GChatting the Eagles #11: Tony LaRussa, Frank Spaziani, & Randy Edsall Walk Into a Bar

timstwrt
maybe we should just have a baseball discussion and talk briefly about BC-Maryland at the end
percDM
we could talk about bc-maryland
since we actually have a chance to win
which, is ridiculous

timstwrt
but there's not all that much more to say....we could win because they suck too, but a lot of guys are hurt and fire spaz
percDM
yeah, that pretty much sums it up
i was surprised this morning at all the people calling game 6 a great game or even the best game ever
timstwrt
that happens a lot, though....it doesn't really bother me that people fail to distinguish between great and exciting
exciting is great
i don't need to see two teams playing the best game of their lives for it to be great

percDM
but they played terrible, sloppy baseball for like 5 or 6 innings
then it got awesome
timstwrt
but then it got super mega awesome
i hate everyone involved in it, but this morning i heard a replay of buck's call of the freese home run and got chills

percDM
yeah, that was really cool

timstwrt
do you start carpenter and have jackson ready to go or vice versa
i think i start jackson
percDM
i'd start carpenter
is the only reason not to start him his one bad start on three days rest?
timstwrt
in the only game he's ever started on three days rest in his career

percDM
i know
and he has had bad starts on longer stretches of rest
i think carpenter is your guy
what, he gave up 4 runs in 4 innings?
that's bad, but it's not the worst start ever
timstwrt
i guess that, w/r/t carpenter, you let him go through his normal pre-start routine since he's on shorter rest, and hope jackson can adjust when he inevitably comes into a 0-0 game with one runner on and two outs in the second
percDM
haha
you know, i'd love to manage a bullpen for a week
it'd probably be harder than i think
timstwrt
maybe harder than you think, certainly easier than larussa makes it look
percDM
yeah, i think it'd take some time to get used to
like, i feel like i make great decisions while watching the game
but that's always with little consideration of their workload prior to the previous day or two
theriot is leading off today
timstwrt
HAHAHAHAHAHA
that made my day
man, that tony larussa's just a baseball genius who sees all the angles
actually
maybe he is
theriot sucks at getting on base.  if there's no one on base in front of pujols, it increases the likelihood of the rangers having to pitch to him
percDM
but if there is somebody on first, they'll pitch to him
timstwrt
maybe larussa's setting up a game plan where the cardinals win 4-3 on four pujols solo homers, while theriot goes 0-4 with four groundouts to the right side and wins MVP
percDM
hahah
bulster olney just described theriot as a more offensively oriented 2bman
i mean, i guess, if offensively minded puts you between darwin barney and aaron hill in ops
timstwrt
if you had to describe him as one or the other, i suppose he's more offensively oriented than defensive oriented
i consider him more utility oriented

percDM
this has got to be stressful
tony should kick back and have a few drinks before heading to the ballpark
timstwrt
maybe a tumbler of red wine
percDM
i guess the best thing to say about the maryland-bc game is that it could be exciting
timstwrt
exciting in the way that the first six innings last night were exciting
percDM
exactly...two broken programs looking to eek out another win on the season
timstwrt
what monumental gaffe might we see next?
i have a sneaking suspicion that edsall is one of two guys on our schedule that spaz can straight-up outcoach
percDM
the other?
timstwrt
TOB, not because he's a terrible coach necessarily but because spaz knows him so well
percDM
 i'm scared spaz will find a new ultra-conservative way to blow the game
timstwrt
edsall seems really into talking about uniform combinations, which is not something i can imagine, say, bear bryant getting into
percDM
he is the only coach as likelyas spaz  to describe the season as having the potential to get ugly
at least spaz was talking about the actual game of football
timstwrt
yeah, edsall's talking about mustard yellow pants with maryland red piping
percDM
are we really entertaining the idea of a bc victory?
timstwrt
 i dare say i expect us to win this game
and then i remember that momah, harris, ramsey, KPL...are all out
but i still predict victory
because, why not?
percDM
so, you think we will hold maryland to 18 or less?
timstwrt
i've got BC 19.9997-Maryland 17
percDM
actually, against my better judgment, i also think it will be 19-17
timstwrt
what would you take: combined pitching changes tonight or maryland points tomorrow?
percDM
definitely pitching changes
how many arms does larussa have tonight
timstwrt
i heard him talking about how he still had some options left in the 11th last night....he was talking about the possibility of pitchers playing the outfield like a soldier talking about the beautiful foreign woman who got away
so i assume that at some point you'll see a battery of ryan theriot and charles lindbergh tonight
percDM
that'd be quite the conclusion to the world series
just a bunch of scrappers out there
scrapping
timstwrt
prediction there?  i've got rangers 5-1
percDM
also rangers, but 4-2...and with no good reason for it
timstwrt
the theme of these conversations
go eagles, but more go rangers.  please.
percDM
yeah, bring a little happiness to the weekend
timstwrt
and misery to tony larussa's liver

