Thursday, November 6, 2014

Top 10 Reasons Why BC Sucks

Top 10 Reasons Why BC Sucks

Happy BC Week everyone








1.Jerry York is no gentleman: It is no secret that BC "happens " to land some of the top recruits that committed to smaller schools to only de-commit and go to BC. There is a gentleman's agreement in college hockey where coaches agree to not continue to pursue recruits who have committed to a different school. The great Jerry York continually poaches recruits and breaks this agreement among coaches along with other big name coaches *Cough Minnesota and Wisconsin Cough*. It's not only immoral, it's a black mark on all of college hockey.


2. Boston College Athletics covers up scandals: Two BC hockey players were kicked off the team during the 2007 IceBreaker Tournament for a "violation of team rules". This violation of team rules by Brian O'Hanley and Brett Motherwell is rumored to have been activity involving cocaine and hookers. The real reason why they were kicked out of the program never came to light from either BC or any reputable news source. Seems awfully strange that an All-American like Motherwell leaving the program over missing curfew didn't cause a reporter to think maybe there was more to the story...or maybe the reporter wasn't allowed to report what they found. We'll never know because BC covered their tracks on this one and probably other cases as well throughout the years.


3. Please stop diving: BC players try to sell penalties by falling easily to the ice anytime they feel contact. I'm not saying BC's coaches encourage this type of behavior but Jack Parker may have felt that  they did so it must be true.


4. Support of the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston: Back in the early 2000s, the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston was embroiled in one of the biggest scandals in recent memory. Some 900 victims - all young children - were sexually abused by priests affiliated with the Archdiocese. Absolutely awful, inexcusable stuff that was covered up and kept hidden until reported by the Boston Globe. To pay for the legal fees and settlements resulting from these cases, the Archdiocese needed cash - and fast. Here's where BC comes into play: the Archdiocese agreed to sell BC some forty-six acres of land near BC's campus for the hefty price tag of $108 million, all of which went towards debts incurred as a result of the abuse scandal. Ipso facto: BC implicitly supports organizations that cover-up scandals. Not that surprising I guess, in light of #2 on this list.

5. Non-payment to Boston's PILOT Program: For those of you unfamiliar with the PILOT program, it's an initiative by the city of Boston that asks for voluntary payments from the city's many nonprofits (colleges, hospitals, etc.) in lieu of property taxes, which nonprofits don't pay. The program calculates how much each nonprofit's property tax payment would be, and then asks for a small percentage of that figure. BU, for its part, has paid all or almost all of its asked payment since the PILOT program was reconfigured in 2011. BC, though, has decided that it doesn't want to fully participate in the program, as they are a "religious nonprofit." BC owns over $500 million worth of taxable land, which would result in a $16 million yearly payment of property taxes were BC not a nonprofit. The PILOT program only asks BC to pay a fraction of that, and instead BC tosses the city a few bucks, ya know, for the effort. Take FY'14, for example: PILOT asked BC for $1.15 million. BC paid (drumroll please) $317,888. Their reasoning? They only pay the city for the service that the city gives to BC - fire and rescue - which is of course missing the point. Both BC and BU receive fire and rescue services from Boston, and both schools have their own police departments, trash disposal services, etc. BU still pays what the city asks (or close to it). BC? Nah. The only logical explanation for BC's decision is that they don't consider themselves a part of the Boston community, which is the conclusion the rest of us drew years ago. In fairness to BC, they paid more than Northeastern did in FY'14: Northeastern decided to pay $1 for every year they've been relevant in Hockey East.


6. Point Shaving Scandal- While BU hockey was winning their third national championship in 1978, BC basketball players were throwing games as part of a point shaving scandal with the mafia. This only came out because members of the mob turned informants for the FBI for lesser jail sentences. BC probably would have covered this up too if given the opportunity.


7. Jerry York has the second most losses all time for a college hockey coach: Yeah he may have the most wins of all time but he also has the second most losses of all time and is closing in on the all time record. If he achieves both, can we all stop pretending like he was one of the great coaches of all time? He just coached for a really long time. Jim Madigan could coach for 30 more years and probably put up a similar record to York...okay maybe not but the point stands. York's teams were slightly above average for a majority of his career. That's why he has 580 career losses to date, 35 away from the all time record.


8. Their band sucks: It's one thing not to have a band (see: UMass) and just pipe in music during the game. Then you clearly don't care about the environment and just want a cheap alternative. BC has a band, but they play some of the worst songs of all time. Remember songs that were popular on the radio five years ago? Head on down to Conte on Fridays and Saturdays to hear them ruined! Want to hear "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga? You got it! Like the Black Eyed Peas? "Boom Boom Pow" coming right up! I would honestly prefer the Matthews Arena approach of blasting an old Jock Jams CD throughout the game.


9. They lost to fucking UConn: If you lose to a school that was in Atlantic Hockey only one year ago, that isn't very good.  Not only did BC lose, but they were shutout by the newest and least (or close to it) talented team in the league. I guess that is what happens when you have only three or four competent D-1 forwards.


10. An Abundance of Pinkhat fans:  If BC is losing to any team by more than a goal past the first period, clear the stairwells because the "fans" are going to leave to beat that Newton traffic. Sure, there are the diehards like with any program but the amount of pinkhat fans is astronomically higher at BC. 

3 comments:

  1. The settlements were not used to cover up but after the fact to settle potential court judgements of cases out in the light. Catholic bashing should not be used here as it has nothing to do with B U hockey which, I believe, both of us love. All other religions have had worse records in this area but it has not become public.

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    1. Couple of quick things:
      1) Nothing on this list has to do with BU hockey. Read the title of the post.
      2) We aren't "Catholic bashing." We have nothing against Catholicism - in fact, a bunch of us are Catholic. We're merely pointing out that BC came to the rescue when the Archdiocese was reeling from the abuse scandal.
      3) Go BU

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  2. I think I read this because I am a BU hockey fan. It is Catholic bashing because there is no real connection between the priest scandal and BC hockey. I am currently writing a book a bout the abuse problem and know quite a lot about it. It is a good idea not to get into religion as it can follow you in a negative way. A few years BU put in its alumni mag an anti Catholic story and it hurts the University to this day.

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