Q & A with Gene D.

[eagle1331]

Thought I'd give everyone an update on the Q & A with Gene that he did for the Alumni and Boosters in the area last night. For those of you that don't recall me saying it before, I have a Gene bias; I am not enamored with everything he does or all of his coaching choices I did worked for our athletics department and think he is a likable guy and hasn't screwed BC over yet. The man is a politician in a job that is undeniably political, and he is a great politician (even overheard a couple leaving last night say he could run for mayor).

Gene clearly and emphatically stated that he would like to add more BE teams to the lineup, at least in basketball. The question he was asked was regarding basketball more so than football, but mentioned something about a contract to play Syracuse the Saturday after Thanksgiving for several consecutive years - this made me believe he was talking about football at the time, but who knows.

ATL - I know you said something about the new facilities - he said he has the money raised for that construction as soon as the city allows him to. The city apparently has said they cannot build the sports facilities until after a dorm is built on campus. He said if/once Menino is re-elected, he thinks that process will go much smoother for the school, so locals, weigh that if you vote...

Regarding Notre Dame and the out of conference schedule he was very upfront. He said we will be getting a contract with ND together again, but he could care less, saying "we don't need them now." He says they did great things for us when they signed a 13 year pact back in the '70s and we were a relative nobody; now we are somebody that can replace them with other schools, albeit without the rivalry. He played the BC is better than ND card pretty hard to the approval of the crowd.

He said when you get the chance to play USC, you have to take it, and it came about as because he's friends with an associate AD there - same with Stanford. The reason for the MAC schools is twofold: they are 2 for 1's (2 home, 1 away) and they bring those schools the largest attendance for a game nearly every year. He'd rather play one of them because he knows it attracts a medium-sized crowd to start the season on the road that won't lull the team to sleep but won't rattle them in game 1.

There was a parent upset about scholarships and club sports which Gene handled very well, relating back to his first year hear and all the issues he inherited, most importantly a class action law suit about or 80-20 guys to girls athlete ratio. Basically summed up, he said he does the best with what he's allowed to give out and makes sure its 50-50 every year.

Gene stated that the ACC is next on the list for a big tv deal. Unfortunately when they signed their current pack 2 or so years ago it was the first of it kind and the SEC and Big 10 used that as their stepping stone to 3x as much money. Our contract ends at the end of next year (I believe that's what he said) and after that the best options will be pursued. He also added ESPN360 is not real television but there's nothing they can do - some coverage is better than no coverage.

A fun fact - a member of the Orange Bowl Committee has a son that is a Senior at BC and his father did the introduction of Gene last night. Very high on BC.

A 2nd Fun Fact - The AD's of all schools are at UM this week for 2 day meetings.

Unfortunately, I was one of about 5 people willing to actually ask questions, so he cut the session short by about 1/2 an hour. I would have to guess this had more to do with the small crowd and MNF, but who knows. Either way, he was very upfront, very honest, and put together a decent evening.

[ATLeagle]

Did he get into the possibility of an ACC channel?

[claver2010]

You did address the football schedule but did you reference how a home schedule of: NU, Kent, WF, FSU, RCC, CMU, & UNC is unacceptable?

[RegalBCeagle]

I'm guessing you ran home and took a shower after his townhall meeting. It sounds just like a political rally - tell the masses what you think they want to hear and/or tell them what you want to tell them. Make them feel like you addressed their questions and concerns, smile a lot, kiss babies, and slip out the back door as you denigrate those you just spoke with under your breath.

[eagle1331]

You did address the football schedule but did you reference how a home schedule of: NU, Kent, WF, FSU, RCC, CMU, & UNC is unacceptable?

More or less - like I said the MAC school and the like are 2 homes for 1 away, which he likes because it minimizes travel and costs. It is just the way those contracts aligned this season, coupled with our Coastal games and Atlantic games the way the scheduled worked out. He does not have control over the ACC games particularly...

When I asked him about an ACC Channel he resorted to his politician side, saying we will work out the best deal possible after our current contract is up..

I forgot to mention before that he also said our men's Hockey classes are filled up for the next 2 years already, women's basketball has 5 commitments for the next class, men's basketball 3, and 13/14 for football

[ZBC2001]

You did address the football schedule but did you reference how a home schedule of: NU, Kent, WF, FSU, RCC, CMU, & UNC is unacceptable?

More or less - like I said the MAC school and the like are 2 homes for 1 away, which he likes because it minimizes travel and costs. It is just the way those contracts aligned this season, coupled with our Coastal games and Atlantic games the way the scheduled worked out. He does not have control over the ACC games particularly...

When I asked him about an ACC Channel he resorted to his politician side, saying we will work out the best deal possible after our current contract is up..

I forgot to mention before that he also said our men's Hockey classes are filled up for the next 2 years already, women's basketball has 5 commitments for the next class, men's basketball 3, and 13/14 for football

3 for basketball? I knew we had two...

[Cadillac90]

You did address the football schedule but did you reference how a home schedule of: NU, Kent, WF, FSU, RCC, CMU, & UNC is unacceptable?

More or less - like I said the MAC school and the like are 2 homes for 1 away, which he likes because it minimizes travel and costs. It is just the way those contracts aligned this season, coupled with our Coastal games and Atlantic games the way the scheduled worked out. He does not have control over the ACC games particularly...

When I asked him about an ACC Channel he resorted to his politician side, saying we will work out the best deal possible after our current contract is up..

I forgot to mention before that he also said our men's Hockey classes are filled up for the next 2 years already, women's basketball has 5 commitments for the next class, men's basketball 3, and 13/14 for football

3 for basketball? I knew we had two...

Exactly. Who is the third?

[commavegarage]

You did address the football schedule but did you reference how a home schedule of: NU, Kent, WF, FSU, RCC, CMU, & UNC is unacceptable?

More or less - like I said the MAC school and the like are 2 homes for 1 away, which he likes because it minimizes travel and costs. It is just the way those contracts aligned this season, coupled with our Coastal games and Atlantic games the way the scheduled worked out. He does not have control over the ACC games particularly...

When I asked him about an ACC Channel he resorted to his politician side, saying we will work out the best deal possible after our current contract is up..

I forgot to mention before that he also said our men's Hockey classes are filled up for the next 2 years already, women's basketball has 5 commitments for the next class, men's basketball 3, and 13/14 for football

3 for basketball? I knew we had two...

Exactly. Who is the third?

Odom? There, I said it.

But my gut tells me Gene hasn't realized Lawhorn decommitted.

[bceagles24]

Also interesting that it says 13 or 14 for FB. They only have 12. Not surprising though as there are a lot of signs pointing to Sean Hickey being commited.

[eagle1331]

He didn't provide names and I didn't really want to ask as much of the crowd was whale pants-esque and I would assume he can't comment on specific recruits until the signing period...