Tweets of the Week

Best. Class Photo. Ever: at.bc.edu/smiletheclasso… #wearebc #bc13

— Boston College (@BostonCollege) May 23, 2013

Congrats to Sarah Marshall Ryan on her selection to the New England Basketball Hall of Fame. #WeAreBC

— Richard Kelley (@kelleyri) May 22, 2013

Of course this is part of my #BC2013 graduation present #LoveIt #WeAreBC twitter.com/LaurBear90/sta…

— Laura B (@LaurBear90) May 20, 2013

All the diplomas lined up in Conte waiting for the Carroll School undergraduate ceremony! #bc2013 twitter.com/Fulton360/stat…

— Fulton360 (@Fulton360) May 20, 2013

A few photos (ok, 238) from Commencement 2013 on BC FB: on.bc.edu/16K6bhE Congrats to the graduates! #bc13

— Boston College (@BostonCollege) May 21, 2013

A big congratulations to Liza Cherney & Brittany Loring, grad students injured in the Boston Marathon bombings, who graduate today. #bc13

— BC Alumni (@BCAlumni) May 20, 2013

Standing ovation as bombing survivors Brittany Loring and Liza Cherney receive degrees @bostoncollege #WCVB twitter.com/wcvbkelleyt/st…

— Kelley Tuthill (@wcvbkelleyt) May 20, 2013

Left BC for final time today as an undergrad. The most beautiful place on earth with the most amazing people. Once an Eagle, always an Eagle

— Greg Joyce (@GJoyce9) May 21, 2013

Looking sharp, Baldwin. #bc13 instagram.com/p/ZiNSpignBg/

— Boston College (@BostonCollege) May 20, 2013

Early game confirmed and other links

The ACC officially announced the starting times and broadcast partners for the first two weeks of the season (all other games will be determined on a week-to-week basis once play begins). The Villanova game will have a noon kickoff and will be shown on ESPN3. The Wake Forest game will be a Friday September 6 on ESPN 2.

Hoffses reported that Johnathan Coleman decided to bypass his final year of eligibility. He graduated earlier this week. Coleman was a better off the field story than on the field. He never became an elite receiver but with Amidon stepping up and our offense constantly evolving, very few players could reach their potential. This sort of attrition is also to be expected. It doesn't do Addazio much good though since Coleman's scholarship was coming off the books this year anyway.

Momah is doing well in Philadelphia and taking advice from an Eagles legend.

BC commit throws perfect game and other links

Is help on the way for BC baseball? BC commit Michael Strem threw a perfect game during the California Central Coast playoffs. The incredible thing about the game is that he only needed to throw 66 pitches.

Steve Addazio went back to visit his old high school. It is one thing to visit high school prospects, but Addizio talked to regular students at this event. He doesn't have to do that but it shows that Addazio likes young kids and is willing to spread the word on BC football.

The Broncos are putting Tom Nalen in their Ring of Fame.

Thursday is an important day for the legal dispute between the ACC and Maryland.

Share your BC story with Mike Shoule

Mike Shoule, the author of My Daddy Loves Boston College Football, has a new project that enables other BC fans to contribute. His company ReadTogetherBooks.com is taking submissions from BC fans regarding their BC memories. As you can see, many parents of BC football players have already posted. Shoule welcomes you to post too. It is a cool feature and a great way to share what is special about BC.

Guest Blogger: Brian Foley from College Baseball Daily

My challenge with commenting on BC baseball is perspective. I know a little about BC baseball but not much about college baseball in general. The record and the stats show that BC is terrible, but I wanted a more informed opinion. You can't get more informed than Brian Foley. He's a BC grad and the editor and founder of College Baseball Daily. My questions and his answers follow.


1. When we last did this, you thought Gambino would get another year. Do you still feel that way? 

Brian Foley: The last time we did this was before the team started playing up north against some of the mid-week opponents. I thought that maybe the team would have to get used to playing outdoors and the underclassmen that were playing would come around. After starting to play up North (March 26th), they went 5-6 in games. Is that respectable? Not for an ACC team. BC went 8-15 OOC with an extremely weak OOC schedule with losses to Ohio (14-39) and UMass (14-31).

 2. As I mentioned over the weekend, we cannot build a new field in one year. You can't turn the roster. You can't change the weather. What are some immediate things BC can do to improve the baseball program? 

Brian Foley: You can't build a field in one year? I know there is an athletic department in Providence that played an entire season in an arena that was getting construction done on it and the renovations will be done in time to start the season in October. BC "could" build a field in a year but the extra stuff wouldn't be able to be done. But the main issue is, how long can a coach continue to lie to his players that they are getting a new stadium. Tony Sanchez was told he would be playing on the new field and ground was never broken and still isn't.

3. This season was a mess, but did anything give you hope or optimism? 

Brian Foley: Andrew Chin is the only positive but he only has one more season left at BC since he is going to be a draft eligible redshirt sophomore and wouldn't have been at BC if he didn't have Tommy John surgery near the end of his senior year.

4. If BC makes a change, when will it happen and who are some potential replacements?

Brian Foley: If BC makes a change, it needs to happen right now. Cincinnati let go Brian Cleary last Thursday and David Perno was let go on Sunday by Georgia. The longer they wait, the less likely they are going to get a legit candidate with head coaching experience.

