Happy Trails: Steve Logan

Spare some change for an old buccaneer??

Happy Trails Steve Logan. Logan resigned as Eagles offensive coordinator on January 16 and has now found gainful employment with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Logan reunites with Jeff Jagodzinski on staff and will coach either the Bucs tight ends or running backs.

Regardless of who you feel is at fault for the whole offseason coaching drama, we'd like to wish best of luck to Logan and Jags in Tampa Bay.

Happy Time: Neville, Men's Hoops and Winning Streaks

Happy Time, Eagles!

Happy Birthday Tyler Neville. Who? you might ask? This guy. Neville was a career bench guy for Al Skinner and the Eagles from 2003-2006. His career stat line reads like Archibald "Moonlight" Graham's - 20 games played, 31 minutes, 10 points, 5 assists, 3 turnovers.

Career highs listed below:

Points: 2 vs. Appalachian State (11-22-2003)
Rebounds: 1 - twice
Assists: 1 vs. Long Island (11-30-2004)
FGM: 1 vs. Appalachian State (11-22-2003)
FTM: 1 vs. Long Island (11-30-2004)
Minutes: 4 vs. Long Island (11-30-2004)

Extra credit if you know the current whereabouts of Neville.

It's just too bad that bench player blogging wasn't in vogue a few years ago. Neville could have had a budding career as a bench blogger. (Sure it's unrelated to Boston College sports, but you should definitely check out Mark Titus' blog Club Trillion).


A not so Happy Anniversary to the Boston College men's basketball team. On this date three years ago, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets rudely welcomed us to ACC play, dropping the 11th ranked Eagles with a 60-58 win. Georgia Tech's Zam Fredrick hit a shot with 33.5 seconds left to propel the Jackets over BC. Boston College dropped to 11-3 on the season (0-2 in ACC play).


Two for one Happy Time special: Happy Trails edition. Happy Trails to Coach Jeff Jagodzinski. Unless you were living under a rock for the past few days, all Eagles fans now know that Jags was fired "without cause" yesterday by AD Gene DeFilippo. The media's stance on Gene's decision to fire Jagodzinski? Favorable. Gregg Doyel, Sally Jenkins and Dan Wetzel all applaud the decision.

Happy Trails to Boston College men's basketball's 10 game winning streak. After one of the biggest regular season upsets in BC basketball history, the Eagles followed that up with a 82-70 loss to Harvard. The Crimson win marked the first time ever ... I repeat, ever ... that Harvard has beat a ranked team.

This guy's stat line was ridiculous:

27 points, 8 assists, 3 rebounds, 6 steals, 2 blocks

Who is that you might ask? Why that's just Jeremy Lin, that's all.

Heralded guard whose quickness and handle helped make him an immediate impact player as a freshman ... Is expected to challenge for a starting position in the backcourt ... An accomplished shooter who can affect the game in a variety of ways ... Earned a reputation for making plays and winning games during a standout high school career.

Happy Time: Silva, BC Hoops and Herzlich

Happy Time, Eagles!

No BC birthdays today, so we wish a Happy early Birthday to Jamie Silva (December 14). The All-American Eagles safety was last spotted playing for the Indianapolis Colts special teams unit. He has recorded 10 tackles (8 solo, 2 assists) on the year. His first tackle came back on September 21 in a game against Jacksonville. Last year for the Eagles, Silva recorded 125 tackles (82 solo, 43 assists), 8 interceptions and was named a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award (top defensive back).


Happy Anniversary to the BC men's hoops team. On this date four years ago, you outlasted our green line rivals Boston University on the hardwood, 80-74. The Eagles were led by their trio of California kids - Craig Smith and Sean Marshall led the way with 19 each and Jared Dudley chipped in 17. The win pushed the Eagles to 7-0 on the year, en route to a record 20-0 start to the 2004-2005 season. The Eagles finished the year at 25-5, exiting the NCAA tournament in the second round after earning a No. 4 seed. They were served up an upset loss to Bruce Pearl's #12 seeded Wisconsin-Milwaukee squad in the Round of 32 83-75. BC Guy Pearl parlayed Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Sweet 16 appearance with a job offer from the Tennessee Volunteers.


Happy Trails to some postseason hardware for BC linebacker Mark Herzlich. While Herzlich was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, he finished 5th in voting for the 2008 Butkus Award. Wake Forest senior Aaron Curry won the award given to the country's top linebacker. Huh?

OK, well at least Herzlich won ACC Defensive Player of the year as part of Gobbler Country's ACC blogger awards, right?

What?

ACC Defensive Player of the Year

Macho Harris, CB, Virginia Tech: In our closest vote, Harris claims the conference's Defensive POY by a single point over Florida State's Everette Brown. All of Harris' points came from the four first-place votes he received. He finished T3rd in the conference in interceptions with six, including two returned for touchdown.

