Time to move on and Week 6 of the fantasy schedule

The Boisture's things locked up, I've gotten over it time to move on. BC has already sent out an offer to rising player Chase Rettig. Looks like we were the first to offer.

Before I start with Week 6 of the Schedule I want to do a short recap because these get lost at the end of my page long posts. (if you click the "schedule" label you can see the full six stories

Week 2009 Schedule Dream Team Why
1 Northeastern Holy Cross Revive biggest rivalry in school history
2 Kent State Pittsburgh Old Big East match up and a recruit war now
3 Clemson Clemson An Atlantic Match-up with storied program
4 Wake Forest Wake Forest A battle of two very like schools
5 FSU FSU The road to the Tampa goes through FSU

Week 6
Who we Play:@ Va Tech
Who we should play: @ Va Tech
Perhaps THE biggest budding rivalry since the flip to the ACC. BC has not played a single team more since joining the ACC. Part of me wants to change this to Duke (coastal version of Wake Forest)because we see Va Tech twice every year and they know what we're doing by the second game. Still the Champ game isn't guaranteed (especially this year) so the Va Tech match up needs to stay. Maybe we can spoil they're title run (though I'd like to see the ACC get some more respect). This one continues the trend of keeping the schedule the same.

'09: This one would probably be a loss as well. Va Tech is just looking like a very gifted team this year.
'07: I think this team is better than the '07 team that Matty struggled with but the defense won't be as strong, especially the pass rush. This game would come down to who got more momentum

And There He Goes

Shortly after impressing @ the Nike Camp and rumors of a visit to MSU superprep.com is reporting that Boisture has flipped. I rely on ESPN because I find it to be the most reliable but they also tend to be a day or two behind Rivals or Scout but it sounds like the love affairs over here. I understand why he flipped so I don't have hard feelings but this seems to be just another in a long string of bad luck.

Resume the Griffin Murphy campaign.

*Update: Rivals is backing up the Scout story

Are you Feeling Lucky?

A. Simmz over @ Couplebeers caught whiffs of Boisture visiting with Michigan State. Now, for me, two reactions come to mind. First, there is that gnawing, uncomfortable feeling I've had since he comitted and the gutcheck pityparty "I told you so" moment. Then theres the logical calculated reaction. The bad: he's visiting a school closer to home, that gets much more respect nationally (see HD, EA, Steele, etc) and certainly more attention locally (darkhorse for Heisman? pfft the Sawx might sign a Japanese phenom pitcher who will throw out his arm pitching in the World Baseball Classic next year) and Mich State has a family connection with his grandfather or uncle or something coaching there for a number of years. The Good: he committed with us from the get-go, He has reiterated his committment to BC. He says thats its a Solid Verbal and that he will enroll early @ BC, even the Globe has run a story on the kid. So my feeling is the same as it was back when he committed, I'll believe it when I see it, or when he tattoos an Eagle on his Chest. Either way we just have to sit, wait and hopefully get a little much-deserved luck. (God knows we need it)

And now for Week 5 of the dream schedule:
Who we play:FSU
Who we should play: FSU
For BC the road to Tampa goes through Tallahasee (it might literally go through as well). This year their coming here and the powerhouse that is Bobby Bowden and his band of class-skipping, test-cheating felons aren't the favorites to win the Atlantic, which means they probably will, and since the FSU-BC game has always been won by the away team hopefully the odd both teams aren't really that good, you-should-beat-us-but-maybe-you-won't-but-we're-rebuilding-so-maybe-you-will-but-the-team-that's-supposed-to-win-never-wins-so-maybe-we'll-win reverse reverse logic will come into effect.

Kudos to anyone that just read that, but really whether they've been replaced by Va Tech and Clemson (and maybe now Ga Tech) Miami and FSU have always been though of as the class of the ACC because of their titles and their powerhouse recruiting. Since we rock the Atlantic an FSU game is a must. Perhaps even a rivalry trophy should be made, my suggestion: a guilded luggage bag since the away team always wins.

'09: Unless the rest of the team gets arrested (a possibility) I would have to say this ones gonna be a loss for our boys. It's not a lost cause, just a difficult game against a good team that has history on it's side (0-5 for the home team)

Where to Start...