Here is my top five
1. Rob Cooper (Wright State)
2. Jim Foster (Rhode Island)
3. Jayson King (Franklin Pierce)
4. Joe Sottalano (Army)- No chance he ever leaves Army...continues to win there.
5. Dave Perno (Former Georgia Coach)- No chance in the monetary range though as he made 450k last season and is due that for the 2014 season.

More moves: BC changes student ticket packages

First the Game Day tents, now Brad Bates changing in the student season ticket packages. Like the Game Day pregame facilities, I have no idea if this will work, but I applaud the action. Empty student seats were an embarrassment  Maybe this will change things.

Austin Tedesco broke the news and highlighted how the program will work.

All undergraduate students will be eligible to purchase the pass, and there will not be a limit on the number of passes sold. Once purchased, the pass will be loaded onto a student’s Eagle-One Card. Students will then be able to swipe their IDs for entrance to all football, men’s and women’s basketball, and men’s hockey games.

Swiping a card instead of a paper ticket is hardly revolutionary. BC is playing catch up there. The bigger change is the bundling of all the tickets at a reduced cost and available to all students. Two of the biggest complaints students have had (going back to my days) is lack of tickets and the cost. Now both have been addressed. The best part of the plan is bundling football with the other sports. Even the least interested BC student tends to buy football tickets. The casual Superfan was only committing to a few games and the cost was relatively cheap. Now those passive fans will have access to more events. I don't think they will suddenly become die hards and attend every basketball and hockey game, but it should create a marginal increase in attendance.

 Based on just his recent announcements, I am becoming very optimistic about the plan Bates is unveiling this summer. His early moves have shown a willingness to address long-neglected issues. If we keep heading down this path being a BC fan might be a totally new experience in five years.

Divitto on watch list and other weekend news

The organizers of the Lott award named Steele Divitto to their watch list. Many of these early watch lists are generated by the schools themselves pushing candidates. Divitto has been solid so far in his BC career but far from a standout. Maybe the new defense and a little more physical maturity will see his career blossom. I do think he'll be good in more of an attack mode under Brown.

Soaring to Glory is posting a nice Year in Review series.

More on former BC assistant Pat Duquette's rise to UMass-Lowell.

BC's hoops schedule is nearly full.

Baseball loses finale, no easy answers ahead

Baseball dropped their final game of the season, concluding the worst year BC Baseball has had as a member of a conference (Big East and ACC). They finished 12-40 overall and 4-25 in the ACC. Being competitive in the ACC will always be a challenge, but I think the cause for concern was how much BC struggled outside of the conference. Given all of our advantages just from a talent perspective we should not struggle against other New England and northern teams.

We all know the structural issues around the program. But we won't build a new field overnight. We cannot change the climate. And although the roster under-performed given their stats in high school and AAU, we cannot drastically change much about that in one season. Fair or not, the thing Bates can do is change the coaching. He has two options: fire Gambino or give Gambino more money to address his assistants situation. I don't know which direction he will take. Bates fired Spaz, but that was nearly predetermined for any AD prospect. Gambino was probably not on his radar when Bates interviewed last fall. This will be a tough call. Do you get rid of a young alum or do you give him one more season?

I am not a BC baseball expert. But those who do follow it closely like Brian Foley from College Baseball Daily think Gambino needs to go. Statistically we were a mess. Our record was pitiful and our players did not scratch the surface of their potential.

We will have obstacles in building an elite baseball program. But there are no obstacles to building a competitive one. Bates needs to figure out how to become competitive and then make the tough decisions to get us there.

Strachan commits

Addazio picked up another commitment Friday. The newest member of the recruiting class is Mass LB Connor Strachan. The St. Sebastian's product is one of the top players in the state. He has offers from most of the programs in the Northeast and interest from bigger players outside the region.

Nine committments at this stage keeps BC high in the national rankings. The number of early commitments also leaves me to speculate that this will be a big recruiting class (close to 25 recruits). The scholarships aren't there yet, but I think you'll see more attrition of current players over the summer and next fall. I actually welcome attrition since Addazio has proven that he can close on the guys he wants.

Tweets of the Week

An ELITE Academic degree with an NFL future. Where else would you want to be?! #WeAreBC

— Steve Addazio (@BCCoachAddazio) May 16, 2013

Just met Coach Adazzio for the first time. Extremely impressed. He'll do great.

— BC Hockey Blog (@bchockeyblog1) May 16, 2013

@notthefakesvp @d1scourse OK, Scott. Beat Boston College in football or something.

— BC Interruption (@bcinterruption) May 16, 2013

Today's captains Former terp and recent alumni of Boston college Both played baseball and both now have ALS twitter.com/TERPNATION_/st…

— TERPNATION (@TERPNATION_) May 16, 2013

I honestly didn't expect to see Skinner spend the last 3 years getting passed over so many times.

— Soaring to Glory (@SoaringtoGlory) May 16, 2013

Passed @coachjfrye in followers. These young guys got nothing on me and my twitter game. @bccoachwash- I'm coming after you. #Compete

— Don Brown (@FBCoachDBrown) May 16, 2013

I went to the @bostoncollege football camp at 14, balled out got a scholarship at 15 and the rest history. SIGN UP!bceagles.com/camps/bc-fb-ca…"

— William (@willblackmon) May 15, 2013