SPORTS The Heights
B1
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Bates has Addazio brings energy his man in Addazio By Greg Joyce Sports Editor
Austin Tedesco Almost two days and one passionate wrecking ball of a press conference later, I’m starting to drink the “Vitamin Water.” I’ll at least have a cup. Steve Addazio, known to his former Florida Gator players as “Vitamin Addazio,” is taking over for Frank Spaziani as the head football coach of Boston College. The difference in the Barber Room was stunning yesterday afternoon. I was warned beforehand to be ready. I was told by other members of the media that I’ve never seen anything like this guy. I didn’t listen, and I was wrong. Two minutes into his speech, I began to rethink my idea from the night before that athletic director Brad Bates had made an underwhelming hire. I hadn’t been in the room for a pregame speech since my senior year of high school, but this really brought me back. Five minutes into his speech, he had me ready to get up and run a mile for him. “I’m here for the long haul, and I’m here to win championships,” he said. That’s bold, I thought, but I’ll buy it. Words can only go so far, but his words showed quickly that he sounds like the perfect fit for BC. It will take nine months until he can prove it on the field, but Bates found a great match for the values that the athletic department and the school hold. And then 10 minutes into his speech, I was ready to lineup in the backfield against the Alabama defense and do everything I could to try to gain a few yards if he was on the sideline yelling instructions. More importantly, it wasn’t just me. Rising seniors and leaders of the 2013 team Chase Rettig, Steele Divitto, Kasim Edebali, and Bobby Swigert had all picked up on that intensity after less than an hour with the coach. Both Divitto and Swigert said they wanted more enthusiasm and engagement from the new head coach when Spaziani was fired. Addazio brings that and more. But, still, so far it’s only words. He had proven success in the Mid-Atlantic Conference with Temple, but then stumbled through his first year in the Big East. He helped lead the Florida offense to two national championships, but he had that ridiculous SEC talent on his side. Whether or not his past success will transfer over to BC will show with time, but so far he’s doing all the right things. He said that these players are about to face the toughest offseason they’ve ever had. That includes the winter, the spring, and the summer. He’s demanding the ultimate sacrifice from his players, and it sounds like they are ready to buy in. He’s also bringing former wide receivers coach Ryan Day back to BC as the new offensive coordinator. He could have pursued a more ambitious hire, but he’s going with someone he knows, someone he’s excited about, and someone who is respected as an up-and-comer. Under different circumstances, Doug Martin deserved to return, but a new coach means new blood and, at least for Rettig and the rest of the offensive players, there will be some familiarity with Day, who shouldn’t be judged by his time under Spaziani. That ultra-conservative regime is out, and Addazio’s new enthusiasm is in. Day deserves a chance to prove himself as a playcaller, just like Addazio deserves the chance to prove himself on the field. The system will be based on players on the roster, and that’s great news for this offense. Day will likely implement successful aspects of Martin’s game, like the quick routes and the delayed screens, while also focusing on tough running between the tackles. Addazio said he’s focused on creating a balance between the run and the pass, something the offense lacked all of last season. That’s the perfect place to start. He’s a proven offensive-line coach, and his energy will be infectious with recruiting in the area. The running game and “O-Line U” might not return immediately, but he’s shown that he has the tools to make it happen. The first day is always just about words, and Addazio didn’t miss a mark. The next nine months will be about actions, and if he’s as successful there as he was on his first day, then this program is, finally, ready to turn the page.
The uncontainable energy, enthusiasm, and passion that overflowed in the Barber Room yesterday as Steve Addazio was announced as the new head football coach at Boston College was a welcome change for his newest players. “I’m very excited to play for him,” said linebacker Steele Divitto. “[His passion] is something that’s very special and something I’ve always treasured in some former coaches I’ve had. I think when a head coach can bring that passion and that energy, everybody feeds off
of it. People get excited to play for him, they get excited about the game. They get excited to play for each other. That’s one of the key components of winning football games.” Addazio’s booming voice and backand-forth movement throughout his introductory speech gave the players in attendance a glimpse of the coach he will be on the field and in the locker room. “You can see that he cares a lot and he has a lot of passion,” said quarterback Chase Rettig. “He carries with himself a lot of enthusiasm.” graham beck / heights editor
See Addazio, B2
Addazio met with his new players for the first time today before his introductory press conference.
