Road Trip Report: Brian Back From Cleveland

932 miles later and I'm back from Cleveland.

Jeff and I will discuss the game and the opening weekend of college football tomorrow, but I wanted to give you a bunch of incoherent and highly random thoughts on my road trip to Cleveland to see Boston College kick off its 2008 college football season.

Friend of the blog and our BC Interruption NHL bureau chief Christian, his dad Joe and I left the New York City area Friday around 6am and got to Cleveland around 1pm. We got settled at the hotel and decided to walk around to get a feel for the city.

Not that I was expecting much of it, but there was absolutely no buzz about this game on Friday. A guy was standing at the front of the hotel waiting for his car to be valeted and saw that we were wearing Boston College gear. He started up a conversation asking about why we were here, who BC was playing, etc. He was a Michigan grad so he knew all about the Wolverines season opener in the Big House, but nothing about the BC game being played a few blocks away. (I didn't have the heart to tell him I thought Utah was going to beat Michigan). As we walked around the city Friday, only the occasional Superfan or maroon t-shirt could be found.


We went to Progressive Field to see the Indians vs. Mariners game on Friday night, and to cross another major league ballpark off our list. The stadium was really nice, one of the better stadiums I've been to. On par with Citizen's Bank Park in Philadelphia, Safeco in Seattle or Camden Yards in Baltimore. After an hour rain delay, the lake-effect rain quickly blew through and the game started at 8pm. The Mariners beat the Indians 3-2 behind a Raul Ibanez home run and seven strikeouts from Seattle starter Felix Hernandez.

The Indians sell logo-shaped pretzels at Progressive Field. Conte Forum concessions coordinators - take note. I fully expect 'B' and 'C' shaped pretzels next year.


On gameday, in the morning we grabbed a quick bite to eat and visited the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. As far as Hall of Fames go, this one is pretty cool. We were fully expecting to see the different inductees on plaques a la Cooperstown or Yankee Stadium's Monument Park. However the Hall is much more a museum dedicated to rock music than a shrine of bronzed statues. A few more BC superfan shirts and members of the whale pants crowd are spotted during the morning at the Hall of Fame. I feel a tiny bit better about the Eagles showing at this game.

Later during the day, one of my friends was texting me and telling me he was pretty nervous about this game. The biggest unknown going into the season was obviously the play of senior quarterback Chris Crane, and my buddy was sweating his performance. I wasn't very nervous about the game, but my friend's nervousness and lack of sleep the night before had me a bit concerned. However, when I was forwarded Reverend Mike's guest blogger post on Eagle in Atlanta, I was put at ease. I totally buy the fact that Boston College wins when we wear our all-white uniforms and crashes and burns when we wear any other combination of away jerseys. Proof that Reverend Mike's science is true:

• When BC wears the all-white uniforms with Brian in attendance: 3-0 (Virginia Tech, Clemson, Champs Sports Bowl)
• When BC wears the white jersey, gold pants with Brian in attendance: 0-1 (at Maryland)

Sample size may be a little too small, but I totally buy into this. When I arrived at the game and found out that BC was wearing the all-white jerseys, I was completely at ease.


Here's the thing about Cleveland. The city isn't all that big. We walked across the downtown area in about 10 minutes. However, there are some really cool big ticket items you need to see if you've never been to the city before. In order, they are:

1. Go see an Indians / Browns / Cavaliers game and
2. Go to the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame

Outside of these big ticket items, that's all there really is to see in Cleveland. Unless you consider the tour of the house from the movie A Christmas Story to also be a big ticket item. I personally can't stand that freaking movie. This may be compounded by the fact that when I go home for the Christmas holiday, certain members of my family insist on watching the movie 24 hours straight during the holiday. Guhh.


Note: Unfortunately, I did not make the A Christmas Story house tour on this trip.

After the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, we went back to the hotel to brush up on some of the other college football games going on during the day. We watched the second half of the Virginia Tech vs. East Carolina game and watched the Hokies get Beamer balled. Admittedly, I was half rooting for the Pirates to pull off the upset, but felt bad about this fact knowing that if the Pirates won, the ACC would look awful. Still, the Hokies did kill the Eagles dream season last year so I felt justified in rooting for the Pirates if only for this one game. Full disclosure: I wasn't expecting the bottom to fall out with Clemson's loss Saturday night to Alabama in the Georgia Dome, so I thought rooting against the Hokies was mildly acceptable.

A bit about the Patriot Bowl. How did Boston College end up in this game? My understanding is that the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission set up this game to pit a MAC Ohio team (Akron, Kent State, Miami Ohio etc.) against one of the service acadamies to kickoff the college football season. Last year, Army played Akron to a crowd of 17,865. The game was set up with an average expected attendance of 30,000+ given Army's road and neutral site attendance in 2007. The Boston Herald hit the nail right on the head when they described yesterday's atmosphere as a cavernous Cleveland Browns Stadium. A mere 10,788 attended the game, with probably 55-60% cheering for local Kent State. Visiting Boston College against an average MAC team just doesn't have the same draw as one of the service academies.


Kent State's on campus stadium seats 29,287, and my guess is a lot more people would have attended the game if it had been a home game for Kent State (even if Kent State has only gone to two bowls in their school's history, the last being in 1972). I don't expect the Eagles to ever play in this game again. For this game to be a viable neutral site college football game going forward, I would imagine the game will have to include a MAC Ohio team and one of the service academies who isn't Army.

Besides, there is only one college football team anyone cares about in the state of Ohio and they were playing earlier that day against Youngstown State.


We got to the game and our seats were in the first row. Which isn't saying much because a lot of attendees were able to sit in the front row if they wanted. We got to see up close a BC team that looked unlike anything we've seen before from the Eagles.


Sitting close to the action, one thing that struck me is the size of some of our players. Since Jeff and I graduated, I think the Eagles continue to improve our recruiting classes by bringing in bigger and stronger athletes. At 6'4" 240 pounds, Crane is built. It will be hard for defenses to stop him as he swings around the outside on pitches, options and quarterback sneaks. I was also surprised at how tall guys like Colin Larmond Jr. and Purvis were. Seems like we are in good hands for the next few years.

Also, Mark Herzlich is going to play on Sundays and is going to be a beast.


On an unrelated note, I am totally opposed to this Gold Rush gear the Athletics Department marketed to our season ticket holders. Our fans just look straight up confused. While I understand that this new gold matches more with the accent colors on the uniforms the football, basketball and hockey teams wear, a lot of Eagles fans are still wearing the yellow-gold colored Superfan shirts. Others are wearing football jerserys or maroon shirts. There's no unity. We just look disorganized. Awful. If we wanted to switch up our fan gear in favor of this new Gold Rush gold, we should have redesigned and/or reprinted the Superfan shirts to match and held some sort of Superfan t-shirt trade-in program.

Adding to the confusion were the Kent State t-shirts that were colored Superfan gold.

I also found out two things I didn't know about everyone's most hated ESPN affiliate, ESPN U. ESPN U is 1) based out of Charlotte, NC, not Bristol and 2) now broadcast in HD.


