jagodzinski? :)

 

http://newengland.comcastsportsnet.com/blogView.jsp
?bcId=678&blog=17

 
Don't look now, but the Boston College Eagles have a football team in Chestnut Hill that could compete for the National Championship. Already on track for a BCS bowl bid, as the front-runner to win the ACC, the Eagles are one of the teams that benefited most from this weekend's 'Upset Saturday' in college pigskin.

 

In case you were camping in the back woods of Maine or decided to spend the weekend without the services of a TV, radio, or newspaper- seven of the nation's top thirteen ranked teams in college football lost in a 24-hour period. It started with South Florida's 21-13 upset over West Virginia on Friday and finished with Auburn's dominating 21-17 win over the Florida Gators in the swamp on Saturday evening. Get this- Oklahoma (#3), Florida (#4), West Virginia (#5), Texas (#7), Rutgers (#10) Oregon (#11), Clemson (#13) all lost this weekend- five of those six teams lost to unranked opponents. Four of those teams lost at home EVEN though three of them were favored by seventeen points or more! Are you kidding me? Simply unbelievable! As Chris Fowler said, "you could watch college football for decades and never see a weekend like this."

 

So how does this help the undefeated and first place ACC Boston College Eagles? Well, it opens the door to what should be a crazy finish to the 2007 college football season. Already at 5-0, the Eagles came into their game this past weekend against UMASS ranked #12 in the country. With absolute insanity rocking the nation's TOP 10 rankings- BC has earned their first TOP 10 ranking since November of 1992. That team was led by the controversial Tom Coughlin and reached the ninth spot in the country before being crushed by the eighth ranked Irish of Notre Dame by the whopping score of 54-7. And how fitting, considering that BC has to travel to South Bend to take on the winless Irish in just two weeks. But first, they'll have to get through another non-league opponent in Bowling Green next week at the Heights.

 

BC will be hoping to regain their dominant start in which they easily handled three ACC rivals in Wake Forest, NC State, and ranked at the time- Georgia Tech. The last two weeks have been an entirely different matter as the Eagles have struggled and looked lethargic against two weaker teams in Army and now UMASS. On the bright side, BC is grinding out wins and beating the teams that they are supposed to. However, they have looked nothing like the elite team and TOP 10 squad which they are currently ranked. Ideally, it would have been nice to see some gradual improvement in the team each of the past two weeks, but beggars can't be choosers. As their quarterback and Heisman candidate, Matt Ryan said after the game, "There's nothing else that matters besides winning."  He couldn't be more right after the entire slate of college games unfolded this past weekend.

 

You see, Boston College is now one of fourteen teams left in the country which is undefeated. But that list includes the likes of Connecticut, Hawaii, Cincinnati, and Arizona State. Only five (USC, LSU, Ohio St, Wisconsin, California) of those teams are currently ranked ahead of them. USC still has to play Cal on November 10th while LSU hosts formerly ranked Florida this coming weekend. I'm sure the Tigers weren't too happy to see Auburn upset the Gators at home a week before their mega-game in Baton Rouge. Meanwhile, Ohio State squares off against Wisconsin at home on November 3rd. All of this is excellent news for BC and as it could pave its way into a Top 5 ranking if they simply continue to win.

 

Their schedule is set up perfectly for a title run. After Bowling Green this week at home and Notre Dame on the road, the Eagles have twelve days off to prepare for their toughest road test of the year against (#17) Virginia Tech- a team struggling to find their identity that they can clearly beat. From there, BC returns home against a dangerous Florida State team before taking on Maryland on the road. With the Terps big win over #10 Rutgers this week, it's clear that BC's game in Maryland may not be as easy as fans once thought. But, I really can't see Maryland's defense stopping a fully-charged air assault led by Ryan and the rest of the offense. To close out the season, BC then travels to Clemson before finishing up at home against Miami. Obviously, none of these games will be pushovers or gimmes for that matter.  Regardless, the Eagles now control their own destiny. If they continue to win, it's a virtual certainty that before long they will be ranked in the Top 4 in the country.

