A.J. Caruso saw the forecasts like everyone else. But Caruso had more at stake. His family was back in Allenhurst, N.J., which was in the cross-hairs of Hurricane Sandy which was about to make a left turn off the Atlantic Ocean and hit the Jersey shore with a full body blow.
Caruso, a freshman linebacker-long snapper at BC, became more nervous as he watched the projected path of the storm.
There are Boston College guys and then there is Jerry York.
It would be safe to say that no college coach in the country in any sport is probably more secure or comfortable in his job than York, who is beginning his 19th season as the BC hockey coach.
York is a double Eagle–BC High, Boston College–he is married to a Boston College graduate and he is a Boston area kid, growing up in Watertown.
But that is just part of the story.
Andre Williams listens to the question, but he doesn’t have the answer.
“What happened?”‘ repeats the Boston College running back when asked about a fumble in the end zone against Maryland, which cost the Eagles a TD last Saturday and made the game much tougher at the end than it was at the beginning.
Williams feels the pain as much as anyone, even though it was mitigated by BC’s 20-17 come-back, final-minute victory.
It was hard to watch, even from the relative safe heaven a couple of hundred miles away. You knew it was going to be bad from the forecasts as Sandy turned from a late-season hurricane into the storm of the century, a storm for all seasons with wind, rain, blizzards, storm surges, power outages, floods and devastation.
It’s coming down to crunch time for the Big East in its negotiations for a new television deal for football which will take the conference through the next segment of the ever-changing landscape of conference configuration.
And, not surprisingly, Big East basketball is being used as a prime asset to boost Big East football revenue.
It’s moved past the half-way point of the season, but there is still time to stop and consider some issues that will be resolved in the next 5 to 6 weeks.
So let’s start.
Last week sorted out the pretenders from the contenders in college football, with Alabama, Oregon, Notre Dame and Kansas State taking one giant step forward.
This week we are in the survive and advance mode for some teams and the Watch Out mode for others.
The picks:
Last week he took on the NCAA and told them that if they didn’t like the way Jerseyguys do things, they could take their championships and play somewhere else.
It was so different. Winning. Feeling good about Saturday, about looking at the tapes of the game to fix the things that didn’t work and marvel at those that did.
In the grand scheme of a season which has produced only 2 wins in their first 8 games, Saturday’s 20-17 win over Maryland will soon be in the rear view mirror of the Boston College football team.
Whether it will be remembered as a launching point or merely a piece of smooth highway in a rough stretch of a season filled with pot holes remains to be seen.
Who says college football does not have a playoff system? It’s called the regular season and it happens every weekend, generally starting in October and going right through Thanksgiving.
What has been missing from this annual passion play has been the presence, in any significant role, of Notre Dame.
Not any more. The Irish elevated their status with Saturday night’s 30-13 thumping of Oklahoma.
