Ryan for Heisman!!

While BC's marketing department has utterly failed so far in promoting our boy for the trophy, an intrepid BC fan has taken it upon himself to create the Ryan for Heisman blog. Well done, sir.

Good news so far on the recruiting front, as BC seems to be back in the mix for a number of top recruits, particularly at the skill positions. Coveted CB Donnie Fletcher of Cleveland will be visiting for this weekend's Army game; let's hope he comes away with a good impression.

Incidentally, you have to love the national media attention that Ryan has been getting lately. In less than a year of working together, Steve Logan has turned Matt Ryan from a guy that most "experts" had pegged as a 2nd-round pick into a top-10 pick and a legitimate Heisman contender. Don't think that QB recruits aren't noticing--if Logan can improve Ryan (who was already a superb QB) that much in just a year, what can he do with a raw high school kid in 4-5 years??

Practice is Underway

Fall practice began this week, with the team taking to the field in helmets but no pads. It's not full-contact hitting yet, but it's Football Season Eve, and that's always a great thing.

The limited reports we've gotten from practice so far are very encouraging. Not that it really comes as a surprise, but the new staff is apparently far more energetic and hands-on than its predecessor. To my consternation, Kevin Akins apparently saw time only at LB; that, of course, could change.

While the coming days will be important in getting the offensive line gelled together, the real progress won't begin until the pads come on and the scrimmages start. A huge help will be the strength of BC's defense; the front seven our O-line will be facing in the preseason is as good as any they'll face in the regular season. I also think that the caliber of student-athlete that BC attracts will really help us here; I expect our guys to be able to pick up the new scheme a lot more quickly than might be the case at other schools.

This team is getting zero respect in the media....but you know what?? I'm fine with that, and so is Gosder Cherilus. Every time we're written off, every pundit that fails to include us in his top 25, makes this team stronger. This is a great Boston College team, maybe the most talented in the school's history; we have 16 starters returning, including one of the top quarterbacks in the country; and we are no longer shackled by the worst offensive coordinator in D1A. What's not to love??

I promise that I'll severely step up the frequency of posting as the season approaches, but until then, some links from the local papers:

Herald - Five Questions Facing the Eagles
Herald - Challenger Back, Better
Globe - After Rain Delay, BC Eager to Get Started
Globe - New Job is His to Tackle

On the recruiting front, some somewhat disheartening news today as prized New Jersey LB Brendan Beal named BC as third in the running for his services, behind USC and Florida. I'm not too concerned about this. Obviously BC is a longshot to land Beal, but I don't think this is anything we didn't know before. I don't think we're completely out of the running. I think we have about a 10-15% chance of landing him, and this will only improve with a strong start.

In better news, we have apparently jumped into the thick of things for star New York wideout Marcus Sales, a guy that in my mind we should've been all over since day one.

On the Recruiting Trail

After the hoopla surrounding the landing of stud RB Josh Haden, BC has hit a bit of a slow period in recruiting over the last few weeks.

While this is due in large part to the fact that the coaching staff has spent part of the month on vacation, we do need to step it back up. With about 25 scholarships available, the consensus among BC fans seems to be that we need to have about half of our class filled out by the opening of the season; with 9 verbals already in hand, this is certainly doable but we do need to step it up over these next few weeks.

Overshadowing this month's recruiting adventures has been the controversy regarding prized Florida offensive tackle Mike Goodman. Goodman seemed, by all accounts, to be a heavy BC lean--until Rivals.com's Mike Farrell strongly hinted on that site's message board that the lineman had already committed to BC. Obviously, this upset Goodman, who has now opened his recruiting back up. While BC still appears to be right in the thick of things, he is not the slam-dunk he seemed to be a few weeks ago, particularly with his hometown Hurricanes having come on strong over the past two weeks. I have confidence that the kid will at the end of the day see the light, but it's far from a sure thing. Bill's distaste for Farrell's tactics is well documented, and it appears in this case that irresponsible journalism may end up costing BC one of our top recruiting targets (a similar situation happened last month when Rutgers' Rivals site reported that QB DC Jefferson, also a BC target, had committed to the Scarlet Knights, leading Jefferson to likewise re-open his recruiting).