Now I could understand Everett Brown over Herzlich (this is, after all, how we voted), but Macho Harris? I mean, his 6 INTs and 2 touchdowns were cute and all, but he's a cornerback. Isn't that what cornerbacks are supposed to do? Our linebacker matched Harris' 6 INTs and 2 touchdowns and doesn't even play in the secondary. Oh yeah, and he has 61 more tackles. We demand a recount, or at least, a little more Atlantic Division representation!


Also, Happy Trails Jared Dudley, last spotted on a plane to Phoenix. Dudley was traded to the Suns along with Jason Richardson and a 2010 second-round draft for Raja Bell, Boris Diaw and Sean Singletary in a trade that seems to make 0 sense for Charlotte and (unfortunately) 0 sense for Dudley. Here's to hoping Dudley can see some PT in PHX.

Happy Time: Darren Flutie, Football and the Gator Bowl

Two games, two wins and we are back to the ACC Championship Game ... reason enough to get happy.


Again we are light on BC birthdays, so we wish a Happy belated Birthday to Darren Flutie (November 18). The less famous of the Flutie brothers, Darren played wide receiver at Boston College and went on to a very successful career in the Canadian Football League. He played twelve seasons in the CFL with the British Columbia Lions, Edmonton Eskimos and Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and retired as the CFL’s all-time leader in receptions (that record was later broken by Terry Vaughan).


Happy Anniversary to the BC football team. On this date four years ago, the 19th ranked Eagles took care of the Temple Owls 34-17 in front of approximately 5 fans at beautiful Lincoln Financial Field. The win was costly, however, as starting quarterback Paul Peterson left the game in the second quarter with a broken right hand. Peterson gave way to a freshman from Exton, Pennsylvania by the name of Matt Ryan. Ryan threw for 115 yards and a score on 8 of 15 passing in his debut. The win pushed the Eagles to 8-2 (4-1 Big East) and tied for first place in the Big East standings with West Virginia with one game to play ...


Happy Trails, deluxe edition.

Happy Trails Darius McClure. McClure’s college career is over after he injured his knee celebrating his first career interception against Boston College. Here’s to a speedy recovery for McClure. The Seminoles will be lacking depth in their secondary this week against Maryland, as Myron Rolle will also miss the first half of the game as he travels back from Alabama where he finds out if he receives a Rhodes Scholarship. (Jags has never met a Rhodes Scholar before ... and went out of his way to congratulate Rolle on the sidelines during last Saturday’s FSU game).

Happy Trails to the Gator Bowl. I’m willing to bet several vital organs that there is 0% chance that the Eagles land in Jacksonville this year. The Gator Bowl is reportedly courting a, what we will assume will be a 7-5, Notre Dame squad. And there is no way the Gator Bowl would want a rematch of the 17-0 beat down the Eagles gave the Irish two weeks ago. Not to mention there will be two Florida ACC teams bowl eligible, and if neither of those teams win the conference this year, one of the two will most likely be placed in Jacksonville.

Finally, a Happy Trails to this Bobby Bowden pregame speech. Wow, that is pretty sad. No offense to Montel Harris, Chris Crane and the gang, but no wonder Florida State didn’t get up to play Boston College last Saturday ... (HT: Big Lead)

Happy Time: BC-Clemson, Ohliger, Rutgers and Willette

Happy time, Eagles!

First, let's take a minute 7:36 look back at last year's Boston College-Clemson game (via YouTube ... via theACC.com):

Ahh, that feels good. Two things though ... why did TheACC.com insist on interviewing a "BC fan" who was wearing Red Sox World Series gear?! Pisses me off. Also, I didn't know Jake Gyllenhaal is a Clemson fan:



No BC birthdays of note today, so we wish a Happy (early) Halloween Birthday to Ryan Ohliger. Ohliger was the Boston College placekicker from 2004-2006. He had, shall we say, a rocky 2006 season, missing an extra point that cost the Eagles a chance to go to overtime in Raleigh against North Carolina State. Ohliger got a vote of confidence from then coach Tom O'Brien the following week, but the next day he was suspended for violating undisclosed team rules (disclosed: Ohliger kicked the crud out of kids heckling him for his kicking woes). Ohliger gave way to the Steve Aponavicius, and the walk-on kicker won over Eagles fans in his debut with 2 PATs and 2 field goals in the Eagles 22-3 win over Virginia Tech. A humorous video of the ups and downs of Ohliger's kicking career on the Heights can be found on YouTube.


