Brother Shaughnessy recently applied a two-by-four to both the Boston College athletic program and college sports in general. Guess the Boss can save a little money by not sending him to either the BCS championship game or the Final Four.
Friends can agree to disagree and still remain friends. So it is that I trust he won’t take offense when I say I will forgive him for simply being a collegiate sports infidel and that we shall just have to seek common ground somewhere else. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want the Red Sox to sign Josh Hamilton to anything more than a one-year contract, either, so we can begin with that.
Comments
Dan can be an entertaining writer and occasionally produces top notch stuff, but now and then he slips into middle-school persona -- you know, the one that mistakes his own prejudices for everybody else's. It might help to ask about Holy Cross. Because the alma matters, it's one exception he'll allow for, in the name of nostalgia if nothing else....
Wrong alma mater.
I'd would have liked to see UMASS added to the general dialog, but this is a BAHSTIN paper. That said, the electronic media, especially Radio, treat college sports like they are radioactive for ratings. Especially ironic since Callahan of WEEI, who played FB for UMASS, is most disdainful of the school. Suck eggs, Gerry.
Outside of hockey BC is just plain over their head. In basketball and football. The ACC is just too much for BC. Maybe they'll do better now that so many Big East teams are following them to ACC.
I have to cast my vote with Dan Shaughnessy. If you want to go back 30 years you can point to some big wins for BC, and some decent crowds. The 1984 season was probably the high point for football, with a brief reprieve during the Coughlin years. However, overall we rank well bell below other pro sports towns like NY, Philly, Detroit and DC in fan/local media interest in college sports.
A great dialogue between two great writers. I'd love to see more of this...
Ah yes, the guy from one Catholic college arguing with the guy from another Catholic college about whether or not the majority of people in the Boston area should care about a school that over 90% of the college graduates in the area didn't attend. BC isn't our school, and for those who think it should be because it represents the general area, why doesn't the same logic apply for UMass?
BC 72 and on behalf of my now deceased father, a classic subway alum from Arlington...WWII Veteran, Fireman, and skilled carpenter ... BC sports matter! Dad was a Season Ticket holder to BC Football and Hockey for over 60 years. From Jack Concannon, to Doug Flutie to Matt Ryan we were there for all the games, including the Dallas trip for the Cotton Bowl victory. When Dad was 80 years old in 04, we made the trip of a life time to South Bend. BC scored on a 30 yard pass with 55 seconds to go to beat Notre Dame, 24 to 23. That day Touchdown Jesus was rooting for Dad's team! From Snooks Kelley and Jack Cunniff, to over 50 Beanpots, to Jerry York and the National Championships, Dad was the number one BC hockey fan! Dad passed away a year ago at 87. During his life time he was an avid baseball (Braves then Red Sox), Patriots and Bruins fan. But even with all the excitement and Championships of the Pro teams nothing could compare to the thrills he enjoyed from Boston College sports. Thank you, Bob Ryan for writing with the passion that you do. Dad read the Globe every day and never missed reading a one your great articles.
Bob, I have far more respect for you as both a writer and a sports analyst than I do for Shaughnessy, but his basic premise, that this is not a college sports town is simply irrefutable. Few of us have any connection to BC--my major one being remembering my father complaining about how he'd have to find alternate routes around Cleveland Circle on home game days; fewer still have the time or energy to follow as many sports as you can through your job, so we pick and choose. Information is always plentiful about the pro teams around here, the college not so much, so we follow what we can. Maybe it would be different if we had more time or less choices, but between the constraints and advantages of living and working in the Boston area, the unaligned sports fan doesn't "need" college sports. Further, this is not just a Boston phenomena, when I lived in Denver, the talk was about the Broncos, not the Buffalos (or whatever the CO team was called), and in CA it was the Raiders and '49ers, not Califiornia and Stanford. Conversely, my cousins from Columbus knew the college ref signals before they could multiply (although the fact their father broadcast the Buckeye games might have had something to do with that), similiarly, my mother, born in a small city in coal country, followed her high school team religiously, I saw mine play once.
Shaughnessy a "collegiate sports infidel". Now that's a great line! Isn't it as simple as people love sports but can only pay attention to a few options? Where there are few options, like in major college towns, people will follow what's available and really get behind a successful program. In Boston college teams have to compete with pro teams that have superior talent and who market that talent better. It's not that people don't care, they just don't care as much. Take away all Boston's pro teams and see how much attention would be paid to college sports! Good to hear from you again Bob! You need to balance out that infidel Shaughnessy!!
Thus spake not quite zarathustra, but the Bald Eagle (in this case accurate because the "bald" eagle is actually topped by very white feathers. The many commentators are right. BC people care about BC (as they should) but they are not the "areas" team.
I feel like I should know Sunsetman...BC 77' (actually double-Eagle, BC High 73'), Dad 47' (originally 45'), I grew up in Arlington, I was in Dallas for the Cotton Bowl, and at both South Bend wins. So, yes, I'm biased. But a key comment in Bob's column is the one about looking at the cumulative collegiate interest in the area. I have relatives and friends who attended many of the other fine universities in the Boston/New England area. They are just as passionate about their sports teams. So the issue isn't just the competition from the pros, it is the collective dilution of attention from many NCAA programs. The same is not the case in Columbus, Tuscaloosa, or elsewhere.
Don't you get tired shilling for BC?