Will BC Lose to Clemson by 4 Touchdowns or 5? The Great Debate

percDM early in the week, i thought we had about a 5% chance of pulling an upset in the world's friendliest rivalry due to a combination of harris, kuechly, and clemson being clemson. but, after the news about harris, i'd put our chances at 1%.

timstwrtthat's high

 percDM it could be high

but i'm sticking to integerstimstwrt i just can't devise a scenario where we win...the unlucky team with less talent and worse coaches never wins.

percDMoh yeah, we aren't going to win

 timstwrt is the clemson stadium off-campus?

  maybe if their bus crashed?

 percDM i believe it is on campus

timstwrt i guess a flu outbreak could happen

  or allergies....indian summer's a motherfucker for allergies

  but i'd imagine this is just normal fall for the south

  nope, no scenario available

at least we've got our third string running back going

 percDM is williams definitely not playing?

 timstwrtdoubtful

  which in football parlance means no

percDMand harris

  he's not going

 timstwrtdefinitely not

  who could have seen him coming back for two games and then getting hurt coming?

  that was me

  i saw it coming

  said so here

percDMyou are making me regret setting you up for that one

 timstwrt i also said i'd be very angry

  two for two on predictions that day

 percDM what was the other prediction?

 me: stay with me, champ

  montel getting hurt, me getting angry

percDMlet's get the actual language

 me: "i'm going to be so angry when montel plays two games this season and then gets hurt again"

  pretty definitive

 percDM alright, that is a 2 for 2

 timstwrtoh!

i've come up with a scenario

  well, not for winning, but for me being happy by the end of the game

frank spaziani follows in the footsteps of his hero, woody hayes (almost certainly not spaz's hero, what with all his penn state ties), and punches a clemson player

  thus ending his coaching career

  just like his hero

percDMand bc wins out and becomes bowl eligible

  we'll still suck for the rest of the year

  and he should be gone the day after the season is done

  your scenario does nothing for me

timstwrt no, you're right...a 51-3 loss where our coach doesn't punch out the opposing team's kicker sounds way more entertaining

 percDMwhat's your best case scenario for the game in the world of things that could happen?

 timstwrt i'm thinking, because i'm trying to figure out my answer

best case scenario, semi-realistic edition: finch finds holes, BC controls the ball, clemson turns it over 3-4 times, freese hits a couple big field goals and we win 19-17

 percDMoh, that's more than i was thinking

  i was going to say that it was competitive at the half

but i think you're right that any scenario that has us winning has to keep them under 20 points

timstwrt a more vivid, certainly grislier question: what's the worst-case scenario?

percDMif we can't move the ball at all

  we don't have the defense to make it look respectable

i could see a 48-3, or even 48-0 result

  things look bleak

 timstwrtwhat about our special relationship?

clemson wouldn't do that to us....they love mark herzlich too much

 percDM ha, true. really, that worst case scenario doesn't even consider them trying to run up the score

what do you think will happen?

 timstwrta quick tangent on that

because it may seem that this is fun

which...it's brutal. i love college football season, i love my school

  and this is just the fucking worst, to have to go through this every week

  and this will be one of those weeks, because we're going to lose 41-6

 percDM leave it to me to be the optimist yet again

clemson 38, boston college 10

 timstwrtwhat's the halftime score?

 percDM21-7

 timstwrt if i gave you BC +17 in the first half, would you take a $10 bet?

