Boston College: Slouching toward Irrelevance

[DanMcQ]

They love BC here in Boston: goo.gl/mccvr

[MassHoya]

The gods do have a way of rewarding treachery. How's that ACC thing working out, BC?

[DanMcQ]

Boston.com: Why Do Boston College Sports Barely Matter Here?

[aleutianhoya]

It's really pretty simple. When.....

Your basketball program hasn't even sniffed the NCAA's more than once in the last eight years;
Your basketball program hasn't been to the second weekend more than twice in the last thirty years;
Your football program hasn't had a ten win season in seven years;
Your football program's last appearance in a major bowl game was thirty years ago;
You're a private institution in a region filled with alumni from other institutions; and
You're in a self-described "pro" sports market.....

You're not going to get much interest from the populace. Oh, and there's that thing about ditching your historical and regional rivals to play teams located just north of Honduras.

[njhoya78]

Not being a Bostonian, I can't comment on the manner in which the local populace views Boston College. I'd be curious as to what longtime residents feel about BC's athletic programs now, relative to when the Eagles were Big East members. One thing is for certain. . .BC is getting a lot more money now to be a doormat to ACC members than it did in the Big East. I do know what BC alums feel about the trade-off. They've never really been accepted as an ACC school (are you listening, Syracuse/Pittsburgh/Louisville/Notre Dame), and they don't like being maroon-and-gold haired step-children.

As always, though, money talks.

[Buckets]

Nov 25, 2014 14:23:40 GMT -5 aleutianhoya said:

You're a private institution in a region filled with alumni from other institutions; and
You're in a self-described "pro" sports market.....

It's really mostly these two that are causing everything else. New England isn't exactly teeming with athletic talent, so you're essentially talking about talking kids into moving away from home to somewhere freezing cold where the public doesn't give a and the professors do.

[hoyarooter]

They're still good in hockey, aren't they?

[njhoya78]

Number 12 nationally (Boston University was #1 in the most recent polls, although they were beaten by Harvard tonight).

[Jack]

Nov 25, 2014 16:40:54 GMT -5 njhoya78 said:

Not being a Bostonian, I can't comment on the manner in which the local populace views Boston College. I'd be curious as to what longtime residents feel about BC's athletic programs now, relative to when the Eagles were Big East members. One thing is for certain. . .BC is getting a lot more money now to be a doormat to ACC members than it did in the Big East. I do know what BC alums feel about the trade-off. They've never really been accepted as an ACC school (are you listening, Syracuse/Pittsburgh/Louisville/Notre Dame), and they don't like being maroon-and-gold haired step-children.

As always, though, money talks.

Nah, BC alums refuse to acknowledge that the ACC may have been a mistake - they just say that they had to do it, "look at what has become of the Big East," never acknowledging their role in that process and pretend that life is so much better now that they get to play Duke and UNC rather than Georgetown and UCon. At least now that Cuse is in the conference they have some chance of a visiting fanbase selling out Conte Forum again.

Although I am a lifelong Hoyas fan, I grew up going to BC games in the Big East and typically going to a football game once a year, too. The football experience was never outstanding, but could be fun depending on the opponent. The basketball experience was really pretty good, with lots of excitement when GU or Cuse was in town, spirited rivalry games with PC and UCon, and some surprising runs during the O'Brien and Skinner years. The public at large didn't live and die with BC sports, but everyone I know remembers Flutie, David Gordon, and Billy Curley at the least. I have not been to a basketball game since they left the conference, and don't have any intention of going now. I may go to a football game so long as the tickets are free (you can almost always find someone giving them away) and the tailgate is set. But no one I know now talks about BC sports other than maybe a handful of alums at my office.

[DanMcQ]

Nov 25, 2014 21:58:07 GMT -5 hoyarooter said:

They're still good in hockey, aren't they?

Women ranked #1 and still undefeated (14-0-1). My admin assistant's eldest is a freshman defenseman on the team. I watched them lose a tight 4-3 game against the US Women's Olympic squad (plus team Canada's top forward) in the college division of a showcase tournament in Marlborough MA this past summer. Their freshman goalie, Katie Burt, is phenomenal.

