Why Is Boston College, Rodney Dangerfield?
Posted by Brandon Rink on August 26, 2009 under ACC Football | 
19 Comments to Read
Can't see why BC is not respected...
No respect I tell you. That is, for Boston College. What do these guys have to do in football to impress us ACC and college football fans. Win an Atlantic Division title? Well, they have done that twice. Have first round NFL talent? Try third pick overall Matt Ryan and top ten pick B.J. Raji in the last few years. Yet, we(and I say we because I am right there with you non-BC fans) continue to underrate these guys. I guess we could expect an ACC title, but we give Clemson, NC State, and Florida State respect in the division and they have not done much lately with titles.
Let’s venture to see why they are not respected…
Possible Explanation No. 1-The Yankee School
Analysis: They are the one school that is just way up there on the geographic scale. The other eleven schools all reside beneath the Mason-Dixon while BC is on that northern island. This hurts them media-wise because the Virginia, the North and South Carolina, the Florida, and the Georgia media are not going to know a whole lot about the Eagles. They make up 95% or so of the media covering the ACC on a daily basis. The Yankee school factor then trickles down to the fans in those states as they underrate the Eagles as just a passing fad. Wake Forest received similar treatment for a little while, but their regional placement has benefited them with more praise then what BC gets now.
Possible Explanation No. 2-Small School, Big City
Analysis: This is another media related reason as even in the city of Boston—it’s hard to find in-depth coverage of the Eagles. They are team number 8 or 9 in the hearts of Bostonians. It is a pro sports city. The only other ACC school that is in such a big metro area is Georgia Tech, but there is plenty of good coverage for them.
Possible Explanation No. 3-They Are Boring
Analysis: What is Boston College football? They play to the often chilly conditions of Massachusetts with a grind it out offense. They usually have strength on the lines which is used to over-power opponents with less strength(good example would be Clemson in the last few years—if not for Spiller, Clemson would have lost for a 4th straight year). My comparison for boring football would be found at Virginia in the ACC. They are receiving little-to-no hype also(but there is sufficient reason for that). It is kind of funny that both BC and UVA were looking at the no-huddle, Big XII offenses for inspiration in the offseason.
Possible Explanation No. 4-A Losing Paper Football Team
Analysis: For me, the usual outlets I use for research just leave BC lacking. They are never burning up the recruiting trail comparatively against the other ACC schools. The skill players don’t blow you away, but they produce. Even a Matt Ryan, who was a good ACC player, few thought he would light up the NFL like he did last season. The numbers just do not show how BC wins and that is okay. It is good to see a team just defy the odds and win in different ways.
Any other possible explanations as to why BC is so disrespected? This is a group therapy session so let it all out people…
NoleCC said,
You forgot about B.C. fans and their arrogant attitude. When you talk to most B.C. fans they have this holier-than-thou attitude about B.C. vs the rest of the ACC. The fact is that the ACC was just fine long before B.C. came in, and the ACC has plenty of good schools in it. B.C. isn’t the class of the field like they portray. Throw in the fact that the football discussion becomes amusing when you consider that B.C. is a 2nd class citizen in Boston, and it’s a recipe for disliking them. Seriously though, I really can’t stand B.C. after a few years of having them around in the ACC. You’d think I’d love them being the Yankee that I am, but I just can’t.
CUOrange said,
I’m guilty of this, for two years straight. That said, this is the year that it catches up with them.
My personal belief is that they are so far removed from the “heart” of the conference and so little is written about them locally in Boston and nationally that they are easy to forget. Add in a small stadium in a pro sports town…and you have a recipe for being underappreciated.
B_Rink said,
NoleCC,
Come on, what do you really think?(lol) With most of my family being in the Yankee category, I am certainly not hating on them for that fact. I have not had those experiences with BC fans so far, but I’ll take your word for it.
CUOrange,
Yep, that’s basically what I was trying to explore with this post.
Greggo93 said,
B_Rink, BC Alum here (‘93). I think another major explanation is that BC has yet to win that big game to win the conference or go to a BCS game. Wake Forest managed to break through into the BCS, so they’ve earned that respect. BC will garner more respect when they reach that BCS level.
