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

GChatting the Eagles #8: UMass Preview: Does Spaz Eat Babies?

percDM UConn = pack of cheaterstimstwrt did they do something new, or just their history of being terrible cheaters who steal laptops and lionize a cheating gasbag who even god (despite His best efforts) can't take down?

 percDMtate george was arrested for a $2 million ponzi scheme

i just don't know where he would learn to cheat like thattimstwrt$2m? that's the sort of not-all-that-lucrative level of ponzi schemes you get with a top notch uconn education

 percDM haha

timstwrti like that they're complaining that we're blocking their entrance to the ACC over that pesky "you and your AG sued us for doing the same thing" thing

which would be fair

  in my opinion

  but the reality is that perhaps we don't want to share new england with them

 percDMall of that makes sense

timstwrtspeaking of local state schools, how stoked are you for umass?

 percDMwhen these two teams meet, hide the women and children

timstwrtmy assumption is that we'll losepercDMthat should be my assumption timstwrtbut we'll probably win 24-23 on eight nate freese field goals

 all of them from 50+

 because why not with this season

percDMi still think we will winof course, i thought we'd be in 3-0 right now

  and picked that way each week

 timstwrt

the biggest issue in this game isn't whether we win or lose

  losing would further embarrass the team, of course

and pantale said "there's a little bit of added pressure (playing an FCS team),"

  which is mystifying

 percDMyeah, a loss means there is no saving this season

  but, we already think the season is losthe said that because of the playing not to lose culture that spaz has createdtimstwrt here's the biggest issue: make an argument for playing montel harris, who's listed as probable

 

  percDMwell, its a hard argument

but the argument has to be that not playing harris if he is healthy is equal to giving up on the guys playing right now

  how can you ask these guys to go out and play hard if you are basically saying that the season is over

in the world of could have beens, this team might be 2-1 right now if they had harris all season

timstwrtthat's quite a could-have-been, involving several plays in the northwestern game having a different outcome

  which i think strains the could-have-beenometer

 percDM fair enough

but if he doesn't play harris, can't people criticize spaz for giving up on the season?

 timstwrtwell, you could just say he's not 100%

  and that it would be unfair to the player to press him back

 percDMok, but what if he is 100%

or 95%

  what does that say to the players?

 timstwrt "be better at football"

 percDMthey'd be better with harris

  without harris, they might quit, and be even worse

  and then you have a broken team heading into next year

timstwrtwell, maybe montel can carry us to 4 wins and another year of spaz

percDMbut 0-12 is an ugly stain

  one that recruits won't miss

  lots of good programs have down years

  years they aren't bowl eligible

  not a lot of good programs go 0-12 or 1-11

timstwrtour nation's finest purveyors of linkbait slideshows, bleacher report, had something about us going winless

  i couldn't be bothered to click through to the end

 percDMso, would you definitely not play harris, assuming that he is healthy?

timstwrtif he's 100%, nine games still gives him a reasonable shot at the ACC rushing record

  i suppose it's in everyone's best interests to let him play

  but this is the end of the road, in my book

if he can't play tomorrow, give him the redshirt

 percDMis he too many yards away to get the record if he plays 8 games?

really, i think the priority list has to be Harris's health, winning games, and then the ACC rushing record

timstwrtwell, sure, but this season's going to suck. all we potentially have is kuechly being kuechly and the ACC rushing record

 percDM if harris comes back, and we still suck, how ridiculous would that be?

two record breaking caliber players playing at the same time, and we can't win football games

  and they are on opposite sides of the ball

timstwrtif we were to beat umass by, say, 20+ points, would it change how you feel about how the season will play out?

percDMits a fcs team

  and so, not that much

  i guess if the offense is sharper, that's something

  but just putting up points isn't enough to make me feel better

no matter what happens, i won't be excited about the wake forest game

 timstwrti'm looking forward to watching this on the grainy film of espn3, lead cameraman abraham zapruder

percDMyeah, i'm sure we'll get all the best angles

  the only person faked out by a play action will be the cameramanso, what's your score prediction? are you actually predicting an Eagles loss?timstwrtsigh

  no

  24-9 eagles

  a win and a cover, which is a terrible prediction

 percDMi say 24-10 Eagles without Harris, 31-10 with him

our line has to be good enough to push around a fcs team d-line

 timstwrtif we lose to umass, are we obligated to give up this wildly popular blog?

 percDMand cause even more sadness amongst the bc faithful?