While I leaned over the side of the seats, I noticed the ESPN U sideline reporter reapplying makeup. Our conversation went something like this:

Me: Don't worry about it, you look fine.
ESPN U Sideline reporter: Yeah, but ESPN U is now broadcast in HD.
Me: ...

A minute or two later.

Me: Did you fly out here today? From Bristol? (trying to sound smart)
ESPN U Sideline reporter: Actually, ESPN U is based out of Charlotte.
Me: Oh ... so you cover a lot of the ACC games?
ESPN U Sideline reporter: Yep. ACC, Big Ten and now the SEC too.
Me: I saw that. That's a pretty big deal.

Soon there after, she made her way to the opposite sideline, probably because she didn't want to be bothered anymore. Conclusions I draw from this encounter:

1. She would have much rather been covering an SEC game than the Patriot Bowl between Kent State and Boston College
3. People are much more self-conscience of how they look knowing that they are being broadcast in high def.


Overall, a pretty good trip to Cleveland. Even though the city is fairly small and doesn't have a whole lot to offer, I'd imagine it was better than a weekend in Kent, Ohio.

Also making the trip worthwhile was seeing the Eagles got the job done. The defense was solid and the offense showed a lot of promise. Given the giant suck that was the rest of the ACC this weekend, the Eagles didn't commit any major mistakes and Crane was effective. No penalties, no turnovers. Add to this the defense shutting down Eugene Jarvis and I'd say mission accomplished. Few teams across the country can boast a shutout in their first game of the season ... even Chattanooga got 2 points.

More on the suck that is the ACC tomorrow.

One win down, thirteen to go.

Go Eagles!

Season Kickoff and the Big Finish

Jeff: Brian is on the road to Cleveland and I am unfortunately home. For those of you who watched College Football Live on ESPN2 on Wednesday night instead of the Sox beating the Yankees, you saw Jags give a live phone interview. If you were not worried about our QB position before, you should be now. Rece Davis posed the following question and Jags stuttered and struggled to answer it. I hope Chris Crane wasn't watching because I don't think it would've helped his confidence going into Saturday's game.


From ESPN2 College Football Live:

Rece Davis: "What did you expect from Crane going into training camp?"

Jags: "Well, I saw everyday that the guy got better with every snap. It's like it was a learning for him. I mean, we call him our fifth year freshman … at our place. But he's getting better with every snap he takes."

I don't know who wants to be called a fifth year freshman and coaches can usually come up with more to say about good players other than that they are improving.

Brian: Ahh, starting to doubt too, eh Jeff? I think we will be fine. Remember that Chris Crane isn't one of Jagodzinski's recruits so that might have something to do with it as well. While I wouldn't personally want to be called a "fifth-year freshman," I think Crane will do just enough to make us successful this season.

Jeff: I am not doubting our team, just Chris Crane. We now know that Davis is going to see some time and who knows, it might be a lot of time. We'll get more answers Saturday but I still expect this team to compete for the Atlantic division crown and spend most of the year in the top 25.


Big Finish

Brian: ESPN's Doug McIntyre has the Eagles men's soccer team ranked #4 going into this season and wonder if this is the year we finally get over the playoff hump. Odds Boston College can get through a brutal ACC schedule and win the National Championship in men's soccer this year.

Jeff: 10%. I hope they can win another ACC title.


Jeff: I'm giving you one last chance to change your ridiculous prediction that BC will go 6-2 in conference and finish 3rd in their division.

Brian: I am definitely sticking with my 6-2 prediction. Clemson, Wake and BC all go 3-0 against the Coastal and 3-2 intra division. Certainly not as ridiculous a prediction as UVA finishing second in the Coastal Division.

Jeff: You have said yourself that the Coastal is up for grabs and no one in that division is any good this year so why not UVA? They did go to the Gator Bowl last year, remember?


Brian: Kent State's running back Eugene Jarvis is the leading college football rusher that returns to campus this fall (1,669 yards, 131.9 yards per game). Boston College's run defense was ranked #2 in the nation last season. So in the battle of the unstoppable force versus the immovable object, who wins? Does Jarvis rush for over 100 yards tomorrow?

Jeff: No, we hold him to 99.


Brian: About a month ago, you predicted a 45-6 victory by the Eagles against Kent State. You've since had a month to think about it, let the mainstream media and Jag's quotes about Chris Crane soak in. Standing by your prediction?

Jeff: I am absolutely sticking with this prediction. Look for a lot of running game and our defense forcing some TOs and special teams giving us some good field position.


Jeff: OK, now every Friday we're going to pick five games against the spread to help you in your office pool or if you are making a trip to Vegas. Kids, gambling is bad, but here are our picks.

Jeff: I have two homer picks here.

• Boston College -10 @ Kent State
• Clemson -4.5 vs. Alabama
• Western Kentucky +20.5 @ Indiana
• Hawaii +35 @ Florida
• Kentucky +3.5 @ Louisville

Brian:

• Fresno State +5 vs. Rutgers
• East Carolina +9.5 vs. Virginia Tech
• California -4.5 vs. Michigan State
• Boston College -10 @ Kent State
• Utah +3.5 vs. Michigan

Jeff: I hope your ECU pick is wrong simply because that was Lou Holtz's pick.


Brian: Last one, do you think Tom O'Brien woke up this morning and regrets leaving Chestnut Hill for Raleigh after a 34-0 SEC beatdown of his Wolfpack?

Jeff: For those who didn't watch this game, it was not a beatdown. Both teams struggled on offense until both starting QBs were knocked out with concussions. NC State then fell apart and SC took advantage of a tired defense late to make it a blowout. The score was 3-0 at halftime.

Brian: Don't stick up for Tom O'Brien and Dana Bible. The Wolfpack could have had Matt Ryan under center last night and they would have looked just as anemic on offense against a tough Gamecock defense. The Head Ball Coach did run up the score on the Wolfpack though.


Jeff: Finally, if you are watching from home, during Saturday's game, we encourage you to leave your in-game thoughts and comments at atleagle.com.

Football season is finally here, Go Eagles!

Happy Time, Preseason Blogpoll Roundtable Wrap-Up and TV Picks

Only two days left! It's Brandon Robinson day.

College football is back. Get happy Eagles! If you need any other reason to be happy, well then I don't have much to say to you.


Happy College Football Season! Let's put a nice little bow around our preseason coverage with a little blogpoll roundtable wrap-up.

A much better blog than ours, Hey Jenny Slater, compiled the responses to the preseason blogpoll roundtable. Check it out.

Wrap-up notes:

Apparently the Virginia blog From Ol' Virginia also thinks that UVA is the Czech Republic. Two Czech Republics in the same conference? Blasphemy.

From Ol' Virginia:

We are the Czech Republic. The Czech Republic is a beautiful country, or so I'm led to believe because I've never been there. People always say so. They say that a lot about Charlottesville too. Like the CR, that's just about all they say, most of the time.