I’d also go further in your 2nd point about BC’s fan base being small. The media is always better off selling optimistic predictions to bigger fan bases than to be right in their forecasts. That said, the Boston Globe provides absolutely awful coverage of BC. The Boston Herald at least makes a true attempt. While it’s easy to blame that on all the pro teams in town, I think that Umass, BU, Harvard, Northeastern, etc. fans getting angry when BC gets too much coverage has a little to do with it as well.
That said, since BC made the move to the ACC, they’ve been on TV way more than they had been which I think will help build our fan base out a bit. As much as people complain about BC fans not traveling, we pull in pretty good TV numbers – and that’s where the money is made.
As for NoleCC, what ACC school doesn’t have a holier than thou attitude about FSU when it comes to academics? And you’re a “Yankee”, so you’re supposed to love BC? I’m sure Big East fans in NY and CT will get a good laugh out of that one. I think you’re just a little sore that BC keeps stealing your birthright of an ACC Championship game. I’ll be there on Oct 3rd rooting for BC to stomp on those FSU dreams once again.
I would like to say as a BC Alum who attended BC while they were in the Big East, I like the ACC much, much better. I’ll take playing FSU, VT, and Clemson every year in football over the Big East any day of the week.
B_Rink said,
Greggo93,
Thanks for adding to the discussion! Very solid points throughout your comment, the media does cater to the larger fanbases to generate sales for sure and that does hurt BC. For me, I am seeing a lot of anti-BC sentiment among ACC media(ACC Now’s Giglio being one of them) and I just don’t get it. They have won 2 Atlantic titles! If that is not contributing, I don’t know what is.
As for the BC vs. FSU showdown, it is kinda funny because the ‘Noles were the villain of the 90s-early 00s in the ACC. Maybe BC has taken their place and that’s a good thing. The villain makes the whole story a little more interesting. Clemson really is just too much of the lovable loser to be the villain, VT could be the villain–but there are just too many likable people up there. Miami’s relevance is far off the radar at the moment for that status also.
cgb said,
I respect BC. As a Hokie you have to. They always play hard and get the most out of their talent. Matty Ice in ‘07 is still depressing. I think the ACC media picked them last in their division, which is interesting considering they got votes in the AP and Coaches poll.
One of the reasons I feel like people disrespect BC is because both Tom O’brien and Jaggs left just when the getting was supposed to be good. Why would coaches who are constantly winning leave for browner pastures? In my opinion, that just has casual observers question their legitimacy.
(I’m a Yankee too)
@NoleCC – You need to have “I HATE ARROGANT BC FANS” popup when you someone from Boston visits scalpem.
B_Rink said,
@cgb,
Very peculiar indeed, those coaches leaving. You wonder if it is an administration issue…I mean what Jaggs did was not all that outlandish…I understand principle, but why stand on a principle that could hurt your program. Also, my goal as been achieved on Yankee references for this post…I was just thinking how I had not heard that phrase in awhile.
Greggo93 said,
B_Rink, that is an interesting point of view. I hadn’t really thought of it that way, but you may well be right.
I would attribute the negativity towards BC from ACC-covering media as at least partially stemming from the lack of respect that the ACC gets nationally. They blame BC for not being able to carry the ACC name nationally (and maybe feeling that BC doesn’t really fit in), but BC keeps beating the FSU’s and Clemson’s, so they can’t carry the name either. And meanwhile the SEC keeps puffing their chest in everyone’s face. I think the general feeling amongst ACC media is that if FSU or Clemson could get to the ACC Championship game, everything would be all right and if it wasn’t for those darn meddling kids from BC, it could happen.
I like your idea of the villain though. God knows there is story after story about how all the ACC needs is for FSU or Miami to win the league again for everything to be ok. I think most ACC fans 10 years ago would’ve thought it was crazy to root for FSU ever, but I have a feeling most will be rooting for them against BC.
As a BC fan, you tend to grow a pretty thick skin. Between all the local college kids/alumni, Big East fans, widespread Notre Dame fans, plus fans of the teams you actually play within the ACC giving you grief, you have no choice but get used to vitriol. Honestly, ACC fans are a breath of fresh air compared to the rest.