ALumni call for the return of Varsity lacrosse
Graham beck / heights Editor
The varsity men’s lacrosse team played its final game in 2002 before being moved to a club sport because of Title IX, but now alumni are pushing for the varsity team to return. By Rosemary Chandler, Adam Parshall, Katharine Rooney, and Austin Tedesco For The Heights
“Sucks to BU.” That’s what Boston College alumni like to chant about rival Boston University. But some are now so frustrated with the BC athletic department, they’re joking about making donations to its cross-town rival. Eleven years after the University eliminated men’s varsity lacrosse—and with BU now adding a team—angry alumni are redoubling their calls to revive the program. “We don’t need to take a back seat to a school like BU,” said Kevin McLane, BC ’99, who graduated as BC’s all-time leading scorer just before the team was cut. Those demanding that men’s varsity lacrosse be restored are emboldened by the hiring of a new athletic director and the addition to the Atlantic Coast Confer-
ence of schools that have lacrosse. They also cite the additions of lacrosse teams at comparable universities and colleges and the huge growth in popularity of the sport. “It’s become a joke that BC doesn’t have it,” said E. Ward Bitter, BC ’77 and All-American lacrosse player and a member of the BC Varsity Club Hall of Fame, who says he refused to send his own children—all standout athletes—to the University because it no longer had men’s varsity lacrosse. Bitter says sarcastically that BC alumni should give $250,000 a year to the program at BU until the university restores the team. Men’s varsity lacrosse played its last game in 2002. The team was cut, along with wrestling and water polo, to conform to Title IX, which requires equal opportunity in athletics for men and women. Bringing it back would mean cutting scholarships for another men’s sport or adding some for women.
See Lacrosse, B2
chasing more than wins
Graham beck / heights Editor
A second half run led Harvard to its fifth consecutive win over Boston College on Tuesday night.
Harvard takes fifth straight By Austin Tedesco Asst. Sports Editor
Alex trautwig / heights senior staff
Austin Tedesco is the Asst. Sports Editor for The Heights. He can be reached at sports@bcheights.com.
Donors offered $8 million over five years to restore the program, but then-athletic director Gene DeFilippo told them it would take $30 million, alumni said. “It was an immediate reaction,” McClane said. “We were all rebuffed.” He calls the $30 million figure “absurd.” The University of Richmond established a men’s varsity lacrosse team, which will debut in 2014, with an investment of $3 million, and the University of Michigan spent just under $6 million to set up a team that began play last year. The average annual operating expenses of a Division 1A men’s lacrosse program is around $1.2 million, according to the NCAA, with revenues of $737,182, for a total cost of $509,567 per year. DeFilippo, who stepped down in September, did not respond to a request for comment. He has been
Jerry York is one win away from becoming the all-time winningest coach in college hockey. But that’s not what makes him tick. His unchanged coaching philisophy is. See B4.
i nside S ports this issue
Eagles extend unbeaten streak The women’s hockey team won their seventh straight game at UNH last night..........B3
When head coach Steve Donahue sees his team shoot almost 60 percent from the field, he expects them to win. Despite the apparent offensive efficiency on Tuesday night, the Boston College men’s basketball fell to Harvard 79-63 in the program’s fifth straight loss to the Crimson. “It’s hard to imagine you shoot 58 percent and lose by 16 pretty handedly,” Donahue said. “There’s a mental toughness side on both sides
York continues to set the standard Jerry York’s actions speak louder than his wo rd s , b o t h o n a n d o f f t h e i c e. . . . . . . . . . .B 4
of the ball that they had and we didn’t. That was, I’m sure, apparent to everybody. In particular, when they pressured us, even though we were scoring, we were never understanding and staying poised and confident in our offense. But, when we pressured them, they just moved like clockwork to the next thing. And like I said, it’s kind of mind-boggling to put up those kinds of numbers and lose pretty handedly.” Ryan Anderson opened the game by
See Basketball, B3
Editors’ Picks..............................B3 Game of the Week.....................B3