We also received the "ballsiest pick of the preseason roundtable" predicting that the TCU Horned Frogs will upset Oklahoma. Also, turns out we ranked Ohio State the lowest of any of the 78 participating blogs in the blogpoll at #8. Sorry, Coach Tressel.


Happy Trails to the legitimacy of the BC bowl winning streak in the eyes of ESPN talking heads. Anyone else catch Lou Holtz throw Boston College's bowl winning streak under the bus yesterday on ESPN2's College Football Live? And then watch Mark May throw Notre Dame under the bus?

From College Football Live:

Lou Holtz: Yeah, but let me address the fact that they've won eight straight bowl. But let's be really honest about it. Boston College doesn't really have a great following when they go to bowls. Consequently, they usually end up in a bowl game which is a step or two lower that they should be. I'm not saying against their opponent, but instead of playing a major team maybe from the ACC, etc. they end up playing a non-BCS school. And that makes an awfully big difference. Everybody talks about how Notre Dame hasn't won a bowl game. YOU GO LOOK AT WHO THEY PLAY!

Mark May: ... at least they win their bowl games.

Couple things. First, old man Holtz momentarily either forgets that BC plays in the ACC or can't remember how bowls are set up such that teams don't play teams from their same conference.

Second, while there is a shred of truth in the fact that we have beaten up on some non-BCS conference opponents in our eight bowl wins, we have also played some BCS conference teams. Arizona State in 2000, Georgia in 2001, North Carolina in 2004 and Michigan State last year. Also, we went up to Boise and beat a good Boise State team in a virtual home game for the Broncos. Not to mention that Boise State team went on to go 13-0 the following season.

Honestly, Coach Holtz, if you are going to pick on our bowl winning streak, you could just as easily pick on Utah's 7-game bowl winning streak. Sure, they may have won a BCS bowl, but that was against Pittsburgh. And Urban Meyer isn't walking through that door.


TV Picks

Brian: Jeff, give the Eagles something to watch tonight.

Jeff: You gotta be watching NC State at South Carolina on ESPN and pulling hard for NC State to give the ACC a nice nationally televised victory. I would also check out Wake Forest at Baylor on FSN if you get it but unfortunately I don't think I get it here.

Brian: I'll be on the road to Cleveland early Friday morning but am going to watch the South Carolina vs. NC State tonight and Red Sox vs. Yankees during the day. It's the last time the Red Sox will visit the old Yankee Stadium. Well, what about the playoffs? I'll be the first to admit the Yankees are cooked this year.

Depending on your local coverage, you might also be able to get a glimpse of our week two ACC opponents Georgia Tech as they host Jacksonville State.

Fortune Teller: ACC Final Standings and Bowl Selections

Here's how we see the Conference standings wrapping up.

Brian: In the Atlantic, I have the Eagles losing to Wake Forest and Clemson. Wake Forest beats Clemson in Winston-Salem but is upset in November in back-to-back games against Miami and at NC State (back-to-back ACC losses in November from the Atlantic Division leader ... where have I seen that before?). Clemson is upset in the Bowden Bowl in Tallahassee. Given that all three teams will have two ACC losses, Wake wins the tie-breakers and gets back to the ACC Championship after a year off.

Jeff: Brian has the Eagles going 6-2 in conference but finishing 3rd. In the last three years, 6-2 has been good enough to win the Atlantic Division outright, but suddenly this year, Brian senses a log jam up at the top of the standings.

Brian: Given that the Atlantic is much stronger than the Coastal this year, it's not beyond the realm of possibility that the top three teams in the Atlantic all finish the season 6-2.

Place	Jeff	Brian
1.	Clemson	Wake Forest
2.	Wake Forest	Clemson
3.	Boston College	Boston College
4.	Florida State	Florida State
5.	Maryland	NC State
6.	NC State	Maryland

In the Coastal Division, I don't see anyone getting past the Hokies. This side of the conference is young, inexperienced and in general, these intra-division games are going to be painful to watch. The only thing Jeff and I seem to agree on here is who will finish first and last. The rest of the division, who knows?

Place	Jeff	Brian
1.	Virginia Tech	Virginia Tech
2.	Virginia	Miami
3.	Miami	North Carolina
4.	North Carolina	Virginia
5.	Georgia Tech	Georgia Tech
6.	Duke	Duke

On to the ACC Championship game in Tampa.

Jeff has Virginia Tech beating Clemson for their second straight ACC Championship and trip to the Orange Bowl.

Brian likes Wake Forest over Virginia Tech for Jim Grobe's second ACC Title in 3 years, a huge accomplishment for the Deacons.


Finally, let's go bowling.

Smokey, this is not 'Nam. This is bowling. There are rules.

Well, sort of. Keep in mind the order of ACC bowl selections when evaluating our picks:

1. BCS(es)
2. Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl
3. Konica Minolta Gator Bowl
4. Champs Sports Bowl
5-7. Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl
5-7. Meineke Car Care Bowl
5-7. Emerald Bowl
8. Roady's Humanitarian Bowl
9. [Insert Corporate Sponsor Name Here] Congressional Bowl

Jeff	Bowl	Brian
Virginia Tech	FedEx Orange Bowl	Wake Forest
Clemson	BCS At-Large	N/A
Wake Forest	Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl	Clemson
Virginia	Konica Minolta Gator Bowl	Virginia Tech
Boston College	Champs Sports Bowl	Miami
Florida State	Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl	Boston College
North Carolina	Meineke Car Care Bowl	North Carolina
Maryland	Emerald Bowl	Florida State

Brian: Clemson's season starts and ends in Atlanta. I think BC will be passed over by both Champs Sports (takes Miami) and Charlotte (takes North Carolina) as both teams finish one game behind the Eagles in the standings. BC finishes 6-2 while Miami and North Carolina finish 5-3 in conference. The Eagles land in Nashville as the Music City Bowl is forced to pick the Eagles because they are two games up on the Seminoles in the Atlantic Division standings.

Jeff: Miami will go 5-7 overall and not go bowling for the second straight season. They'll at least lose to Florida and at Texas A&M out of conference.


We'll check back and see how we did at the end of the season. In the meantime, feel free to poke fun at our picks in the comments section below.

For another (and possibly much more well-informed) preview of ACC Football in 2008, check out the ACC Football Report's Atlantic Division preview, Coastal Division preview and Championship Game Preview and Bowl Picks.

Fortune Teller: Recap Season Predictions

Here is a recap of our Boston College Eagles preseason college football predictions.

• Games 1-3 - @ Kent State, Georgia Tech, Central Florida
• Games 4-6 - Rhode Island, @ NC State, Virginia Tech
• Games 7-9 - @ North Carolina, Clemson, Notre Dame
• Games 10-12 - @ Florida State, @ Wake Forest, Maryland

Jeff remains non-committal on the BC vs. Clemson game to avoid any domestic static and has the Eagles finishing the season at either 9-3 (5-3) or 10-2 (6-2). Brian has the Eagles going 10-2 (6-2) with losses to Clemson and Wake Forest.