I think BC fans could slide into the role of villain without blinking an eye. The BC program pretty clearly is used to circling the wagons and just doing their thing regardless of what others think or say. If that’s what it takes for BC to become a “true” part of the ACC, I’d accept that.
cgb said,
@B_Rink – Another thing is that they have horrible fans. I don’t mean individuals, Greggo93 seems cool enough and I love Brian and Jeff’s work at BCI, but as a whole they don’t travel, don’t sell their stadium out and care more about their pro teams. Until that changes, or until they get a die hard BC guy (Spazz may be him), they will always be a stepping stone.
Greggo93 said,
@cgb – thanks for the respect for the BC program. Believe me, we have it for VT as well.
As for the horrible fans, I think that’s a tad harsh. The students represent well. Our problem is that we’re a small school, and if you don’t have a *direct* tie to BC, you probably don’t root for us. I mean, Bill Simmons the ESPN Sports Guy hates us, and he went to Holy Cross!! Holy Cross is Catholic/Jesuit. There are like 6 people that go to Holy Cross. They’re in Worcester. We haven’t played them in football for 30 years. And yet still. You have people who are anti-Catholic who hate us, but even Jesuit/Catholic schools in our own state who don’t have a D1-A football program don’t like us. This is our life.
You can take us to task all you want for not going to the ACC Championship game, but in both cases, we didn’t know we were going until that week. And my guess is most people held out for the hope of the Orange Bowl. For the cost of doing both, you could spend a week in Europe. In MA, most people would opt for the latter.
Moving the ACC Championship game to Charlotte will help us travel a bit better. It’s much easier and cheaper for BC fans to get to Charlotte than it is to get to Jacksonville or Tampa.
That said, we’re never going to travel as well as VT or Clemson. That’s just the way it is.
NoleCC said,
“As for NoleCC, what ACC school doesn’t have a holier than thou attitude about FSU when it comes to academics? And you’re a “Yankee”, so you’re supposed to love BC? I’m sure Big East fans in NY and CT will get a good laugh out of that one. I think you’re just a little sore that BC keeps stealing your birthright of an ACC Championship game. I’ll be there on Oct 3rd rooting for BC to stomp on those FSU dreams once again.”
As usual, the arrogant B.C. fan talks out of his butt. First of all, Big East fans? That’s like 10th on the list of “fandom” for anyone in the Tri-state area. In reality, most of those fans couldn’t care less if B.C. had a team or not. I certainly didn’t grow up in the area rooting for UConn or B.C. or any other college remotely close to Connecticut. I rooted for the one Big East team that was worth a crap at the time, Miami. B.C. hasn’t stolen FSU’s “birthright” as you claim. FSU doesn’t have one of those, and certainly hasn’t had it in nearly a decade.
FSU fans are the last ones to think they’re entitled to an ACC Championship at this point.
And let me be honest, I haven’t had a problem with B.C. fans in person, unlike G.T. & Miami. (Surprisingly I haven’t had any Gator issues yet.) But, it’s the vocal minority of B.C. fans that like to run their mouths (I especially like the “we’re going to talk about academics now instead of football”) that drive me crazy.
Greggo93 said,
NoleCC, you’re hilarious. So you basically admit to being a bandwagon fan for Miami…and then you go and attend FSU. Great stuff.
You’re totally right about college sports in the Tri-state area (and New England too for that matter). But your saying you’re a Yankee so you’re supposed to like BC is also talking out of your butt since that makes no sense whatsoever.
I’m happy to talk just football. BC vs FSU is 2-2 since BC joined the ACC. We’ll see who gets victory #3 on Oct 3rd. FSU looks like the real deal this year (at least in the Atlantic division), but we shall see. Should be a great game!
And while of course I’ll be rooting against FSU anytime they play anyone in the ACC, I’ll absolutely be cheering for them when they play Florida, BYU, South Florida, etc. Nothing would be sweeter for the ACC than to have FSU somehow pull out the victory over Florida on Tebow’s big day.
Conlon said,
Solid discussion and I just came across this so pardon my lateness. As a BC alum, I’ve got a couple additional thoughts.