As much as I hate giving Farrell my money especially when he pulls crap like this, at the end of the day I'm going to have to keep doing it. Rivals' recruiting database is simply far superior to Scout's, and just as important is the insight gained from reading premium message board posts from individuals with insider access to the program, most notably Mark Herzlich's father. But while I'll be doing it, I won't like it; and if BC ends up losing out on Goodman as a result of this then I think we as BC fans should evaluate the reasons behind his decision. Already I'm expecting this to result in far less access to the program for Rivals, which I welcome, even if as a fan I'd prefer to read as much insider info as possible.



The Goodman saga aside, BC's recruiting also took a hit this week with the loss of OG Tyler Sands to Illinois. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried here. I firmly believe that we need 5-6 OLs in this class, including 3-4 interior linemen, and so far we're standing on 1 and 0. As bountiful as last season's haul was at tackle, we're still thin on the inside. Sands would've been a huge pickup, and we now need to start looking at other options. A guy I expect us to offer pretty soon is Quinton Sales, a high school teammate of Haden's who visited BC with him last month. Sales currently does not hold a BC offer, according to Rivals, but with the loss of Sands I expect that to change. Despite being a 3-star recruit, his current offer list is limited to Wake Forest and a handful of MAC schools. However, I think he would be a great fit in Jags' zone-blocking scheme, both for his smaller, more athletic build and for his intelligence. He's a guy I feel we will offer in the next week or two, and could lock up before opening day.

As for who BC's next verbal will come from, there's no clear leader. Illinois LB Nick Clancy had appeared to be nearing a decision, but recently expanded his final two of BC and Purdue to include Wisconsin and Northwestern. Whatever his final decision may be, those are all excellent schools and the kid clearly has his priorities straight. NJ TE Chris Pantale would be an excellent get and has listed BC in his final three along with Virginia and Michigan. Many have tabbed him as our likely next commit. Another possibility is two-star local RB/DB Mike Cox, who favors BC over offers from Maryland and UConn but appears to be holding out for a possible offer from Michigan or Penn State. It's unlikely that the staff will wait much longer for Cox, who would likely play cornerback at BC, to make a decision before moving on.

Finally, for those who are worried about Haden de-committing if he has a blowup senior year, I wouldn't worry too hard:




Now THAT'S a commitment, folks.

Haden Commits!!!

4-star RB Josh Haden has officially given his verbal to BC, arguably the biggest recruiting coup in the school's history (Brian Toal was a higher-rated recruit, but had a brother already on the team and came from a school and state that are both strong BC pipelines). In addition to national champs Florida, where Haden's older brother will be beginning his collegiate career this fall, BC beat out schools like Michigan, Tennessee, Ohio State, Penn State, and Virginia Tech as well as hometown school Maryland for his verbal. Haden will graduate high school early, join the team in time for spring ball in 2008, and is likely to see significant playing time, possibly even start, as a true freshman in the fall of '08.

The consequences of this cannot be overstated. Jags has announced, loud and clear, that BC is back as a player on the national recruiting scene. With one high-profile domino having fallen, who will be next?? 4-star LB Brendan Beal?? Virginian EJ Manuel, the #2 QB in the country who listed BC's coaching staff as the most impressive on he met with at a combine a few weeks ago?? Manuel's close friend, 5-star WR Deion Walker?? Or Haden's high school teammate, the 37th-ranked recruit in the country according to Rivals, WR/DB/RB Lamaar Thomas??

Either way, an already exciting era in BC football just got much more exciting. Congratulations and welcome to BC, Josh.

Two New Commits

Good news for BC fans yesterday as the 2008 recruiting class doubled in size with the verbals of two new recruits, including probably the class' best prospect to date. First up was sleeper prospect Christian Klein of Montvale, NJ, a high school TE/DE whose ultimate position at BC is unclear. His 40 time of 4.85 seconds at only 6'3/235 lbs is somewhat concerning, and he may end up bulking up and playing center. Unless Klein significantly bulks up or drops his 40 time, my feeling is that he ends up at fullback.