Happy Anniversary to the BC football team. On this date 6 years ago, a couple of juniors watched the Eagles beat down on the lowly Rutgers Scarlet Knights 44-14 in Chestnut Hill. Running back Derrick Knight was a beast in that game, rushing 205 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries. The win pushed the Eagles record to 8-4 on the year and gave the Eagles a berth in the Motor City Bowl. The victory also pushed the Eagles unbeaten streak against Rutgers to 11 (10-0-1). The loss sent Rutgers to a 1-11 record, including dropping their last 9 games that season.


Happy Trails Jerry Willette. Our senior defensive tackle is out for the Clemson game and most likely the Notre Dame game as well with an injury to his left knee. #99 injured his knee in the 45-24 loss to North Carolina last week. Here's to hoping for a speedy recovery as the losses to the defense continue to mount - Brady Smith, Albright, Toal, Willette ...

Happy Time: Flutie, Peterson-to-Gonzalez and ACC Pocket Passers

Get happy, Eagles!


Happy 46th Birthday Doug Flutie! What should we get Flutie for his birthday ... hmm. Oh, I know. How's this for a birthday present?

The Doug Flutie Statue Dedication
Save the Date
Friday, November 7, 2008 - 2:00 PM
Gate D Plaza at Alumni Stadium

Lifesize statue immortalizing the Boston College great ... that should do the trick.


Happy Anniversary to the BC football team. On this date four years ago, the Eagles rallied down 13 points at half to beat the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 24-23 in South Bend. Down 23-17 in the fourth quarter, Paul Peterson hit Tony Gonzalez on a 30 yard strike in the right corner of the endzone with 0:54 seconds left in the game. Peterson outdueled Irish quarterback Brady Quinn on the day, going 27 of 41 for 383 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. The win pushed the Eagles win streak to 4 over the Irish.

Until last year's trip to Blacksburg, this game was one of the best comeback wins we've ever attended.


Happy Trails to the five-step drop and the ACC pocket passer, says The Times-Union (FL). With the spread of the spread, the ACC has embraced the duel-threat quarterback. Florida State will see five run-threat quarterbacks in their final seven games this season. Luckily for the Eagles, with the exception of our road trip to Tallahassee, we will have already faced the better of the league's mobile quarterbacks.

Rushing stats for the ACC's top quarterback rushers below.

Player	School	GP	Att.	Yards	Avg.	TD	YPG
Tyrod Taylor	Virginia Tech	6	81	448	5.5	2	74.7
Josh Nesbitt	Georgia Tech	5	82	367	4.5	5	73.4
Christian Ponder	Florida State	6	55	291	5.3	0	48.5
Jaybo Shaw	Georgia Tech	3	36	125	3.5	3	41.7
Chris Crane	Boston College	6	47	119	2.5	7	19.8
Russell Wilson	N.C. State	5	48	96	2.0	2	19.2

Happy Time: Colombo/Foley, BC Football and Soccer

Happy Time, Eagles! I ran my long training run for the marathon this morning, so I'm not particularly happy at the moment (actually quite sore), but we find reasons to be happy nonetheless.


No Boston College birthdays today, so we wish a Happy belated Birthday to Marc Colombo (October 8) and a Happy early Birthday to Glenn Foley (October 10). Last Sunday, while watching part of the Cowboys-Bengals game, I saw Marc Colombo throw a sick block that took out two Bengal defenders and sprung Felix Jones for a 33 yard touchdown run untouched. Can't keep a BC Guy down.

Glenn Foley, of course, was the Boston College quarterback best known for knocking off then No. 1 Notre Dame in 1993. What I didn't know about Foley was that he was a product of Cherry Hill East High School in Cherry Hill, NJ - a rival of my high school.


Happy Anniversary to the Boston College football team. On this date 15 years ago, you knocked off the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in East Rutherford, NJ 31-21. This pushed the all-time series record to 9-6 between the two schools. In fact, the Eagles haven't dropped a game to Rutgers since that game, going 10-0-1 in the last 11 games played between the two schools.


Happy Trails to the Fairfield men's soccer team. The BC men dispatched the Stags 2-1 behind goals from Freshman Edvin Worley and sophomore Jeremiah Gallington. The win pushed the Eagles record to 5-4-1 on the season, a somewhat disappointing start for the defending ACC Champions. They haven't seemed to be able to finish on opportunities so we're glad to see the Eagles get back in the win column. BC already has disappointing losses to Providence and Brown out of conference and in conference to Maryland and Duke. The men next host Iona on Saturday and travel to Yale next Tuesday, before finishing the regular season with 4 ACC matchups in their last 5 games.


TV Picks

Jeff: Brian, give people something to watch tonight.

Brian: I'll be watching Clemson @ Wake Forest tonight and you'll be happy to know I'll be pulling for Clemson (?) to even up the Atlantic Division standings. Also, don't forget a new episode of The Office. What you watching?