percDMi mean, i just said 21-7, so i guess i

  i'd have to

 timstwrt i think that would be foolish

  but i will not root against my team

 percDM i do expect clemson to come out flat

i just don't think we have the coaching or talent to make them pay for it

 timstwrti'm going to try for a bright side

who's this week's kasim edebali? who will have a surprisingly good game in this bloodbath?

 percDM i'd go with amidon

 timstwrtspooky

as would i

  but now i'll go with...chase rettig

  just kidding

  i'll take pantale

percDM is he still on the team?

 timstwrt you'll know saturday afternoon, when he has five catches for 80 yards, mostly in the second half when clemson's playing their backups

percDMi can't wait

  this season is soul crushing

  and its not just the play on the field

  its gene and spaz and everything around this football program right now

timstwrt and that, my friends, is where this post ends, not with a bang but a crushed soul

 

Gchatting the Eagles #10: Kubler-Ross Stage 4.5: Depressiony Acceptance, or Accepting Depression

timstwrt ok, where to begin?

  besides #firespaz #firespaz #firespaz #firespaz #firespaz #firespaz

 percDM i guess with the losing

 timstwrt yes, there was more of that

percDMif my math is right, that was the fourth time this year

 timstwrt (checking ESPN.com)

  yes, that's correct

 percDMwe were beat completely

outplayed and outcoached

 timstwrt and yet had a chance to win

  or a chance to be in a position to win

 percDMyeah, we kept it close against wake

  at home

any bright spots for you?

 timstwrt freese!

  he was awesome

  the fact that he was on the field that much, not so awesome

i can't recall ever watching a football coach who has less faith in his football players than frank spaziani the last two years

percDMyeah, he seems unwilling to give them the opportunity to make plays

 timstwrt i found myself imagining recruiting visits, with recruits hanging out with the players

  "sure, we're losing right now, but at least our coach has absolutely no faith in us to ever execute a play successfully. come to BC!"

percDMyeah, i have to assume he's completely lost the team

  and i don't see this season inspiring recruits to come here

  but the thing about college football is that you don't need top notch talent to be competitive and win games

timstwrt which we've proved, over the last decade and a half

 percDMexactly, coaching matters, and it can make up for talent deficiencies

  this coaching can't

timstwrt for our token analysis of actually football, i submit the ridiculous number of WR screens we ran

  a play that we definitely don't have the talent to run successfully regularly

 percDMand never once a wrinkle on it

timstwrt i'm not hating on bobby swigert, but he's not devin hester

  what is the point of this play? to gain three yards? you have the best RB in the conference to do that for you

percDMyeah, i couldn't understand it as a bread and butter play

  and halfway through the third quarter i kept thinking, we are going to go deep on a fake wr screen

  and it never happened

timstwrt ok

  in defense of not going deep

  rettig seems to have absolutely no touch beyond fifteen yards

  he's just playing "500"

 percDMbut if you never stretch the defense vertically, they can play up all the time

and that hurts the run and the wr screen

  apparently our only two plays

 timstwrt without momah, there's no one to go up and get rettig's "close your eyes and heave" passes

percDMcoleman is 6 4

and he looks faster than momah

 timstwrt and committed one of two brutal first quarter penalties

 percDMyeah, penalties dogged us in this game

but, we lost this game in an all-around fashion

timstwrt in the losses, we've averaged 8.5,3, 7.5, and 4 yards per pass atempt

 percDMthat is terrible

  that is on the playcalling, rettig, and the line

timstwrt so, easily fixable

  on the brightish side, the defense was really pretty good

  edebali especially was impressive

 percDMedebali had a great game

but he was the only defensive lineman who played well

  they had a lot of one-on-one matchups due to all the blitzing, but they still could not get in

 timstwrt we brought the linebackers a lot, as we anticipated, to varying levels of success

percDMyeah, it didn't work great, but it worked better than when we didn't bring them

  i know this isn't the defense of recent years, but i don't blame them for our losses

they haven';t played great, but they've played well-enough

 timstwrt they've definitely played well enough to win each game....when your offense can't score 20 points, the margin is non-existent

percDMnot only is the offense bad, but it has no identity

  if you asked a casual college football fan to describe bc's offense, all they could say is that it sucks

and don't they have that harris guy

 timstwrt look, no one could say much of anything about BC right now. "is that the one that mario coaches?"