The bigger news came later in the day when Klein's teammate, highly-touted OT Patrick Neumann, gave BC his verbal. Klein, one of BC's top offensive line targets, picked BC over an offer from FSU and with several other top programs, including Miami and Louisville, getting ready to offer. Neumann is an excellent prospect, likely to be rated as a high 3-star recruit, and will continue BC's tradition of quality offensive linemen.

The new recruits' high school, St. Joe's in Montvale, is also the alma mater of former Eagles Vinny Ciurciu and Augie Hoffman; New Jersey's Catholic schools are stocked with football talent and have provided BC with a great deal of talent over the years; we got away from recruiting New Jersey somewhat in the latter years of the Tom O'Brien area, so it's good to see those pipelines up and running again.

BC by the Positions - QB

Summer is kind of a dead time for college football fans. Sure, the guys are working out, but most programs (particularly those run by guys with NFL backgrounds) are secretive enough that it's tough to know what's going on aside from a media snippet here and there. So with an eye towards next season, I will break down the team BC will be bringing into the year, position by position. I will look at guys who figure to start this year, guys who figure to provide depth this year, young players on our roster who we will look to in the future, and our recruiting situation at that position. While much of this will not be new info to BC fans, I hope to analyze the situations (with a particular eye towards position battles) and give my take on things. It will also help educate opposing fans who may not know much about our team.

So without further ado, I will begin this series with a few words on the quarterback position.

The Starter: This man needs no introduction. Glenn Foley is a great radio host (I encourage anyone in the Philadelphia area to check him out on 950 am in the mornings), but he no longer holds the title of "BC's best quarterback since Flutie". We have in Matt Ryan the best QB by far in the ACC, and one of the best in the country. Ryan finished last season with 2942 passing yards, a 126.38 passer rating, 15 TD passes, and a 61.6% completion rating; good for first, fourth, tied for third, and third in the ACC respectively. His TD/INT ratio (15/10), while not overly impressive at first glance on a national scale, was best in the defensive-heavy ACC. His numbers in 2006 were good, if not great. However, as any BC fan knows, numbers do not tell the story with Ryan. For one thing, he accomplished these feats despite having merely an average WR corps by ACC standards (I could throw 20 TD passes, as Georgia Tech QB Reggie Ball did last season, with Calvin Johnson on my team), and despite being shackled by Tom O'Brien's ultra-conservative approach and by playing for Dana Bible, who is the worst offensive coordinator in the country. In addition to Bible's general incompetence, Ryan's TD numbers were hurt specifically by Bible's preference to keep the ball on the ground in the red zone. For another, he accomplished all of this despite playing on a sprained ankle for virtually the entire year and on a broken foot for about half of the year. Despite these injuries, he missed just one game during the year (and my hunch is that he would've played had that game not been against Buffalo in a driving monsoon).

More importantly, however, Ryan's most important asset is his leadership. Ever since he took a brutal hit against Clemson early in the 2005 season and returned to the game after missing just one play, he has been this team's emotional sparkplug. He knows how to win, and he rarely makes mistakes in critical situations (yes, he threw game-ending interceptions against Wake Forest and Miami last season; but he should not have been put in those desperation situations by the coaching staff in the first place).

With new offensive coordinator Steve Logan coming into town, the sky is the limit for Ryan this year. It is true that Ryan, a classical drop-back passer, does not fit the mold of mobile, athletic QBs generally favored by Logan. But unlike his predecessor, Logan is smart enough not to try to force a square peg into a round hole. Logan is one of the best QB gurus in the game today, having sent two passers to the NFL during his tenure at East Carolina (Jeff Blake and David Garrard), and his partnership with Ryan could prove lethal for opposing defenses. While Ryan is not likely to break off a 30-yard run, he is mobile in the sense that guys like Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, and Carson Palmer are mobile; that is to say, he can move around in the pocket, effectively avoid pressure, and buy his receivers more time to get open. BC's athletic department needs to start up the hype machine now, because Ryan is a legitimate Heisman contender; but when you don't play for a Texas or Notre Dame, you need your school to go to bat for you in the PR arena. So far there is little indication that BC has done this, which is extremely distressing to me. Aside from owing it to one of BC's best players ever, having a Heisman winner or even contender can pay off many times over down the line in recruiting (as well as the national profile of the school in general). In my opinion, Ryan and Louisville's Brian Brohm are the two best quarterbacks in the country this year. If BC has a strong start to the year and is in the hunt for a BCS bowl and the ACC title, he will be firmly in the running both for the Heisman and an early first-round NFL draft selection.

