timstwrt: i've decided to be mildly optimistic
because, why not?
if he sucks, there'll be plenty of time to be
pissy about it
percdm: yeah, i generally agree
i'd say the one thing
i found out from bates was that addazzio had been on his list for years
things had changed for bates and addazzio
so was this really about the right fit for bc
or the right fit for bates, and if so, maybe
that's ok
timstwrt: that's the part that troubles me
this would be a great hire for miami of ohio
we're not miami of ohio
percdm: right
but, i'll say this, he was an oc and a head
coach
which i think are things we wanted after
dealing with a career dc as our head coach
timstwrt: a much-reviled OC, but yes
and he
s enthusiastic, which doesn't matter a ton,
but more than nothing
especially after spaz
i think i'm just tired
of hating our football program, so hoping for the best is a pleasant
alternative
percdm: yeah, i'm not riding high, but i'm fine with
this choice
i believe that was my
attitude with the jags hire
and that worked out
well until it didn't
timstwrt: and, if nothing else, EDSBS will pay
attention to us
percdm: true
the media did a great job covering this
coaching search
media and blogs
timstwrt: is this the last time anyone has to pretend
that bladschun knows anything?
percdm: we should have known better before
but yeah
that means i can stop
reading his typo-riddled blog
about half of his
salary at the globe should have went to his editors
timstwrt: gone, if we're correcting usage
eagle in atlanta can
resume his boyhood crush on ryan day
percdm: yeah, i noticed that
but let it go and hoped you missed it
timstwrt: i started getting mopey about us running an
unimaginative offense again, but i guess i kinda feel like that's the only way
we'll ever win
percdm: i'm a little disappointed that way, there may
be a lack of fresh blood
timstwrt: my mild optimism will start to leak if day
and rogers and mcgovern are all back in town
percdm: i don't know why that would be the only way
we'd ever win
timstwrt: because we can't recruit the skill position
players to execute a high powered offense
percdm: but our most memorable seasons involved
talented quarterbacks throwing the ball
timstwrt: one talented quarterback, and it was an
anomaly
percdm: flutie and ryan
timstwrt: i'm not going to pretend that 1984 is similar
to 2012 in the college football world
percdm: and with ryan, we didn't have a really good
running back
callender was fine
and a good receiver
whitworth, as your remember, was an ok
change-up back
timstwrt: i'm not saying don't recruit quarterbacks, i'm saying that
marquise lee isn't walking through that door
percdm: what about jordan lynch?
timstwrt: we took the offensive line for granted, and
now we know what it looks like when you don't even have that
i have no idea what offense NIU runs
percdm: its a spread with designed qb runs
timstwrt: and although i'm delighted that they're in
the orange bowl, i'm not sure we can learn applicable lessons from the MAC
because we're competing against teams that
will always attract more talent
percdm: i think a lot of offenses can win
timstwrt: kent state isn't a recruiting behemoth
percdm: i guess i'm not convinced the strategy to
beat better talent is to line-up and go straight at 'em
timstwrt: if you can execute line play, it eliminates a
number of variables
i don't know what you're arguing for....i'm
dealing with the reality of our football program for the forseeable future
addazio isn't going to hire steve logan as OC
his offensive approach
is a known quantity....and that quantity is "DIIIIIIVVE"
percdm: i'm arguing because you said that an
unimaginative offense is the only way you can see bc winning
i'm just saying, i dont think that's the case
but, i do think you are right we will probably
have an unimaginative offense
so it is super
important that we try to re-sell O-line U
timstwrt: ok, i guess i mean that the foundation of a
boring offense
is our best path to success
as always, i think the ceiling for BC is to be
super-competitive most years, and then maybe once a decade get some breaks and
crash the national title picture
like 2007
which, fundamentally, i'm ok with
percdm: basically, a return to the pre-spaz era
timstwrt: i don't want to sell everything out for football
which is what you have to do to be perennially
relevant nationally
i'm fine with running
a relatively clean operation that, if everything clicks, can make a run every
once in a while
percdm: agreed, you have to look the other for
academics, or for transgressions like sexual assualt
other way
yeah, i agree with you.