A lot of news since I last had a decent internet connection so here we go:

The first summer football camp was last week and besides making it impossible to find parking little news came out of it. In the end it looks like QB Josh Bordner impressed the coaching staff, which is good because he hasn't impressed anyone else. We also picked up a local OL Robert Vardaro, not real info on him yet. The QB pickup probably ends my bring Griffin Murphy to BC campaign as I don't really see the value in bringing a 7th QB into the fold and atleast the guy is tall. Couplebeers has more of an inside track on the camp situation so head over there for some more info.

The writer over at Couplebeers also shares a similar hatred for EA that I share. With NCAA 2010 a little over 2 weeks away they have released the Team ratings for next year. Couplebeers went into the historical snubbing but I've been wasting my time doing some in depth research. For a couple of weeks now EA has been promoting a "Team Builder" for NCAA 2010 (which I hope will feature a download function where you can download the team you built). As part of this you can also get access to the team rosters, and their attribute by attribute evaluation. You have to keep in mind that EA includes about 121 teams (120 FBS schools and one FCS Compass Point team) but it really shows. My conclusion has been that the research comes primarily from the recruiting outlets and then points get bumped up semi-randomly every year with standout players getting a little extra attention. You can see where this is going. My biggest problem this year is with LE # 98 (known to none EA programmers as Alex Albright) is rated as a 73 overall. My conclusion how they came to this ranking, Albright came in as a 3* recruit, which means you fall in the 70-75 range as a freshman (at least according to their system) Albright has then started only a few games since then and has had little production (they look at previous year stats) so he hasn't progressed far. What they didn't look at was the fact that the guy was injured for most of the years. This system is however still better than previously because atleast McLaughlin and Harris were bumped up thanks to there good production (I still remember when Dunbar was barely scratching 80). Their evaluation of Herzlich however was pathetic, my only conclusion is that they relied on stats because he ended up with a 93. He was quite possibly one of the best OLB next year and he got the same treatment as every starting LB for FSU. This also raises another issue as to why Herzlich is even available. I'll give EA a break for this one because they announcement was made late and theres still some ambiguity to the situation but honestly they still have Albright as a Senior and last year Toal and Raji were nowhere to be found while they were in 07. Anyways I went player by player through all of the players and adjusted names, numbers and ratings. If you want to try it out for yourself head over to easportsworld.com click on football and go to teambuilder. If you want to see my evaluation search Boston College and look at the team by "BCEagles2010," and yes I realize theres a duplicate of Lapham, I don't know why.

In other snub news HD is cruising through her top 30 ACC players and the only BC player to hit the list so far is Castonzo at number 23. Shes down to 7 and no other BC player has shown up. I really don't think any of our players (besides Herzlich who HD herself said would be number 1 AND 2) would be in the top 7. The only one who has a chance is Matt Tennant. Still I feel like we should have had a few people in the high teens and twenties. Harris ran truck all over FSU last year, Wes Davis is a pretty good FS and McLaughlin (assuming he's back) was a rock in the middle. Albright, when healthy is great coming off the corner. Tennant and Claiborne are solid O-Lineman. While I don't expect all of them should have been on the list I think it would be fair to say that @least one (including Tennant and McLaughlin) should have been somewhere on that list.

And finally that leads us to Fantasy Scheduler week #4
Who we play:Wake Forest
Who we should play: Wake Forest
Never a problem with this matchup, always some of the finest games, the schools are remarkably similar and produces a fine matchup every year, oftentimes with Atlantic Division standing on the line.

'09: close game but WF's lack of a consistent ground attack means that our experience secondary can load up against the pass.
'07: Defense would just chew up Skinner (they did) and Matt would throw for atleast 300 yards (again)

Toal back in the Pros and Round 3 of Fantasy scheduler

Good news on the Toal watch, he's been picked up by another team! The bad news is that just like I predicted its in the UFL. Brian Toal will be joining the UFL Las Vegas team which has me slightly confused. My impression was that there would be a geographical base to the draft where teams get first crack at local players, either from their home town/college or from what NFL team they were released from. Toal is from NJ and tried out with the Jets and theres a UFL NY team... yet he's in Vegas. This either means the local team didn't want him or I don't understand the draft philosophy. Joining Toal in the UFL is 2007 standout CB Dejuan Tribble who was selected by San Diego in last years 6th round but spent the year on the practice squad before being released this year. I think Tribbble would honestly be a very exciting player in the AFL (where his risk-reward rout jumping would be more exciting) but I hope he does well regardless. You can check out the UFL draft here. There will be two more stages to the draft to fill out the roster and I have a strong feeling that you are going to see Akins, Robinson, and perhaps even Crane make some teams later. I'm up in the air on Purvis, I still find it weird that he's wearing a FB number but with Smith in New England there should be an extra spot for a TE. In FB news former TE/FB Jon Loyte is cracking into the lower level of the AFL.

