More Potential BC Uniforms

If I Were Boston College's Next Athletic Director...

Boston College football is a sputtering program with such promising potential. Everyone knows what football could become in Chestnut Hill, but most have resigned to the understanding that it simply isn't happening any time soon. The culture calls for sending good people through the program, doing things the right way, and having class. All great things, but winning is supposed to be the fourth part of that equation. It hasn't been in a few years.

If I was the new athletic director succeeding Gene DeFilippo, I'd introduce these uniforms. Look at schools like Oregon. How do they build their football programs? They look fresh. They sparkle. They have what the younger generations would call swag. Players envision themselves in that jersey, that helmet, those complete uniforms, and they want to be a part of it. Everything is about the image. Just my two cents, but if I was the AD, I'd put these into action and watch my Eagles soar once again.

Boston College Football — Predicting the Rest of 2012

When Friday morning rolls around, I'll be boarding the Boston College Eagles' charter that takes off from Logan Airport and lands in Chicago. The following morning, BC will square off with Northwestern for the third game of their football season.

My attendance is rather unimportant — I'll be doing the play-by-play commentary for Boston College's student radio station, WZBC 90.3 FM — but the game is of massive importance for the Eagles.

Boston College (1-1) is coming off of a blowout 34-3 victory over the Maine Black Bears, an FCS opponent whom the Eagles dominated for their first win. On Saturday, BC will look to notch their first win against an FBS opponent on the young season and prove that they are once again contenders in college football.

Ten games remain on their schedule. Here are my optimistic predictions for how this thing will unfold.

Game #3 — September 15th at Northwestern
As I've just mentioned, this is a statement game for the Eagles. Chase Rettig has led an impressive offensive attack thus far, and the defense — albeit against an FCS offense — looked stellar last weekend. The Eagles hung around with the Wildcats in last year's opener. I see them doing better than that this year. With their three-pronged running attack and revamped passing attack (Might Bobby Swigert be returning soon?), they get a big win against a good opponent. Boston College 27, Northwestern 20.

Game #4 — September 29th vs Clemson
BC's bye week comes after the Northwestern game, so they'll have two full weeks to prepare for Clemson. Sadly enough, that isn't going to matter. All the optimism in the world cannot logically bring me to suggest the Eagles will beat the Tigers. Clemson is absolutely loaded, and if you ask me, they could be competing for a national title come January. No harm, no foul — not a soul expects us to win, anyway. Clemson 42, Boston College 20.

Game #5 — October 6th at Army
This will be a pretty cool game for anyone lucky enough to attend it. Army is a good venue for obvious reasons, and it will surely be a hard-fought game. I suspect they may be too one-dimensional to hang with an Eagles team that brings their A-game. If they do bring that A-game, Boston College rolls. Boston College 34, Army 14.

Game #6 — October 13th at Florida State
Not quite as easy as last week. This will be Boston College's most difficult road game of the season, without question. FSU is always talented, they're an ACC opponent, and midway through the season it will be a critical game. I've said many times that I feel like the Eagles will beat one of the three big powerhouses on their schedule (Clemson, FSU, Notre Dame). It isn't Clemson, and it's not Florida State. Florida State 28, Boston College 14.

Game #7 — October 20th at Georgia Tech
Rounding out a three-game roadie, BC heads to Georgia Tech for another ACC matchup. Even though GT was impressive against VT, I think that is partially because VT is overrated. Like usual, it will be a dog fight. But let optimism prevail. Boston College 20, Georgia Tech 17.

Game #8 — October 27th vs Maryland
Maryland is God awful. We even beat them last year. Boston College 31, Maryland 12.

Game #9 — November 3rd at Wake Forest
It would be outrageous to assume that the Eagles will win all of their winnable games, just like it would be outrageous to say they're beating Clemson on the basis that they could... possibly do it. This is one of those games that the Eagles will drop. An easy win against Maryland behind you and a huge match-up with ND ahead of you — BC lets their guard down and drops a game they could have had. Wake Forest 30, Boston College 17.

Game #10 — November 10th vs Notre Dame
The game of the year for BC and their fans. It will almost surely be under the lights at Alumni Stadium. By my count, BC will enter the game with a record of 5-4. That means they're competing for bowls. And this place will be jacked up. Notre Dame — already an overrated squad — will struggle. BC gets a huge win by executing in the passing game and protecting the football. Boston College 24, Notre Dame 21.