a quality team that is always competitive and occasionally relevant
timstwrt: the terribleness of the basketball team is
far more troubling to me, because consistent basketball relevance is an easier
path
all you need is a good coach, which we don't
have
percdm: i'm sorry, are you talking about the don?
his enthusiasm is
contagious
i know he is a good coach because he works the
sideline with vigor
i'm not ready to can
him, but i'm close
he doesn't seem to be able to recruit enough
talent
and he can't keep talented guys on his roster
remember how boring it was to watch skinner's
teams win basketball games consistently?
timstwrt: yeah, i hated watching the flex, and going to
the NCAA tournament every year
that was the worst
percdm: watching a team play hard and compete all
game long
timstwrt: if i were anyone playing BC in basketball, i
would press for the first ten minutes, build up a 20-0 lead, and then coast the
rest of the way
percdm: yeah, well, we will have to see what happens
against good competition
i don't think they'll have to press to build a
lead like that
timstwrt: i'm saying, why leave it to chance?
you get to practice your press, embarrass your
opponent
win/win
did you read the thing
about donahue in the house organ, BC magazine?
percdm: i did not
timstwrt: he talks a great game...i can see how he'd be an awesome
interview
the only problem is that he doesn't seem to be
very good at improving basketball players
it'll be interesting to see how hanlon
develops, because i think he's good
percdm: he definitely sucks at coaching defense
its hard to tell who is good on the team
some guys show flashes
hanlon, clifford,
anderson
but nobody stands out
as awesome
a lot of times, you can tell a freshman is
going to be awesome...reggie jackson is a good example
timstwrt: i think anderson's pretty awesome
it's going to be sad
when he transfers after BC loses 22 games again.
percdm: true, everyone does transfer
i think some of the
sentiment regarding donahue is changing
the combination of the
bryant and harvard losses seemed to have move some people
until now, all we've heard about is how young
the team is, and how he was left with no talent
timstwrt: it's been lonely work banging the
"donahue sucks" gong, but someone's got to do it
percdm: its odd how much slack everyone seemed ready
to give him
as if bc was a broken program
timstwrt: in honor of the fifth straight loss to
harvard, and in order to pat myself on the back, i found an email from the day
he was hired
where i said
"Yeah, I mean, it's not hopeless or
anything....his teams got better at Cornell. But he was still the coach the
first seven years. It's sort of like the "There were no terrorist attacks
under Bush after 9/11" argument. My point isn't that this is the worst
hire ever or anything, I agree that we don't know. But this is the sort of hire
I feared when we were talking about change for the sake of change. I hope he's
a guy on the rise, who with major conference tools can make a jump. But with a
slightly-over .500 career record and one tournament run, I'm skeptical. This is
hardly an exciting hire."
percdm: bully for you
i do think really good coaches turn programs
around quickly
in basketball
matt painter took a
purdue program that had been to the tournament once in the previous 5 years and
had them back in the tournament in his second season
and every subsequent season
and he started nobody
older than a sophomore in that second year
meanwhile, donahue is in year 3 and can't beat
harvard in 3 tries
timstwrt: the sophomores all stopped improving in like
february of last season
for a while, i thought and hoped i was wrong
about donahue, because there was improvement from november to february last
season
but now, yuck
the one thing he had
comign in was that he had just been successful at cornell. recruits now don't
care about that, it was forever ago.
all they know is that he loses all the time
and everyone transfers
bring back al....he's
not doing anything, since BC totally firebombed his reputation on his way out
the door
percdm: that was a bullshit way to get rid of skinner
but i don't think he'd come back
i know he is still interesting coaching, but
if i was him, i'd have no interest in coming back to bc
i guess we have to give donahue through the
end of the season until we have a fully informed opinion of him
i think everyone else will give him through
next year
timstwrt: i think you're right, but a change in AD
always changes the expectations
percdm: yeah, we should be looking at successful mac
coaches right now
just so we know who bates will be considering
timstwrt: maybe there's a hot NAIA coach we can offer
an eight year contract to