The Depth: It's not easy playing behind one of the country's best, but the QB position will be in good hands for at least one year after Ryan graduates. Junior Chris Crane has looked solid every time he's been called upon at BC, and led the Eagles to an overwhelming victory (so overwhelming, 41-0, that walk-on David D'Ambrosio was behind center for a good chunk of the 4th quarter) over Buffalo in his one career start last season. Granted, it was Buffalo; but even against the sternest opponents he has faced, BC's own defense in the last two spring games, Crane has impressed--even this year, despite playing behind a patchwork second-team offensive line that included true freshman Anthony Castonzo at right tackle. Playing primarily in the Buffalo game but also in mop-up duty against Maine and Duke (admittedly not the toughest opposition), Crane went 22 for 32 last year, throwing for 193 yards, 1 TD, and 1 interception (if I remember correctly, a good pass that bounced off a receiver's hands and straight to a Buffalo defender). He's not Matt Ryan, but few are. What he is is mobile in a way that Ryan is not, despite being a pass-first QB, and an prototypical Steve Logan QB. Crane reminds me somewhat in his style of play of Donovan McNabb (during McNabb's 230 lb pro tenure, not his 190 lb play at Syracuse). He looks to pass first, but is not afraid to take off downfield if nothing is there, and has the speed to punish defenses by doing so. At ECU, Logan made a habit of inserting the backup QB for one series during each half of every game; I don't think this will take place here, as it seems like it will be Jags' call rather than Logans, and I don't think that an NFL guy will want to do that, especially with a starting QB as good as Ryan. But Crane is more than capable of winning games for BC if he does play. Hopefully he will get the opportunity, but only in garbage time. Either way, I see him being a very effective starter for BC next season.

The Future: On this fall's roster will be redshirt freshman Billy Flutie, and true freshmen Chris Johnson and Dominique Davis. None will see time at QB this season unless BC is forced to go to a third QB due to injuries (or a combination of injury and a blowout lead; even then, as in the Buffalo game last year, you may see a walk-on instead). Despite his last name, Flutie's future at the Heights is not neccesarily behind center. While he reportedly looked good running the scout offense last year, Flutie did not take a single snap at QB in this year's spring game; he did, however, look fairly impressive at wideout. My feeling is that that either this or defensive back is his ultimate position at BC. That said, BC has frequently in the recent past used three QBs in a single season, and the coaching staff will have a decision to make. Do they keep Flutie at QB for emergency purposes; or do they move him to WR or DB, letting him learn the position full-time but forcing them to burn one of the true freshmen's redshirts (or hastily move Flutie back to QB) if Ryan and Crane both go down??

It remains to be seen, but my guess is that Flutie moves to WR or DB this year. So with that said, who of Johnson and Davis has the inside track?? It is tough to say without having seen them play other than in highlight films. Both are extremely raw, but athletic, signal-callers with good upside. Both fit well as mobile QBs in Logan's preferred offense. That said, if one of them is forced to play this year, I think Johnson is the slightly more polished QB. He looks to have a little bit better arm and quicker release than Davis does, and I like his mechanics a little bit more. Johnson is also a little bit faster than Davis (a reported 4.6 40 time to Davis' 4.7), which will help him escape bad situations better than Davis can. That said, Davis played at a higher level of high school ball, which would mean less of an adjustment to the ACC than Johnson will face. Ultimately, I think BC is in trouble if either guy is forced to play this year (but what school can't say that if both of their top QBs go down??), but both hold promise for the future.

