BCU and Rutroh - a study of ineptitude

[Yawkey Way]

. Boston today has hugely diverse neighborhoods/communities - lawrence is dominican/puerto rican, lowell is cambodian, quincy is chinese, west rox/southie is irish, mattapan is haitian, dorchester is vietnamese, framingham is brazilian, sharon is orthodox jewish and tons of portuguese communities on the south shore. I definitely see the lack of diversity in executive circles, but there is a ton of diversity in Boston proper.

.

The forced busing days of the early 70's by the Ruling Elites that lived in the tony suburbs of Boston did cause the residents in the City of Boston to have their lives made worse by having the children exchange one bad school for another bad school miles across town. The Democrat Party social experiment is today regarded by most Academics and regular people as a complete failure in every measurable respect. The good news is that today the city of Boston has far less racial strife than ( for example ) large cities such as Baltimore, NYC, Los Angeles, Chicago... or if we are honest about it.... even New Haven, Connecticut. . However, it is true, that BC needs to do more in the post Skinner era to bring in more players of color to its basketball team. BC made a mistake in firing Skinner in my opinion. BC is at its lowest level of combined Basketball, Football right now that I can ever recall. For Uconn football fans however, this is a great opportunity to take advantage of this and to beat BC in their matchup with BC in football this coming November. The only true way for a school to legitimately claim that its at least the equal of BC in football in New England is to finally win a football game against them. Otherwise, all the ongoing talk about how really, REALLY, bad BC is in football these days could say something very unflattering about a football program that just could lose to BC once again ' Just a thought, anyway.

 

[Sea Goat]

The forced busing days of the early 70's by the Ruling Elites that lived in the tony suburbs of Boston did cause the residents in the City of Boston to have their lives made worse by having the children exchange one bad school for another bad school miles across town. The Democrat Party social experiment is today regarded by most Academics and regular people as a complete failure in every measurable respect. The good news is that today the city of Boston has far less racial strife than ( for example ) large cities such as Baltimore, NYC, Los Angeles, Chicago... or if we are honest about it.... even New Haven, Connecticut. . However, it is true, that BC needs to do more in the post Skinner era to bring in more players of color to its basketball team. BC made a mistake in firing Skinner in my opinion. BC is at its lowest level of combined Basketball, Football right now that I can ever recall. For Uconn football fans however, this is a great opportunity to take advantage of this and to beat BC in their matchup with BC in football this coming November. The only true way for a school to legitimately claim that its at least the equal of BC in football in New England is to finally win a football game against them. Otherwise, all the ongoing talk about how really, REALLY, bad BC is in football these days could say something very unflattering about a football program that just could lose to BC once again ' Just a thought, anyway.

I'll give you a "like". Should be a well attended, fiercely fought game this fall. Let's hope so. The problem is that it should be happening every fall (and winter in BB). Nice easy road trip for both schools. When BC opted for the greener (only in money) pastures of the ACC, the opportunity went bye-bye. Can't blame you for that even though AH Blumenthal did. In 2011, you should have encouraged, not blocked, our membership in the ACC though. It would taken a bigger man to do so, but that was the right way to go. I don't think you guys had much to do with the Louisville decision because you have some academic integrity. But in 2011, we should have been asked to join. BC had the chance to rise above the fray and it didn't.

 

[Yawkey Way]

Things are beginning to thaw out a bit between the leadership at BC and Uconn, The fan narrative that BC is " too scared to play Uconn in football, and so won't " has fallen apart. BC football is at its lowest point in awhile, but BC scheduled the Uconn- BC game anyway. So if a school was " scared " of a game, its logical to assume that school would not schedule one. While a football game with BC does more for Uconn than it does for BC, I'd much rather watch BC play Uconn, than BC play Duke, Wake Forest, and the like. I would imagine Uconn football fans would even prefer watching Uconn play BC, than Uconn play any of the AAC teams.... or even more than half the B12 teams, should Uconn eventually wind up in the B12 to play the schools most of whom are predominently based in the Southwest corner of the US.