Game #11 — November 17th vs Virginia Tech
I'm telling you, VT is an overrated football team. Logan Thomas is good and all, but they always seem to have problems putting the whole package together. BC is a good team with some flaws. They're still not at the point where they're a true contender in the ACC yet. But they're damn close, and they'll get a signature win after their biggest win the week prior. Boston College 38, Virginia Tech 35.

Game #12 — November 24th at NC State
I could group this game into the same category as Wake Forest, but the difference is that it's the last game of the season. There's an outside shot — albeit unlikely — that this game could still give BC a shot in the ACC. They may be playing for entry into a bowl game. There's a lot on the line. For those reasons — and because BC has a tendency to finish the season on a high note — I think the Eagles close out their campaign on a very impressive three-game winning streak. Boston College 28, NC State 17.

FINAL RECORD: 8-4 (4-4)
Most fans around here would be thrilled with an 8-4 season from the Eagles. I think that their opening loss to Miami will end up being very costly as they compete for the ACC title. As I said, they're still a few pieces away from competing for that conference championship. But this is a good group of players. You'll see it this year. I'm telling you that much. You'll see these players start to win ballgames. When Bobby Swigert and Chris Pantale come back to add two huge weapons to the passing game, Chase Rettig will be that much more impressive. And when Al Louis-Jean comes back as the team's top cornerback, you'll see a defensive unit with more stability and skill.

I may be optimistic suggesting that the Eagles will win eight games this season, but I don't think I'm crazy. I've watched this team start the season, and saw most of them play last year. There's something to work with here. As Doug Martin settles into his new role as offensive coordinator and guides Rettig to multi-touchdown games every week, the limit will continue to rise for the BC Eagles.

And there is still the slightest bit of hope that this team can become relevant in college football once again.

UPDATE -- Optimism can be an embarrassing thing.
      

Bookie Tips — Saturday College Football Locks

As another beautiful Saturday full of college football heads our way, why don't we take a look at some ways to earn the extra dollar of beer money this weekend? If you're a gambling man, these picks should be right up your alley. You may not trust me yet, but I'm hoping you will after today's slate of games.

Kansas State (-7) over Miami

Being a Boston College superfan, I saw the Miami attack first-hand last weekend. Let me tell you this — it was nothing impressive. Yes, they put up 41 points in Chestnut Hill, but BC gift-wrapped the game for them. It was a very standard and predictable attack from the Hurricanes, and the Eagles just couldn't make tackles or protect the football. It was as simple as that. Against a much better KSU squad, the U finds itself back to .500. Book it.

Auburn (+3) over Mississippi State

Against one of the most talented teams in the nation last week, Auburn hung around and lost a tight game. Mississippi State is no Clemson. This game will be close, and SEC battles are always grinders. But Auburn doesn't drop to 0-2 today. Quarterback Kiehl Frazier had very shaky numbers in the opener against Clemson — 11-for-27 (40.7 percent) for 194 yards with a touchdown and a pick. Despite the poor performance, Auburn was in the game. The Tigers get their mojo back today.

Clemson (-28) over Ball State

I was just raving about how good this Clemson team is, and it wasn't just to justify the Auburn pick. This team is for real. They're headed for what I see as an easy road to the ACC Championship game, one which my money would already be on the Tigers to win. They're mega-talented and headed back to their home field for this game — a field they went 7-0 on last year before getting blown out in the Orange Bowl to West Virginia. Those talented physical specimens will go to work for Clemson in an absolute rout of Ball State.

There's the wrap for this Saturday's slate of games. Pick any of these three — or, if you're feeling lucky, parlay them together — and you just might find yourself with some extra money to spend on beer and wings tomorrow for NFL action.

Goodbye, Red Sox. Hello, Red Sox.

When Ray Allen left the Boston Celtics this offseason, fans realized that there would be a change in the culture of the team. And when Tim Thomas told everyone to suck one, we all realized that a new era was beginning with Tuukka Rask at the helm for the Bruins.

But when it comes to culture changes and transformations, the 2012 Boston Red Sox put everyone else to shame.

General manager Ben Cherington put the finishing touches on a blockbuster deal between the Red Sox and Dodgers Saturday afternoon that shipped Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett and Nick Punto to Los Angeles and returned five players to Beantown.

It is the first trade in the history of Major League Baseball that involved multiple players with more than $100 million remaining on their contracts.

The reaction coming from Red Sox fans has been mixed. Some love it. Some hate it. Some are too shocked to know whether they should love it or hate it. Some stopped caring months ago and are just counting the days until the Patriots kick off against the Titans.

