Friday, April 3, 2009

The Quarterback of the Future? and the Big Finish

Jeff: Continuing our discussion on playing basketball games in football stadiums, let me reiterate that I love having regionals, Final Fours, and conference tournaments in arenas large enough that a sellout is not a guarantee. I like the accessibility of tickets, I like having no trouble parking around the stadium, and I like having a little room to stretch during a two game five hour session of watching live basketball. 20,000+ are going to show up and fill at least the lower bowls for these things and provide the proper atmosphere down at courtside. Ford Field is a different beast than the Georgia Dome and I can understand a little criticism but I am still absolutely shocked that you and our commenters don't seem to recall the hype that surrounded Michigan State playing Kentucky there which set all kinds of basketball attendance records. It's really the same concept as NHL teams playing in baseball and football stadiums which everyone seems to love. Why the hate against the Ford Field Final Four?

Brian: First of all, Jeff, the NHL's Winter Classic is a novelty game played once a year. They don't play any of the NHL playoffs games outside. Totally different beast. And second, yesterday on PTI, Wilbon asked TK whether Michigan State would have any sort of home court advantage for playing at Ford Field in Detroit. TK agreed that there would be some home field advantage but made the point that it wouldn't get too loud in Ford Field because the court is in the middle of the field and the seats are too spread out to have crowd noise that will impact the game. I totally agree with this point. Same sort of affect that Michigan's Big House has with crowd noise as compared to Oregon's Autzen Stadium. Autzen only seats 54,000 but is known as one of the loudest places to play in the country. The Big House has a reputation for not getting that loud despite the 100,000+ people in attendance.

Your other point about the greater availability of tickets ... I just don't understand why someone would want to go to Ford Field and sit in the cheap seats in this day and age of high-definition television. I would much rather watch the game at home on an HD television than sit in the cheap seats at a Final Four to say I was there. In that case, watching the game on TV is a much better option to actually watch the game.


Anyhow, with the Final Four this weekend and the Frozen Four next weekend, we will be winding down the basketball and hockey coverage and starting to get excited about this year's upcoming football season. So many questions for the offseason ... how will Spaziani perform in his first year as head coach? What does Gary Tranquill bring to the table? Will Dan McGovern fill into Spaz's DC position seamlessly? And that is just questions about the coaching staff.

Today, we focus on this fluff piece from HD about the BC quarterback competition. What interests me more than who will be our quarterback for the 2009 season is who is BC's quarterback of the future? We all know that (your boy) Codi Boek, Justin Tuggle and Dominique Davis will be competing for the starting role in 2009, but what about going forward? Throw Indian Hills, NJ QB recruit Michael Marscovetra into the mix, as well as BC's first recruit for the 2010 class Joe Boisture. Boisture, in particular, spurned the recruiting efforts of schools like UCLA, LSU, Notre Dame, and Wisconsin and appears to be a solid pickup for the class of 2010.

That is five potential QBs on the roster by 2010. No, Andy, I'm not including Flutie.

Now I know we have no inside information about the QB competition and who is going to emerge this fall as the starter, but who is your horse in this race? Who do you think our starting QB will be over the next few seasons? Lay out a "5 year plan" for Coach Spaz and the coaching staff.

Jeff: Well, as you alluded to I would love for it to be Codi Boek, but that is just not happening. If he had more promise you would assume he would've at least been on the depth chart last year. That doesn't mean he won't see snaps this year but as far as being our QB of the future I am ruling him out. After seeing Dominique Davis play last year, we also know that there is a ceiling for his potential also. That ceiling might be high enough to get the Eagles back to Tampa now that he could be the starter from day 1, but it is a ceiling that will prevent us from comparing him to Doug Flutie and Matt Ryan. So this leaves Tuggle as the best bet for the man that could emerge this year and could be the QB of the future.

Brian: Here's what I would love to see happen. I'm thinking that Tuggle wins the starting role in 2009. I know there are some that argue that Davis's experience starting 3 games last season gives him a leg up, but I'm not buying it. Three starts in the ACC does not an experienced college quarterback make. I mean, if Davis is the favorite because he started 3 games last season - with a different head coach, different OC and different offensive playbook, let's not discount the fact that Codi Boek played in 3 juco games at ARC in Sacramento before breaking his arm!

But I digress. I obviously don't like Boek's chances in this horse race. I think Boek is in the mix for nothing more than increased competition for Tuggle and Davis.

In 2010 when Boisture gets here, you redshirt him and Tuggle is again the starter in 2010. Hopefully by then he is getting Russell Wilson-esque pub going into his sophomore season. If this is the case, it will be interesting to see what Davis does. Does he stick around? Does he transfer? Who knows.

In 2011, Tuggle is your starter as a junior and Davis is the senior backup. Boisture is third on the depth chart as a freshman. Then for the 2012 season, you call for an open competition between Tuggle and then-sophomore Boisture. If Boisture gets the nod, he has the 2012 through 2014 seasons to be BC's quarterback.