Jeff: Tonight I'll be watching the Clemson-Wake game with a little Grey's Anatomy mixed in which should conveniently start right around halftime of the game.

Vegas has Wake as a very slight favorite by 1.5 points. It's essentially a coin flip game but that point and a half is just enough that I'd put my money on Clemson tonight if forced to choose. Clemson winning I think is also good for BC because, as you said, it would give everyone in the division a conference loss (not including the poor Wolfpack) and we also face Clemson at home which gives us a better chance to come away with a victory.

Brian: We agree. Clemson wins this game. Sure, they are 2-6 on Thursday nights and are on the road, but Wake hasn't shown the ability to run the ball or stop the run, and if Bowden doesn't completely blow it tonight, the Davis/Spiller rushing attack should have a big night.

Happy Time: Ripa, Football and Tiger Flags

Happy Time, Eagles!

No BC birthdays of note today, so we wish a Happy Birthday to Kelly Ripa. While Kelly didn't attend BC, she did attend Brian's high school and is probably the most famous of his high school's alumni.


Happy Anniversary to the BC Eagles football team. On this date four years ago, you knocked off I-AA Massachusetts in Chestnut Hill, MA. While the passing game wasn't pretty (Paul Peterson went 16 of 30, 239 yards, 1 touchdown, 3 interceptions), freshman running back A.J. Brooks had a career day rushing for 160 yards and two scores. The 160 yards rushing by a freshman is a BC record. Could this record be broken this year?


Happy Trails to the Clemson flag hanging from Jeff and his fiance Kristi's house. Thanks to a little side bet Kristi and Jeff had, since Clemson lost last weekend, the BC flag will be proudly flying from the side of the house until at least the Boston College-Clemson basketball game! (Ed. note: As it should be ...)


Speaking of betting and Clemson, we could not believe this stat when I read it in ESPN.com Pat Forde's weekly column:

Mind-blowing stat of the month: Clemson has been favored in each of its past 11 losses. In the Tigers' past 34 games, they have been underdogs only three times, all of them against Florida State and Tommy's dad, Bobby Bowden. Clemson won all three times. Start the family collusion investigation!

I can't even imagine the Eagles being favored that often. Expectations are certainly high at Clemson this year (aren't expectations always high at Clemson?), and the Tigers have the week off to regroup and prepare for a huge Thursday night game in Winston-Salem.


Finally, a Happy Time shout out to Elizabeth Hasselbeck for your guest appearance on last weekend's episode of Entourage. Well played, even if you did slap around an emotionally distraught Johnny Drama in front of a live television audience ...

"You are not wearing a tank top and f**king shorts on The View, Drama. Who are you, Richard Simmons?"

Game preview and the Big Finish later today since it's a three-day weekend for Jeff and I. Wooooooo!

Happy Time: Hasselbeck, Football and Soccer

Happy Time, Eagles!


Happy 33rd Birthday Matt Hasselbeck. A three time Pro Bowl quarterback, Hasselbeck is in his 11th year in the NFL and 8th year with the Seattle Seahawks. Since joining Seattle in 2001, Hasselbeck has helped lead the Seahawks to somewhat of a football renaissance, including four straight NFC West titles, five straight playoff appearances and the franchise's only Super Bowl appearance (2005 NFC Champs).

Hasselbeck might be asking for a few more Seahawk wins for his birthday (just not against my Giants in two weeks, please). The Seahawks have started the season 1-2, including early losses to San Francisco and Buffalo. Both Matt and brother Tim were recruited out of Xaverian Brothers High School in Westwood, Massachusetts. Xaverian has also produced other standout Eagles like Derrick Knight and Dana Barros.


A not so Happy Anniversary to the Boston College football team. On this date 4 years ago, you dropped a game to then non-conference opponent Wake Forest 17-14 in Winston-Salem. Deacon quarterback Cody Randolph hit Willie Idlette on a 40 yard strike with 1:09 to play (his only catch of the game!). That touchdown catch gave Wake Forest its second straight victory over the Eagles. Paul Peterson threw for 269 yards on 21 of 38 passing, 1 touchdown, 1 interception.

In this game Boston College hurt themselves with another poor field goal kicking performance from freshman Ryan Ohliger. Ohliger missed field goals of 40, 37 and a 27-yard field goal with 3:12 to go in the fourth quarter.

Poor field goal kicking costing BC victories?! I’m sensing a theme here ...


Happy Trails to the Eagles men’s soccer team. The men’s team was upset by the Brown Bears 1-0 on Tuesday at the Newton Campus Soccer Complex. The Eagles dropped the match despite a 20-9 advantage in shots. The defending ACC champions drop to a disappointing 3-3-1 (1-1-0 ACC) on the season. Next up for the Eagles is a Saturday night game in Raleigh against conference opponent NC State.