[DanMcQ]

Nov 26, 2014 10:49:32 GMT -5 Jack said:

Nov 25, 2014 16:40:54 GMT -5 njhoya78 said:

Not being a Bostonian, I can't comment on the manner in which the local populace views Boston College. I'd be curious as to what longtime residents feel about BC's athletic programs now, relative to when the Eagles were Big East members. One thing is for certain. . .BC is getting a lot more money now to be a doormat to ACC members than it did in the Big East. I do know what BC alums feel about the trade-off. They've never really been accepted as an ACC school (are you listening, Syracuse/Pittsburgh/Louisville/Notre Dame), and they don't like being maroon-and-gold haired step-children.

As always, though, money talks.

Nah, BC alums refuse to acknowledge that the ACC may have been a mistake - they just say that they had to do it, "look at what has become of the Big East," never acknowledging their role in that process and pretend that life is so much better now that they get to play Duke and UNC rather than Georgetown and UCon. At least now that Cuse is in the conference they have some chance of a visiting fanbase selling out Conte Forum again.

Although I am a lifelong Hoyas fan, I grew up going to BC games in the Big East and typically going to a football game once a year, too. The football experience was never outstanding, but could be fun depending on the opponent. The basketball experience was really pretty good, with lots of excitement when GU or Cuse was in town, spirited rivalry games with PC and UCon, and some surprising runs during the O'Brien and Skinner years. The public at large didn't live and die with BC sports, but everyone I know remembers Flutie, David Gordon, and Billy Curley at the least. I have not been to a basketball game since they left the conference, and don't have any intention of going now. I may go to a football game so long as the tickets are free (you can almost always find someone giving them away) and the tailgate is set. But no one I know now talks about BC sports other than maybe a handful of alums at my office.

A Hoya classmate and Boston native and I bought season tickets when Bill Curley was a freshman (1990) and kept them until the conversation I had with a smug, arrogant athletics department rep who was trying to strongarm me for a new personal seat license donation and thought "we have a list of alumni as long as your arm who are dying to have your tickets" was a good sales pitch. That was before the hubris of the ACC move and we bailed on tickets at that point. I could get my seats at a discount on stubhub for most any game now but frankly the product has been lacking for years. Thirty pieces of silver ain't always what it's cracked up to be.

[njhoya78]

I see that BC is the only ACC school not participating in the ACC-B1G challenge. Says a great deal about how well the Eagles are expected to do this season.

[sleepy]

Does anyone really believe that had BC not jumped to the ACC back in 2004, that the BE could have been in any other place than it is today. BC more than any other football school had more to lose by staying. While a few Alumns and fans where initially against the move, virtually all today are estatic that they are where they are, rather than in the dreaded AAC. The reality was and is that B-Ball was always the ugly sister to both Hockey and Football and outside of about 18 months in 83 and 84, the Flutie years, did the media ever give much more than courtesy coverage to BC and college sports in general in Boston even less so today. The only problem that really exist with the basketball program has been very poor decisions by multiple ADs in certain coaching decisions, but then again they take basketball about like they take field hockey.

[DanMcQ]

BC’s big revenue sports hit bottom, stirring scrutiny

The thrill of victory is all but gone at The Heights, where BC’s major revenue sports of football and basketball are captive to the greatest competitive crisis in the school’s history, a failure to thrive that has raised concerns about the administration’s role in the collapse.

Ten years after BC entered the ACC, the big money of college sports continues to cascade into the university’s coffers. But the sorry state of the school’s showcase sports has depleted morale, sapped attendance, diminished BC’s national athletic stature, and prompted calls for action.

The university also faces a diversity problem. Every head coach of BC’s 31 sports teams is white, and the university’s 51-member board of trustees does not include any African-Americans.

Few alumni have expressed greater concern about BC athletics than members of the 1984 team that won the Cotton Bowl and helped Flutie capture the Heisman Trophy after the Hail Mary game weeks earlier — a nationally televised 47-45 victory over the University of Miami, the defending national champion.

“It doesn’t feel like there’s a real strategy in place or a real fundamental focus on creating an athletic platform at Boston College that is superlative,’’ said Scott Gieselman, a key member of the ’84 team who has been a major supporter of BC athletics. “That’s how you end up in mediocrity, which is where we are today.’’

More than a year has passed since BC won an ACC football or basketball contest, a record 27-game losing streak. Home football attendance has dropped to its lowest point in 25 years, largely because season ticket sales have plummeted by more than 60 percent since BC joined the ACC.

The basketball team is mired in a fifth straight losing season, the program’s longest slump since World War II. And turnout for home games has shrunk by more than 50 percent in the ACC era.