And now for week 3
Who we play: @ Clemson
Who we should play: @ Clemson
A budding rivalry that actually has a name and trophy (not that I know it) there's no reason this game shouldn't be played. Sure, it will likely be one of the tougher games this year but these are two pretty storied teams and its an ACC Atlantic matchup to be proud of. This one stays on the books.

I'm also going to start adding what I think this years squad would do in the dream schedule as well as the 2007 squad (the best team I know of in recent memory)
Holy Cross: win in 09 and 07
Pitt: Close win in 09, blowout in 07
Clemson: While there always seems to be the potential for an upset in this game I'm going to give the 09 team a loss here. If there is any "good" ACC team we have a chance against this year its going to be Clemson though. The 07 team would stomp.

Recruiting News and installment Two of the Dream Schedule

There is some new info on Boisture thanks to an article by the Boston Globe. The globe actually covering news on BC is something of a miracle in itself and the fact that they are covering Boisture either indicates just how exciting this guy could be or... just how bad our QB situation is right now. In other news BC is still in the running for Shakim Phillips one of the best WR in the 2010 recruiting class. Finally I just found out that Ryan Cobb, the Don Bosco prospect that wanted to hear from BC has committed elsewhere. I can't help but feel that we might have missed out on this one. The guy wasn't an elite talent but he had that Blue-Collar feel that BC generally goes for. Maybe recruiting under Spaz is going to include only Blue-Chips, time will tell.

And for part two of the dream schedule we look at Week 2 in the season.
Who we play: Kent State
Who we should play: Pitt
I followed the ever unpopular Heather Dinich on this one because theres a lot to like about this match up. Theres an old rivalry from the Big East days but more importantly there is a huge recruiting territory overlap. The amount of players that sign with us over Pitt or Pitt over BC is fairly substantial so such a game could serve as a chance to prove which team deserves that 4* reciever.

A little News and Some fun

Sounds like I'm not the only one less than convinced that Shinskie will be the solution as ATLEagle, Eagle Access and Couplebeers all seem less optimistic following that new hope high. My optimist side has me saying that Shinskie probably has the best skill set and only needs to catch up with reading coverage, something Tuggle struggled with anyways. My realist side tells me that a guy that hasn't seen a cover 2 in 6 years is not going to be able to pick it up over the summer. So heres my way too early, way too uneducated projection. Justin Tuggle will be our starter but Shinskie will have a couple of snaps per game where he could really fire off some bombs just like Vandy and GT did against us last year.

In other news couplebeers posted that Boisture is currently taking summer classes so taht he can graduate in the winter and enroll @ BC in January. I don't know where he got his info, he's as bad at posting links as I am but this could be a sign for Boisture as starting QB in the fall of 2010. Then again we could have a Haden/Harris situation where Haden was anointed as the savior of BC's running game and then Harris ran truck all over the ACC last year. But thats other news.

HD over @ ESPN just did a little exercise called fantasy scheduling and she picked one game that she would love to see. I decided I would take this and carry it out over our entire schedule. Feel free to fire back your own feelings the rules are any ACC team has to be a team from the same division (no nonconfrence or non-division opponents) so here we go (I'll release one every few days
Week 1:

Who we play: Northeastern
Who we should play: Holy Cross
Back before the Holy War with Notre Dame there was the Holy War with Holy Cross. This was literally THE game of the year back in the day. The old Alumni field was too small to hold the crowds for this game so a number of games had to be held at Braves field or the barely 5 year old Fenway park back in 1916. Holy Cross was also the only team to beat the 1940 BC "Team of Destiny" which went undefeated into their last game against a relatively weak Holy Cross team. Unfortunately the rivalry was retired in 1986 after Holy Cross went the 1AA route (now FCS) and BC won the last 17 of 20 games. We play an FCS school every year, why not make it one people can really get into. I live near Holy Cross and have a number of friends there and I know a number of the guys on the football team everyone at Holy Cross still sees BC as a rival and recounts the days when they used to paint the Eagle on Linden Lane purple. Sure we'll have to shell out some bucks to play them but really wouldn't you rather it went back into the Jesuit pot and not to Northeastern?