Quickly ... Did anyone else catch Boston College on FOX’s new show Fringe last week? The show is OK. It’s very X-Files-ish. Anyhow, the first three episodes take place in Boston and J.J. Abrams has this cheesy way of displaying the location of each scene in big block letters. In the second episode, they go visit some professor at – where else? – Boston College.


That’s not campus though, is it? Is that Upper campus?

Happy Time: Poehler, BC Football and the Cotton Bowl

Happy Time!

No BC birthdays today, so we wish a Happy belated Birthday wish to Amy Poehler (September 16). Poehler is most famous for her current role on Saturday Night Live, but did you know she is also a 1993 graduate of Boston College? While at school, Poehler was a member of the improve comedy troupe My Mother’s Fleabag.

Poehler is set to leave Saturday Night Live next month after 7 years with the show. Poehler and husband Will Arnett are expecting their first child in October. While she is leaving the popular NBC comedy show, she may not be leaving the network entirely. Poehler is set to star in a spinoff of the popular NBC comedy "The Office."


Happy Anniversary to the Boston College Eagles football team. On this day 9 years ago, you rallied down 10-7 in the fourth quarter to come back and beat the Navy football team in Annapolis. The Eagles started the season 2-0 after quarterback Tim Hasselbeck engineered a six play, 73 yard drive during the fourth quarter. Hasselbeck would finish the game 14 of 21 for 214 yards, despite being sacked by the Midshipmen defense four times. The Eagles would go onto an 8-3 regular season record before getting slapped around in the Insight.com by Colorado 62-28.


This is only loosely related to Boston College, but Happy Trails to the Cotton Bowl hosting ... the Cotton Bowl. Sports Illustrated story ran a story yesterday about the reopening of the Cotton Bowl after getting a $57 million facelift. Later in the article it is mentioned that, despite the facelift, the Cotton Bowl (the bowl) is bolting from the Cotton Bowl (the stadium) twenty miles across town to the new Dallas Cowboys football mecca after the 2009 season. Confused yet?

It’s really a shame to see the bowl game bail on the stadium that made them famous in hopes of receiving a BCS bowl game in the future. The Cotton Bowl will continue to host the Red River Shootout between Texas and Oklahoma, but that's about it. So for a stadium that will host one big college football game a year in the foreseeable future, was the $57 million renovation really worth it?

Sorry, did you say there was a Boston College tie-in somewhere? The Cotton Bowl was home to two of the biggest games in Boston College Eagles football history: our first bowl game in 1939 – a 6-3 loss to Clemson – and the end of the dream 1984 season which was capped by a Doug Flutie led 45-28 victory over Houston.

Happy Time: Motherwell, Football and Fenway

Providing your daily dose of happy.

First, props to Will Blackmon, who ran back a punt 76 yards to the hiz-ouse last Monday against the Vikings. In case you missed it, we gotcha covered, partner.

It was a good time to be an Eagle in the NFL last weekend ...


Happy Birthday Brett Motherwell. Eagle fans may remember that Motherwell was permanently dismissed from the Eagles men's hockey team last season after violating undisclosed team rules. Motherwell would go on to sign an American Hockey League contract with the Syracuse Crunch. In his two years with the Eagles, he tallied 7 goals and 45 assists in 81 games.

Here's some more You Tubage of Motherwell getting his frustration out on a Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguin.

Happy Anniversary to the Boston College football team. On this date four years ago, you beat Penn State 21-7 in the 2004 home opener. Paul Peterson threw for 199 yards and 3 scores in the winning effort. And a redshirt freshman running back by the name of Andre Callendar came off the bench to fill in for an injured L.V. Whitworth. Callendar would finish the night with 27 carries for 114 yards.

Random factoid: Boston College is 2-1 playing on September 11, with a 14-13 win in Chestnut Hill against Texas in 1976 and a 45-14 Mountaineer beat down of the Eagles in Morgantown 1971.


Happy Trails Fenway Park as host of the ACC baseball championship in 2009. The ACC found a replacement venue for next year's tournament in the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Apparently due to an in-house scheduling error, Fenway Park wasn't available to host next year's tournament. The tournament is slated to be held in Boston for the 2010 season.

Hopefully the Eagles can, you know, make an appearance in this tournament some time in the near future.


TV Picks

Brian: Tonight it's the Battle of the BCS Bottom Feeder Conference Part 1 with North Carolina visiting Rutgers for the Thursday night ESPN game. (Part II is Virginia at Connecticut on Saturday). I know you'll be watching tonight. North Carolina is something like 0 for 1,000 outside of the state of North Carolina (actual stat: 0 for 20 in their last 20 outside of North Carolina), while Rutgers is coming off an opening weekend loss to Fresno State at home. Who do you like? Make a prediction.