we're not a relevant football program

  the highs of the last ten years never got high enough to offset this catastrophe

 percDMon reputation, we still might be o-line u

 timstwrt not if you watch five minutes of our offense

percDMyeah, this season just gets tougher to watch

  even with harris back

  its kind of like that movie with pacino and deniro that isn't heat

two big stars, but everything else is so bad you can't watch

can i hit a few coaching problems?

  the offensive line seems confused often

 timstwrt like, in their eyes?

you must have a better espn3 feed

 percDMha...in their blocking assignments

  i especially noticed it on one screen pass, that was perfectly set-up

but then vardaro was just standing out there, not blocking anyone

  and the screen got blown up before it could go anywhere

 timstwrt yeah, i remember that

  some of that may have been the defensive scheme

but those things seem to happen with some regularity

 percDMright

  and i know vardaro is young

  and he could have just made a mistake

  but it felt like the most obvious missed block

and i want to blame that on coaching

  my other issue: timeouts

  what the hell?

timstwrt it's one of the areas spaz is most obviously terrible, and conveniently is probably the most infuriating thing a coach can be terrible with

 percDM infuriating is the perfect way to describe it

i was glad i was watching that game alone, because i'm pretty sure the yelling at the tv qualified as a temper tantrum

 timstwrt at this point, his firing seems like a fait accompli, but that may just be my impression from twitter

but looking at that crowd, knowing that it's only going to get worse....i don't think gene's going to have a choice

  and everyone (myself included) wants mike leach....as long as "everyone" is people whose opinions are completely irrelevant

percDM can't we hire somebody not suited to the job from within?

 timstwrt yeah, i think that's ryan day

  here's my random suggestion whom i know very little about: UNH coach sean mcdonnell

UNH is a pretty successful 1-AA program

  so, sort of like donahue

  success on a smaller stage, experience recruiting the region

he coached at BC briefly at the beginnning of his career

 percDMsure, i have no problem considering him

  i'm not really at the speculation point yettimstwrt get thereit's going to be the only fun part of the next two months percDM

  i just want to see spaz gone

 and i'm not convinced gene shouldn't go with him

its not like we don't know something better isn't out there

  i'll get there, but i want to know spaz is gone

  i'm more #firespaz than #hireleach

timstwrt i'd say he's already acting and talking like a lame duck, but that's apparently just how he coaches

  do you think our "special relationship" with clemson means they'll play backups on saturday?

 percDMwould it matter?

Gchatting the Eagles #9: Wake Forest Preview: Win or Lose, Tanner's a Pretty Silly First Name

timstwrt

  so, we didn't discuss umass

  and i don't really have anything to say

  i didn't watch the game live, so when i saw the score i was encouraged, but when i actually watched it...not so much

percDM it was a hard game to take anything away from  we made some big plays, but they weren't pretty plays

it was nice to put up points, but i didn't see anything particularly encouraging

 timstwrt no, the main takeaway for me is that division 2 football is not very good

percDMyeah, i think we have to still look at this bc team as the team that lost to duke

 timstwrt it was nice to get montel a spring training game, though

  if you're not going to redshirt him, the next best thing is to get his feet wet against a high school team

 percDMyeah, i'll be interested in what kind of work load montel gets tomorrow

the line still looks bad, but montel has that way of getting past the first level

  he makes the first guy miss in a way that williams simply can't

timstwrti think that a lot of BC fans, myself included, feel kind of torn at this point

  each week, i want us to win

  at the same time, everything about our program seems trending in the wrong direction

so the silver lining of losing is the possibility of blowing it up

 percDMi guess i'm not as torn

  i mean, i want spaz gone

  and the program is trending in the wrong direction

but, a 1-11 season would be excruciating

  its no fun to a watch a team that can't compete

timstwrtwhat's the spaziani line for the season

  the number of losses that gets him fired

  i think 8

 percDMi was going to say 8

  and really 4-8 is very likely

timstwrti don't really agree

  4-8 seems optimistic

  like, wildly

  but, i'm also picking us to lose tomorrow

 percDMby what margin?

