Trap Calls out BC Fans (But Very True)

[bignick33]

Joe Trapani isn’t going to argue. Ask him if he thinks Boston College has the weakest home-court advantage in the ACC, and the Eagles forward has no choice but to agree.

“It’s fair to say,” Trapani said. “It’s pretty obvious at times.”

Moderate success under former coach Al Skinner seemed to energize a student body that usually puts up a decent showing at football games but never got behind the basketball team.

“It is tough, not having the same visual support that other (ACC) teams have,” Trapani said. “At the end of the day, it makes us a better road team. One of the newer things we’re going to try to do is the Ice Jam (later this month), where the hockey and basketball team will practice at the same time, with the floor half ice and half court.”

The cooperation between the two programs is an indication that even the hockey team doesn’t always get the support one might expect of arguably the top program in the country -- Trapani said there was no jealousy there on the part of the basketball team.

“And that’s for a national championship team,” Trapani said. “It’s obviously a pro town, Boston.”

The lack of buzz was one reason why the laid-back Skinner was dismissed despite an admirable won-loss record and replaced with Cornell’s Steve Donahue. There’s no question there’s some work to be done, and Donahue said he’s willing to work the dorms and dining halls to increase student support.

As for Boston, he thinks his team’s style will prove itself attractive to fans accustomed to watching the Celtics, especially if he can achieve some level of success.

“Granted this is a pro town … but it’s also a winner’s town,” Donahue said. “I think Boston fans appreciate teams that play a certain way, like the Celtics -- hard-nosed basketball, unselfish, do it the right way. People will come see us if we win the ACC and we play the way I say.”

http://blogs.newsobserver.com/accnow/bc ... home-court

[BCMcG]

Joe needs to listen to his new coach. Fans like winners and there hasn't been much to cheer about since Trap came to town. Show some effort, win some games, and the support will be there.

[commavegarage]

Well maybe if the basketball team had even the slightest communication with people other than themselves on campus some more students would go out and support them...

Oh yeah, and if they didn't suck and play a boring brand too. That would help.

[joemack13]

It's pretty pathetic if you can't get to a basketball game on your own campus. It's partly because Al wasn't successful the past few years, but even when he was it was empty plenty of the time. The fans suck. And it's not just nerdification - seems like the only ones who show up are the nerds

also... i'm pretty sure the basketball players "interact" with plenty of other students on campus

[BCEagle74]

Trap == Hustle and win. They will come, or just hustle.

Last few years a floor burn was some parents kid falling in the stands.

so STFU.

[Shredder]

I still don't buy the pro-city argument and think it's really just an invention of the Globe to justify not covering BC. Still, that doesn't explain why the students don't show up for teams other than Duke and UNC. It's a combination of poor performance, an unexciting team and also the lack of star power on the team. Although the Smith and Dudley teams were a lot better than the current bunch, Craig, Dudley, Hinnant and even Marshall were well-liked and well-known characters on campus. I graduated with Craig and Hinnant so I don't know how the campus attitude is post-Dudley but I doubt there's much connection to even the good players like Reggie and Trapani. Then again, basketball players aren't involved in dance ensembles, volunteer organizations or groups that have the word leadership in the name, so current students probably won't identify with them.

[bignick33]

I knew some players when I from at BC from classes and whatnot, and they seemed like decent enough guys. I'm calling on the "interacting" excuse.

[commavegarage]

I never said it was the factor. I said it was a factor. Much larger factors include: the team sucks, the team played a very boring brand and it cost $10 to watch the team suck.

[eepstein0]

I never said it was the factor. I said it was a factor. Much larger factors include: the team sucks, the team played a very boring brand and it cost $10 to watch the team suck.

These are the problems. The crowds were decent when Dudley, Smith, etc. were in town. The team blew under Skinner recently and the tight flex was an absolute snooze to watch. Getting rid of Skinner will help fan attendance if nothing else.

[MattTheEagle]

Yeah, our basketball fan base isn't quite there yet, but it is not all the students' fault. I also don't buy this "Boston is a pro-town" excuse. Yeah, Boston is more about professional teams, but it is also probably the biggest pro-city in the nation. Boston College is one of the biggest if not the biggest sports school in the northeast and that needs to start being reflected in a high turnout at basketball games. BC (at least used to) have one of the best home-field advantages in football. I remember 06-07 we didn't lose a single home game and I believe we only lost one home game the year after.