 

Either way, the Eagles are very well-positioned at 3-0 in conference play to land a spot in the ACC title game even if they do end up losing one game in league play. The best part could be an ACC title game match-up which might be against the likes of Virginia which currently holds down the first place spot in the Coastal division. Virginia? Yeah that's the same team that was crushed by Wyoming 23-3 to open the season before winning their last four. And if it's not Virginia- chances are it will be either Miami or VTECH- two teams the Eagles will have already played and hopefully beaten. Thus, it looks like it's BC's conference to lose.

 

It will be interesting to see how Coach Jags' team responds to the unfamiliar territory that they currently find themselves in. After all, the Eagles haven't started 5-0 since 1954 and the undefeated mark at this point in the season marks only the seventh time in 107 seasons of football that the 'Maroon and Gold' have looked this good after six games.

 

However, the fast start shouldn't surprise many followers of the Eagles. Be that as it may, BC is tied with Florida- that's right the national champion Gators- with the 13th most wins in the last five years (2003-07) in Division 1-A football with 41. They also have the fourth longest winning streak in the country at home, winning 15 straight dating back to their 28-17 loss to the Seminoles on September 17, 2005- a game they should have won.

 

So while the Sox begin their play-off march and the Pats storm through the NFL- just remember there's a team right here in Newton that could find themselves atop their own heap when it's all said and done. As former NY Jets and now Kansas City Chiefs head coach Herm Edwards once said, "That's why we play the game!"

He's got limited talent at WR and he's putting up some solid numbers... Got a nice arm and is nicely accurate. Watch him climb up the boards.They have an easy road until Virgina Tech in early October,where they might be 7-0.Jagodzinski said on radio show on WEEI yesterday special players make special plays.Matt Ryan's a special player who getting more pub than ever.

 

check out a Students blog right here: http://ryanforheisman.blogspot.com/

 

What a great day in sports!!!

1. Clay Buchholz pitching a no-no versus Baltimore

2. Appalachian State upsets Michigan in college football.(greatest football upset ever.)

3. Jeff Jagodzinski getting his first win as Boston College's new football head coach.

4.Did I mention,we are a week away from New England taking on the New York Jets? 

 
 

My reason why I absolutely love College football:
1. Pride (
2. Exciting and home field is so much more important
3. Extravagant playbooks
4. Got recruiting hype and draft pride
5. Upsets )
6. Good teams dont lose...
7. Rivalries

Go BC!!!! 

If haven't seen this already on youtube,its about Bill O'Reilly Blasts Virginia Tech President Over Rapper NAS.

First things first,I grew up in the early 90's where Hip-Hop was king.I admit today's generation is nothing but,crap.

Bill doesn't even listen to the songs in its entirety.He cherry picks quotes in the songs to portray's  Nas as rapper who promotes violence.First off,there couldn't be a better choice of a performer to sing at VT than Nas.Anyone who listens to Hip-Hop knows that Nas is one of the most positive rappers around.He's not a "gangster rapper" nor promotes violence in any way.Nas talks about, all types of issues and promotes peace and education to kids.He wasn't asked to perform he was selected.

 

He will not save the MLS,period.I love football(soccer),but hes not enough to gain my own interest.I bet most of those who attended today's Revoulution game couldn't even name 10 players on both teams,beside Mr.Beckham.It's true.Not even my favorite team in Manchester United could save MLS.Soccer hasn't bin on the USA national radar since you HAVE to pay for most Europe/South American games.I've talked to people overseas about Beckham,most think he's washed up and overrated at best.

Sorry Posh and Beckham..Have fun while your spotlight is overtaken by American Football. Go Boston College.

Perhaps the truth about Tom O'Brien and his stupid decisions will finally be recognized. is  how Former Boston College coach Tom O'Brien being a total bleep.