 timstwrtgood point

  we shall soldier on

percDMwe're a lifeline in dark times

 timstwrthey, at least spaz is treating the maintenance crew to lunch!

 percDM

  i don't even want to get into that ridiculouness

nobody is saying spaz is a bad guy

  just that he's a bad head coach

 timstwrt i don't know....if the season keeps going this way, i might start telling people that he eats babies

 percDM and shares them with the maintenance crewthat way, he is a devious monster

  but nobody will believe it, because that's way too creative for him

Gchatting the Eagles #7: ACC Expansion or: Dreaming of Digger Phelps

percDMhey 

It is clear from our discussion yesterday that we are both pleased with the addition of Syracuse and Pittsburgh. But, now is the time for rampant and uneducated speculation. And I've got a whole lot of ideas about conference expansion and realignment to discuss.

timstwrtdoes it involve UConn to the Gateway?

 percDMis that the new big12/big east conference?

  because that's where i see uconn going

 timstwrtno, it's the former name of the MVC

  but it's a better name

 percDMthat is a better name

i guess i envision four possible scenarios for the ACC, and only one involves uconn

  and its the one i think is the worst for the conference

these are reasonable scenarios

  i saw a guy today discussing nd and penn st as the 15th and 16th members

 timstwrtsounds awesomely implausibleif nothing else, this upheaval has given pretty much everyone license to speculate on pretty much everything

  see: whatever you're about to say

percDMyeah, it was crazy from intro to conclusion

  i see the best scenario as nd and georgetown joining as non-football playing schools

timstwrtok, start with ND

  why would a conference take them without football in 2011?

 percDM

  good question, and i think it goes to their fan base, strength in other sports and their academics

or, let's put this another way, how do you feel about villanova and georgetown joining in all non-football sports?

timstwrti feel great about it

  i would consider that my #1 ACC option

 percDMwhy villanova over notre dame?

  location is a plus for villanova

  but what else

timstwrtmainly location, and the fact that they're a better basketball school

  so if you're enhancing the basketball brand, notre dame doesn't do much

percDM i agree that nova is a better basketball school, but they're not that much better than notre dame in recent years

also, notre dame has quality programs in a lot of non-revenue sports, which matters a little

  more importantly, notre dame would probably be tied into bowl games with the acc, which could mean better bowls for the conference

which is an added bonus, since nd is so rarely bowl eligible

 timstwrthold on

villanova's a way better basketball program in recent years

  4-1 sweet sixteens in the last ten years

  2-0 elite eights

  1-0 final fours

so you're wrong there

  and i don't really care how good notre dame is at women's soccer

 nor does anyone other than the north carolina women's soccer team percDMbut the acc might care about how good the other sports are

 acc baseball might care

acc men's soccer might care

  i know non-revenue sports are 5th or 6th in the factors considered for conference expansion, but its a factor

 

 timstwrt the other thing in villanova's favor is television

 percDM

how so?

 timstwrtif you're not taking notre dame football, villanova's a better TV draw in basketball

 percDM and you are sure villanova basketball is a better tv draw than notre dame?

  where, in philadelphia?

  maybe southern jersey

timstwrti'm not sure how you've missed that villanova's a basketball power, but it has been for a while

  they beat us in the sweet sixteen, you should have seen that

 percDMgonzaga is a basketball power too

  but i don't think they have better tv revenue than schools with more national appeal

i know notre dame basketball doesn't have the same fanbase as their football program, but they still have a lot of fans

  villanova is definitely a basketball power

  but, i think their fanbase is regional

timstwrtnotre dame is guaranteed a minimum of 11 national television appearances in the 2011-12 season

villanova 18

  so, people whose jobs depend on ratings think villanova's a bigger draw

percDMok, so let's say both villanova and georgetown have better basketball fanbases than notre dame, i'm not sure if that is true, but i'm granting that for now

timstwrt is this 1977? you might be the only person who thinks it's debatable that villanova and georgetown are bigger basketball draws than notre dame

  kelly tripucka isn't walking through that door

  adrian dantley isn't walking through that doorpercDM what about the potential bowl tie-ins with notre dame?timstwrt

  the bowl thing seems like a negative to me

is there a lower rung that we can get pushed down to in the bowl world if we ever get back to going 8-4?