Jeff: This game is tough to predict and tough for me to choose a side here. If UNC wins that will get people talking about the Tar Heels being decent which they are not. If Rutgers wins, the ACC looks bad. But Rutgers looked real bad against Fresno State in a nationally televised game at home already. I'm gonna give UNC a slight edge in a fairly low scoring game but it's really just a coin toss.

Happy Time: Waitkus, Football and Patriot Bowl Attendance

Get happy, Eagles.

First, a little number about our opponent on Saturday.

Umm ... not sure what to think about that. Should I be worried about Spaziani's ability to defend the triple option this weekend, or impressed with the A-back and B-back's rapping skills?


Happy Birthday Eddie Waitkus (1919-1972). This is obviously posthumous, but Eddie played college baseball at Boston College before having a 11-year career in the Major Leagues. Eddie made pro stops with the Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies and the Baltimore Orioles.

In a completely bizarre sequence of events, Waitkus was shot in the chest by a crazed fan in 1949.

From Wikipedia:

Waitkus was shot in the chest by Ruth Ann Steinhagen, an obsessed fan, on June 14, 1949 at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago. Steinhagen had become infatuated with him when he was a Cub, but seeing him every day in-season apparently kept her obsession in check. Once he was traded to the Phillies and would only be in Chicago 11 games in the season, her obsession grew to dangerous proportions.

She checked into the hotel using the alias of a former high school classmate of his, and left a note at the desk asking him to come to her hotel room on an urgent matter. She then shot him with a rifle, the bullet barely missing his heart. He nearly died several times on the operating table before the bullet was successfully removed. Steinhagen never stood trial, but instead was confined to a mental institution.

Bernard Malamud took parts of Waitkus' life story along with other major league legends and wrote a book in 1952 called The Natural, which was the basis for the 1984 movie.


Happy Anniversary to the Boston College men's football team. On this date 9 years ago, you defeated Baylor 30-29 in overtime to open the 1999 season in Chestnut Hill. This was a year before Jeff or I were freshmen at BC. The game was decided on a missed extra point in overtime, much like the 2006 home opener against Clemson. Eagles running back Cedric Washington, filling in for Mike Cloud (drafted by the Chiefs), rushed for 177 yards and three scores in the victory.

The Eagles would go on to post an 8-3 regular season record for third year coach Tom O'Brien after consecutive 4-7 seasons in 1997 and 1998. The 8-3 mark was good enough to earn the Eagles a spot in the 1999 Insight.com bowl against Colorado, a game we were pasted in 62-28.


Happy Trails Patriot Bowl attendance. The popular college football blog Everyday Should Be Saturday took another shot at the poorly attended opener at Cleveland Browns Stadium. The only consolation is that Christian and I are pictured in the photo that shows a mainly empty stadium. I was staring at this picture for a good minute until I realized that we were in the picture. Me, Christian and some random dude with a Salty Dog Cafe t-shirt. Photographic evidence that at least 3 fans were there to see the patriotic halftime show and/or the Eagles blank the Golden Flashes.


I guess it could have been a lot worse. We could have been the Florida Marlins who beat the Atlanta Braves last night in front of a crowd of 600 at Dolphin Stadium. Another nugget of information we learned from this past weekend in Cleveland while watching the ACC fall apart last weekend: when you see a '0' in the ones spot of an attendance figure, the figure is usually inflated. So you're telling me there was even less than 600 last night in Miami??


Also, Happy Trails to Georgia's number 1 ranking in football. The Dawgs were displaced by the USC Trojans for the top spot in both the Associated Press and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll. This marks a bit of a backlash against teams that begin the season against lesser, I-AA competition. Georgia defeated Georgia Southern 45-21 at home, while Southern Cal traveled across the country and destroyed Virginia 52-7 in Charlottesville.

After the disaster weekend that the ACC experienced last weekend, the ACC only has one team ranked in the Top 25 this week - Wake Forest at #20. Ouch.

While the Eagles didn't make the Top 25 this week in either poll, they did receive votes good enough for tied #29 (Florida State) in the AP, #30 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' poll, and tied for #31 in the week 1 blogpoll.

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.

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.

Happy Time: Mamula, Tribble and Davies

A little more than 16 days until kickoff, says the official BC Interruption countdown … plenty of reasons to be happy!


Happy 35th Birthday Mike Mamula. Mike played 3 seasons on the Heights, capped with a junior season where Mamula recorded 17 sacks for the Eagles. He was drafted in the first round, 7th overall by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1995 NFL Entry draft. Mamula would go on to play 5 professional seasons with Philadelphia. His career was cut short in 2000 due to injuries. I look forward to next February when I’ll undoubtedly be inundated with more stories about the Myth of Mamula.