There is my five year plan.

Jeff: You're putting a lot of eggs in the baskets of guys who you've never seen throw a pass.

Brian: That's what YouTube is for (Joe Boisture, Justin Tuggle #1, Justin Tuggle #2) dude. The wildcard, of course, is Michael Marscovetra. Who knows how he will perform at the Heights. I realize some guys don't pan out but to me it just seems curious that we would have so many QB prospects on the roster.


Big Finish

Jeff: The Eagles baseball team notched 2 wins this weekend. What do you expect them to do against the Wolfpack?

Brian: NC State (5-7) is right behind BC (5-5) in the ACC Atlantic standings. I am optimistic that the Eagles can take 2 of 3.


Brian: The women's basketball season ended Wednesday night, as the Lady Eagles fell to the South Florida Bulls 82-65. The reported attendance was ... 702?! That ain't right, is it?

Jeff: I'm surprised that you're surprised by that figure. The women's games are typically attended by families and families are not going to last minute find out the Lady Eagles are playing and plan a trip to Conte on a weeknight.

Brian: The women's team deserves better. If that game is at South Florida, they get a couple thousand to attend. Just a guess.


Jeff: Your men's ice hockey captains for 2009-2010 are Matt Price (C), Matt Lombardi (A) and Ben Smith (A). That cool with you?

Brian: Sure. The only other returning junior is Carl Sneep, but he plays on defense and they usually give the captaincy and the assistant positions to forwards.


Brian: It is rumored that Memphis basketball threw $21 million dollars at BC alum Bruce Pearl to become the Tigers next basketball coach. Jeff, you are ex-Baldwin Bruce Pearl. You jumping the Vol ship or staying put?

Jeff: Take the money and never think twice. Go dominate Conference USA.


Jeff: The Hobey Hat Trick finalists were announced yesterday. All three players are from Hockey East. Any doubt which college hockey conference was the best in the country last year?

Brian: None.


Brian: The MLS club Chivas USA is offering soccer fans all-you-can-eat tickets for $25. If BC football was to offer a similar ticket deal, how much food (in a dollar amount) could you put down over the span of one football game?

Jeff: I'd say 5 hot dogs, 3 popcorns, a pizza, 2 nachos and a bag of M&Ms. Add in several cokes and I figure my tab is approaching $80.00.


Jeff: Last one, who would you most like to smoke a joint with? Willie Green, Ryan Sydney, Sean Williams or BJ Raji?

Brian: That's cold man, and falls under the category of way too soon ...

9 comments:

blockparty said...

gotta go with big time sean williams. he was towelie.

conlonc said...

I'd go with Ryan Sydney because he'd probably write poems about his son (TAS!) while smoking. Some might find that annoying, but I'd be laughing my @ss off.

One thing I'd like to say about the crowded QB position next year is that it simply CANNOT be a bad thing to have those bodies there. Not implying either of you said that, just wanted to get that out there.

Brian - love the 5 year plan. Hopefully the spring game tells us something. Last year it told me that we didn't have a capable QB on the roster. Everyone under center looked U-G-L-Y in that game (and it wasn't just cuz our defense was nasty).

Andrew S. said...

Definitely Sean Williams under the "anything could happen" corollary.

A good source tells me that Sean has literally said the following words:

"Cause I wanted to shoot you, dawg."

BCMike said...

QB of the future...

It could be Marsco...but let's be honest here, maybe a 5% chance.

It could be Davis...but I've seen Davis play, and nothing makes me believe he's going to get much better. About 10% chance.

Tuggle is reportedly a physical freak and has looked great on the scout team...but sadly, looking great on the Scout team means the coaches thought you weren't ready to be 3rd string. All about the learning curve here. I'd say 25%

That leaves Boisture. You can never really tell when a recruit is over hyped/under hyped, or what...but the kid seems to possess "it" from watching his film. Sky is the limit with Joey B. Whether or not he starts 3 years...more or less...is going to be up to Tuggle, IMO.

blockparty said...

always love the big finish.

Claver2010 said...

With regards to the idea of playing a Frozen Four in a football stadium (as in 2010 in Detriot). It is going to be a complete and utter disaster (provided a WCHA team isn't in it). Tickets are going to be had in DC (an ~18,000 seat arena) for nothing come puck drop. Imagine if this was the field next year. Hockey is a cult-like sport and the idea of playing your championship in front of a half empty (or half full depending on your view) will set the sport back. Last year's FF was excellent and probably could have sold out Ford Field but that had 4 of the biggest names in hockey (substitute Minnesota for ND).

Erik said...

There might be 5, but at the moment, 4 of those 5 feel like ZERO.

It's gotta be Tuggle in '09. Anything else and I'll be disappointed.

BCMike said...

Since you guys didn't say it...

WOOHOO

THE UCAN'T LAPTOPPERS LOST!!

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Brian said...

... but Jeff (not so) secretly <3 UConn (?)