By contrast, BC’s men’s and women’s hockey teams, which compete in the Hockey East Association, are national powers. The women, at 39-0 this season, are two victories away from a national championship, while the men, chasing their fourth national title since 2008, are 25-6-5 after Saturday night’s 4-2 playoff loss to the University of Vermont.

Great comment in the comments section following the article:

I imagine Jim Calhoun read this article with great amusement.

[aleutianhoya]

Mar 13, 2016 10:35:40 GMT -5 DanMcQ said:

BC’s big revenue sports hit bottom, stirring scrutiny

The thrill of victory is all but gone at The Heights, where BC’s major revenue sports of football and basketball are captive to the greatest competitive crisis in the school’s history, a failure to thrive that has raised concerns about the administration’s role in the collapse.

Ten years after BC entered the ACC, the big money of college sports continues to cascade into the university’s coffers. But the sorry state of the school’s showcase sports has depleted morale, sapped attendance, diminished BC’s national athletic stature, and prompted calls for action.

The university also faces a diversity problem. Every head coach of BC’s 31 sports teams is white, and the university’s 51-member board of trustees does not include any African-Americans.

Few alumni have expressed greater concern about BC athletics than members of the 1984 team that won the Cotton Bowl and helped Flutie capture the Heisman Trophy after the Hail Mary game weeks earlier — a nationally televised 47-45 victory over the University of Miami, the defending national champion.

“It doesn’t feel like there’s a real strategy in place or a real fundamental focus on creating an athletic platform at Boston College that is superlative,’’ said Scott Gieselman, a key member of the ’84 team who has been a major supporter of BC athletics. “That’s how you end up in mediocrity, which is where we are today.’’

More than a year has passed since BC won an ACC football or basketball contest, a record 27-game losing streak. Home football attendance has dropped to its lowest point in 25 years, largely because season ticket sales have plummeted by more than 60 percent since BC joined the ACC.

The basketball team is mired in a fifth straight losing season, the program’s longest slump since World War II. And turnout for home games has shrunk by more than 50 percent in the ACC era.

By contrast, BC’s men’s and women’s hockey teams, which compete in the Hockey East Association, are national powers. The women, at 39-0 this season, are two victories away from a national championship, while the men, chasing their fourth national title since 2008, are 25-6-5 after Saturday night’s 4-2 playoff loss to the University of Vermont.

Good. Edited them. They deserve every bad thing they get. It's particularly joyful that they left in search of financial ritches, and their finances are now in tatters. I don't have the same ire for the other defectors; BC alone was duplicitous and had a real choice. Not only that but they continue to screw UConn to this day. I have no love for UConn of course. But they were a longtime partner; they assisted in creating the BE brand and carried lots of water for BC when BC sucked. And they still screw them. Again: Edited them.

[DanMcQ]

ajerseyguy.com/?p=13330

One long time BC backer, who has watched the situation at BC slide into a steady decline of the Eagles and offered this suggestion.
“They (BC) need to change their motto from “Ever to excel” to “Someone’s got to lose”.

That is a role that BC is doing as well as anyone in the country.

[sleepy]

Mar 13, 2016 11:14:32 GMT -5 DanMcQ said:

ajerseyguy.com/?p=13330

One long time BC backer, who has watched the situation at BC slide into a steady decline of the Eagles and offered this suggestion.
“They (BC) need to change their motto from “Ever to excel” to “Someone’s got to lose”.

That is a role that BC is doing as well as anyone in the country.

Knowing Blaudshun he probably made the quote up himself.

Its a very sad situation and its all about the money.little incentive to improve the product when diminishing attendance is made up 5 fold in ACC money. They may win in hockey but no one is going to games anymore more a reflection on the current student body and the fact that very few people care at all about college sports in Boston anymore.

[DanMcQ]

Agree regarding Blaudschun and sports in Boston in general.

[Nevada Hoya]

BC for the 2nd year in a row scored 0 points in the ACC conference track and field meet.

[DanMcQ]

Dan Shaughnessy today:

Can anyone explain why Boston College football coach Steve Addazio is paid more than $2.5 million per year while losing 11 consecutive ACC games? It can’t be the gate receipts. BC’s once-strong season-ticket football base is less than half of what it was and now hovers in the 14,000 range.

Look for athletic director Brad Bates to be gone soon. San Diego State is looking for a good man.