Will either mark be enough to repeat as Atlantic Division champs? And who is heading to Tampa? Tomorrow we will weigh in on the final ACC Atlantic and Coastal standings and tell you where each ACC team goes bowling.

Fortune Teller: Florida State, Wake Forest and Maryland

Welcome back to the BC Interruption psychic hotline. Today we peer into our crystal ball and determine the fate of Boston College's #10-12 opponents.

College football games should mean something in November, and this year's schedule makers made it so. The Eagles finish up the regular season against three Atlantic Division rivals.


Game 10 - Boston College @ Florida State

Brian: This preview is devoid of a lot of statistical or personnel analysis. I am just not that high on the Seminoles. I know a lot of the mainstream media and sports writers think the Seminoles can return to 8, 9, or 10 wins this season, but I just don't see it. There will be a log jam at the top of the Atlantic Division standings come November, but I don't see Florida State in the picture. For this game, I foresee the Eagles defense putting in their most dominant performance of the year. We make Seminole senior quarterback Drew Weatherford look bad with 2 interceptions, and the offense does just enough to win the game. BC wins to improve to 9-1 on the season and heads to Winston-Salem with a shot at another Atlantic Division crown. Final score - BC 14, Florida State 6

Jeff: Jeff: BC should be ranked about #25 heading into this game and FSU probably outside of the top 25 but still getting votes. BC will likely be a slight underdog in this game but I feel this game will play out completely different than the low scoring battle that experts will be predicting. BC will get an early score and lead this one wire-to-wire. Turnovers and short fields will lead to scoring for both teams but BC emerges victorious. Final score = BC 36, Florida State 24



Game 11 - Boston College @ Wake Forest

Jeff: This is a game that will get little national media attention but will have a huge impact on which team will represent the ACC Atlantic in the ACC Championship Game. Wake Forest gives us fits in Winston-Salem in recent memory so I am certainly worried that history will repeat itself. Last year, Boston College's victory might have been a loss if Skinner had not gone down to injury so I think Wake will once again move the ball against us and have success if their starters stay healthy. Final score = BC 14, Wake Forest 24

Brian: I agree that this game will have ACC Atlantic Division consequences. As Jeff pointed out, big-time mistakes have cost the Eagles two wins in Winston-Salem over the last 5 years. In 2006, a win against Wake would have sent the Eagles on to bigger and better things (their first ACC Championship appearance in their second year in the league). Instead, two Matt Ryan interceptions in the end zone later, the Demon Deacons were headed to their first ACC Championship game.

I actually have Wake Forest beating the best in the Atlantic this year - Clemson and Boston College at home, Florida State on the road against a suspension-depleted roster. Quarterback Riley Skinner and running back Josh Adams have big games, and the Deacons squash the Eagles hopes of repeating as Atlantic Division champs, 21-10. The Eagles losing ways in Winston-Salem continue.



Game 12 - Boston College vs. Maryland

Brian: No chance this happens again. Not to finish the season. Not at home on senior day. As painful as last season's 42 point Terp beatdown of the Eagles was last year, I don't foresee an encore presentation from Freidgen and the turtles. Gone are Keon Lattimore and Lance Ball (32 carries for 108 yards and a score last year against the Eagles) from the Terps backfield. Gone is last year's Terrapin starting quarterback that the Eagles faced - Chris Turner was benched in favor of Jordan Steffy. On the defensive side of the ball, Maryland lost 6 starters including big losses in the secondary. The strength of the team should be it's offensive line, anchored by up to five starters. The Eagles can exploit the Terrapins secondary, and I'll bet offensive coordinator Steve Logan still has a few tricks up his sleeve for the final regular season game. Crane, Purvis and Brandon Robinson have big games on senior day, and the defense adds a score. The Eagles avenge last year's disappointing loss to Maryland and roll 28-17, finishing the season 10-2 and second in the Atlantic Division.

Jeff: Going into this game I have the Eagles at 8-3 or 9-2 depending on whether or not they win against Clemson. If we are 9-2 (5-2) BC will be in the driver's seat to go to Tampa since they will have the head-to-head win over Clemson. They will need to win in order to win the division though because slipping to 5-3 just won't get it done this year. Alumni will be rocking so I'm telling you right now mark your calendars students and make your plans to return to campus early from your Thanksgiving break. No need to mention any players here or how Haden will eclipse 1500 rushing yards in his freshman season in this game. BC will just play good football and win an exciting but not too close game. Final score = BC 31, Maryland 20

BC Interruption: Our Fall Lineup

Before the season begins, we wanted to share our schedule for the fall with our readers. If you are planning on attending any of these games, drop us a note at bcinterruption@gmail.com. We'd love to hear from you.

On to the breakdown of our fall schedule.


The good news: In our desire to be informed blogpoll voters, between Jeff and myself, we should make it to anywhere from nine to eleven of Boston College's football games this year (the lone exception being the Rhode Island Parents' Weekend game - I think we got that game covered). That's a lot of football games. We figured we're not sure how many more seasons we have left in us where we can attend all the football our heart's desire before we have to worry about wives, mortgages, and little Eagles.

The bad news: Apparently Jeff doesn't like hanging out with me that much, as we are only getting together for 1, maybe 2 regular season games this fall. The annual BC Interruption reunion is set for the weekend of October 4 in Raleigh, NC, as the Eagles face Tom O'Brien and the NC State Wolfpack. The second game potentially being Florida State in Tallahassee.

The ugly: Note all those little Tiger paws below. I hate to break it to you, our dear readers, but the truth of the matter is that not only is Jeff a Boston College season ticket holder, he's also a Clemson Tiger season ticket holder. While he will maintain a slight edge in Boston College games to Clemson games this season (currently at 5 to 2), over/under two years before Jeff retires from BC Interruption and joins bloggers Chili and Willy Mac over at Block C (f.k.a. Danny Ford is God).

What?! There's no we? You cut me deep Jeff, you cut me deep.

Other notes: One of my friends is a Auburn season ticket holder and got me a ticket to the Arkansas-Auburn game. The game is on October 11 (BC BYE week). Call it a blogger exchange program to see how college football is done in the Southeastern Conference. If you have any advice on what to do while in Montgomery, drop me a line. I fly in and out of Atlanta and on the way home, Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons play the Chicago Bears on that Sunday. Should I stop by the Georgia Dome?

If the Eagles can repeat as Atlantic Division champs, we'll see you in Tampa. If Clemson lives up to the hype, Jeff will probably take the better half to the ACC Championship game and Brian will stay home.

Date	Away	Home	Location	Attending
Aug 30			Cleveland	Brian
Sep 06			Chestnut Hill	Brian
Sep 13			Clemson	Jeff
Sep 20			Chestnut Hill	Brian (?)
Sep 27			Clemson	Jeff
Oct 4			Raleigh	Brian and Jeff
Oct 11			Montgomery	Brian
Oct 18			Chestnut Hill	Brian
Oct 25			Chapel Hill	Jeff
Nov 1			Chestnut Hill	Jeff
Nov 8			Chestnut Hill	Brian
Nov 15			Tallahassee	Brian and Jeff (?)
Nov 22			Winston-Salem	Jeff*
Nov 29			Chestnut Hill	Brian (?)