Of course, with all three QBs (still counting Flutie until he's officially changed positions) set to be on the roster after 2008 being projects, we need to pull in a top signal-caller this year. The leading candidate seems to be Tommy Reamon Jr., a 6'2, 195 lb signal-caller from Virginia's Gloucester High School, alma mater of the Vick brothers and NFL veteran Aaron Brooks. While Reamon has not disclosed that he has an offer from BC, he has said that he holds offers from several schools but does not want to publicly disclose which ones. All the evidence indicates that BC is one of these schools. Reamon's father and high school coach, Tommy Sr., has been friends with both Logan and Jags for over two decades. The system he runs at Gloucester is very similar to the one Logan intends to install at BC. And he has stated that BC is one of the leaders for his services (interest and possible offers also coming from Georgia Tech, Virginia, Alabama, and UNC, among others). At the end of the day, I think Reamon is an Eagle in 2008.

Also on BC's radar are a pair of Florida QBs, DC Jefferson and Jacory Harris. Jefferson, one of the country's most highly sought-after QBs, is a Daunte Culpepper/JaMarcus Russell clone out of Winter Haven, FL. He stands 6'6, weighs 243, and has been clocked at 4.76 on the 40. His throwing mechanics need work, as do any high school QB's, but are not exceptionally raw. Aside from BC, he holds offers from LSU, Auburn, Tennessee, Rutgers, and Washington, and has named the three SEC schools as his leaders. He has also expressed public interest in Florida State and Miami, although neither has offered yet. Harris, out of Northwestern HS in Miami, currently holds offers from BC, LSU, Minnesota, Central Florida, Florida International, and Duke. A number of other SEC schools, however, along with Butch Davis' Tar Heels, are expected to offer soon. At 6'4 and 169 lbs, Harris' stature might be a concern, but he can certainly put on weight when he gets to college, and his 4.8 40 time is impressive for a QB. While I think BC has a shot at both of these guys (probably more so with Harris), I expect Reamon to ultimately be our primary target at the position as well as our most likely get of the three.

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Disturbing Google Search Phrase of the Week: "m 4 m today hook up akron men for men"
Ugh. I don't even WANT to know how that turned up this site.

Odds and Ends

Sorry I haven't updated much in the last week or so, finals have been killing me.

First off the bat, Bill will be a special guest on EDSBS radio tonight, sharing his thoughts on the state of the BC program (at least I'm assuming that's what he'll be doing). Check it out at 7:30 Eastern.

Recruiting keeps chugging along, with BC currently holding a pair of commitments from local recruits, RB Isaac Johnson and OT/DE Nick Halloran (no relation to former Eagles QB Shawn, at least as far as anyone I've asked is aware). I'll have a better update on recruiting probably later this week.

Good move for Al Skinner's squad picking up Vermont transfer Joe Trapani. He's not likely to be a starter (when everyone is healthy, which is a rarity at BC), but should be a solid contributor after sitting out his transfer year.

Finally, a few hockey notes: First, UNH has released their 2007-08 schedule; BC will take on the Wildcats on Nov. 10th and Feb. 23rd in Durham and at home on Feb. 22nd. Second, you've probably all seen Sunday's Globe by now, but there is an interesting blurb on the prospect of Cory Schneider returning to the Heights; I have a good feeling about this one. Finally, BC is hot on the trail of Halifax forward/pitcher Steven Anthony, who hopes to play both hockey and baseball at the NCAA level. Assuming he gets clearance to play both sports at BC (and is good enough to play baseball at the ACC level; I've heard that he's not as good a baseball prospect as hockey, but not sure whether he's good enough to play for BC), you have to love BC's chances to get him, considering that we're one of very few schools to play both sports at a high level.

Glasper Speaks

Although graduating BC safety Ryan Glasper had already told the story of his senior season in an NFL Radio interview a week or so ago, it hadn't received much national attention. That has just changed. In an interview with Alan Grant (who apparently moonlights as a sports journalist when not evading T-Rexes and velociraptors) of ESPN's Page 2, Glasper relates the conversation he had with Tom O'Brien after last year's loss to NC State:

"How's your hip?" he asked.

"It's coming along," Glasper replied.

