#1 Egregiously Omitted Summer Story: Joe Jones enters

We have finally made it to the last important story of the summer that I did not write about, and it's led me to two conclusions:  1) I'm never doing this again -- writing 12 blog posts on big stories in 3 days is a shit ton of work, and 2) I never want to see the word "egregiously" anywhere near my blog again, ever.

After the shock and disappointment of Pat Chambers' departure, the summer got more interesting -- we needed a new coach.  Someone who could keep the incredible momentum of the brief Chambers reign going and build on it.  I honestly don't want to get into who interviewed, who was rumored for the job, or anything like that -- because to be honest who knows how much of that stuff was correct?  Suffice it to say, Joe Jones got the job.

Who is he?  Well, we had no idea - we just knew he came from BC.  (So far, off to a bad start.)  But picking a complete unknown worked last time, so why not.

It turns out Coach Jones has a lot in common with Chambers -- both learned under Villanova's Jay Wright and both have the extremely outgoing (non-Wolff) personality.  But Coach Jones has 4 times the experience as an assistant, as well as a (somewhat) successful head coaching stint at Columbia, which he took from god-awful to just merely not very good.

It's clear from interviews that Jones has a Chambers-like ability to connect with players (none of Chambers' recruits bailed on us) and fans:

Only one question really remains:  is he a spy from BC who has been sent over to sabotage us?  It's a fair question, and we can really just wait-and-see.  Until we know, I'm on 100% board with Coach Jones and can't wait to see what he can do this year.

#3 Egregiously Omitted Summer Story: BU keeps it close with Kansas

Usually I fail to write about the last game of the season because I’m depressed about the loss, but this year was different. There was nothing depressing about the Terriers’ 78-59 loss to #1 Kansas, and in fact I came away from watching the game and I was beaming, exhilarated, and proud to be a Terrier.

I couldn’t go to Tulsa to be at the game (and yes I seriously contemplated taking 3 days off from work to drive all the way out there and back… mapped a route and everything), so I planned an alumni watch at DC’s Old Dominion Brew Pub. Awesome turnout – Terriers came out of the woodwork and filled the room I reserved. I put up a renegade Boston University banner on the wall of the bar.

I was so nervous that we were into the third 3-foot tall beer tower by the time the game started.

The Morris twins were clearly a force of nature, and over time eroded the BU defense like waves crashing down on a beach. The inevitable happened with about 10 minutes left in the game, when we could no longer hold them at bay and we could no longer keep up on our offensive end. But the 30 minutes that preceded that were pure joy.

Far from being intimidated by the Jayhawks and getting blown out from the opening tip, we stayed within a couple points the entire first half, and even led at a few different points (!) – Holland made some sick shots and DJ was racing up and down the court faster than any KU guards.

Down 4 points at halftime, my phone was blowing up with long-lost friends… “can u believe this??” … “shock da world!” ... “gooooooo Terriers!!”. People told me that John Holland was trending on twitter.

Yes, we ended up losing. But we went to the Big Dance, and we looked good. DJ and JH showed their skillz to a national audience. And Terriers around the country walked out of bars like Old Dominion knowing our boys gave it their best shot… and that we’d be back before too long.

#5 Egregiously Omitted Summer Story: JOB has foot surgery

Poor Jake O'Brien can't catch a break... unless you mean a bone in his foot.

He's stuck with this BU program through a lot.  We forgave him for attending BC High and in the end accepted him as one of our own.  He was a Dennis Wolff guy, and after a fantastic freshman year almost transferred when Wolff was fired.  He didn't progress as much as we hoped under Pat Chambers, and was hurt for the second half of last year.  When BU made it's memorable title run, Jake was stuck sitting on the sidelines in a suit and tie. 

Sadly, that's where Jake will be as BU attempts to defend that title.  He's gone under the knife to have surgery to work on that foot again.

The team is going to miss Jake's leadership this year - if not for him sitting out, I'd have predicted BU to finish in first place. This definitely hurts our chances at a repeat.

But, he sounds committed to recovery and playing again next year, so here's hoping we can keep this success going another 2 years, and give JOB a chance to celebrate on the floor with his teammates.