Here are the reasons for lack of student support at basketball games, some of which are correctable:
1) No Success and Bad Strategy: This is undoubtedly number-one. Even with Skinner's lackluster approach to games he still got more of a crowd to games win BC was winning. Boring offense, and a coach that did not seem to have any variety in his style of play just isn't going to make students go crazy about BC basketball. It was frustrating to see him stubbornly not take time outs or not go to plays or players that have shown to work well for the team.
2) Expensive Tickets: Boston College has some of the highest-priced student tickets for college basketball games. 10 dollars a tickets when purchasing season tickets is a lot. Also, several schools package their tickets with football and charge a very reasonable rate like 150 or something for both season football tickets AND season basketball tickets to encourage students to go to both.
3) Small School: Granted, BC has a nice community feel, but being a small school in a major conference makes it harder to fill the seats. BC is one of the smaller schools in a major conference and arguably the best conference in college basketball (ok maybe the Big East #1 but I think we are at least #2). We simply do not have the student body to fill out the seats like a big public school can or at least cannot fill out the seats with the same proportion of attendance as bigger school. Don't quote me on this, but I believe we are the second-smallest school in the ACC (Wake Forest being the smallest).
4) Poor Player-Student Relations: The biggest fans of the game do not know the players outside of the basketball court. After talking with someone working in public relations for basketball who has worked at BC for quite some time, the BC basketball players are great people but there is definitely a disconnect with the fans. I think the problem is the players do not go out of the way to try to meet the other students by the same token the other students do not go out of their way to meet the players. One of my biggest regrets was not trying to meet the team, I have heard that Paris, Elmore and Southern for example are really approachable and cool people to talk to. I had season-tickets last year and consider myself a huge BC basketball fan, yet the only BC basketball player I had ever met was Tyler Roche, and that was after the season had already ended. I think BC needs to have events or pre-game or post-game meet the player gatherings. Something like this may help the fans get behind the team.
5) Coach was a Shadow on Campus: I really like what Donahue is doing to try to connect with the students to spark interest in BC basketball again. This is a minor thing but I really think it will help if Donahue goes around and promotes BC basketball directly to the students (although, this should take a back seat to practicing and recruiting). I also REALLY like the IceJam, although do not know what category that fits into but it is an excellent idea of getting fan support.
6) Academic school: This isn't a huge factor but it certainly plays some role. The students at BC care about school and many work hard in their classes. Many BC basketball games are on weekdays and attending games can be difficult (topped with watching a weak program, it just isn't worth it).

That being said, there are still several die-hard hoops fans who go to all the games, and you see some pretty cool fan support signs. Heck a couple students went to all the games and dressed up calling themselves Reggie's Veggies which I thought was kinda cool (I wonder if Reggie Jackson has a comment on that). Nonetheless, there should be a lot more student support and hopefully Donahue can spark interest again.

Here is my small recommendation that I would like to see implemented. Pre-game warmups were kind of lame in the past, BC should play Stand Up and Get Crunk by the Ying Yang twins as the players are entering to shoot around. I think this will bring much more excitement then the lame songs and laid back shooting routines performed before.

[flyingelvii]

I met Trap a few times. Seemed like a douche. Also asked if anyone had a tin and proceeded to do that motion that people that dip do with their hands that sounds like a snapping sound. That didn't appeal to me.

[twballgame9]

I met Trap a few times. Seemed like a douche. Also asked if anyone had a tin and proceeded to do that motion that people that dip do with their hands that sounds like a snapping sound. That didn't appeal to me.

Were you planning on kissing him?

[flyingelvii]

I met Trap a few times. Seemed like a douche. Also asked if anyone had a tin and proceeded to do that motion that people that dip do with their hands that sounds like a snapping sound. That didn't appeal to me.

Were you planning on kissing him?

Not after he pulled that stunt, that's for sure.

[twballgame9]

I met Trap a few times. Seemed like a douche. Also asked if anyone had a tin and proceeded to do that motion that people that dip do with their hands that sounds like a snapping sound. That didn't appeal to me.

Were you planning on kissing him?

Not after he pulled that stunt, that's for sure.

Nothing wrong with dipping. You'd be shocked how many people do it. Especially professionals, since they can do it in their office.

[flyingelvii]

I met Trap a few times. Seemed like a douche. Also asked if anyone had a tin and proceeded to do that motion that people that dip do with their hands that sounds like a snapping sound. That didn't appeal to me.

Were you planning on kissing him?

Not after he pulled that stunt, that's for sure.

Nothing wrong with dipping. You'd be shocked how many people do it. Especially professionals, since they can do it in their office.

