View from the Ledge

I tried to do a more extensive recap of Saturday's game, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Each successive attempt got me angrier and angrier, and I'm pretty sure that I was about 5 minutes away from just breaking random things. Eagle in Atlanta does a nice job of recapping that horror show, so I'll just direct you over there.

The silver lining is this: Saturday's loss, more than any other, seems to have finally started to wake the Boston media up to the smoke-and-mirrors show that has TOB's recent tenure on The Heights. Mark Blaudschun, a frequent target of BC fans' ire, does a great job in today's Globe exposing TOB's bowl streak and inability to win the big games for what they are. A similar article from Karen Guregian appeared in yesterday's Herald. With back-to-back wins over Virginia Tech and Florida State, BC fans wondered if, just maybe, we were turning the corner and this would finally be the year that TOB would take care of business and get us to a big-time bowl. Saturday's loss has dealt those hopes a severe, if not crippling, blow. But is it possible that the corner has been turned in another way?? The administrators of FireTOB.com reported to me a huge upswing in traffic over the last few days, and a Facebook group (unfortunately open only to those who have a Facebook account and are connected to the BC network) dedicated to TOB's ouster created by recent alum Joe Igoe has almost tripled in membership since the Wake game. Perhaps more importantly, as the Blaudschun and Guregian articles show, the Boston media is finally starting to wake up and give TOB just a taste of the treatment that a Red Sox manager or Celtics coach who was turning out similar results would be receiving. This is not only good for BC's program if it helps result in O'Brien's firing, but it is also great for Boston as a college sports town. Traveling to southern ACC venues, BC fans have seen that the local papers in places like Tallahassee, Raleigh, and Atlanta are incredibly critical, sometimes viciously so, of the local team's coach. Developing this kind of press in Boston will only help the city's development as a major college football landmark.

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Fresh off a 1-0 squeaker over Vermont, the hockey team tonight heads down the 86 line to Harvard. The Crimson always give BC trouble in non-Beanpot matchups, having notched a 5-3 victory in Conte Forum last year and having claimed 2 of the last 3 fall meetings between the schools. This year will be no different, and a point at Bright Hockey Center seems like a reasonable and attainable goal for the Eagles. Prediction: BC 1, Harvard 1

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Basketball season is upon us and that of course means more suspensions. Sean Williams and Akida McLain have been suspended for 2 and 9 games, respectively, for unspecified violations of team rules. In happier news, the Eagles demolished St. Francis Xavier 111-65 in their exhibition game Sunday and are ranked 15th in the preseason USA Today poll. The Eagles open up on Friday night at home against UNH; the first real tests will be on Nov. 22 at Providence and Nov. 29 at home against Michigan State (in BC's ACC-Big Ten Challenge debut). Conference play begins on Dec. 10 at home against northeastern rivals Maryland.