* assuming this game has ACC Atlantic implications

Headlines: Men's Basketball Schedule Released

The Boston College Athletics website released the 2008-2009 men's basketball schedule today. We'll have our take on the schedule in the next week or so after we all decompress from the excitement that is the first week of college football season. But we wanted to share.

Leave your thoughts in the comment section.


November 9 - St. Francis Xavier (exhibition)
November 14 - Central Connecticut
November 17 - Loyola-Md. (Preseason NIT)
November 18 - St. John's/Cornell (Preseason NIT)
November 22 - @ Saint Louis
November 24-28 - Preseason NIT (TBD)

December 2 - Iowa (ACC-Big Ten Challenge)
December 6 - @ Massachusetts
December 10 - Bryant
December 14 - South Carolina-Upstate
December 20 - Providence
December 23 - Maine
December 29 - San Francisco
December 31 - Sacred Heart

January 4 - @ NORTH CAROLINA
January 7 - Harvard
January 10 - MIAMI
January 14 - WAKE FOREST
January 17 - @ VIRGINIA TECH
January 20 - @ GEORGIA TECH
January 24 - NC STATE
January 27 - @ MARYLAND
January 31 - VIRGINIA TECH

February 4 - @ VIRGINIA
February 8 - @ WAKE FOREST
February 10 - CLEMSON
February 15 - DUKE
February 21 - @ MIAMI
February 25 - FLORIDA STATE

March 4 - @ NC STATE
March 7 - GEORGIA TECH
March 12-15 - ACC Championship

BC Interruption Travel Guide: Winston-Salem

Part 5 of our BC Interruption travel guide series takes us to Winston-Salem, North Carolina for road game #5 against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Hopefully this isn't the last road trip of the year. Here's hoping that there's 1, if not 2, road trips left for the Eagles in 2008-2009 ...


Opponent: Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Location: BB&T Field at Groves Stadium, Winston-Salem, Florida
Date: Saturday, November 22, 2008
Kickoff: TBA

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Getting There

Distance from Chestnut Hill, MA - 782 miles, about 13 hours, 7 minutes
Distance from Brian - 574 miles, about 9 hours, 34 minutes
Distance from Jeff - 340 miles, about 5 hours, 29 minutes


Recent History

Our recent trips to Winston-Salem have not been very kind to the Eagles. Back in November 2006, in a game that ultimately decided the ACC Atlantic Division champion, the Eagles dominated the stat sheet but came up empty-handed as the #22 ranked Deacons rolled 21-14. Matt Ryan threw for 402 yards on 40 of 52 passing, but had two interceptions in the end zone that ultimately cost the Eagles the game. The Deacons would go on to embarass division rivals Florida State 30-0 and defeat Maryland, en route to their first ACC Championship game appearance (an eventual 9-6 victory over Georgia Tech).

These two teams met in North Carolina back in 2004 for a non-conference matchup. The Eagles lost 17-14, being beat on a Cory Randolph touchdown pass with a little over a minute to go. Mistakes cost the Eagles in this game as well, as kicker Ryan Ohlinger missed three field goal attempts of 40, 37 and 27 (the 27 yarder in the fourth quarter from the Wake Forest 9 yard line with a little over 3 minutes to play!).

In their last four meetings, the home team has won all four games, a trend the Eagles look to reverse this season. As mentioned previously, the Eagles are also 0 for 3 in regular season ACC games played in the state of North Carolina since joining the league.


Things to See and Do

To give you a sense of what to do while you are down in Winston-Salem, we have brought in a resident expert - Zach from the Wake Forest blog Old Gold & Blog. Take it away, Zach.


I've always been impressed by the gameday atmosphere in Winston-Salem, and I've rarely heard of visiting fans who didn't enjoy the experience. It may not be quite as big an experience as at a large school like Florida State, but the quality is there. In last few years Wake Forest fans have enjoyed being able to send visitors the stadium in a worse mood than they entered more often than not (a welcome change for sure), but we hope all visitors enjoy themselves otherwise.

Before heading to the stadium I recommend driving five minutes up University Parkway to Wake Forest's Reynolda Campus, the main undergraduate campus of the university. It's absolutely beautiful any time of year, and depending on the weather this year you may be lucky enough to still catch a few colorful leaves in the trees. The Main Quad (Hearn Plaza) on the north side of campus is where you'll find Wait Chapel (pictured) as well as the bookstore and Deacon Shop.

Heading to the stadium you should find ample parking relatively close to the stadium for a reasonably good price. The easiest bet for visiting fans is probably the large lot across the street at the LJVM Coliseum, across the street from BB&T Field, which will run $8-$10.

Like many places, tailgating is the thing to do on gameday. Depending on gametime, lots of Wake Forest fans will be set up hours before kickoff, and many are happy to share their space, food, and beverages with friendly visitors. They'll also be likely to point you towards the brand new Deacon Tower and tell you how far Wake Forest football has come in such a short time.

To get the full experience, I'd recommend walking around to the east side of the stadium to check out the student lot. You'll find plenty of tailgating, but students aren't always quite as friendly. Still, if we're lucky enough to have some lingering nice weather (unlikely, but possible), you'll find attractive females in sundresses and guys dressed up in the southern tradition as well. There's an argument to be had over whether or not this is appropriate attire for football, but that isn't important here; I'm just telling you what might be worth seeing.

If tailgating isn't really your thing, there are other food options near the stadium. Pig Pickens is good for some North Carolina BBQ, and a little bit farther down Deacon Blvd you'll find Putters Patio Grill with great sandwiches and "the best steaks in town." I highly recommend the homemade potato chips.

If you're looking for a place to enjoy a drink and some food after the game I recommend heading downtown. Foothills Brewery would be my first suggestion, with good food and plenty of beer on tap, or for something a bit nicer you could try 4th Street Filling Station or 6^th and Vine. For some great pizza check out Mellow Mushroom, also on 4th street.

If you happen to be around for an extra day and are looking to play some golf, I'd recommend the Championship Course at Tanglewood Park – a good course at a reasonable price about 10 miles east on I-40.

If Boston College and Wake both keep things rolling this season we could be in for quite a game, maybe even with some ACC implications and almost definitely with bowl implications. I hope those of you who make the trip enjoy (most of) your time in Winston-Salem – just not the four hours you spend in the stadium!


For More Information

• Old Gold & Blog - http://www.oldgoldandblog.com/
  
• Winston-Salem Tourism - http://www.visitwinstonsalem.com/
  
• Wake Forest Athletics - http://wakeforestsports.cstv.com/
  

Five Good Minutes: Boston College Crew and Class of 2009

Today we welcome John to the blog for five good minutes. John is a member of the Class of 2009 and a member of the men's varsity crew team. Welcome, John.


Brian: First, tell us a bit about yourself. How did you decide to attend Boston College?