I don't really care if people do or don't. I played hockey so I've been around it plenty but it never really appealed to me for whatever reason. It's just the way he asked for it and did the douchy hand motion. Usually people who do that are douches. It's science.

[twballgame9]

I met Trap a few times. Seemed like a douche. Also asked if anyone had a tin and proceeded to do that motion that people that dip do with their hands that sounds like a snapping sound. That didn't appeal to me.

Were you planning on kissing him?

Not after he pulled that stunt, that's for sure.

Nothing wrong with dipping. You'd be shocked how many people do it. Especially professionals, since they can do it in their office.

I don't really care if people do or don't. I played hockey so I've been around it plenty but it never really appealed to me for whatever reason. It's just the way he asked for it and did the douchy hand motion. Usually people who do that are douches. It's science.

People that do are predominantly former jocks, former prep school kids, rednecks, or some combination of the three. As far as the motion goes, it is necessary to pack the tin; however, doing it to indicate that you want one is definitely douchy.

[ryrob]

I met Trap a few times. Seemed like a douche. Also asked if anyone had a tin and proceeded to do that motion that people that dip do with their hands that sounds like a snapping sound. That didn't appeal to me.

Were you planning on kissing him?

Not after he pulled that stunt, that's for sure.

Nothing wrong with dipping. You'd be shocked how many people do it. Especially professionals, since they can do it in their office.

I don't really care if people do or don't. I played hockey so I've been around it plenty but it never really appealed to me for whatever reason. It's just the way he asked for it and did the douchy hand motion. Usually people who do that are douches. It's science.

People that do are predominantly former jocks, former prep school kids, rednecks, or some combination of the three. As far as the motion goes, it is necessary to pack the tin; however, doing it to indicate that you want one is definitely douchy.

Trapani and Roche spent so much time with each other I'd be shocked if they ever talked to anyone else.

[flyingelvii]

I met Trap a few times. Seemed like a douche. Also asked if anyone had a tin and proceeded to do that motion that people that dip do with their hands that sounds like a snapping sound. That didn't appeal to me.

Were you planning on kissing him?

Not after he pulled that stunt, that's for sure.

Nothing wrong with dipping. You'd be shocked how many people do it. Especially professionals, since they can do it in their office.

I don't really care if people do or don't. I played hockey so I've been around it plenty but it never really appealed to me for whatever reason. It's just the way he asked for it and did the douchy hand motion. Usually people who do that are douches. It's science.

People that do are predominantly former jocks, former prep school kids, rednecks, or some combination of the three. As far as the motion goes, it is necessary to pack the tin; however, doing it to indicate that you want one is definitely douchy.

Yeah the hand thing got big when Da Ali G show started getting bigger on HBO. My friends who dipped started to do that because it makes a clicking noise similar to when one's packing a tin and they thought it was cool because they dipped in high school. I don't like annoying sounds so I've always associated the motion sans tin to be one performed by a douche.

Regardless, I just take the easy way out and go with Virginia Slims to get my nico fix.

[BCEagles25]

I met Trap a few times. Seemed like a douche. Also asked if anyone had a tin and proceeded to do that motion that people that dip do with their hands that sounds like a snapping sound. That didn't appeal to me.

Yeah, that sounds douchey to me. I can picture tools in my high school doing it. What other times have you met him?

[flyingelvii]

I met Trap a few times. Seemed like a douche. Also asked if anyone had a tin and proceeded to do that motion that people that dip do with their hands that sounds like a snapping sound. That didn't appeal to me.

Yeah, that sounds douchey to me. I can picture tools in my high school doing it. What other times have you met him?

Around. That's about as much detail as I got. I think he was with Oates the first time I met him. Always weird seeing a 7' guy at parties hitting on girls. Especially when said 7 footer is John Oates, our most favoritist basketball player ever.