 

[dwalks93]

Things are beginning to thaw out a bit between the leadership at BC and Uconn, The fan narrative that BC is " too scared to play Uconn in football, and so won't " has fallen apart. BC football is at its lowest point in awhile, but BC scheduled the Uconn- BC game anyway. So if a school was " scared " of a game, its logical to assume that school would not schedule one. While a football game with BC does more for Uconn than it does for BC, I'd much rather watch BC play Uconn, than BC play Duke, Wake Forest, and the like. I would imagine Uconn football fans would even prefer watching Uconn play BC, than Uconn play any of the AAC teams.... or even more than half the B12 teams, should Uconn eventually wind up in the B12 to play the schools most of whom are predominently based in the Southwest corner of the US.

I agree with you that both the fan bases of BC and UConn want to see them play. I disagree that BC has more to lose than UConn. As you mention BC is at its lowest point ever. Most independent fans and media sources universally recognize UConn is currently a better athletic program. BC may be in a P5 conference but their play the last couple of years has indicated they are P5 in name only. UConn may be relegated in the G5 but their athletic performance is at the P5 level.

UConn is trying to show it can build a P5 level football program...losing to a BC team that did not win a conference game last year does not send the right message. UConn is still auditioning for a P5 spot....BC is will keep cashing their ACC checks regardless of the outcome.

Previously BC ducked UConn since they had more to lose. Now BC wants to play UConn because they have more to gain. If BC can beat UConn that will help silence the critics who claim UConn would be a better addition for the ACC.

BC needs to reenergize its program and that means scheduling some games fans want to see. Neither UConn nor BC will likely be ranked when they play but the teams and fan bases will be circling the game on the calendar. The biggest mistake BC ever made was thinking that regional competition was a negative. BC and UConn are better when they play each other...when BC eliminated its rivalries, it eliminated its relevance. BC and UConn should be in the same conference even if they hate each other.

 

[Samoo]

BC and UConn are better when they play each other...when BC eliminated its rivalries, it eliminated its relevance. BC and UConn should be in the same conference even if they hate each other.

Not even if they hate each other but because they hate each other. That's what conferences used to be all about.

 

[Yawkey Way]

I agree with you that both the fan bases of BC and UConn want to see them play. I disagree that BC has more to lose than UConn. As you mention BC is at its lowest point ever.

Not to split hairs, but to clarify my remarks above, I did not state that " BC is is at its lowest point " ever ". ( I said " in awhile ). I was in the stands in '78 for example when BC under Coach Ed Cheblek was winless at 0-11 in football that season, and was shut out that season by Umass 27-0. Later that season the BB was found losing to Holy Cross, Stonehill and the like. Things do go in cycles however. BC has won regular season Atlantic Division football and basketball titles since joining the ACC, and they have been in the cellar in both basketball and football too. I know some in the media think that BC will not bounce back from their current last place positions in ACC Basketball and football, but many of them tend to be unfamiliar with the history of BC football and Basketball that since WW2 has had both its ups and its downs, but BC has rarely gone more than a few years without bouncing back again. The suggesion we read in some quarters that BC will never become competitive again in either football of basketball could prove prophetic.. who knows,... but it would have to overcome 60 years of historical data from the past that shows otherwise for this to become true in the future.

 

[Ldandy]

If BC would rather watch its teams play UCONN than probably half of the schools currently in The ACC, why have they fought so damn hard to see to it that it never happened? It smells like fear to me, but I'll be nice and say it was likely arrogance. Glad to see someone over there has smartened up and realized that regional rivals put as*** in the stands.

 

[Yawkey Way]

If BC would rather watch its teams play UCONN than probably half of the schools currently in The ACC, why have they fought so damn hard to see to it that it never happened? It smells like fear to me, but I'll be nice and say it was likely arrogance. Glad to see someone over there has smartened up and realized that regional rivals put as*** in the stands.

Syracuse will be BC 's annual football rival game, imo. In order to have a football rivalry, both school's and its fanbases have to recognize it as such ( Uconn knows this from Central Florida's position re. Diaco's quest to make Central Florida, Uconn's football rival.). BC voted for Uconn's admittance to the Big East, when Uconn made its quest to join. BC also voted " yes " for Uconn's quest to join Hockey East. BC does not want Uconn in the ACC, but if Commish Swofford and the other ACC school Presidents wanted Uconn in the ACC, they could have acted on it at any time, and BC could not have stopped it on their own. That said, BC, under their new AD Bates, did agree to play Uconn in football again ( and against the wishes of Uconn's Jim Calhoun, and quite a few BC older alums ). The vast majority of younger students at BC now come from outside of N.E however., so for most of them, putting Uconn football back on BC's schedule draws no more than a shrug from them at seeing Bates add Uconn to its football schedule for a game every few years or so.