First, there are many factors at work as far as BC playing 2nd fiddle to all Boston sports. No matter what BC does, that doesn’t seem like it’s ever going to change. For me BC is #1, but I’m a transplant from DC, so I despise Boston pro sports and can’t attend my pro team games on the regular. In many college areas, the big time college football program gets the fans from the area, even the ones who went to a different, but nearby school. At BC this is different. BC has rivalries with most of the local schools in other sports (hockey being the biggest). Alums from other schools hate our success there and couldn’t imagine cheering for us in anything. Also, Boston, while a big college town, isn’t SOLELY a college town. Many of these college towns sprung up because of the U and not vice versa. Most big time programs run their town. BC couldn’t ever be the center of a major city like Boston, even if it was 30,000 students and there were no U’s within 150 miles. Add to the fact our football tradition is lacking and the tailgating scene is ruined by the neighboorhood and multiple cities constantly intervening and everything becomes clear.
Second, I fully agree with the boring aspect of our football and the recruiting style. Lumping it together, we don’t generally have exciting skill players – and the media is looking to highlight flashy players, not hard-working trench bullies. BC gets overlooked. But to say the ACC media isn’t familiar with BC is to say they are extremely lazy. In this internet age, there is no excuse for not knowing a fellow conference member inside and out. Sure, they can’t view them firsthand in practice, but there is plenty of game film floating around and plenty of published info. Sitting on your butt and clicking a couple times is all it takes. Voila! You know more! So I don’t totally buy the unfamiliarity argument. The media is unfamiliar by choice.
I’m used to it. It stills stuns me, but I’m fine with it.
As for the NoleCC comment: to get that much hatred out of a guy, we must be doing something right. Funny, because I recall a time where FSU was the most hated program in the ACC. 4 years in the ACC and the 2nd most wins since expansion, 2 division titles and another tie for first (lost the tiebreaker to FSU), while never having less than 5 conference wins. I could see how that would upset a fan of the team the division was supposedly set up for that we are (so far) playing better than them in the conference they used to own. I am pleasant to all visiting fans and even invite them to a beer and dog at my tailgate. I receive the same treatment when I travel to opposing ACC stadiums. NoleCC – please don’t get turned off by some arrogance of the minority or statements about BC having better academia than FSU. Plenty of FSU fans can be extremely arrogant when they want to be, so let’s not make generaliztions.
P.S. I love the move to the ACC in every facet. Hmmm…Atlanta, South Beach, and Tally, or Morgantown, Piscataway, and East Hartford?
Either way – let the games begin! Go Eagles – Ever to Excel.
Ric07 said,
Why does BC receive so much hate?
1) They’re so far north. The ACC doesn’t mean anyone whose state touches the Atlantic Ocean (which I’ve often heard to be their justification). It’s more of a Southern thing. Cultural differences, my friend.
1b) They don’t travel well. At all. Of course, it’s a little harder when you’re the only school that far north, so I wouldn’t expect much from a regional fanbase. Maybe they’ll travel better when their fanbase is more national. Until they travel, they’ll be relegated to car tire or Idahoan bowls.
2) Arrogance/ entitlement. They trash their former Big East schools. I often hear (from them) how BC is in a much better academic conference now, with true peers such as UVA, Duke, Wake, GT, and UNC. Peers? Really? BC isn’t better than Georgetown or Notre Dame. I’d compare BC to Syracuse. I’ll say BC is better than GT, tied with Wake, but that’s it.
3) Notre Dame obsession. We get it. You don’t like them. Get off the subject already. But just like 3rd grade, the whole class knows you have a secret crush on them.
Kevin said,
Shouldn’t Florida State fans love Boston College? They’re basically the reason they won the 1993 National Championship. If we hadn’t beaten Notre Dame, after FSU got beat by them, Notre Dame would probably have been the NC.
B_Rink said,
And we’re back to the BC discussion, thanks to BC Interruption for the link!
@Conlon
I, for one, am a pro-BC ACC fan. I think they have added a great dimension to the conference in football. It is interesting what you and other BC fans have brought up with the rivalries with the other schools in town. I would guess that is a product of the lack of significant interest in college football up there. In the South, even if you go to a smaller school, you have a BCS conference team you follow. Also, I would agree that the ACC media is lazy…and that’s by choice. The media is a business…and local stories make the dough. The lack of BC alumni in the South probably contributes to the lack of coverage comparatively to the other schools. Thanks for adding to the discussion, Conlon!
@Ric07,
Just as an aside, your website is Duke University? lol You are kinda harsh on the Eagles, but you bring up some good points. Travel is a big issue, but for football, who besides Clemson, VT, or FSU is really traveling in significant numbers in the ACC? Wake Forest doesn’t travel. Duke doesn’t know they have a football team. They just are not consistently good enough for anyone to notice like with BC. I could care less about the academics, but I’ll take your word for it. lol at the ND point, but I can neither confirm nor deny the validity of that. Thanks for commenting, Ric07!