There are positives and negatives to come out of it, but one thing is for certain. The Red Sox that you watched yesterday are gone. Say goodbye. They're never coming back. The beer, the chicken, the 2007 championship and everything else that has come with the Red Sox during this recent stretch is gone, never to return.

What you'll see from this point forward is a new brand of the Boston Red Sox. They might as well change their uniforms and retouch their logo art. Say hello to the Red Sox.

I can't sit here and deny the fact that the Sox are now a weaker team. Adrian Gonzalez was a key part of this offense. It's tough to lose him. But let's break down these three guys and look at the pros and cons of their departures.

When it comes to Gonzalez, you're losing a guy who hits for an incredible average and drives in over 100 runs a season. His power isn't mind-blowing, but he's still a phenomenal hitter in the middle of the lineup. He's a gold-glove caliber first baseman, too. So, yes — a lot of value just went out the window. But what about his character? He's very business-like and professional. He's a class act. But in his brief tenure in Boston, Gonzalez failed to produce in clutch situations. He struggled with the pressure at times. He didn't display any leadership qualities, and he irritated many fans by saying it was God's plan to see the Red Sox collapse in September last season. Gonzo is a huge asset for a baseball team to lose, but I can't help but wonder whether or not he is a fitting cornerstone for this franchise moving forward. After all, with $130 million still owed to him, he certainly would have been the cornerstone.

Crawford and Beckett are a lot easier to cope with. The Sox bit the bullet on Gonzalez simply to get these players off their hands. Let's start with Crawford, the much less loathed of the two. It just didn't work for Crawford in Boston. He, too, couldn't handle the pressure of this city. Injuries didn't help him, I know. But for Crawford and Gonzalez both, I see situations that just sucked all around. The expectations were too high for Crawford — he was never worth $20 million a year. If Theo Epstein had inked him for $12 million a year over 5 years instead of $20 million a year over 7, we wouldn't even be having these talks.

But Josh Beckett is what makes the Red Sox winners in this trade. Beckett is the piece that needed to go. He's the one who solidified the uncoachable, uncontrollable clubhouse culture that developed over the last few years in Boston. He's the one who inspired the mindset — assumed by many of the guys around him, of course — that, in turn, inspires the rant I'm about to make regarding the disgraces of the old Red Sox team.

Who are you, as an MLB player, to go behind your manager's back and tell ownership he needs to go? What happened to the culture in sports that saw a manager being the boss of his players? The culture that saw the players putting the team before themselves? The desire to win over everything else? The entire way of life has changed in professional sports, and the Red Sox took it to the next level. These players feel like they're above the rest of the organization. They feel like they have the final authority. They feel entitled to way too much. This trade is the first step in setting that law straight. As a player, you're just one of the pieces on the game board. As management, the message is clear — we will have the final say in all matters. Hopefully Ben Cherington will continue to lay down the law and make his players aware that the team comes before their own personal interest.

And Johnny Pesky's funeral? The one that only four players — David Ortiz, Clay Buchholz, Vicente Padilla and Jarrod Saltalamacchia — managed to attend? That wasn't so important to everyone else. The bigger event on that day was Josh Beckett's charity event, where most of them went to party, have a good time and raise some money for charity. Ownership had busses and shuttles ready to take Boston's players to the funeral that morning. Four of them went to pay their respects to the great Johnny Pesky. Four of them. Four.

The attendance sheet couldn't even reach Pesky's retired number six. Hell, it couldn't even reach Nomar Garciaparra's old number five, but Nomar himself was able to fly in from across the country to honor the Sox legend. Unfortunately our beloved team couldn't make the trip from within the state.

It has been a frustrating year, and we'll have a clearer outlook when the dust settles this offseason. It may be a tough road back to success for the Red Sox. But if you want the honest truth, I'm not even demanding a championship right away.

All I want is for Red Sox baseball to return. I want to be proud of being a Red Sox fan. I want a team full of players who realize how special the Cathedral of Boston is with its monstrous green wall. I want a group of guys who love the game and love their team. I want players who consider their manager to be the boss, a boss that they would lay everything on the line for. I want players who want to be legends. Players who want to write a page in the Red Sox history book, and not a page stained with disgrace and failure.

The 86 years of failure were hard-fought years. The Red Sox and Yankees had a sizzling rivalry. Our talent was homegrown, and that homegrown system eventually churned out a championship.

