BC Football. Dire Days Demand Drastic Doings

John Irwin was president of the Boston College Alumni Association the same year Ernie Chlebec was coaching BC football to a winless season. He was also sitting as a superior court judge in the first session at Norfolk which meant I had to go before him on a regular basis. Usually Monday mornings at 9:30 the list would be called and decisions made on cases. Even if we were on trial we’d have to first go before him.

Did you ever see the Seinfeld show where Elaine had to encounter the Soup Nazi. That was Irwin as the season passed and the losses piled up. The court room became like a Marine brig where you were afraid to make one false move or he would be jumping down your throat. Along with that Irwin had a tendency to show his anger by his face getting red. He was soon a brilliant scarlet on Monday mornings and most of us were looking for excuses to avoid the courthouse.

Fortunately for him he has shed his earthly robes and has gone off to his reward. Have you noticed lately the brilliant sunsets. I figure Irwin is up there glowing red as he watches his beloved BC sink lower and lower.

Remember BC not too long ago was a top twenty team. Now it only seems to beat teams like the Little Sisters of the Poor although it did have a win against the Home for the Little Wanderers or some team their equivalent.

Since they hired Spazziano as a coach and after he disturbed Judge Irwin’s resting in peace they replaced him with a coach who did poorly at Temple by the name of Addazio the team has fallen on dire days. The real problem is no one at BC in authority seems to care that this is happening.

Its president Father Walsh has as much interest in it as the Jesuit at Holt Cross who gave up its football program; the head of the Trustees has as much interest in BC football as Tokyo Rose did during WWII. He’s chairman only because he is wealthy not because he cares about BC.

Even a blind beggar can see the interest in BC football is slipping away. It probably would have been put out of its misery if not for the ACC money that gets pumped in. During its home games less and less folk show up. The last couple of years has seen the record for worst attended games occur game after game.

Why do I care? I have lost interest in most sports on TV. I just had to look up to see who was playing in the World Series. Wow! Two teams headed by guys not good enough to be part of Red Sox Promotion. The Patriots are boring now. I sometimes wonder why I ever thought otherwise. The Park League games in the old days were more exciting. Never any face mask penalties. No one wore them. Still remember Paul Brennan at fullback playing without a helmet. Maybe it’s the commercials that have chased me away; don’t you have to be a little brain dead to watch the same thing over and over again. Even March Madness has lost its allure perhaps because BC looks like it has also given up its basket ball program.

I cared because BC football was the last sporting event (along with other college football) I enjoyed watching on TV. Last game against Syracuse I was watching the game and thought “why am I doing this.  I really don’t care if they win.” I shut off the TV and did some reading and then went to the track and walked around  it. Driving there I listened and heard how they kept their winless ACC streak alive

How can a school have so little pride? The best attended and most enthusiastic event at BC was the student March protesting the defacement of a parking lot sign by a stranger

The University  of Chicago had a great football team at one time until it hired a president who did away with all sports and told the students that whenever they thought of sports they should take a nap  it was better for them  I’m at that point  How did it ever happen? I guess it does show everything is possible  Woe is me; I cheered for BC

6 Comments

  1. Morose-Twice qb stops to think things over: 1) goaline and 1st down insight-stop
    2) 1st down in sight-stop and think

    BC Coach’s memorable moments: red-zone offence 2runs up the middle and pass

    3minutes left first-half(2yrs ago) trailing by a few points, BC ball, run-out the clock

  2. 5 wins a season

  3. You don’t have to go back to Flutie: Ten to fifteen years ago, B.C. football was very good. They beat Notre Dame six years in a row (2001-2008); they beat Clemson three years in a row (2006-8). Here’s BC’s record 2001-2008:

    2001 – 8 wins 4 losses
    2002 9 4
    2003 8 5
    2004 9 3
    2005 9 3
    2006 10 3
    2007 11 3
    2008 9 5

    They averaged 9 wins over an eight year stretch.
    They also won 8 straight bowl games. (2000-2007)

    Under Henning, Spaz and Daz, they’re averaging 5 wins a game.

    Good coaching (Coughlin, O’Brien = winning records);
    Poor coaching = Addazio,wasting timeouts before he punts; getting one play in with 28 seconds left in the game while on his 3-yard line against Wake; and (yesterday against Syracuse) taking a holding penalty at the five (making it first and goal from the fifteen), rather than declining it, making it second and goal from the fourteen. Daz was in a daze.
    Last year Daz had 3 wins. This year, maybe the same. Time will tell.

  4. Once again, BU is undefeated! My years there sported Linebacker Pat Hughes ( NY Giants), Reggie Rucker and Bruce Taylor but they played before family and friends only..
    now they have dropped both football and baseball saying Title IX forced their hand…and on Homecoming, parents paying $ 60,000 in tuition, are invited to the Student Union for board games..Monopoly, Chutes and Ladders? I knew a player on the 0-11 Chebleck squad who tells stories that are now funny buy back then..not so much.

    I remember how, during a sensational key man insurance trial, the prosecutor would head over to court early so as to ‘plot our strategy’ with Judge Irwin. It was always more fun to play sports than to watch them! An Irwin sunrise here this morning.

  5. John King McDonald

    I left the Plough and Stars on Mass Ave two minutes before Douglas of Flutie heaved that Hail Mary . I got over it. 🙂

    • Earlier that same season (1984, I believe) of the “Hail Mary” pass……I attended BC’s FIRST EVER win over Joe Paterno and the Nittany Lions at Foxboro.

      Doug Flutie, Brian Brennan, Troy Stradford, Gerard Phelan,…..

      Those were the days……