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

The coach could have forgotten. Once the season starts, coaches are busy and distracted and often lose sight of details that don't pertain to next week's game. Maybe the coach needed to be reminded of the details. So the player reminded him.

"I'm redshirting," Glasper said.

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

Glasper was shocked into silence. But O'Brien continued.

"I hold the keys to what you do," the coach said. "We don't have to grant you a fifth year. Besides, I can't count on you."

Glasper seethes at the retelling of the story.

"I respect all people and I've always been a team player," Glasper says. "But when he said all that, I just wanted to punch that dude."

So to recap, BC Nation:

Breaking a promise to a snakebitten senior QB that he would be the starter when there is a clearly superior, younger QB and your senior is costing the other 84 guys on your team games right and left = Not OK

Breaking a promise to redshirt a senior who has sweated, bled, and gave his all for your team for the past 4 years so that he can heal up and be able to perform to the best of his ability in his final year of eligibility = OK

As furious as I am about O'Brien's treatment of a true BC Guy (the article also contains a lot of interesting information on Glasper's background that I hadn't been aware of), I'm equally happy that this fucking fraud is finally being exposed in the national media for what he is. There's now no doubt in my mind not only that he simply stopped trying to win in about 2004 or 2005, knowing that it wouldn't be long before he'd be out of town, but that he deliberately attempted to sabotage the team so that he would look better in comparison to his successor.

BC should send a copy of this article to every kid we are competing with the Wolfpack for, and I hope Butch Davis or Skip Holtz or Brian Kelly or whoever sends out copies to every kid NC State is after, even players that BC isn't in the mix for. There is no possible way that anyone could want to play for Tom O'Backstabber after reading that.

Thank God that douchebag is gone.

Raiders, Terriers, and Hoyas, Oh My

Another huge weekend for BC sports is almost upon us, as the hoops team prepares to open NCAA tournament play against Bobby Knight's Texas Tech Red Raiders while the hockey team is set for another matchup, the 5th of the season, against archrival BU in the Hockey East semifinals. A win over the Raiders in the 12:35 pm game on Thursday would in all likelihood set up a meeting with former Big East foe Georgetown on Saturday.

For the first time in years, we at BC can't complain about our seeding or placement in the NCAA hoops tournament. A 7 seed is fair (although some at Texas Tech are lamenting the missed opportunity for a first-round matchup with another 7 seed and Knight's former employers, Indiana) and playing in Winston-Salem with UNC in our bracket (and safely on the other side) can only help us--it's a short trip, the players will be familiar with the surroundings from having played at Wake Forest, and hopefully a crowd that will likely be overwhelmingly clad in Carolina Blue will also pull for their conference bretheren. After several consecutive years of getting screwed, I'm relieved here.

I'll have more on the game later this week, but until then ATLEagle, Angry Eagle, and Double-T Nation should have some insight.

As for hockey, well, we all knew it would come to this. BC-BU, for a shot at the Hockey East title as well as a possible 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Although I won't be at the game, my non-presence ensures that I will be there on Saturday to see us take on either UNH or a red-hot UMass team.

(Oh yeah, Saturday. If we beat Texas Tech and BU, BC will be playing for a Hockey East tournament title and a Sweet Sixteen berth....both on St. Patrick's Day. Throw in an afternoon Dropkick Murphys concert at Agganis Arena and the fact that I stopped off at the New Hampshire state discount liquor store yesterday on the way back from Vermont and I doubt I'll remember seeing us lift the HEA banner.)

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Very interesting article on EagleAction yesterday on the areas of recruiting responsibility for each of the new coaches. Some of it was old news, but a lot is new information. To sum up:


Spaz - "spot recruiter" for Mass., involvement with all defensive recruits

Logan - Involvement with all offensive recruits, particularly QBs

McGovern - North Jersey, Long Island

Siravo - North Shore of Mass., Connecticut, SE Pennsylvania outside of Philly, Rhode Island, Virginia, involvement with all recruits as recruiting coordinator

Turner - Northern Florida, eastern Pennsylvania including Philly

Sirmans - Western PA, South Jersey, Ohio, "spot recruiter" in Michigan and Indiana