Happy Anniversary DeJuan Tribble. On this day one year ago, you were named to ESPN.com’s Preseason All-America Team. While Tribble didn’t have the same type of season he had in 2006 (hampered by a right ankle injury), he was a solid contributor to one of the nation’s leading defenses. Tribble was drafted in the 6th round, 192nd overall by the San Diego Chargers. He is currently third on the Chargers depth chart at right cornerback, behind Antonio Cromartie and Antoine Cason (both first round picks by the Chargers).


Happy Trails to ex-BC soccer player (a.k.a. footballer) Charlie Davies and the rest of the US Olympic soccer team. The US soccer team was eliminated from Group B play with a 2-1 loss to Nigeria coupled with a 1-0 Netherlands victory over the Japanese. The US squad played a man down for nearly the entire match. Davies headed a ball against the post in the 90th minute, a goal that would have proved to be the equalizer.

Davies made his debut for the US national team on June 2, 2007 in a 4-1 victory over China. Davies solid play off the bench in this year’s Olympics turned some heads. We might see him become a permanent fixture to the national squad before too long.

Happy Time?

Brian: Happy Time, Eagles?

I don't know about you, but I'm getting excited for football season. Here are some more previews / reasons to be happy ...

Marcus over at the ACC Football Report previews our week 2 opponent Georgia Tech. He agrees with us and projects that the Eagles will take care of business in our ACC opener against Georgia Tech. But wait, there's more! A Virginia Tech blog Gobbler Country is previewing the ACC football team schedules week by week and has the Eagles at 3-0 (1-0) through four weeks.

However, there are a few things that are tearing me down today ...

First, I expected more out of our good friend and blog reader Elizabeth's employer, Sports Illustrated, in their preseason college football rankings. SI has the Eagles ranked #48. 48?!? That's good for #8 of 12 in the ACC, behind Clemson (11), Virginia Tech (24), Wake Forest (26), Maryland (32), North Carolina (34), Florida State (41) and Miami (46).

Also, if you haven't been following Heather Dinich's ACC football blog over at ESPN, there have been more than a few slights of the Eagles. Coach Jags was ranked #11 of #12 in HD's rankings of ACC coaches. I get it, I get it. You have to prove yourself as a college coach and you won with Tom O'Brien's players, but by that same logic, David Cutcliffe and Paul Johnson haven't proved anything as ACC coaches.

Mainstream media got you down?

Happy Time: Muse and Hockey Updates

Approximately 30 days left until kickoff in Cleveland, so there are plenty of reasons to get happy.


Light on Boston College birthdays today, so we wish a Happy early Birthday to BC netminder John Muse (August 1).


Happy Trails to Boston College adding air conditioning to Conte Forum for another 2 years?! In his live chat session, DeFilippo noted that the fog-like conditions that have led to 3 games being shortened is a problem, but that the school will not install air conditioning until the summer of 2010. My back of the envelope math tells me that’s two more seasons where fog could be an issue for the men’s and women’s ice hockey teams. Pretty embarrassing. Boston College opens the season October 10 vs. Wisconsin. Hopefully fans can see the banner being raised through the fog.


A few more happys to dole out ...

Congrats to Tim Filangieri who was named Assistant Hockey Captain for the 2008-2009 season. Tim replaces the vacant assistant captain position left by Buffalo Sabres forward Nathan Gerbe.

Ryan Shannon signed with the Vancouver Canucks.

Has anyone else caught BC’s Luke Russert filling in as Stat Boy on Pardon the Interruption the last two days? Nice work Luke!

Happy Time: Gerbe, BC Coastal Opponents and Preseason All-ACC

It's Thursday so we get happy.

Happy Birthday Nathan Gerbe. It's not really clear whether Nate's birthday is today or Saturday, but we wish him a Happy Birthday nevertheless. We weren't really sure what to get Nate for his birthday, but considering that he helped Boston College win a National championship and Hockey East championship, was the Frozen Four MOP and the Sabres just signed him for 3 years, $2.55 million, we figured we were covered.


Happy Trails to BC's easy Coastal Division slate. The Washington Times blog D1scourse crunched the numbers to show that Boston College will face the toughest set of Coastal teams this coming football season (based on the 2008 preseason ACC poll) - Virginia Tech, North Carolina, and Georgia Tech. Those that have the easiest Coastal matchups in 2008? Clemson, Wake Forest and NC State. All three teams miss presumptive Coastal Division winner Virginia Tech.

