Chase Rettig

[HartfordHank]

Sorry to say that BC-UConn would still be hidden in the Globe or Herald behind Red Sox Yankees or Red Sox playoff game or any Patriots game. Hell the top stories in the paper currently are about the Red Sox and they haven't played a game in nearly a month.

UNC vs Duke is the only game in town and thus the huge interest. Even in the Flutie Days BC had to fight for coverage with the Red Sox and Patriots. Not something that is going to change in the near future. Boston is a Pro sports town!

 

[HartfordHank]

Find me somebody in New England who doesn't know who Jim Calhoun, Kemba Walker, or Geno Auriemma are. Infinitely more than who can identify Chase Rettig, Luke Kealty, or Frank Spaziani.

I would say Sports fan in New England, not anyone. Plenty of folks who have no idea BC or UConn play sports. Jim Calhoun I will give you. He was successful at Northeastern before he went to UConn. He has been tremendously successful at UConn. Geno is not on the same level, outside of CT, as Calhoun. Such is Woman's basketball. He is coming to speak in Worcester next week and it is a small sidebar in the Worcester Telegram. Doubt they fill the hall. I would put Walker, a little over Kuechly with Spaziani and Rettig much lower. Kuechly was an Al American as a Sophomore and is leading the country in tackles.

 

[ctchamps]

The OP is not proving anything. There are passionate fans for a particular team who know everything about that team and may or may not have a lot of knowledge of other teams. There are passionate fans of a sport who have a great knowledge of many teams and players in the sport including the team they follow. And there are fans of teams who get excited and involved when the team is doing well and only then do they learn some or all of the players of that team.

Any team that starts doing well, and can sustain the winning will draw in these casual, less obsessed fans. And as more fans are drawn to observe the game, some of them will become obsessed passionate fans increasing the numbers of passionate obsessed fans.

All you have to do is check the rise in attendance of the UConn women's college bb team. Prior to 1990-91 less than 100 people attended UConn women's games. Now the program is second to Tennessee in fan attendance often drawing more than many men's programs. A lot of these fans know the team and other teams. The attendance rise and fan base knowledge took place with the success of the program. And the strength of the conference was irrelevant. For the longest duration of that success the SEC was the prohibitive strongest conference in woman's basketball and the BE was the weakest.

 

[MattMang23]

I wasn't trying to "prove" anything. I was simply pointing out the irony that the player at the most recognizable position for the team that fancies itself as New England's College Team is unknown to many in a group of New England sports fans.

When people referred to the Dallas Cowboys as America's team in the 90s, most sports fans knew the name Troy Aikman. Just pointing out that BC has a ways to go before anyone can take their claim of being THE team around here seriously.