John: This year I'll be a senior at BC and I'll graduate with a degree in history. Originally, I'm from New York, about twenty minutes north of New York City. My decision to attend BC was actually a pretty easy one, but had a lot of contributing factors to it. First, I went to a Jesuit high school and going to a Jesuit university seemed like a natural step to take and I'm glad that I did. I love the Jesuit style of education and my four years at BC have been great. The second huge factor was my family. Pretty much all my aunt's and uncles have attended Fordham, Fairfield, or Georgetown, so there's a long tradition of Jesuit education in my family. Plus, Boston's a great city.


Jeff: We are told you are a member of the Men's rowing team. We really don't know much of anything about Rowing. Tell us more.

John: I've been a member of the men's rowing team since my freshman year and rowed two years in high school before that. In my opinion, its just about the best sport out there. At Boston College, we generally focus on eight man boats which are eight rowers and a coxswain who steers the boat. In the fall, the races we participate in are pretty long - about three miles each - and the season culminates with the Head of the Charles here in Boston. The spring, however, is the main focus of our year. In the spring, the races are on a 2000 meter course (about a mile and a quarter long) and a good boat can come down the course in under six and a half minutes. Unlike the fall where you pace yourself for a longer race, the spring season is a dead sprint for the whole six minutes. Our spring season usually ends with the Dad Vail Championships in Philadelphia, the largest intercollegiate regatta in the world, where we usually perform pretty well.


Brian: Who are some of your main competitors in rowing?

John: I'm proud to say that BC Crew is often the team to beat in New England. Up here, our main competitors are usually UNH, UMass Amherst, Holy Cross, and Trinity. In my four years, a BC crew has beaten a boat from each one of these schools. At the national level, our competitors typically are Fordham, Georgia Tech, Delaware, and Purdue. In recent years, the team has been rebuilding, so our records against these schools aren't as good s they are against the New England schools, but it seems that that may change this year with nine seniors, including myself, returning to the team. We're expecting to turn some heads this season.


Jeff: Let's talk a little about this coming season's football team. Make a prediction - Boston College Eagles 2008 record at the end of the season.

John: I've thought about this question long and hard for the last few weeks, looking at the schedule and our competition. I think best case scenario, we finish 10-2, with losses to Clemson and Virginia Tech and worst case 9-3, with an additional loss to Wake Forest. To be honest, though, both Virginia Tech will be traveling to Chestnut Hill in the colder months of October and November and will be facing packed houses in Alumni. It may be a stretch, but I wouldn't be surprised if we beat at least one of these teams and finish 11-1.


Brian: Last one, how excited are you that football season is almost here. What are some of your expectations for the team this year?

John: I realized the other day that about five days after the Olympics are over, college football season starts and I cannot wait any longer. I think overall this will be a great college football season and I'm especially interested to see if Georgia lives up to the hype (I'm a closet Tennessee fan so I wouldn't be horribly disappointed if they didn't).

I think that the Eagles will have a better season than people are expecting. I don't think that we'll see the same success that we did last season, especially all the late game heroics that made my junior year one to remember, but I expect to see some solid play on both sides of the ball. I think Crane will perform well and I'm really excited to see how Josh Haden will do as the starting running back. I think the defense will be our bread and butter though, and expect them to be one of the top defenses in the country once again (I'd like to see CJ Spiller and James Davis try to make it passed the D-Line and Brian Toal on November 8). Overall, I think we'll win the games we're supposed to win and will win tougher ones that we're not supposed to like Clemson or Virginia Tech or maybe even both.

Brian: We like your optimism John. Thanks for joining us and good luck with this year's crew season.


More information on the Boston College Crew team can be found here. Information on the women's team can be found on the official BC Athletics website.


Have something to say? Want to be featured on a future Five Good Minutes? Email us.

Headlines: Lambert Called Up and More Preseason Predictions

Countdown stands at a little over 5 days until Eagle football, or 1 Ryan Lindsey. Who, you might ask? That's who.


Former Boston College Eagles pitcher Chris Lambert makes his major league debut tomorrow night for the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers face the Cleveland Indians and presumptive AL Cy Young winner Cliff Lee (18-2, 2.43 ERA). Probably not the ideal way to break into the Bigs.

ESPN.com's HD ranks each ACC school's schedule and ranks BC #3 of 12. I've said it before and I'll say it again - is it really fair that our rivalry game is with Virginia Tech while Wake Forest draws Duke annually?

Also from HD today - the Top 10 games to watch in the ACC this year. No surprise here. None of BC's games make the list.

The Clemson blog Sporting Gnomes thinks this is finally the year Clemson gets over the hump against the Eagles. They do, however, temper this prediction with another one, claiming that Wake Forest will get past Clemson and win the Atlantic.

WRAL.com is still irked the Eagles joined the ACC. They predict we'll finish fourth in the Atlantic and think Clemson and North Carolina will meet in the ACC Championship Game.

Blogpoll Roundtable: 2008 Preseason Edition

As part of the blogpoll this year, the Georgia blog Hey Jenny Slater has been tapped to host roundtable discussions throughout the year with each of the participating blogs in the poll. Here are our answers for the first installment.


1. In his "visiting lecturers" series posted on Every Day Should Be Saturday over the past few months, Orson Swindle asked each participant to explain which country, during which historical period, their team most resembles. Let's bring everything up to the present day and ponder: Which current sovereign nation is your team? Or to look at it another way, how does your team fit into the "world" of college football?

My first inclination was that Boston College is Ireland, but ultimately decided that is too cliché. Let's take this in another direction ...

Boston College is the Czech Republic. We have moved from the dull, dreary life of Big East football (read: communism and the eastern bloc) to the promise of progress that is the Atlantic Coast Conference. Joined the European Union in 2004, bitches. Yep, I just took a shot at Big East football, but when you think about it, some of those schools DO resemble these former Eastern bloc countries, don't they?

Just kidding.

Sort of.

St. Vitus Cathedral or Gasson Hall?

We take our football (football in the US, soccer there), ice hockey and beer drinking very seriously. Na zdraví!

Annually underrated, no one expects much from the Czech Republic. We're not Top 25 in national GDP, but we fall just outside and are moving up in the rankings!

You can count on us to win 8-10 games a year and beat some 2nd tier team in a bowl game, but don't ask us to win the big game that gets us over the hump and into the next round.

Some years our football program bubbles up and has a great year or two, but if our football team actually made the BCS National Championship Game, the rest of the world would have a collective coronary. Little Czech Republic, never!


2. Every preseason roundup has to have some discussion of who's overrated, but let's go beyond that. Which team do you think is poised to crap the bed in the biggest way this season relative to high expectations, and which game do you think will begin their slide into ignominy?

The no-brainer choice here is Clemson, but we won't throw our ACC Atlantic brethren under the bus just yet. Instead, let's go with Oklahoma. We'll predict that Oklahoma's BCS bowl woes finally extend out into the regular season with a loss to TCU on September 27. If the Horned Frogs don't upend the Sooners, look for Oklahoma to crap the bed with back-to-back home losses to Texas and Kansas in early October.