Kevin,
Apparently, they like them from afar, in the Big East, but just not in their conference.
Nick P. said,
B Rink, this is a great discussion thread. I just came arcorss it. Thanks for posting on the subject.
I’m a 2001 BC grad and have a slightly different viewpoint on why BC garners less respect than other schools in the conference. While I think many of the points made previously contribute to BC being underrated, I do disagree that the media is lazy. In fact, I think the fact that the media actually does its research (how good it is is questionable) contributes directly to the team being underrated for a couple of reasons.
A) Because they are not NFL scouts and because BC plays a less exciting brand of football as pointed out by Greggo93, the media tend to undervalue the returning starters on our roster and overvalue the players lost in the draft or to graduation. For example, the impact of losing Brace and Raji is overweighted by the media because they don’t truly understand the value of our returning players like Scafe. In their minds, if a BC player was actually good enough to get drafted, their loss must be extremely difficult to overcome.
B) The proponderance of BC’s recruits come from the Northeast and they are undervalued in the recruiting rankings relative to players from other areas of the country that are football hotbeds (ex. Florida, California, Texas). I’ve had the chance to speak with players on the team about this at booster events and they point out that the recruiting services concentrate the vast majority of the scouting resources in those hotbed areas of the country outside the Northeast, and as a result of less scouting, less knowledge, and less reputation, the players are often undervalued. Finally getting to my point here, when the Media forecasts the success or failure of a team, they base their predictions in large part on the strength of recruiting classes and the players constituting them that will replace the players lost to the draft and graduation. This is why a team like USC can be ranked in the top 5 when they have a freshman QB starting and less returning starters than most other teams. The same principle holds true for the predictions made about FSU, Clemson, and nowdays GT or UNC every year. Their highly touted recruiting classes provide enough evidence to most media that they have the talent to be elite every year.
So to sum it all up, BC is underrated year after year because the media perceive the level of talent on the team to be below average relative to other ACC teams when it’s a lot closer in reality. The amount of NFL talent graduating from BC annually and the fact that they outperform everyone’s forecast supports this. At this point, qualitative factors like a coach’s reputation, media darling players/stars on the team, and highly touted individual recruits come into play in making a prediction, and, as discussed in previous posts, BC just doesn’t have enough of “that” to get respect based on what I’ll call hearsay alone.
Also, I think the point one poster made about BC’s coaches not wanting to stay when they seem to be winning was interesting. It’s interesting because the perception is that they wanted to leave when in reality, O’Brien was forced out after 10 years of never being able to win a championship and losing games where we should have killed the competition (I’ll never forget while still in the BE with a BCS bowl on the line when we humped a frog against a horrible Syracuse team the final game of the season…that kind of performance was guaranteed at least once or twice annually), and Jags was basically forced out when he gave the AD the opportunity to fire him. The AD realized Jags made a bad decision going to the college level. Word has it that he hated the recruiting process as well as other aspects that differed from the pro game, and the AD canned him when given the chance rather than go on with a coach whose heart wasn’t into it. For what it’s worth, I think Spaz will be the coach for at least the next 5 years.
B_Rink said,
@Nick. P,
Again, I appreciate all the well-thought out and argued comments. It just makes the site better and it’s awesome.
I really like your perspective on it because it spins us in a different way. It is a greater system issue with how the media/recruiting sites rate players. I would have to raise my hand as one that has BC taking a hit from all the NFL talent, really, if we follow your argument, can you blame us? If the recruiting sites over-hype recruits from the South and West, if the media does not have reliable sources then to gather from, we just are not equipped without detailed, first-hand knowledge of a person like yourself to make an accurate projection on a team like BC. That is what makes the Eagles such a prediction anomaly in the ACC. Appreciate the work you put into the comment, Nick!
ACC Roundtable: Uh, BC Is Good Edition : On The B.Rink said,
[...] Hmmm, I was pondering this preseason, but still, against all odds, picked the Eagles towards the bottom of the ACC. BC does it somehow and it impresses me. The Herzlich story is inspiring for sure…*high-five*. [...]