 

[Yawkey Way]

Not even if they hate each other but because they hate each other. That's what conferences used to be all about.

More of the current students at BC " hate " for just one example... Rutgers... far more than they " hate " Uconn. For the simple reason that BC currently has far more of its students from the combined states of NY- NJ, than it does from the state of Connecticut. BC also has far more students ( and alums ) that " hate " ND than they do Uconn. For the simple reason that lots of their Alums and current students applied to ND but did not get in. Its been that way for 50 years between BC and ND. Same with the BC football players. Most of them get really up for the ND football game because many of them were not recruited nor believed good enough to play football for Notre Dame. To this extent, BC feels the arrogance of ND as much as Uconn feels the arrogance of BC. For history buffs here, ND resisted playing BC in football for a lot longer than BC resisted returning to playing Uconn in football again. So the older BC fans such as myself, know full well how you people feel about being slighted by a school and fanbase such as BC that disrespects you and your football program and doesn't think of you much at all these days.

 

[SAMCRO]

 

[hardcorehusky]

Do we all realize that Holy Cross and Yale are now ahead of BC basketball!!

 

[dwalks93]

Syracuse will be BC 's annual football rival game, imo. In order to have a football rivalry, both school's and its fanbases have to recognize it as such ( Uconn knows this from Central Florida's position re. Diaco's quest to make Central Florida, Uconn's football rival.). BC voted for Uconn's admittance to the Big East, when Uconn made its quest to join. BC also voted " yes " for Uconn's quest to join Hockey East. BC does not want Uconn in the ACC, but if Commish Swofford and the other ACC school Presidents wanted Uconn in the ACC, they could have acted on it at any time, and BC could not have stopped it on their own. That said, BC, under their new AD Bates, did agree to play Uconn in football again ( and against the wishes of Uconn's Jim Calhoun, and quite a few BC older alums ). The vast majority of younger students at BC now come from outside of N.E however., so for most of them, putting Uconn football back on BC's schedule draws no more than a shrug from them at seeing Bates add Uconn to its football schedule for a game every few years or so.

Check your 2016 ACC football calendar...BC's "rivalry" game next year is Wake Forest, it is not Syracuse. Syracuse's rivalry game is Pittsburgh. This is what the lack of regional rivalries has done to BC. The ACC has put BC out to pasture with the other program which is struggling. The only rivalry and commonality between BC and WF is a football game no one wants to watch.

Perhaps I will be proven wrong but the rowdiest game next year on the BC calendar will be the UConn game. If Rutgers came to BC the environment would not be that exciting or contentious. BC may not want to acknowledge UConn's relevance but the rest of the college sports world does...

BTW using ND as an example of how to manage competition is a de facto losing argument. There is a reason ND is 0-4 in BCS bowl with some of the worst blow outs in BCS history. If a program is going to act arrogantly then it better back it up in big games. Ducking competition does not mean you are a better program.

BC fans can down play the UConn game all they want but it is a significant game for both programs...UConn is just honest enough to admit it. Denial seems to be a way of life recently at BC.

 

[uconndogs]

BC, Syracuse, Rutgers and UCONN should have never separated. College athletics is largely a regional following. ND in football, probably UCONN in hoops command national attention, but none of BC, Cuse, Rutty or UCONN command any kind on meaningful national attention in football. Were reasonable business people running those athletic departments they would have done all they could to keep those programs together. Gene DeFelippo was about as far away from a reasonable business person as one could possibly get and I suspect Fr. Leahy holds little interest in seeing high level athletic success given what he has put up with from his AD.