3. On the flip side of that coin, which team do you think is going to burst out of nowhere to become 2008's biggest overachiever -- this year's version of Kansas '07, as it were -- and what's going to be the big upset that makes us all finally sit up and take notice of them?

Even though my feelings on the Big Ten are pretty clear, this year's Kansas could very well be Michigan State. The Spartans lost six games in 2007 by a combined 31 points. So long as they get past a trip to Berkeley to open the season, they could very well be 7-0 going into a home game against Ohio State on October 18. I'm not going to be as bold to predict a Spartan upset of the Buckeyes in East Lansing, but the games that get the college football collective up in their seats and excited about Spartan football are back-to-back wins on October 25 (against Michigan in the Big House) and November 1 (at home against a ranked Wisconsin team).

The Spartans end up finishing the season 10-2. Ohio State is off to the BCS National Championship yet again, so Michigan State takes the obligatory Rose Bowl slot vacated by the Buckeyes and plays in their first Rose Bowl since 1988.


4. Here's an "I'll hang up and listen" question. I put Ohio State and Oklahoma #1 and #2, respectively, despite their recent high-profile BCS face-plants. Where did you rank those two teams, and did those BCS issues have anything to do with it?

We placed the Buckeyes at #8. This ranking had less to do with their blowout losses in the BCS National Championship games the last two seasons and more with us being bearish on Big Ten football (see above). Oklahoma is our #1 team from the Big XII but had them ranked at #5. On paper, the Sooners look very strong, but we are predicting a loss or two in the Big XII (again, see above) or even a major upset by the Mountain West Conference's Horned Frogs.


5. Last season was a statistical outlier in countless ways, not the least of which was the fact that we ended up with a two-loss team as national champion. Do you think anyone plays a strong enough schedule to get MNC consideration as a two-loss team this year? Conversely, do you see anybody managing to sail into the national-championship game undefeated?

If there's a team that has two losses going into the national championship, it's going to have to be a team from a conference with a conference championship. Not only will that team have to come from the ACC, Big XII or SEC, but this team will have to win that conference championship and have lost those two games during the regular season.


Since the SEC is the strongest of those three conferences, I'm going to go with Auburn as a potential two-loss national champion. Their schedule is downright brutal – back-to-back September home dates with No. 7 LSU and No. 18 Tennessee, a Thursday night game at No. 8 West Virginia in October, and No. 1 Georgia in late November followed by the Iron Bowl at No. 24 Alabama. If Auburn can beat LSU, Alabama and one of Tennessee/Georgia, but come up short against the Mountaineers, if they win the SEC championship, they could go to the BCS National Championship.

On the flip side, the winner of the September 13 matchup of Ohio State vs. USC could easily run the table and end up in the National championship. I don't really see anyone else from the BCS conferences going undefeated this season. Either BYU or Utah could go undefeated out of the Mountain West, or Fresno State in the WAC, but I don't think any of their schedules is strong enough to get a spot in the national championship game.


6. OK, time for some Olympic fever. Which athlete from the Beijing Olympics -- any sport, any country, with the exception of USA basketball since those guys are already pros -- would you most want to add to your team's roster this season? No worries about age, eligibility, or even gender; we'll worry about that crap later.


The easy choice here is Jamaican sprinter phenom Usain Bolt. Throw him in on kickoffs, as a third or fourth option at wide out, or even on options, redirects and trick plays and I'm sure he would excel in a Steve Logan offense.

But instead, we'll go with the United States men's decathlete (and gold medal winner) Bryan Clay. The Eagles will be fairly inexperienced in the special teams specialist positions this year. We could easily throw Clay in at either starting punter or placekicker. Heck, if this guy can run the 100m in 10.35 seconds, throw a discus 55 meters, or pole vault 5+ meters, why not add to this list handling Eagle punting duties and hitting 45 yard field goals?

Headlines: Ryan to Start for Falcons

Jeff: It's official. Matt Ryan will start the season opener for the Falcons on September 7 against the Detroit Lions. He will be the first rookie to start for any team since David Carr started for the Texans in 2002. We all know how Carr fared, will Ryan do any better?

Brian: Ryan will be fine. Have you seen some of these highlights from the preseason?

As every Eagles fan is intimately familiar with, Ryan has the leadership and the intangibles to do well with the young Falcons. The schedule is fairly manageable. The Falcons get the Lions at home, followed by a road trip to Tampa Bay, Kansas City, at Carolina and Green Bay, then home vs. the Bears before their BYE week. There are some winnable games in that bunch. Also, we'll get to see Ryan in his last preseason tune-up in Baltimore opposite the other quarterback taken in the first round, Joe Flacco.


Jeff: We get to see our first ACC Atlantic opponent in action Thursday night on ESPN when NC State takes on South Carolina. Tom O'Brien just announced that redshirt freshman Russell Wilson will be the starting quarterback for the Wolfpack. A win against an SEC opponent right off the bat would be great for the ACC especially since NC State is a clear underdog in this one. Do you give them a realistic chance against the Gamecocks?

Brian: Let's see. A redshirt freshman quarterback starting for Tom O'Brien versus an experienced and very talented Gamecock defense. A renewed rivalry game (the teams played annually from 1956-1991, but only once since) with Spurrier up against Tom O'Brien and ex-Eagle offensive coordinator Dana Bible. The game is in Columbia and the Cocks came out of the gate strong last season (6-1 with a win in Athens against Georgia - I'm expecting them to get off to a strong start this year as well. Add it all up, and I think there's no realistic change NC State comes back from Columbia with a win.

Jeff: You give South Carolina and Spurrier way too much credit. NC State is no great team but I give them a good 40% chance of winning Thursday.

Poll Results: Preseason Preview

6 days until the return of Boston College football, or 1 Jeff Smith.

Here are the results from our most recent sidebar polls. Most readers believe the Eagles will finish 2nd in the Atlantic, yet a majority of readers also believe the Eagles will repeat as Atlantic Division champs? Not sure what to make of that.

Regardless, it's clear our readers believe BC is going to exceed the MSM's expectations this season. Virginia Tech is the presumptive team to come out of the Coastal and repeat as division champs. Virginia Tech did lose a lot of players this season, but due to the general suckitude of the rest of the Coastal, the Hokies are the easy pick from the other side of the conference.

We'll have our take on how we see the ACC playing out this season on Wednesday.


Poll 1 - Eagles 2008 Atlantic Division finish?

• 2nd place - 66 votes (40%)
• 1st place - 59 votes (35%)
• 3rd place - 22 votes (13%)
• 5th place - 9 votes (5%)
• 4th place - 5 votes (3%)
• DFL - 3 votes (1%)
  

Poll 2 - ACC Atlantic Division 2008. Who wins?

• Boston College - 75 votes (47%)
• Clemson - 66 votes (41%)
• Wake Forest - 12 votes (7%)
• North Carolina State - 3 votes (1%)
• Maryland - 2 votes (1%)
• Florida State - 1 vote (0%)
  

Poll 3 - ACC Coastal Division 2008. Who wins?

