 |
| Boston College AD Gene DeFilippo |
Live Chat With Gene DeFilippo
Do you have a question about BC Athletics? Go straight to the source. Director of Athletics Gene DeFilippo will conduct a live chat Wednesday, March 4 at 4 p.m. Submit your questions now and log on Wednesday at 4 p.m. to chat with Gene.
|
 |
 |
 |
Moderator: Please stand by for live chat with Gene DeFilippo. |
|
|
|
Moderator: Welcome to today's live chat with Boston College Director of Athletics Gene DeFilippo. Gene will now take your questions. |
|
|
| Derek Dublin,OH: Will BC be on national TV more for football this season? |
 |
|
Gene DeFilippo: We have had more television coverage in the past four seasons than at any time in our history. National TV games have become fewer and fewer as many of the ESPN and ABC telecasts are regional. The national TV games go to the teams with outstanding records. We hope to have lots of national TV games in the near future. |
|
|
| John, Boston: What has BC done to get more fans into there stadiums? |
|
|
Gene DeFilippo: Our staff has tried almost everything during the past 11 football seasons. I think there has been a real improvement. It takes time to change habits that have occurred for years and years, but we will continue to make this a priority. |
|
|
| John McCarthy Medfield: When will BC be able to begin work on the new softball and baseball fields on the Brighton campus and when will the be available for use? |
|
|
Gene DeFilippo: We are waiting for approval of the master plan by the Boston Redevelopment Authority. As soon as we receive the okay, we will begin the design phase of our baseball and softball fields. We would like to have a shovel in the ground as soon as possible. |
|
|
| Christopher (Boston, MA): Towards the end of the college football season, it is common for representatives from the Gator Bowl, the Peach Bowl, etc. to come to Chestnut Hill to watch a BC game. Does BC incur any expenses for these trips, or do the bowl representatives have their own travel budget? |
|
|
Gene DeFilippo: It is very common for bowl representatives to come to Chestnut Hill to view a BC football game. The expenses are paid by the bowls, but we have been known to invite bowl reps to join us for dinner or receptions on Friday nights prior to the games. |
|
|
| Chris (Boston): Gene,
When can we expect to see the effects of the Master plan construction on the tailgating situation? Has a plan been put in place to deal with the ongoing changes? |
|
|
Gene DeFilippo: The tailgating situation will remain as is for the next several years. Yes, we have begun to discuss future tailgating options. |
|
|
| James (NY): What plans are there for future facility upgrades? |
|
|
Gene DeFilippo: We continue to work on our facilities and have totally renovated Conte Forum. The Yawkey Athletics Center has been open for four years now, and our future plans call for new baseball and softball fields. We totally renovated the soccer/lacrosse stadium last year, and we plan to replace the Jumbotrons in Conte Forum this summer. We will continually be working to upgrade our facilities. |
|
|
| Chris (Boston): Gene,
Is there anything the athletic department/ticket office is working on to combat the attendance issues at the men's basketball games? The student and DBS attendance has been brutal at a few of the major ACC games (FSU, Clemson). This team deserves better after all they have accomplished this year. |
|
|
Gene DeFilippo: Chris, I agree with you that the team deserves better attendance at its games. We have sold a lot of season tickets, but for one reason or another, some of our fans do not attend games on a regular basis. Our ticket office has instituted an online ticket exchange system. Our students have shown up for the big games, but for some reason not all the games. |
|
|
| Christopher (Boston): Gene, I love BC and view the money I spend on season tickets as a great way of supporting BC; I also commend the attempt to increase the fan base by selling discounted tickets, however, it feels that season ticket holders are getting a raw deal by paying so much more, and are being taken for granted even though they are the ones who support BC consistently. While I do understand the advantages of having season tickets (access to the big games, etc), it feels as if BC just waits for the season ticket holders to send their check in each year. Has BC ever considered creating any special benefits for its season ticketholders, such as a slightly discounted price or maybe including a pair of extra tickets to a less popular non conference game? |
|
|
Gene DeFilippo: You bring up a great point, and this is something that we continue to talk about on a weekly basis. Purchasing a season ticket enables you to have tickets for Notre Dame, Florida State, Virginia Tech and several other teams who will sell out Alumni Stadium. The person who does not have season tickets does not get access to these types of games, nor do they have the seat location that most of our season ticket holders have. It is for some of the non-conference games that we have sold group tickets, and until Alumni Stadium is a tight sellout, we will continue to sell group seating. |
|
|
| Ed Reynolds (New York City): Hello Mr. DeFilippo,
Those who follow BC athletics on a regular basis know that the university, without a doubt, has one of the strongest athletic programs in the country with several nationally ranked teams. Is there any chance that the university will consider making men's lacrosse a varsity sport and also creating men's and women's squash teams? |