[claver2010]

Here are the reasons for lack of student support at basketball games, some of which are correctable:
1) No Success and Bad Strategy: This is undoubtedly number-one. Even with Skinner's lackluster approach to games he still got more of a crowd to games win BC was winning. Boring offense, and a coach that did not seem to have any variety in his style of play just isn't going to make students go crazy about BC basketball. It was frustrating to see him stubbornly not take time outs or not go to plays or players that have shown to work well for the team.
2) Expensive Tickets: Boston College has some of the highest-priced student tickets for college basketball games. 10 dollars a tickets when purchasing season tickets is a lot. Also, several schools package their tickets with football and charge a very reasonable rate like 150 or something for both season football tickets AND season basketball tickets to encourage students to go to both.
3) Small School: Granted, BC has a nice community feel, but being a small school in a major conference makes it harder to fill the seats. BC is one of the smaller schools in a major conference and arguably the best conference in college basketball (ok maybe the Big East #1 but I think we are at least #2). We simply do not have the student body to fill out the seats like a big public school can or at least cannot fill out the seats with the same proportion of attendance as bigger school. Don't quote me on this, but I believe we are the second-smallest school in the ACC (Wake Forest being the smallest).
4) Poor Player-Student Relations: The biggest fans of the game do not know the players outside of the basketball court. After talking with someone working in public relations for basketball who has worked at BC for quite some time, the BC basketball players are great people but there is definitely a disconnect with the fans. I think the problem is the players do not go out of the way to try to meet the other students by the same token the other students do not go out of their way to meet the players. One of my biggest regrets was not trying to meet the team, I have heard that Paris, Elmore and Southern for example are really approachable and cool people to talk to. I had season-tickets last year and consider myself a huge BC basketball fan, yet the only BC basketball player I had ever met was Tyler Roche, and that was after the season had already ended. I think BC needs to have events or pre-game or post-game meet the player gatherings. Something like this may help the fans get behind the team.
5) Coach was a Shadow on Campus: I really like what Donahue is doing to try to connect with the students to spark interest in BC basketball again. This is a minor thing but I really think it will help if Donahue goes around and promotes BC basketball directly to the students (although, this should take a back seat to practicing and recruiting). I also REALLY like the IceJam, although do not know what category that fits into but it is an excellent idea of getting fan support.
6) Academic school: This isn't a huge factor but it certainly plays some role. The students at BC care about school and many work hard in their classes. Many BC basketball games are on weekdays and attending games can be difficult (topped with watching a weak program, it just isn't worth it).

That being said, there are still several die-hard hoops fans who go to all the games, and you see some pretty cool fan support signs. Heck a couple students went to all the games and dressed up calling themselves Reggie's Veggies which I thought was kinda cool (I wonder if Reggie Jackson has a comment on that). Nonetheless, there should be a lot more student support and hopefully Donahue can spark interest again.

1) No success probably is number 1. There aren't enough die-hards to fill Conte so once results go bad the Conte ghost (tm Claver2010 enterprises) arrives (that was against the best team in the student package a couple of years ago -Maryland). Ex: One of my roommates didn't get basketball tickets our freshman year, Dudley's senior year (for the current studnets, there was a time where demand>>> supply) and paid more than I did for my season tickets to go to UNC, Duke, Clemson, & VTech. He didn't go to a basketball game for the rest of his time at BC.

I bet 10% of the student body knew what offense we ran.

It got to the point where the main enjoyment for the die-hards wasn't even in the game anymore. Ex: changing E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES! EAGLES! EAGLES! to F-I-R-E-A-L FIRE! AL! SKINNER!

2) $: This was a huge thing when I talked with the Asst. AD. To support the 3 main programs at BC, only at home mind you, was over $300/year. Way too much.

3) Small school: Yeah I guess being a larger school would help.

4) I always thought this was another huge factor. I bet with all of the kids that are the die-hards for hockey they have a story of an interaction with a player. They were in my classes (math major), at my parties, eating at the non-athlete table in lower, etc. Basketball players are pretty much exclusively sociology or comm majors, the two biggest jokes at BC.

Basketball is my #3 but I only missed 2 games in my 4 years and my only interaction with a player was during a game (yes, at BC you can talk to the players on the bench).
Me: Hey Courtney, where's Roche?
Dunn: He's sick
Me: I am too and I showed up.

5) I never saw Skinner once on campus in my 4 years, people who didn't go to the games couldn't pick him out of a lineup. I saw York every week at Hillside, went to talks he did to various groups, etc. and York will go down as the best college hockey coach ever, Skinner is currently looking for a job.

6) If people wanted to go to the games, they could have fit it in. I was by no means a but I had my fairshare of work as a math major and I went to all of the games. It does help that all of the hockey games are on Fridays, it gets into a nice rhythm come winter time.

[b0mberMan]

Yeah the hand thing got big when Da Ali G show started getting bigger on HBO.

I'd say it's more likely given your age that Ali G came out around the time people were dipping regularly and making that sound. It's always been a redneck/jock staple going back before Sasha Baron Coen.

[flyingelvii]

Yeah the hand thing got big when Da Ali G show started getting bigger on HBO.