• Virginia Tech - 96 votes (66%)
• North Carolina - 18 votes (12%)
• Duke - 9 votes (6%)
• Miami - 9 votes (6%)
• Georgia Tech - 8 votes (5%)
• Virginia - 5 votes (3%)
  

Brian Begins to Doubt ... and the Big Finish

Brian: With a little over a week to go before the season begins, I don't know what to think. As a BC blogger, the tendency is to be confident in the Eagles this season despite what the mainstream media is saying about the team. But after reading yesterday's BC notes section of the Boston Herald, I'm not left with that warm and fuzzy feeling. Chris Crane and Dominique Davis continue to throw interceptions and Jags isn't happy about it.

Boston Herald:

"I don't like the turnovers one bit. Actually, it's disturbing to me," coach Jeff Jagodzinski said. "But on the flip side, if you see the big picture, the defense keeps taking the ball away and scoring. I'll tell you, I'd love to win a game 2-0."

The article later states that Jags hopes to get some PT for Davis in each of the Eagles games this season. All too reminiscent of the Tom O'Brien system of giving PT to the second stringer the first drive of the second quarter. Terrible.

I just don't know what to think at this point. My confidence is lower than its been for much of the offseason. Are we headed towards starting quarterback Dominique Davis come week 4-5 and a 5-7 finish? Or should I hold back any doubts I'm having until after seeing Crane in action next weekend?

Jeff: Wow, one less than positive comment from Jags and you think the Eagles are going to go 5-7 now? You are totally overreacting. Davis getting some PT is great because it will help him get ready for next year or this year should there be an injury to Crane. He might even have that "it" factor that doesn't show in practice and win himself even more playing time. As for the turnovers, of course the coach is not going to like them because he is an offensive guy. But we know defense is our strong side of the ball and the offense is going to struggle, especially early on. Your tone should not be changed, even a few injuries are just normal.

Brian: It's not that it is just one negative comment from Jags. I think it's just a little surprising because we're not used to hearing such negative sound bytes from Jags. If Jags wants to get Davis some PT, we should run up the score on our first five opponents and throw him in during the fourth quarter. Why disrupt the rhythm of the starting quarterback by sitting him in the second quarter? I always thought this was a moronic practice employed by Tom O'Brien and Dana Bible.

Jeff: But don't you wish Crane had played last year?

Brian: Sure - against Bowling Green, Massachusetts or Army. Or in the fourth quarter of our ACC games where the outcome wasn't in doubt.


Big Finish

Brian: Maybe Crane isn't quite there yet, but DeLeon Gause is ready to go. With three of four new starters in the secondary this year, do these Eagles hold up their end of the bargain, or are teams going to exploit our defense's only weakness?

Jeff: Just like last year, opposing teams are going to try and throw the ball more than run but we'll be fine. Our strength is still up front and they are so good that they'll make the secondary look better than they actually are.


Jeff: The basketball team is playing in the NIT tipoff where they would have to likely beat St John's, Purdue and Oklahoma to take home the title. Any chance?

Brian: If I was playing oddsmakers, I would give the Eagles a 15% chance to win it all. The field isn't all that strong, but I'm just not that sure about the basketball team just yet. I'm just hoping the Eagles make it to MSG (my neck of the woods) since they don't make it down here very often anymore.


Brian: Two more season previews (and more hate). Tim Stephens of the Orlando Sentinel ranks Boston College #61 of 120. J.P. Giglio of the News & Observer thinks the most likely scenario is the Eagles finish 7-5 (3-5). Make any sense?

Jeff: You need to just stop reading those previews. It's only a week away from kickoff so lets just evaluate where the Eagles are nationally after a few games.


Jeff: The team got some training on how to deal with the media, is that really necessary?

Brian: Maybe not as necessary as for some other schools, but this is fine by me. In general, our teams are very polished when it comes to speaking to the media.


Brian: Last one, Boston College up 1 spot in the US News & World Rankings to No. 34. Progress?

Jeff: Oh yeah, keep moving up and make my degree more valuable!

Happy Time: Maglio and Injury Report

Happy Time Eagles, or Herzlich Time! Herzlich is German for happy. Learn something new every day, eh?

Here's reason enough to be happy: 9 days until Boston College football is back, or exactly 1 DeLeon Gause. Sadly, the only pictures online of Gause involve him getting burned by Virginia Tech wide receivers in the ACC Championship game. This doesn't make us happy.


No BC birthdays of note today. If you know of one, leave in the comments section below.

Happy Scholarship Mark Maglio. Maglio, the walk-on junior cornerback from Wisconsin, was offered a scholarship yesterday by Jags and staff. BC had an open scholarship due to the departure of offensive tackle Patrick Neumann. Great story about Maglio. Congrats.

Also, not only did Boston College safety Wes Davis get a decent write up as part of HD’s trip to campus yesterday, he also had two interceptions and took one back for a touchdown.

Happy Trails, the BC injury report edition. Brian Toal is still out with a spasm of the trapezius (whatever that is), but is expected to be back practicing with the team this weekend. Mike McLaughlin (leg), Rich Gunnell (shoulder), and Ron Brace (back) are also still out. All expect to play in the season opener against Kent State.

Preseason Blogpoll Released at mgoblog

The preseason blogpoll was released today. Check out all sorts of interesting statistics and details on the poll over at mgoblog. Below is a breakdown of BC Interruption's votes compared to the rest of the blogpoll (click on each of the team names to get a breakdown of the ballot).

Blogpoll	BCI	Team
1	2	Georgia
2	8	Ohio State
3	1	Southern Cal
4	5	Oklahoma
5	9	Florida
6	12	Missouri
7	7	LSU
8	3	Clemson
9	4	West Virginia
10	6	Auburn
11	13	Texas
12	10	Texas Tech
13	25	Wisconsin
14	14	Virginia Tech
15	16	Kansas
16	17	Arizona State
17	15	Tennessee
18	21	Oregon
19		South Florida
20	18	Brigham Young
21		Penn State
22	24	Illinois
23	11	Wake Forest
24		Alabama
25	20	Utah

The largest delta between our ballot and the blogpoll came with Wake Forest - finishing 12 spots lower in the blogpoll - and Wisconsin, who finished 13th in the blogpoll but barely cracked our Top 25. Call us bullish on the ACC and bearish on the Big Ten?

Ahh, where did Boston College finish, you ask? Well I guess bloggers decided to split the difference between the USA Today Coaches Poll (#31) and the Associated Press Poll (#33). Boston College finished with enough votes in the Others Receiving Votes category to place #32. Here is the breakdown of votes that the Eagles received.

The Eagle in Atlanta led the way ranking Boston College the highest at #16. The Ohio State blog Buckeye Commentary had the Eagles next highest at #18. We had the Eagles at #19. An Ole Miss, Nebraska, and Cal blog had the Eagles in the #23 spot. Three other bloggers voted for the Eagles in the #24 and #25 slots.

A preseason poll that, quite frankly, isn't all that exciting for Eagles fans. Hopefully if the team gets off to a 4-0 start we'll start to see a little more love in the polls as the season progresses.