"How's your hip?" O'Brien asked.

"It's coming along," Glasper replied.

"You'd better hurry your a** up," O'Brien said. "Because you only have eight games left in your college career."

"I'm redshirting," Glasper said.

"No, you've been cleared by the doctor to play," O'Brien said. "You're choosing not to play."

I'm just speechless after reading this piece on ESPN page two.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=grant/
070427&sportCat=ncf

I was very happy with what happened today.Both units clicked and played well for the most part, although I felt the defense had the slightly better day. Before the game, I attended the Gridiron Club breakfast at Conte (sat with BJ Raji - great guy), and Jags mentioned that at the conclusion of every team meeting, he asks the question "What are you here for??". The answer is "championships". In his brief speech, Jags went out of his way to mention his belief that anything less than a championship this season will be a disappointment. Seriously, how can you not love this guy?? Tom O'Brien never even BELIEVED we could win a championship, and he sure as heck was too scared to say something like that publicly and raise expectations. The days of excuse making, expectation managing, and an air of arrogance around the Yawkey Center are over. The Jags Era has begun. Raji mentioned to me that the new coaching staff is far more personable and hands-on than the old regime, and while we all kind of knew that already, it still impresses me to see, for lack of a better word, how happy all the players that I've talked to--whether it was Raji today, the guys I ran into in the Philadelphia airport a few days before the bowl game, or guys I just see around campus--seem to be under the new staff.

The game itself was fairly boring from a detached perspective, but there were a lot of very interesting things. The offense, as I expected would be for this game, was pretty vanilla--more aggressive than it had been under Dana Bible, but nothing really fancy.

What impressed me more than anything else was the play of Matt Ryan. I'm not talking about his stats, which were impressive but not overly so (19-33, 233 yards, 1 TD). He simply has "it". As good as he was last year, his pocket presence and decision making today looked vastly improved over what we saw previously.

The big surprise to me was the play of Billy Flutie, who underwhelmed me as a punter (I don't think he's good enough to be "the guy" after Johnny Ayers graduates) but had a very nice game at wideout.

The major thing that disappointed me was the crowd(its no Alabama who did 92,000,lol). Absolutely beautiful day (mid-60s), new coaching staff .They'll show up for the real games, but a lot of them probably don't even know what a spring game is. Although it should be said that the baseball game going on next door was siphoning off a number of fans.

All in all, an excellent day, at least until the Eagles' draft pick. I literally could not possibly be more excited for this season. I'll have some more thoughts in the coming days as I have time to think about and digest what I saw a little bit more.

I'm moving to Canada by the way people have overrated to a stupid ignorant statement,seriously Maria,David,bloggers.I've never liked Imus or his radio show;but this is a disgrace,He got Janet Jacksoned. Unreal.This country really is going to heck by their PC'ness.I'm sorry,Don Imus has no reason to apologize. 

Max was joking. Let it go. Multiple blogs I read  said it's about a nothing-incident that was misinterpreted isn't going to help kill it.
 The reaction from WEEI (local boston sports talk)was predictible(this is why it's making news). This type of behavior and attitude is not only acceptable there, it's encouraged. Meanwhile, they pee their pants every time Manny Ramirez gets caught in traffic on the way to work. Also, I'm fairly convinced 90% of the hosts at WEEI don't even watch the games(celtics).

thank heavans for national radio shows.
 

While it seems like the school is trying to protect its students, they are going about it the wrong way. Its a violation of free speech to police the students in this way. Educating the students about the dangers of a web presence would be a more reasonable approach.I don't understand why can't they just have blockings of(those unsafe sites,myspace ect) My cousin told me they blocked Sports Illustrated's website,because they have photos of women in swimsuits.(it's a freakin sports site,gimme a break.) I mean my work place has a little bit of freedom of what I should be able to look at during my work hours.It keeps me busy from blowing my mind out.

 

what's your take on this?