Yanowsky - Illinois, Carolinas, central Florida, Houston area

Commisiong - Western Mass, NY state outside Long Island, northwest NJ

Day - Maryland, DC, southern Florida, Georgia


A couple thoughts:

-I'd like to get a guy in California, or at the very least the LA metro area; it'd also be nice if Yanowsky can scout the Dallas area as well; Commisiong seems to have the lightest load of anyone currently so perhaps he could also take SoCal

-Boston and the immediate suburbs as well as the South Shore weren't mentioned in the article, my guess is Siravo will take them since he has most of the rest of New England; Commisiong would also be a possibility

-Siravo seems to have a lot on his plate so my guess is that his responsibility for Virginia won't include the DC suburbs in the northern part of the state, and that Day will take these. The state of Virginia as a whole is a potential gold mine for BC and I'd like to get at least 2 coaches working there

-One of the first and most telling recruiting tests for the new staff will be DT Masengo Kabongo from Fairfield, CT, and consequently I love the fact that Connecticut falls under the responsibility of Siravo, who I have the highest hopes for of any coach on the staff as a recruiter

-The Tidewater region of Virginia and the Carolinas always seem to produce a ton of dual-threat QBs, and conveniently enough this is Logan's home region and area of expertise...I think we'll do well there, starting with Tommy Reamon, a QB from Newport News whose coach, a longtime friend of Logan's, has compared him favorably to the Vick brothers (who attended the same high school as Reamon) at the same stage of development and who has mentioned BC as one of his leaders

-Day is going to be thrown right into the fire...his areas of responsibility are all crucial to BC's success. Georgia and the DC metro area in particular are both places we need to start tapping into

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All I got for now, but I'll have more on the Texas Tech and BU games as the week progresses.

Also, if anyone is making the trip to Winston-Salem, say hi to this guy for me:

Tournament Time; First '08 Recruit

Both BC winter teams kick off conference tournament play this weekend, with the hockey team taking the ice tonight against Northeastern in a best-2-out-of-3 series while the hoops team will face the winner of this afternoon's Maryland-Miami game tomorrow in Tampa.

The contrast between the notes on which the two teams enter their conference tournaments could not be more apparent. The hockey team is red-hot right now, probably the hottest team in the country. Where just 2 weeks ago they were in serious danger of not even making the NCAA tournament, we now have a decent chance to sew up a #1 seed. Back-to-back-to-back sweeps of Maine, Lowell, and New Hampshire have re-ignited the offense and given the team a huge amount of momentum heading into the postseason. Even the special teams unit, traditionally the bane of BC's existence, is playing as well as anyone in the country--the power play unit, which has been horrible most of the year, has scored at an astonishing 28.6% rate over the last 9 games and the penalty kill, which has been great all year, came up huge against UNH, particularly late in the second period of Friday night's game in Durham, shortly after the Wildcats, who had dominated the period, pulled back to 2-1 down and promptly went a man up with about 2:40 remaining in the stanza. BC woke up, kept the puck in UNH's zone for virtually the entire 2 minutes, and didn't allow UNH to even set up its power play until about 30 seconds remained on the penalty; even then, they got just one shot off. The penalty kill was the turning point of the game, the weekend, and perhaps even the season for these Eagles, who are tied with Michigan at 9th in the current pairwise rankings (using a .03 road win bonus, which is generally accepted to be more or less accurate) but could easily move up with a strong showing in the tournament and have to be considered one of the heavy favorites for the national crown.

There is some concern on the defensive side of things due to injuries. Carl Sneep and Anthony Aiello are both expected to miss this weekend, and Sneep may miss the entire HEA tournament with a high ankle sprain. Although an article in today's Patriot Ledger indicates that Brian Boyle may switch to the blue line until one of the two returns, I don't see it happening. The defense did fine in the UNH series, allowing just 3 goals in 2 games (one of which was a fluke), without both guys. Sure, Cory Schneider had to stand on his head the entire weekend, but I have little doubt the defense will settle down.