BC has a pay check and I guess fans can be happy with that. The ones that show up for games anyway. When you start counting men's hoop attendance by the hundreds you have no small problem on your hands. Adazio sh!ts the bed next season and BC is in a world of hurt. UCONN bring 10k fans to Alumni will be no small thing. God knows we used to fill Conte.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Not to split hairs, but to clarify my remarks above, I did not state that " BC is is at its lowest point " ever ". ( I said " in awhile ). I was in the stands in '78 for example when BC under Coach Ed Cheblek was winless at 0-11 in football that season, and was shut out that season by Umass 27-0. Later that season the BB was found losing to Holy Cross, Stonehill and the like. Things do go in cycles however. BC has won regular season Atlantic Division football and basketball titles since joining the ACC, and they have been in the cellar in both basketball and football too. I know some in the media think that BC will not bounce back from their current last place positions in ACC Basketball and football, but many of them tend to be unfamiliar with the history of BC football and Basketball that since WW2 has had both its ups and its downs, but BC has rarely gone more than a few years without bouncing back again. The suggesion we read in some quarters that BC will never become competitive again in either football of basketball could prove prophetic.. who knows,... but it would have to overcome 60 years of historical data from the past that shows otherwise for this to become true in the future.

I agree that sport programs are cyclical in nature. The concern for BC in my opinion is not just the quality, or the lack of such, on the field/court; but, the fact that BC seems more interested in cashing those ACC checks and not investing in any of their sport programs - coaching or facilities. On the facilities front, BC is well behind most of the ACC and UConn and that is going to keep hurting the Eagles going forward. The recent 'master plan' announcement is well and good; but, 1) they have not identified where the money is coming from for those projects, especially the indoor football facility, which is a must for northern football programs today, and 2) have not even tried to gain approval from Boston and Newton for these projects, which is a process that is a nightmare in the best of circumstances. Until BC starts investing in their sport programs beyond hockey, they are going to be stuck in the basement of the ACC for a while.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

BC, Syracuse, Rutgers and UCONN should have never separated. College athletics is largely a regional following. ND in football, probably UCONN in hoops command national attention, but none of BC, Cuse, Rutty or UCONN command any kind on meaningful national attention in football. Were reasonable business people running those athletic departments they would have done all they could to keep those programs together. Gene DeFelippo was about as far away from a reasonable business person as one could possibly get and I suspect Fr. Leahy holds little interest in seeing high level athletic success given what he has put up with from his AD.

BC has a pay check and I guess fans can be happy with that. The ones that show up for games anyway. When you start counting men's hoop attendance by the hundreds you have no small problem on your hands. Adazio sh!ts the bed next season and BC is in a world of hurt. UCONN bring 10k fans to Alumni will be no small thing. God knows we used to fill Conte.

Completely agree and the reason is obvious. While the media can 'create' a rivalry, say UConn v. Duke in hoops in the late '90's and early 00's, college rivalries are based on the respectively student bodies. Roughly 80% of college student go to a college (at least in the East) within a 4 hour (250 miles) car ride from home. In college, every student wants bragging rights over their old friends from high school. So, Mr. Smith from Shelton CT who goes to UConn wants to beat the pants off of his former classmates who went to BC, Syracuse, Rutgers, etc. especially when he takes a road trip to visit those friends for a football or basketball game. That is the heart of college sports.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Do we all realize that Holy Cross and Yale are now ahead of BC basketball!!

Holy Cross has now won the same number of NCAA tournament games in the last 10 years (after 2006) as BC has won - 1.

 

[Yawkey Way]

. BC may not want to acknowledge UConn's relevance but the rest of the college sports world does...

.[/QUOTE]

I'm not so sure about this. I'm not convinced that either the BC football program, nor the Uconn football program has much relevance to " the rest of the college sports world ", thats my take of the national pulse outside of New England anyway regarding the perception of both N.E. football programs. Both are an afterthought, regrettably, imo. I don't think I'm in denial on this. I think I'm just being realistic here. If Uconn football was considered " relevant to the rest of the college sports world", my view is that Uconn would have been in a P5 Conference by now. Rightly or wrongly, my perception is that the " rest of the college sports world " considers Uconn almost exclusively a " Basketball School ", where its Basketball programs.... combined.... are traditionally now considered the best in college sports most seasons. If College Basketball drove the P5 expansion however, Uconn would have been in... and most likely even before BC got to the ACC. But as we know, its Football more than Basketball that is the driving engine on these things.