#6 Egregiously Omitted Summer Story: BU selected Pre-Season #1

It's ridiculous.  For the FIFTH straight year, the coaches of the America East have predicted that BU will finish in first place.  This despite three different BU coaches over that time period, and no actual first-place finishes in the standings.

So what is it that keeps these boneheads from being at all creative and picking someone else? 

We just lost our coach and the best player in the league BY FAR, and our inside-out matchup problem has to have foot surgery again.  Meanwhile Stony Brook comes back from a title game loss with nearly everything intact, plus pull in a great recruiting class, plus re-gain probable MVP candidate Tommy Brenton from knee surgery.

The pre-season polls don't mean anything really, except that it forces BU to continue to be seen as an underachieving program, which simply is not true.  BU has finished above .500 in 9 out of the last 10 years, and during that one exception we were 8-8.  The program has been consistently very good, but is judged a failure only because of the expectations set by some group of outsiders.

The poll ended up looking like this:

1. Boston U. (6) 62
2. Stony Brook (3) 56
3. Vermont 46
4. Albany 42
5. New Hampshire 39
6 Maine 32
T-7. Hartford 18
 UMBC 18
9. Binghamton 11

Are they doing this to intentionally set us up for failure?  I hope we end up winning the whole thing just to stick it to these damn coaches.

#8 Egregiously Omitted Summer Story: Class of 2016 shaping up

I have never been big on recruiting news, so I may not have written about this anyway.  I also don't know what the hell I am talking about when it comes to high school recruits, so more than likely I'd either be regurgitating something I saw elsewhere on the internet, or talking out my ass. 

So forgive me if any of this turns out to be dead wrong, but it seems like our new Coach Jones is putting together one hell of a first recruiting class.  By my count, BU will have 4 scholarships available, due to the graduations of Pelage, Hazel, Griffin, and Partin.  As of now, three of those have been filled, and each signing is getting pretty legit kudos from people who know much more than me.

John Papale, SG - Choate (MA) - 6'3" 165 lbs - http://twitter.com/#!/JPapale12

One of the best pure shooters in the country, supposedly the kid is like a better verson of Corey Hassan, who we only got to see for one season but was a deadly shooter.  Papale had over 20 Division I scholarship offers including no less than 7 from the Atlantic 10.  This is what ESPN.com scouting had to say about him:

A big time shot maker with good size for the two-guard spot, Papale is far from a one trick pony thanks to a high basketball I.Q., well developed mid-range game, and his ability to rebound on the perimeter.

Uhhh... sign me up!  



NERR story
ESPN Boston story

Maurice Watson, PG - Boys Latin (PA) - 5'9" 150 lbs - http://twitter.com/#!/ReeceWatson10

"Reece" was ranked the #6 player in Pennsylvania, and dammit is he fast.  That's why Virginia, LaSalle, and 16 others wanted him.  The most ridiculous thing?  He hosted a college selection news conference for himself and broadcast it on Ustream, at which he unzipped his jacket to reveal a BU t-shirt.  That is fucking baller.  Here is some of ESPN's scouting report:

His speed is the calling card and he's got plenty of it. Can drive it and find shooters. Best attribute is that he's got an edge to him and pushes the basketball with purpose. Takes great care of the ball and isn't too risky with his passes.

And the only other thing that needs to be said is watch this video.  Can you imagine him playing next to DJ Irving?  Not even fair for whatever slow-moving white dude Vermont puts out there that day.



Recruit Scoop story
Philadelphia Inquirer story

Nathan Dieudonne, SF - Trinity (KY) - 6'6" 190 lbs. - http://twitter.com/#!/NathanDieudonne

He's a big inside presence, which we'll need desperately after this year with Pelage and Hazel leaving.  I don't know much about this guy other than he also had 20+ scholarship offers.  Not sure how Coach Jones got his Kentucky recruiting connections, but let's hope they pay off!  New England Recruiting Report had this to say about his game:

Dieudonne, who ran with the KYA All-Stars on the AAU circuit this summer, is an athletic combo-forward who can put the ball on the floor, score over top of defenders in the mid-range area, and make athletic plays around the rim. 

Louisville Courier-Journal story
NERR story


That's what we got so far, and we still can probably look forward to one more.  TODAY begins the fall signing period, so these guys will sign official Letters of Intent this month.  Welcome Baby Terriers!