If the championship comes, I'll be thrilled. But until then say hello to the Red Sox — hopefully a team full of youthful, energetic players that would give anything to give Red Sox Nation the world.

Lock To End All Locks — Celtics vs. Heat, Game 7

On Thursday night, I was hanging at Miller Ale House with Bobby Booze and some friends with the intention of watching the Celtics stomp out the Miami Heat in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals, earning themselves a ticket to the big stage and a date with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Instead, I saw LeBron James turn the jungle into his personal kitchen, roasting the Celtics all night in a heavy double-digit beat down.

With Game 7 looming ahead this evening near South Beach, there has never been a sports bet that I've felt more comfortable with. In fact, I've already thrown money on it myself, and I'm not much of a gambling man.

Boston (+7.5) is once again the heavy underdog. Everyone is counting them out in the aftermath of their horrid display in Game 6. But while they did play a terrible brand of basketball, the officiating did steer back to the Heat for stretches and gave the league exactly what it had missed out on in the West Finals — a scintillating seventh game.

Now that the seventh game is here, I believe the NBA will approach it in a pretty fair manner. They may not particularly care which team moves on — either way, the storylines will be captivating. Tonight, I expect the officiating to be almost even. There shouldn't be a blatant discrepancy as there has been (for both teams) in certain games of this series. When you add this factor to the existing facts — the experienced Boston Celtics have far more positive intangibles going for them in a Game 7 than "King" James — the following bet is an absolute lock to end all locks.

We're going to play a two-way, four-point teaser here. You sports gamblers know what it means. The Celtics are +7.5 tonight, and the over/under is 179. Take the Celtics in the over, adding in the four-point tease. Your final bet should be a two-team teaser, having CELTICS (+11.5) and OVER 175.

There's simply no chance of this Celtics team laying down and losing by 12 or more tonight. Have you watched them in these playoffs? Have you seen what they've done? Their backs have been against the wall and people have doubted them. They've had piss-poor performances and followed those up with brilliant ones. Even if they come up short in this seventh game — which, for the record, I don't believe they will — there's no way they get blown out again. It will be a dog fight, and 175 is a pretty easy number for the total score to get over. The payout is even on this bet, and it feels like highway robbery to me.

The NBA has nearly maximized their revenue from these conference finals. They did their dirty work in the first four games of each series — getting 2-2 starts and guaranteeing at least six games. Now, it's just a question of whether or not they have a preference for the finals matchup. And while everyone would marvel over LeBron-versus-Durant, there is also the idea to consider that the Boston sports market is a phenomenal market to give one last chance in the finals.

Either way, I think that the better team will win tonight's game. The reffing should not be the deciding factor. Will the Celtics' age hurt them, or will their experience get them over the top? I cannot say for sure that I know, but it seems downright silly to count them out. This group will fight to the end, and there's no way in hell they're losing another blowout this evening.

UPDATE — The NBA is so rigged that they already accidentally posted these shirts for sale in their online store. They promptly took it down, but Toucher and Rich got a screenshot of it first. Not so sure about this lock anymore since the league is so God damn rigged.
 

The NBA May Be Rigged, But Don't Count Celtics Out

The aging Boston Celtics are too old, the star-studded Miami Heat are too talented, the loss of Avery Bradley is too significant and the big three era will finally end, having gathered one banner to raise to the Garden rafters.

The big three era is over, but it isn't because of the Celtics being too incompetent, too injury-stricken, or too over-matched by a star-studded opponent. It's over because David Stern and the NBA are taking the necessary actions to finally put a ring on LeBron James's finger.

The above two perspectives are relatively common perspectives being taken right now in the midst of an Eastern Conference Finals series between the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat. The first excuse — that the C's are too old, and that it's Miami who belongs in the NBA Finals — is the one which supporters of the NBA and non-Celtics fans may assume. The latter, though it comes across as desperate, is the one that most Celtics fans and some skeptics of the league will adopt.

I'll take a middle road between the different approaches that are out there. But let's get things straightened out right from the start — the NBA is rigged, and it would take a hell of an argument to convince me otherwise at this juncture.

Now, hold your horses for just a moment. Don't pounce on me with an argument revolving around the word "rigged." When I claim that the league is rigged, I simply mean that the guys upstairs (David Stern) have a significant influence on the outcomes of games in these playoffs. Does this mean that Stern picks Miami in 7 and plays it out as a fairy tale with predetermined game results? No, of course not. It simply means that the league has an agenda, and the referee crews are not only selected based on that agenda, but they are instructed to call the game a certain way to most closely match the course desired by the league.