 

[Yawkey Way]

Holy Cross has now won the same number of NCAA tournament games in the last 10 years (after 2006) as BC has won - 1.

Holy Cross started playing football in 1937... 78 years ago. One thing we can safely say with certainty is that Holy Cross has never... and will never.... win a Major College Football Bowl Game. That said, congrats to Holy Cross in their basketball tourney win.

 

[buddy]

Given a chance, UConn would have been much more successful in football than they have been. Unfortunate circumstances drove the program backwards, but it is on the way up now. UConn and BC are sort of passing each other on an escalator now with UConn going up and BC going down. UConn would have been in the P5 Conference if BC did not intentionally block them on the first ACC attempt. So saying that UConn would have been in a P5 Conference if they were any good in football is bogus. UConn was blackballed when the opportunity presented by BC. No arguing that for the one millionth time here.

 

[Sea Goat]

Syracuse will be BC 's annual football rival game, imo. In order to have a football rivalry, both school's and its fanbases have to recognize it as such ( Uconn knows this from Central Florida's position re. Diaco's quest to make Central Florida, Uconn's football rival.). BC voted for Uconn's admittance to the Big East, when Uconn made its quest to join. BC also voted " yes " for Uconn's quest to join Hockey East. BC does not want Uconn in the ACC, but if Commish Swofford and the other ACC school Presidents wanted Uconn in the ACC, they could have acted on it at any time, and BC could not have stopped it on their own. That said, BC, under their new AD Bates, did agree to play Uconn in football again ( and against the wishes of Uconn's Jim Calhoun, and quite a few BC older alums ). The vast majority of younger students at BC now come from outside of N.E however., so for most of them, putting Uconn football back on BC's schedule draws no more than a shrug from them at seeing Bates add Uconn to its football schedule for a game every few years or so.

We were throwing you a bone you stooge. Stick your alleged "rivalry" with Syracuse up your back stairs you self absorbed . BC can continue to to devolve into irrelevancy.

 

[Yawkey Way]

Things will get worse at BC before they get any better.

' Not sure 2017-2018 could be much worse than 2015-2016. That said, if BC football is going to get even worse next season according to many here who seem to believe they know the BC football program pretty well, then Uconn should handle BC in football pretty easily up at Alumni this November. Thats because I'm reading on here that expectations for the Uconn football team next year is that apparently the Uconn football team will be much better than this year... and so the sentiment I'm getting from reading things here is that BC probably should not have scheduled this game, as from all indications, the Uconn football team will embarrass BC in their place this November. Do I have the prevailing sentiments from most Uconn football fans on here accurately on this ? Just asking, as from my readings on here, it appears BC football will " get worse before they get better ".

 

[Yawkey Way]

. UConn would have been in the P5 Conference if BC did not intentionally block them on the first ACC attempt. .

There appears to be some genuine confliction on this. For example, when BC was contemplating leaving the Big East for the ACC, I distinctly remember reading on the Uconn football boards that if BC goes to the ACC.. " BC will never have any influence in the ACC as Tobacco Road runs that league, and will make its decisions on all things and turn a deaf ear to any of BC's concerns ". However, once BC took the invite to the ACC, the prevailing thought on the Uconn boards seemed to be that BC had such enormous political leverage within the ACC that it could single handedly keep Uconn out of the ACC by prevailing upon the other ACC schools to act upon BC's bidding. Did BC have the enormous political leverage among the other long standing ACC schools to keep Uconn out of the ACC ? No. I don't think so. They had one vote, no more, no less. Besides, it is my assessment that if the Schools in the ACC... and its Commissioner... wanted Uconn in the ACC, Uconn would be in the ACC, and BC could not stop the other schools. That said, if some on here want to stay with the narrative we have heard on here before, that BC has such enormous political leverage that they can single handedly keep Uconn out of he ACC, they are entitled to that narrative. But I would just respectfully disagree that BC has such political muscle in the ACC among Tobacco Road, and the other ACC Schools.

 

[Yawkey Way]

.[/QUOTE]

I suspect Fr. Leahy holds little interest in seeing high level athletic success

.