#9 Egregiously Omitted Summer Story: 2011-12 Schedule released

Every year, we wait patiently to see what kind of goodies the OOC-Fairy has left in our Schedule Basket.  And this year, after many years of waiting, she has left us a particularly tasty morsel:  a date with our ugly step-sister up the road, the Eagles of Boston College (sucks!).

In real life, a date with a maiden this hideous would be the stuff nightmares are made of... she shows up late, her breath smells of garlic and funyuns, she has a zit the size of North Dakota on the old honker, she won't STFU about her lame-ass job, and to top if off she won't even let you get to second base in the backseat of your Honda on the way home.  In short, she sucks.

But in college basketball world, this is our dream date.  Our Terriers have wanted a piece of these Beagles since BC cut off the series in 2004 after a too-close-for-comfort 6-point victory at home.  And whether this change of heart is due to their new head coach or just a much-needed sack enlargement procedure, we're glad it's happening this year.  Why?  Because they are going to SUCK even more than usual!!  In the traditional sense, of losing games.  On their web site's front page alone, it trumpets the news of 1) being picked 12th a.k.a. LAST in their conference-- and 2) squeaking out their exhibition game by 4 points over something called American International College.  I don't want to get ahead of myself, but this could be a real fun year to face Chestnut Hill University.

The schedule also provides other delights.  We travel down to Austin to play Texas on the Longhorn Network, cause of much chagrin amongst Texas A&M, the Pac-12 and other parties. For some reason we travel to Philly THREE SEPARATE TIMES, to play at Villanova, St. Joe's and LaSalle - here's hoping the boys don't gorge themselves on cheesesteaks.  We play a very solid slate of good mid-major programs, highlighted by the 3-day Legends Classic against Rhode Island, Hofstra and Cleveland State - I will be personally lobbying hard for a road trip to that one.  And of course, we open against our rivals from the dirty side of Boston.

Here is the out-of-conference schedule in its entirety:

11/11/11 vs. Northeastern
11/13/11 at Texas
11/20/11 at Cornell
11/25/11 vs. Cleveland State
11/26/11 at Rhode Island
11/27/11 vs. Hofstra
11/30/11 vs. Delaware
12/03/11 at Boston College
12/07/11 at Saint Joseph's
12/10/11 vs. Harvard
12/13/11 at Villanova
12/22/11 vs. Bucknell
12/29/11 at La Salle
12/31/11 at Quinnipiac

#10 Egregiously Omitted Summer Story: Hot Dog and Jesus break blog silence

The BU fan community was rocked last year by the graduations of icons Hot Dog and Jesus and the subsequent cessation of their blog.  Steadfast supporters through it all, these guys had the good sense to quit while they were ahead (unlike me), but in doing so left a massive void on the sidelines of all BU sports and in the online commentary space.  Who was going to do the yeoman's work of amassing photos of all the dance team members so that we could rate and drool over them?

I knew the Hot Dog, at least, was around for BU's championship run last year -- in fact, it was he and I who were partly responsible due to our good-luck BU Dog Tags (U74431920, represent). 

Needless to say, Terrier Nation was clamoring for a voice of reason, and it (re)appeared on July 21 when the Hot Dog and Jesus Blog arose like Lazarus from the ashes to give an update on all things Terrier Hoop.  Yes, there was no reason for us to worry; Hot Dog and Jesus have been watching over things from afar.

While HD was back for a day, we don't know if he'll be contributing on a regular basis this season.  My guess is, sadly, no.  Which means that massive void in the BU fandom still exists.  Who will take the mantle of the mega-fans of BU?  Time was, what BU hoops lacked in numbers we made up for with intensity.  I'm not even sure that's going to be the case now.

BU students, prove me wrong.  I want to show up on Friday and see, if not thousands of you, maybe just 5 or 10 who are REALLY nutso intense about it. But thousands would be better.  Maybe this call to action, written by a very devoted BU fan himself, will help.  But I know as well as anyone that variations on this column (with slight changes to the title, byline and a few adjectives) is re-printed in the Freep every year, and nothing ever changes.