In a nutshell, there are two basic criteria that cause the influence provided by the league. The league wants (1) a long series, especially in the conference finals, and (2) a certain team to advance, especially when one particular sports television market trumps another. I'll be the first to tell you that the Boston Celtics were sent to a finals rematch against the Los Angeles Lakers a few years ago because David Stern dreaded the idea of the Orlando Magic market being the horse representing the Eastern Conference.

In Game One of this year's series between Boston and Miami, the NBA didn't need to do much intervening. Miami outplayed Boston, and the league got the preferred — not the mandatory — outcome from that game. But let's not forget the three phantom technical fouls that were whistled on the C's, largely changing the complexion of that game. In basketball, an official can influence a game in a very subtle way while still having a very significant impact.

Game Two was the clincher for many people who suspected the theory of a rigged league. LeBron James shot 24 free throws, coming up just five attempts short of Boston's 29 as a team. Three Celtics — Paul Pierce, Mickael Pietrus and Keyon Dooling — fouled out of the game, importantly depriving Boston of their captain for the overtime period. Miami had no players foul out. And in that overtime period, Rajon Rondo was raked across the face by Dwyane Wade on a drive to the bucket. No foul was called, the Heat registered a dunk in transition as Rondo remained hobbled on the ground, and the rest was history.

Just like that — with some help from the refs — Miami staked itself to a 2-0 series lead heading back to Boston. But keep in mind the two criteria that I mentioned. The league doesn't just want a particular team to advance — they want a long series, one that sparks attention and increases revenue. The easiest thing in the world was predicting the outcome of Game Three in Boston.

Much like the West Finals, the higher seed took both of its home games. What happens to a series if the favorite goes up 3-0? Interest is lost. Nobody cares. The ratings for Game 4 fall to a much lower number, comprised mostly of fans from the two participating teams. The regular, impartial sports fans may be watching the Kings and Devils last night instead of the Spurs and Thunder if the Spurs had taken a commanding 3-0 lead. The league will make sure to avoid that development. Boom! Thunder tie the series at two a few nights later, and the interest in this series is outstanding.

And the league did just what I suspected they would for Game Three in Boston. For the first time this series, the Celtics shot more free throws than the Heat. The borderline calls were going Boston's way, not Miami's way. LeBron James had as many fouls in Game Three as he'd been given in the first two games combined. And suddenly, everyone is extremely intrigued by two series that may have seemed all but over a few days ago.

Sometimes I just have to give my long-winded rants about the rigged nature of the league. For that, I apologize. But before you get too upset about that simple truth, let me shed some positive light on the situation. A grain of optimism. The original assumption is that David Stern is finally giving LeBron a ring. It makes sense. The Heat are the team that spark the most interest, and LeBron has tried to get his first ring for a long time. It would generate storylines about the league, exactly the type of exposure they always want.

But have you considered that the desired story may be slightly different? The idea that both the Eastern and Western Conference finals are so eerily similar — a team with relatively young stars against a team with veteran, future hall-of-famers — is interesting. For the Celtics, everyone knows that this season may be their last chance in the big three era. Boston is a phenomenal sports market. Might David Stern want to send them to the big series one more time? Does he want to match up old versus young again with a Celtics-Thunder final? Does he go for the two optimum media markets available at this point by pairing the two veteran squads together with a cross-country, Boston-San Antonio final? We've already seen the league's effort to extend these two series, but we still don't know which teams they intend to send forward.

Despite all of the storylines that would be generated by LeBron finally winning a ring, there is still the other side of that equation — people love to see LeBron fail. It wouldn't exactly hurt the NBA to see James miss out for one more year. After all, it's probably their last chance for a few years to get Boston onto the league's biggest stage.

If Miami wins the next two games and takes the series in five, then I'll be slapped with a little bit of doubt. But until something like that happens, I'm sticking to my guns. The league is rigged — in other words, David Stern has a heavy influence (not total control) on each outcome —and we can't change it. But the Celtics can shoot the lights out, make the job tough on the league, and hopefully help to force their hand. Maybe the league wants us anyway. Nobody really knows. I'll still watch the games, even though I'm aware that it isn't pure. Because like I said before, it isn't fake, either.

If Kevin Garnett has anything to say about it, this series will be a dog fight until the end. And because of that, I have a feeling there will be plenty of talk about the referees' critical decisions in the coming week.