If you did the same analysis looking back at the 2007 season, using the 2007 preseason ACC poll, the results would have been much the same for BC:

Wake Forest: 15 (Virginia Tech-6, Georgia Tech-5, Miami-4)
N.C. State: 12 (Virginia Tech-6, Georgia Tech-5, Duke-1)
Maryland: 11 (Virginia Tech-6, Miami-4, Duke-1)
Florida State: 10 (Georgia Tech-5, Virginia-3, North Carolina-2)
Clemson: 9 (Miami-4, Virginia-3, North Carolina-2)
Boston College: 6 (Virginia-3, North Carolina-2, Duke-1)

Now I know you have to "beat the best to be the best," but I hope that when the current format of the ACC football schedule expires, they will reevaluate the format of the "rival game." It doesn't seem fair that Boston College always has to go through Virginia Tech every year while Wake Forest's rival game is Duke (even if Virginia Tech has been held to 0 legit touchdowns the last two regular season matchups - Eddie Royal wasn't even close to being inbounds last year!).

The ACC's scheduling of 5 games within the division, 2 rotating games (one home and one away) and one game against a permanent rival is the same system that the 12 team Southeastern Conference uses. The Big XII system is a bit different, where teams play three teams from the other conference on a home-and-home basis for two seasons, and then the other three teams the next two years.


Two more Happys to dispense ...

A BC Interruption shout out to LB Brian Toal, DT Ron Brace and TE Ryan Purvis, who all made the Preseason All-ACC Football team.

Also, congratulations to Jeff who got engaged last night. Now it's time for me to return the favor and give you much grief about when your wedding date is! OMG!! Not during football season!?

Joking aside, a heart-felt congratulations from your blogging partner in crime!

Happy Time: A Look Back at a 2007 Preview

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


Not so much an 'anniversary' but check out this post from this day one year ago. ACC Now's J.P. Giglio sat down with preseason college football guru Phil Steele and discussed Phil's forecast for the 2007 ACC season. Steele picked Boston College to finish dead last in the Atlantic Division.

"That doesn't mean I think they're a bad team," Steele said. "The main thing is the schedule and, of course, the coaching change."

"One of their strengths under Tom O'Brien was their O-line," Steele said. "They're changing to a zone-blocking scheme and that's going to take time to learn."

Not so fast my friend! Even though the O-line play was inconsistent at times, considering Boston College won the Atlantic Division last season, I guess Steele couldn't have been more wrong about the Eagles. Steele was also high on Florida State, NC State and Miami, thus proving that you should pay little to no attention to these expert preseason predictions.

Keep hating on the Eagles, experts. This is probably one of the main reasons why the Eagles have been one of the most underrated programs in college football over the past 19 seasons. Proven by real statistics! Notable programs on this list that are typically underrated year after year? (Surprisingly) Virginia Tech, North Carolina State and Maryland. Notable overrated programs? No surprises here. The Irish, Florida State, Miami-Florida and Clemson.


Happy Trails to Clemson quarterback Cullen Harper starting in the 2007 ACC Championship game. This AP article came out yesterday that stated that Harper suffered an injury during the Boston College game that may have sidelined him for the ACC Championship game. Last time I checked though, the Eagles won the Atlantic and Clemson didn't get a chance to play for the conference crown. Why this particular article is newsworthy is beyond me.

Happy Time: Jared Dudley

Happy Time, Eagles!

Happy Birthday Jared Dudley. Jared is currently a reserve forward for the Charlotte Bobcats, drafted by the club 22nd overall in the 2007 NBA Entry Draft. Dudley was a solid contributor on the Bobcats bench during his rookie campaign, averaging 5.8 points per game and 3.9 boards per game. Hopefully he gets more PT this coming year with new Bobcats coach Larry Brown at the helm.

During his four years on the Heights, Jared helped lead the Eagles to four consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, including 5 tournament wins. Jared was an integral part of Boston College's run to the ACC Conference Title game in 2007, coming within a Louis Hinnant desperation three-pointer of taking the title in our first year in the league. During his senior year, Dudley averaged 19 points and 3 assists per game, en route to being named the 2007 ACC Player of the Year.

Dudley is sort of a fan favorite over here at BC Interruption. Jeff, what's your favorite memory of Jared Dudley?

Jeff: I can't think of any specific play that is my favorite but I do fondly remember Dudley's knack for converting the 4-point play. Since I started following the Eagles, I can only think of two players - Jared Dudley and Troy Bell - that had the strength to hit the three while getting fouled and then converting at the charity stripe. What about you Brian?

Brian: I'm going to have to go with when Jared picked a fight with Duke's Lee Melchionni in the 2007 ACC title game. Dudley was the emotional leader of one of the best squads that BC has ever had over a four year span. That display of heart and emotion on national television was the sort of energy and passion that was decidedly missing from last year's basketball squad. A close second favorite memory would have to be his guest appearance on The BC's promotional trailer "Meet the Full Court Press."

Oh snap! It's Tom Brokaw from the nightly news. What's up baby?!