 percDMyeah, we can get bumped down a rung

  but we can also move up

  like if the acc gets the gator bowl

and notre dame doesn't make a bowl or makes the bcs

  which are their two most common moves

 timstwrtthe ACC had the gator bowl...i remember them not taking us twice

 percDM but, with the BC rule in place and another high level bowl, we could actually end up in a good bowl for once

timstwrtok

  that's an argument

percDM i don't think we are far apart on this, but right now, we will have to disagree on which of those two scenarios is better

 timstwrtbut we agree that football expansion isn't a great option

 percDMright  my second scenario is your number one

  my third scenario is that the acc just stay at 14

  i like the idea of two 7 team divisions, nine conference games, and 1 cross-divisional rival

i don't like two 8 team divisions, or 4 pods

i like an acc division of the old big east schools plus virginia and maryland

  then we play clemson as a cross-division rival

  the other division is a little weaker, with the four carolina schools, but i'll take it for the more interesting matchups

  i want to play syracuse, vatech, clemson, and miami yearly

i would also like to play pitt yearly

  i don't really care about how often we play the carolina schools, florida st, or georgia tech

timstwrtthat all checks out

  although i'd rather play one of the carolina schools than pitt, because i don't care about any of them and pitt's likely to be better

percDMfair enough

  what i don't want to see, is the acc adding rutgers and uconn

i get that it establishes a string of institutions all along the eastern seaboard

  and i get that those schools may be ways into the nyc market

  but, i don't like what it does to the football scheduling

  and i don't like uconn

if we get stuck in a pod with uconn, rutgers, and syracuse, that's going to suck

 timstwrthopefully it ends with us poised for a BCS bowl with a win over a terrible syracuse team

  because that can't go wrong

 percDMnever goes wrong

Gchatting the Eagles #6: Coaching Not to Lose, and Losing All The Time (Bonus UConn Mockery Edition)

timstwrt losing to duke is embarrassing, but is it "being forced to grovel at the feet of people you sued for leaving the big east so that you can leave the big east" embarrassing?  uconn's always there to remind us that it's not enough to be craven if you can be stupid AND cravenpercDM really, i think the expansion news and uconn's subsequent groveling were the only things that could take away the sting of the football being this terrible

timstwrtdo you think defilippo called jim calhoun on saturday and just cackled for five minutes?

 percDM personally, i think at every subsequent expansion meeting, gene should just pass around the lawsuit

timstwrtrecall that, at one of those "gene meets with alums" things, i asked if calhoun had to die for us to play them in basketball again

  and he said, "no, i do."

so i don't know how these expansion talks work, or what kind of sway we hold in the ACC, but suffice it to say that uconn's inclusion won't be unanimous

 percDMand really, gene's hatred for uconn is the only thing he has going for him right now

 i don't see the march to 16 as inevitable

 timstwrti like the villanova/georgetown angle, with a 14 team football conference

percDM its an interesting idea

  but is it going to make the conference more profitable?

 timstwrt it makes sense academically, as if that matters

  enhances "best basketball conference"

  screws uconn sideways

all upside

 percDMthats an added bonus

  the great thing is that uconn can't pull out the old lawsuit trick because they want in

timstwrtcan't wait for dick blumenthal to try to launch a congressional inquiry to get to the bottom of why no one wants his state's crappy agricultural college in their league

percDM he'd have more luck there

  at least congress would consider his inquiry

  didn't the judge throw out his lawsuit on jurisdictional grounds

 timstwrti believe so

percDMthat's embarrassing

  not quite so as embarrassing as being the uconn ad right nowit seems like they really got blindsided

 timstwrtgene does get credit for prescience

a lot of the way this broke is outside of his control, but he positioned BC well and get lucky

 percDM uconn trolls who have been saying that bc never should left the big east should be prevented from commenting on any blogs for at least a year

i don't think a lot of people saw the acc making a move at this point

  but it was a great move

  i can't see the acc falling apart now

 timstwrtno, and swofford gets credit for being a bloodthirsty assassin

he's like the opposite of frank spaziani

 percDMfor spaziani, he'd still be saying, this could get ugly

as the other conferences took 2 teams at a time

  but then he'd add ecu and ucf, and all would be salvaged

  i mean, unless they turned him down

 but the point is, he would have made a lame, but doomed attempt to save the league

timstwrtcan i isolate one play in that game for excessive complaint?percDM go right ahead

  i didn't know we had to ask

 timstwrt midway through the second quarter, we were driving

3rd and 10 at the duke 25 with like 4 and a half to go

  10-7 BC

the call is an inside draw to rolandan finch

  on 3rd and ten

  on duke's 25

 percDMyes, i remember that gem

  but i remember that from bible, and tranquil

 timstwrtbecause, you know, when you can get the ball into rolandan finch's hands in that situation, you have to do it