What will it take to make a difference?  The Hot Dog may have said it best in his return to the interwebs: "It's BU basketball. On your feet."

#11 Egregiously Omitted Summer Story: BU AD Mike Lynch joins twitter

Big news from the world of social media, as BU's reclusive chieftain of sport Mike Lynch has joined the ranks of such luminaries as @KourtneyKardash, @charliesheen, and @shitmydadsays.

I'm impressed to note that the tweets appear to be authentic and written by Mr. Lynch himself -- however, the page lacks the "Verified Account" badge as yet so I'll reserve final judgment on that.

You can follow him here:  http://twitter.com/#!/BU_AD_MLynch

While the AD's tweets so far have mainly trumpeted the achievements of the various BU athletic teams (and there's certainly nothing wrong with that!), I'm hoping his account will consist of more than PR pablum and we get to see an insiders view of the department and its day-to-day vision and strategy.  This is something the fans desperately want.  We need more than the date and time of the next basketball game... we need our leaders' true feelings on the outcome, what he ate at the game, what he thought of a clever fan chant, or whether the refs screwed us.  I'd also love to know if the AD at Boston College has been a dick about scheduling a basketball game at The Greek, or if the AD feels the same way about Northeastern as the rest of us do.

One disappointment so far:  As of this writing, nothing from Mr. Lynch as to the failure of BU to be swept up in the conference realignment madness.  Looking forward to his thoughts about how the trickle down could aid BU's rise to collegiate athletic dominance.

#12 Egregiously Omitted Summer Story: H.J. Gaskins leaves team

I don't know if we ever expected much if anything out of poor H.J. aka Henry.  He came to BU with his two talented "brothers" from the same high school team -- Dom Morris and Travis Robinson -- but unlike the others had to pay his own way.  Then he sat on the bench for the first half of the season, before disappearing completely from the bench, due to a need to focus on academics, according to Coach Chambers.

I think we all kind of wondered if Chambers promised to take on H.J. if it would get Dom and Travis to come aboard.  Which I love -- anything creative BU can offer to get talented guys to join is fine with me (within NCAA limits, of course).  It seems to have worked, but we don't yet know how much of a coup this was.  Dom had a very solid freshman year campaign, but T-Rob remains an unknown at this point.  If T-Rob busts, then it's like we took on TWO guys just to get the services of Dom.  If Dom becomes a First Teamer, then it would be worth it no matter how good Travis becomes.

In any event, H.J. was put out of his misery for good this summer, having been completely erased from the roster by either Coach Chambers or Coach Jones.  In order to give H.J. his due, I will now reprint the entirety of H.J.'s highlights from BU directly from the website:

AS A FRESHMAN IN 2010-11

Appeared for one minute each against Marist and Villanova.

I can honestly say life was better with a guy named H.J. around.  Best of luck on your studies.

"Boy, That was an Egregious Failure of Blog Stewardship"

If there is one thing this blog is known for, it's taking it easy over the summer. In fact, I never even write about the final game of the season, mostly because I'm depressed about it -- as Kyle says, "it always ends in a loss." Depression + Laziness = Dormant Blog.

This summer, the absence was even more inexcusable than usual. Some serious shit happened around here! And I was off learning how to do the Party Rock Anthem dance, or somesuch. So it all went undocumented... here at least, which is all that matters.

So I'm ready to make amends and make sacrifices and make it up to you... right after I make a sandwich for lunch. Starting this afternoon, I'll count down the Top 12 Things I Neglected to Write About Over the Summer, in order of egregiousness of the omission. They'll range from "Eh, Even the Best of Blogs Let a Story or Two Slip By" to "WTF, What is the Point of Having a Blog if You're Not Writing About This?"

#12: H.J. Gaskins leaves the team
#11: BU AD Mike Lynch joins twitter
#10: Hot Dog and Jesus break blog silence
#9: 2011-12 Schedule released
#8: Class of 2016 shaping up
#7: Touted frosh join the team
#6: BU selected Pre-Season #1
#5: JOB has foot surgery
#4: John Holland graduates
#3: BU keeps it close with Kansas
#2: Pat Chambers leaves
#1: Joe Jones enters

All this leading up to the much anticipated kickoff to the season this Friday against the odious Huskies of Northeastern. Come with me!