I'd say it's more likely given your age that Ali G came out around the time people were dipping regularly and making that sound. It's always been a redneck/jock staple going back before Sasha Baron Coen.

People saw it and started doing it more frequently. Even people that didn't dip started doing it. Those that did dip did it all the time because now it was cool and it helped their packing form. Basically it was a vicous cycle.

[b0mberMan]

Yeah the hand thing got big when Da Ali G show started getting bigger on HBO.

I'd say it's more likely given your age that Ali G came out around the time people were dipping regularly and making that sound. It's always been a redneck/jock staple going back before Sasha Baron Coen.

People saw it and started doing it more frequently. Even people that didn't dip started doing it. Those that did dip did it all the time because now it was cool and it helped their packing form. Basically it was a vicous cycle.

That all happened when I was in middle school/high school long before Ali G. I think it would've happened anywhere. It's a staple.

[bignick33]

Yeah the hand thing got big when Da Ali G show started getting bigger on HBO.

I'd say it's more likely given your age that Ali G came out around the time people were dipping regularly and making that sound. It's always been a redneck/jock staple going back before Sasha Baron Coen.

People saw it and started doing it more frequently. Even people that didn't dip started doing it. Those that did dip did it all the time because now it was cool and it helped their packing form. Basically it was a vicous cycle.

That all happened when I was in middle school/high school long before Ali G. I think it would've happened anywhere. It's a staple.

In all fairness, redneck trends hit upstate NY long before they hit Boston...

[flyingelvii]

Yeah the hand thing got big when Da Ali G show started getting bigger on HBO.

I'd say it's more likely given your age that Ali G came out around the time people were dipping regularly and making that sound. It's always been a redneck/jock staple going back before Sasha Baron Coen.

People saw it and started doing it more frequently. Even people that didn't dip started doing it. Those that did dip did it all the time because now it was cool and it helped their packing form. Basically it was a vicous cycle.

That all happened when I was in middle school/high school long before Ali G. I think it would've happened anywhere. It's a staple.

In all fairness, redneck trends hit upstate NY long before they hit Boston...

I grew up in the Chicago suburbs.

[b0mberMan]

Yeah the hand thing got big when Da Ali G show started getting bigger on HBO.

I'd say it's more likely given your age that Ali G came out around the time people were dipping regularly and making that sound. It's always been a redneck/jock staple going back before Sasha Baron Coen.

People saw it and started doing it more frequently. Even people that didn't dip started doing it. Those that did dip did it all the time because now it was cool and it helped their packing form. Basically it was a vicous cycle.

That all happened when I was in middle school/high school long before Ali G. I think it would've happened anywhere. It's a staple.

In all fairness, redneck trends hit upstate NY long before they hit Boston...

I grew up in the Chicago suburbs.

There, too.

[bignick33]

Yeah the hand thing got big when Da Ali G show started getting bigger on HBO.

I'd say it's more likely given your age that Ali G came out around the time people were dipping regularly and making that sound. It's always been a redneck/jock staple going back before Sasha Baron Coen.

People saw it and started doing it more frequently. Even people that didn't dip started doing it. Those that did dip did it all the time because now it was cool and it helped their packing form. Basically it was a vicous cycle.

That all happened when I was in middle school/high school long before Ali G. I think it would've happened anywhere. It's a staple.

In all fairness, redneck trends hit upstate NY long before they hit Boston...

I grew up in the Chicago suburbs.

There, too.

[pick6pedro]

Is player interaction a huge problem? And even if it is true that the current players aren't into interaction, does it really matter?

I had plenty of interaction with Uka, Troy, X, Duds, KWalls, Nate D, Nick Dunn, Beerbohm, Harley, Watson, DeMong and Ekweozar - all positive (OK maybe not with Beerbohm - I wasn't a big fan of him personally due to some shenanigans on the intramural football field). But none of that had anything to do with me being in the front row of every game. I would have been there even if they had given me swirly birds between classes and stolen my eagle card to buy rock.

[claver2010]

I had plenty of interaction with Uka, Troy, X, Duds, KWalls, Nate D, Nick Dunn, Beerbohm, Harley, Watson, DeMong and Ekweozar - all positive (OK maybe not with Beerbohm - I wasn't a big fan of him personally due to some shenanigans on the intramural football field). But none of that had anything to do with me being in the front row of every game. I would have been there even if they had given me swirly birds between classes and stolen my eagle card to buy rock.

I think it would help attract a fan that wouldn't be there for every game.