 timstwrt we'll get there

  so

there seems to be a feeling that we're in the early-to-mid stages of a downturn

  probably early

 percDMthere is definitely that feeling

timstwrtthat's all, just noting that this is a terrible time to be a BC sports fan

 percDM yeah, both football and basketball have more struggles on the horizon

BC finished the season ranked every year from 2004 through 2007

 timstwrtthat was a while ago

 percDMand this will be the fourth year in a row we won't be ranked

  and this is our first losing season in a long time

 timstwrt14 years

 percDM i'd say we are in the middle stage of a downturnand its a significant downturntimstwrtanyway, wake forest probably sucks

  but we're probably worse

 percDMwake forst definitely sucksand we also suck  i think we suck comparablytimstwrt here's why we're going to lose

i think tanner price is better than sean renfree

  and renfree torched us

  also, my perception may be colored by the fact that i watched bad news bears the other day, so i assume that tanner price is an undersized spitfire

percDMhaha

  tanner price is having a good season

  and if we don't get any pressure, he will pick us apart

 timstwrtwe won't get any pressure

 percDMbut, for all my trashing on spaz, he is a good defensive coach

and i think he is going to bring the linebackers more this game to get some pressure

  we saw a few more linebacker blitzes against umass

  and i think he was working them into the schemei think he knows he doesn't have the defensive line or the secondary to just rush fourtimstwrt ramsey's still hurt, and wujcak's out, so they'll have to bring the linebackers all day which, if i know, i bet jim grobe knows  so get ready to see their tight ends pick up first downs

 percDMobviously they will plan for it

but i have no idea what tanner price can do under pressure

 timstwrt probably take hits and pop back up, if he's as scrappy as i think

 percDM i'd rather go after him and force him to make plays under pressure, then sit back and let him pick us apart

 timstwrteither way, we lose

although it looks like accuscore doesn't see our prospects so grimly

  58% of the time we win percDMyeah, i saw that and i was shockedtimstwrti give us a 22% chance. they may have "computers" and "analysis," but i have "gut feelings" and "fear of mustaches," which, people may be surprised to learn, does not have a fancy phobia name percDM

  i've been torn about this game all week

  because these are two really bad teams

and i feel like bc is going to win, but i'm resting my hopes on spaz's coaching and i think i've made it quite clear what i think of his coaching

 timstwrthow are we going to win?

 percDMcliche number 1: cause turnovers

cliche number 2: get the running game going

  but most importantly, i think chase needs to air it out...go deep against their weak secondary

timstwrtyeah, throw it up for momah

  oh wait

  so, those things aren't going to happen

  and you're wrong

  wake 34 BC 16

percDMwow, that's a beatdown

 timstwrtyep

  we're terrible!

percDMnobody thinks we are good

 timstwrti think we go 3-9, beating NC state because it's the only coaching battle that spaz wins, and ND because they'll be poised for national relevance, and they love to fall on their faces when that happens

percDMwe've got some other potentially winnable games

  which i didn't think 2 weeks ago

  maryland looks weak, as does virginia

but back to this wake game

  i'm going to pick BC

  17-13

 timstwrtis there a monsoon heading for chestnut hill?

  that's rather low scoring

 percDM i see our offense sputtering

but i also think spaz will have a really good defensive gameplan and wake doesn't have the players to overcome it

 timstwrtmr. sunshine

  i'll revise my pick slightly, to 34-23

  hope i'm wrong

 percDMi do too

timstwrtand we're envisioning wildly different games

 percDM what are our point totals for the year?

timstwrt17,3,19, 45*

 percDMwe don't score much

duke put up 20 on us

  if we do have a good defensive gameplan, i think it's not ridiculous that wake would score one less touchdown than duke

 timstwrta little insecure about your pick?

  i like this...let your id out

it's not ridiculous, just incorrect

 percDMi'm just having trouble envisioning these teams lighting up the scoreboard

i am envisioning a sad game

that leaves the fans wishing they had stayed at home

 timstwrti believe it was tanner price who said, you can take your predictions and take your fans and shove 'em straight up your ass

  but i could be wrong

also, that's the only quasi-quote from tanner price in that movie that doesn't involve racial slurs

  tanner boyle, i mean.  see!

 percDMwell, i'm glad you are keeping the slurs off the blogtimstwrt go eagles, i guess.percDM

i won't be able to sleep tonight i'll be so amped

timstwrtESPN3 won't know what hit it