 percDMits a bc play

 yeah, it was a terrible play call

  and you are right to point it out

 timstwrtif spaziani ever gets fired, i want that play shown on a loop by way of explanationobviously, the kicker needs to make kicks and our secondary's awful and on and on, but the coach is aggressively coaching not to loseand is wildly unsuccesful at not losing percDMi know that the athletic department is supporting spaz now

  but i don't think it can possibly be an "if" on spaz getting fired

 he is not a head coach

 which is something gene knew when he passed him over the first time

his comments after the game are revealing too

  he's talking about needing to run the ball better

  which is true

  but really, that's not the problem

  its the lack of aggression

and for him, i think "run the ball better" is just code for "be more conservative"

  we played duke

  and we never turned the ball over

  and lost

  how is that even possible?

timstwrti didn't even know that was true

  the not-turning-the-ball-over part

  i was aware we lost

 percDM yeah, i just checked the box score to be sure

  the box score, in case you were wondering, is ugly4 for 13 on third down

timstwrt i was with a bunch of BC people this weekend for a wedding...the ceremony was late, so the groomsmen all went out to watch the game

 i was the only person in the room who thought we were going to win before the game

  #firespaz

 percDMi thought we were going to win

i thought it was going to be close

  but i thought we were going to win

  and when williams went in for the td and leveled the duke defensive back in the end zone, i was actually excited

 timstwrtyeah, that was tremendously unnecessary and awesome

 the duke guy was like, "oh, hey, i'm just heading to the visitors sideline after your impressive TD run, I wish you no harm"

  and bam

 percDMbut even then, i was thinking, spaz will ruin this leadi have no confidence in spaz's ability to keep a lead

  or come from behind

i guess what i'm saying his, i don't think he is a good football head coach

 timstwrti think you're on to something

  here's the weirdest part, to me

 if you're 64 years old, you're not coaching for another job, you're coaching to keep this one and, presumably, coaching the way that you want to coach football

  the way you imagine the game should be played

  like a president at the beginning of a second term

  so, this is spaz football

  a lifetime in the game, and this is how he's determined it's best played

percDMi think he hates everything in football that has led to more points

  he could probably talk to john madden for hours

  just about how much better football was without all the touchdowns

 timstwrt ha

percDMand, i know this is my favorite topic, but you don't win football games, especially in college with field goals

  especially when you can't even make those field goals

  you'd think it would be obvious to say the approach should be to go for a touchdown

 and settle for a field goal

  but, that does not appear to be our approach

 timstwrthis claim is that he was, and he ran to the left because williams broke two to the left on that drive

 percDMmy claim is that he was a top notch defensive coordinator

 timstwrt i don't really take any joy our of slamming a college kicker. freese obviously needs to make that, and make extra points. you're absolutely right, though...there's just no need to rely on kicking so much in a college game

  it's a stupid approach

and i think it's a contagious attitude

 people play tight because their coach coaches tight

 percDM

  i agree with that sentiment

  the play not to lose attitude is dominating this team

 and its a common theme in sports that playing not to lose is no way to win

  i think we totally worked our way around blaming the kicker there and place it all on spazwhich, is unfair, but not entirely wronghead coaching just isn't his thing i guess BC is just as good as that other Catholic school in proving the Peter principle in coaching

timstwrti'm going to be so angry when montel plays two games this season and then gets hurt again percDM

 i don't think you can possibly justify bringing him back this year

  for what? to not go 0-12

 timstwrti'd think not, but who knows

 my assumption is that spaz will activate him for UMass and then run 43 inside draws

percDM i'm sure harris wants to come back

  but it seems unfair to him, and not good for the program

  i bet he hates sitting on the sidelines watching his team get beat around

  but, i'm not sure that he can overcome the coaching

 we averaged just over three yards a carry against duke

  thats on a lot of people

  and i'm not sure how much better it would have been with harris

maybe he would broke a run or two and that would have been the difference

 timstwrt i'm sure he hates sitting on the sideline, but i can't imagine that he wants to come back to lose his eligibility while playing for a 1-11 team behind a terrible offensive line and not getting the all-time ACC rushing record

  chill until next year, montel....maybe there'll be a new coach

percDMwe can only hope

  and i guess bitch and complain

  we can do a lot of complaining

 timstwrtall of the above!

 percDMand its tough

  but again, at least we're not uconn

 timstwrtoh, uconn...you always pick us up when we're down