A QB contender and our Future @ QB

As most have realized already BC received another 2009 commit in David Shinksie, the 25 yr old former pro baseball player hung up the baseball cleats for some football cleats. In terms of experience within the last 6 years Shinskie is at the back of the class but in terms of potential Shinskie is at the front. He should be in shape from playing baseball and even if he hasn't been lifting like a football player he is still supposed to have a real cannon of an arm. We'll see what happens with this experiment but if Shinskie were to get a redshirt (and I understand his eligibility) he would be 30 when hes a redshirt senior. The man is actually a year older than Matt Ryan.(but for camparison's sake BYU standout and current NFL backup John Beck was 27 when he graduated).
Future of the program Joe Boisture was in the news this weekend as he went to the Nike Football Combine in Illinois. He stood out and warmed up throughout the day and there were no negative knocks on him. QB MVP went to some 6-1 Whitmer character. I really want to embrace Boisture as the next Matt Ryan but I keep getting the feeling that Boisture is going to prove to be an average prospect as the year goes on. I'll wait until the Elite 11 camp to really delve into this though because that has a tendency to deliver more info on QBs.
Although it is important to keep in mind that BC seems to have some of the best player development in the history of football. (Silva was a 2* prospect, Dunbar a 3* Running back prospect, Raji a 2*, Ryan doesn't count because he was hurt his Junior year) and we also seem to fail with some of the "elite prospects" (Toal 5* was always hurt, Callendar 4* never really took off, McMichael 4* was always hurt, Robinson 4* never proved to be an elite player)

DD Departs and we pick up another recruit

I don't have reliable internet at my apartment right now so I post on a varied basis making me a day late with this story but Dominique Davis is transferring after being suspended by the team. I was never high on DD but I talked football with a lot of other guys on-campus and some of them really liked the way DD looked during the spring. Judging from the spring game alone DD was the clear QB front runner but my take at this point is good riddance to this guy.

When BJ was suspended in 07 for academic reason I can tell you that I rolled my eyes at the stupidity of players who fail their classes. Almost all the starting player take summer classes so that they only have to take 4 classes during the regular semesters and they also have a famous habit of enrolling in the easier classes. I was able to maintain a very good GPA while taking 5 classes working 15 hours a week and practicing twice a day 6 days a week. Still I respected Raji for taking a redshirt year, working hard and getting back out on the field last year, becoming a force for us and Green Bay next year. If Davis can't do that, and gets upset because they student part in Student Athlete came first then I suggest he transfer to FSU, or perhaps go to the arena league. I've said this before, I like good character guys.

Now as far as our hopes of winning next year are concerned I have to say I don't think they really got that much worse. The reality is that we know Herzlich will not be back so we aren't going to be making the ACCCG, I don't think McLaughlin will be back on the field and if he is I don't feel like he will be as good as he could be so that takes us down to 8 wins and with DD leaving those games we were waffling before we'll probably lose so at this point our goal should be a bowl game. Unless Mascovetra turns out to be a beast we weren't expecting I think you'll probably see Tuggle win the battle but Boek will probably get some playing time and Tranquill might have to break out the option play even if it doesn't fit his style. Still if Josh Haden and Montel Harris keep up their numbers we should do alright if not phenomonal and hopefully Boisture will be as good as he seems.

BC also picked up BB&N WR Jim Mcaffrey a weekend after offering him a position with BC. Mcaffrey is hardly a covetted prospected but he has great 4.4 speed and as I've mentioned before I love any player that really wants to be here (and dislike people who leave because they can't get to class on time). Mcaffrey is a tough BC style player and despite being a 2* prospect right now I think he could contribute in a number of ways. Firstly you never know whats going to happen with these guys, sure Mcaffrey is a 2* guy now but he has raw athleticism with 4.42 40 and he might have a breakout season. Even if he doesn't that toughness and willingness to be here will make Mcaffrey a staple on the scout team which can do wonders for a Defense (try catching a guy with 4.4 speed on Saturday if you were chasing a guy with 4.8 speed during the week. The fact that coveted TE prospect Blake Barker has said he wanted to go to school with Mcaffrey is only icing on the cake (especially considering how Pantale played during the spring game).