|
|
Gene DeFilippo: Boston College fields 31 sports programs, by far the most in the ACC. The average for the ACC schools is approximately 21. We have no interest in adding any varsity sports programs in the near future. |
|
|
| Kerry (Connecticut): Rivals.com rates BC's 2009 football recruiting class as the worst in the ACC. I'm wondering why you think this is. Could it be because of the coaching change that recruiting was put on the back burner? What is BC football going to do to restore its rightful prestige? |
|
|
Gene DeFilippo: Coach Spaz has said several times that the coaching change did not negatively affect our recruiting. Boston College football has had the most successful 10 year-period in the school's history. We want to recruit five-star players, not five-star recruits. Most years, our recruiting class is rated in the bottom half of the conference, yet, each year, we continue to have outstanding success. Our coaches feel that we had an excellent recruiting year, and I'm going to take their word for it. |
|
|
| Bob (Stamford, CT): Are there plans to renew the Notre Dame series beyond 2010? If not, why not? I recall hearing that it might renew in 2018 and 2019, but that was not confirmed. Thanks. |
|
|
Gene DeFilippo: Bob, the Notre Dame series will end following the 2010 season, as Notre Dame does not wish to continue the series. Scheduling happens when it is mutually beneficial, and Notre Dame does not view playing Boston College as being beneficial to their program. |
|
|
| Simon (Wakefield): Gene-How can you expect the fans to support the football program by purchasing season tickets when the school does not pay the head football coach a salary compared to other ACC coaches? How will we attract a candidate that wants to committ to BC for many years? |
|
|
Gene DeFilippo: Our football program has done very well for the past decade, and it is the most successful decade in Boston College's long, rich football history. I don't know where you get your information, but our football coach and our basketball coaches are paid very, very well. |
|
|
| Wesley (Huntsville,Al): Gene in the past you had mentioned something along the lines of We can't be Harvard every day, and then Alabama on Game Days.. What exactly did you mean by that?
I understand that BC has a Great unusual situation of being such a prestigious school, and excelling Atheletically. Where do you see BC going forward?
Godspeed. |
|
|
Gene DeFilippo: My tongue-in-cheek statement was that some of our alumni want us to be Harvard on Monday through Friday and Alabama on Saturday afternoon. That is a difficult task, but we will continue to work to be the very best Boston College that we can be, both academically and athletically. |
|
|
| Joey (Brookline): Do you have any plans to try and increase attendance at the BC basketball games? |
|
|
Gene DeFilippo: Ticket sales is not the issue. It is getting fans who have purchased tickets to come to the games. Our fans come to the big games, such as Duke, North Carolina, etc., and I wish that more of them would attend the games on a more regular basis. Another reason for our attendance issues is that, of the eight home conference games, one game started at 8 p.m. and three others started at 9 p.m. This is not fair to our fans, and we have addressed this issue with the ACC. |
|
|
| Dennis Medway, MA: Coach:
Now that you are bringing Syracuse back on the football schedule in 2010, any chance to make it permanent and play them the last reg. seson game of the year. It would be a great inter-conference regional matchup and have a great rivalry for the Northeast. That is the one thing that BC lacks in football. Any chance you might bring the Ornage back on the hoops schedule as well? |
|
|
Gene DeFilippo: You must be reading my mind, as we have a 10-year contract to play Syracuse in football, and the games will be played on the Saturday following Thanksgiving. |
|
|
| Eric Natick: Do you believe Donor Based seating is part of the reason the Men's Basketball team can't sell out Conte Forum for ACC games? |
|
|
Gene DeFilippo: I'm completing my 12th academic year at Boston College, and through the years, I have not seen any measurable change in our basketball attendance. |
|
|
| Otis (Detroit): Can BC Football get to the National Championship Game and still graduate over 90% of its players? |
|
|
Gene DeFilippo: Otis, the answer is yes. Just two seasons ago, we started our season 8-0 and were ranked No. 2 in the country. If we had continued to win, there is not question that we would have played for the national championship. |
|
|
| Nick (Brighton): How is Coach Spaz settling into his new position? What are your thoughts on his new assistants? |
|
|
Gene DeFilippo: As expected, Spaz has taken the bull by the horns, and has made a wonderful adjustment to being the head coach. I have been very impressed with his assistants, as he has hired the offensive coordinator from Kansas State, the offensive coordinator from New Hampshire, and Gary Tranquill, who is one of the best football coaches I've ever been around. Our players and our coaches can't wait for March 17, the first day of spring practice. |
|
|
|
Gene DeFilippo: Thanks for joining me today for our chat. We'll conduct another one of these soon. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