At the end of the day, I don't see Northeastern putting up much of a fight this weekend. Yes, the Huskies traditionally give BC problems--in Matthews Arena, which is one of the most hostile atmospheres in the country. But Northeastern hasn't won in Conte Forum (or, for that matter, beaten BC on neutral ice) since November 13, 1998. I don't see them breaking that streak tonight or tomorrow. BC will sew it up on Friday night and get an extra day of rest over its rivals, each of whom will go 3 games this weekend.

Predictions:
Thursday - BC 4, Northeastern 1
Friday - BC 5, Northeastern 0

Other HEA quarterfinal predictions:
UNH over Providence in 3
Vermont over BU in 3
Maine over UMass in 3

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The hoops team, meanwhile, finds itself stumbling into the ACC tournament. Although Jared Dudley was rewarded yesterday with well-deserved ACC Player of the Year honors, the team has dropped 4 of its last 5. None of the losses were particularly bad from a standpoint of who we lost to, but nonetheless the team's form is troubling.

We may have caught a break, however. As I was writing the first part of this post, a 12-19 Miami team managed to knock off #17 Maryland and BC will now face a weak Hurricanes squad tomorrow. The Eagles have already beaten the 'Canes twice this year, 82-63 in Chestnut Hill and 75-68 in Coral Gables. I don't see us losing tomorrow. Miami's emotional win today will catch up to them against a rested and focused BC squad. BC will win tomorrow, and that likely means another shot at UNC--call me crazy, but I think we'll give them another run for their money and maybe even pull off the upset this time.

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Finally, the football team has landed its first 2008 recruit, Everett High School athlete Isaac Johnson. Johnson, who is expected to play RB at BC, is the first recruit in over 30 years to BC from Everett, traditionally one of the top HS programs in the state. Tom O'Brien refused to even try to recruit the place, which would have allowed Diamond Ferri to go to Syracuse had Diamond Ferri been born in the first place, which he wasn't. This is a sign of very good things to come for BC. Look for us to add at least 1, probably 2 more RB recruits in this class, but people who have watched Johnson play say he could be a Top 250 recruit in the 2008 class.

Holy Shit, a FHMAM Update!!

OK folks, sorry I've been off the wagon for a while but I've been really busy, plus my internet connection and Blogger have both been giving me problems left and right. You get what you pay for, I guess (that's referring to Blogger, not the internet connection).

Anyway, after back-to-back sweeps over Maine and Lowell, the hockey team again takes the ice Friday night in Durham for the first half of a home-and-home against Hockey East-leading #3 UNH. Friday will be my first game at the Whit, so I'm pumped for that. I'll have a preview of the weekend in the next day or two. I will say now that the team is rounding into form at exactly the right time--I'm very optimistic about our chances in the Hockey East and NCAA tournaments. We're looking pretty strong for the NCAAs as it is and either a split with UNH or advancement to the Hockey East semis should lock up a berth.

The hoops team suffered 3 consecutive losses, two of which were pretty bad, but rebounded with a strong win over Clemson on Senior Day. Right now I'd say anything this team can accomplish is pretty good--everyone wrote them off and penciled them into the NIT after the suspension of Sean Williams, but Jared Dudley has taken the team on his back (with help from Tyrese Rice, Sean Marshall, and Tyrelle Blair) and locked up an NCAA berth. It'll be absolutely criminal if he doesn't win the ACC player of the year award.

Football recruiting is a year-round sport and BC's offers are beginning to fill out for next season. We've contacted some serious heavy hitters--Jags and co. are not afraid to go toe-to-toe with the big boys, and I think we'll land at least a few of these guys. At some point in the near future I'll discuss some of these guys and talk about how I rate our chances of getting them.

Finally, an interesting story out of St. Joe's University--apparently their student council has decided to officially adopt BC as the home team, and Hawk fans will be making a trip to a BC game next year. I was always a Villanova basketball fan growing up (although growing up in Philly you tend to pull for all the local hoops teams, even the arch-rival of your favorite), but St. Joe's is now pretty high on the list as well. Hopefully we can get a few more schools on board with similar deals (Providence and Merrimack, both Catholic schools in New England with no football teams that probably have a lot of BC fans in their student bodies anyway, are both naturals).