This is an assessment where the vast majority of both Uconn football fans and BC football fans would come together in mutual agreement, imo. Some insiders at BC tell me that Leahy is scheduled to retire... and within the year.

 

[Yawkey Way]

Check your 2016 ACC football calendar...BC's "rivalry" game next year is Wake Forest, it is not Syracuse. Syracuse's rivalry game is Pittsburgh. This is what the lack of .

I suppose we would need to define " rivalry game ". I'm not sure we are both utilizing the same definition. Perhaps thats the confusion with this. If you define the" rivalry game" as the game played last, then yes Wake Forest would seem to fit your definition of BC's " rivalry annual game ". However, my definition of a " rivalry game " uses the more conventional definition of a " rivalry game ", ie a game in which a) both play each other each and every season b) both fan bases equally accept the other as their annual football " rivalry game " c) the 2 teams have played each other for years and years d) both compete for the same level of football recruits a lot on the recruiting trail e) both football programs are currently in the same division in their league, and look to be so, long into the future. With this definition, it would appear that Syracuse and BC will become football rivals once again. Wake Forest is not BC's " rivalry game " ( and BC not Wake's " rivalry game ") despite the fact that its the last game of the 2 schools for the 2016 season. USC and ND have " rivalry games ", but neither school has the other as its scheduled last game of the season each year.

 

[Adios]

Holy Cross started playing football in 1937... 78 years ago. One thing we can safely say with certainty is that Holy Cross has never... and will never.... win a Major College Football Bowl Game. That said, congrats to Holy Cross in their basketball tourney win.

Holy Cross started playing football in 1891. You should start writing BC-themed fiction novels. Novels where they win championships in sports other than hockey. Or even are relevant in sports other than hockey. Whichever suits your readers.

 

[Yawkey Way]

BC, Syracuse, Rutgers and UCONN should have never separated. College athletics is largely a regional following. .

I'm a bit older than you. There were hopes that Pitt and Penn State could have worked out their differences in the 60's, 70's... and with that, perhaps a good football eastern Conference could have possibly kept the hope alive of a regional coordination that would make some geographical sense at least. But alas, it was not to be. Now the league realignments ... except for the SEC... really don't seem to make much geographical sense whatsoever, imo.

 

[FDNY99]

' Not sure 2017-2018 could be much worse than 2015-2016. That said, if BC football is going to get even worse next season according to many here who seem to believe they know the BC football program pretty well, then Uconn should handle BC in football pretty easily up at Alumni this November. Thats because I'm reading on here that expectations for the Uconn football team next year is that apparently the Uconn football team will be much better than this year... and so the sentiment I'm getting from reading things here is that BC probably should not have scheduled this game, as from all indications, the Uconn football team will embarrass BC in their place this November. Do I have the prevailing sentiments from most Uconn football fans on here accurately on this ? Just asking, as from my readings on here, it appears BC football will " get worse before they get better ".

I was referring to BC basketball. But if you want to believe your boy Gene D's quote in the Globe article that he thought Donahue was 1 season away from turning the program round go ahead. That program has gone from competitive to the absolute worst P-5/G-5 program in the country and it doesn't look like things will change anytime soon.

 

[Ldandy]

This thread is amazing. It might be true that BC alone can't keep UCONN out of The ACC, but at best they weren't Pro Husky, and at worst have actively politiced against their inclusion at every opportunity.

This sentiment was immortalized in black and white by BC's leadership in a major media publication. The sad thing is that BC needs regional opponents to spur fan interest more than most. They will never be a national program regardless of if they turn things around or not. IF BC believes that they are strong brand, then there is literally no downside to being in a league with UCONN.

 

[Kgun7]

I love it how WVU has clamored for a regional rival and travel partner ever since joining the BIG 12 ... while BCU has actively fought against the same. It's pretty obvious which program needs it more!!

 

[06029]

I love it how WVU has clamored for a regional rival and travel partner ever since joining the BIG 12 ... while BCU has actively fought against the same. It's pretty obvious which program needs it more!!

Apples and Oranges. WVU closest conference game is 1500 miles away. And the closest major airport to Morgantown is almost 100 miles away. WVU is in a world of hurt in terms of travel. Think about it, adding Uconn cuts their travel distance for at least 1 game by 2/3.