Boston College Athletics
Photo by: John Quackenbos
New Era Pinstripe Bowl: The Latest Family Accomplishment
December 05, 2017 | Football, #ForBoston Files
2017 opened the door on the true glue and fabric of BC football
For Boston College, getting to a bowl game this year is an accomplishment worth celebrating. After a 2-4 start to the season, the Eagles ripped off five of their next six games, averaging over 35 points per win in the process. They achieved a level of consistency matched by few teams while plowing through a competitive, tough schedule.
It makes a postseason game that much sweeter. That the bowl game is the New Era Pinstripe Bowl in the team's backyard? That's everything it could hope for and more.
"If you asked our kids, they'd say we want to be in New York and play in the Pinstripe Bowl," head coach Steve Addazio said. "This would be one of the hottest tickets in the bowl season and will become an electric atmosphere in that stadium. I know our fans will be really, really excited, (and) our alums will have a chance in their backyard to go watch their college football team play against another great college football team in Yankee Stadium."
It's a unique opportunity for the players. New York City is in Boston College's major footprint as one of the only power conference football teams in the Northeast. The school draws a large alumni and student base from the area. The stadium likely will be awash in maroon and gold colors. For senior captains Jon Baker and Kam Moore, it makes them consistently excited, even as neither will be available on the field due to injury.
"I just think it will be a great feeling, honestly," Moore said. "Obviously I can't contribute to the team how I really want to, but I'm still there, a voice in their head, a coach, leader, whatever they need in order to build them up. I know guys are ecstatic. Last time we were there, it was a vibrant, very lively environment. So I just think that it will be great. It will be great for this program."
"It was electric (in 2014)," Baker said. "(There was) a huge crowd and great competition between the two teams. The end of that game obviously wasn't the way we wanted it to go. But I think this year, the guys already know how big of a game it is. It's one of the best bowls. The guys that haven't been there will realize that very quickly, as soon as they get on the site."
Baker and Moore are two pieces of a locker room backbone built from differing, unique parts. Moore is a defensive back from Maryland who played high school football in Virginia. Baker is a "Massachusetts Guy," an offensive lineman who grew up and played in Millis. They helped create a family culture by blending those backgrounds into a single cohesive unit that, as Addazio likes to say, can "rock and roll" every week, through both the successes and challenges in a season.
"We're one of the hottest teams in the country right now," William V. Campbell Director of Athletics Martin Jarmond said. "I think sometimes we don't brag enough about ourselves and these accomplishments these young men have done. So I was on the horn starting on Saturday night (after Syracuse) to brag about Boston College and how excited and honored we would be to travel to one of the bowl games that Steve and I felt were really positive for the program."
This season opened the lid and provided a view inside the nature of a locker room. Perhaps more than ever, outsiders caught a glimpse into how the program operated in its veins, how that heart never stopped pumping. It revealed a team committed to itself at all levels and a roster with coaches and players who never stopping their belief in one another.
"We had to overcome a bunch of adversity with the loss of a lot of players," Addazio said. "The way we handled it spoke to the glue and the foundation of which this thing is built on right now. That was something that was very encouraging to me. When I made the statement that it's going to be beautiful, that's really what I was saying because there was a great foundation. I felt terrific about our players and where we were headed."
"Like I always say, no pressure, no diamonds," Moore said. "We have a next-man-up policy. Regardless if I go down, if any other starter goes down, the next man up has to be ready and have to be prepared. I think we hold a standard within ourselves to make sure everybody's game-ready always."
For a team competing in an ultra-competitive environment, it's simply one more. It's one more set of practices in preparation for another opponent. It's one more opportunity to display the bonds between players with one more game for a family. It's one more opening to the spirit of Boston College football by players who reinvigorated a fan base, inviting all to join them along the way.
"The glue was really tight," Addazio said of his team. "That's the real mark of a foundation and chemistry. That's really what it is. We have a chance right now to go out and get our eighth win. We have a chance to get six out of seven. The last time that happened was 25 years ago. We haven't done it yet, but what we have done is established what that chemistry is, what that foundation is."
The Eagles will play the Iowa Hawkeyes on December 27 at 5:15 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN with radio coverage available locally on the Boston College IMG Sports Network and nationally on ESPN radio.
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It makes a postseason game that much sweeter. That the bowl game is the New Era Pinstripe Bowl in the team's backyard? That's everything it could hope for and more.
"If you asked our kids, they'd say we want to be in New York and play in the Pinstripe Bowl," head coach Steve Addazio said. "This would be one of the hottest tickets in the bowl season and will become an electric atmosphere in that stadium. I know our fans will be really, really excited, (and) our alums will have a chance in their backyard to go watch their college football team play against another great college football team in Yankee Stadium."
It's a unique opportunity for the players. New York City is in Boston College's major footprint as one of the only power conference football teams in the Northeast. The school draws a large alumni and student base from the area. The stadium likely will be awash in maroon and gold colors. For senior captains Jon Baker and Kam Moore, it makes them consistently excited, even as neither will be available on the field due to injury.
"I just think it will be a great feeling, honestly," Moore said. "Obviously I can't contribute to the team how I really want to, but I'm still there, a voice in their head, a coach, leader, whatever they need in order to build them up. I know guys are ecstatic. Last time we were there, it was a vibrant, very lively environment. So I just think that it will be great. It will be great for this program."
"It was electric (in 2014)," Baker said. "(There was) a huge crowd and great competition between the two teams. The end of that game obviously wasn't the way we wanted it to go. But I think this year, the guys already know how big of a game it is. It's one of the best bowls. The guys that haven't been there will realize that very quickly, as soon as they get on the site."
Baker and Moore are two pieces of a locker room backbone built from differing, unique parts. Moore is a defensive back from Maryland who played high school football in Virginia. Baker is a "Massachusetts Guy," an offensive lineman who grew up and played in Millis. They helped create a family culture by blending those backgrounds into a single cohesive unit that, as Addazio likes to say, can "rock and roll" every week, through both the successes and challenges in a season.
"We're one of the hottest teams in the country right now," William V. Campbell Director of Athletics Martin Jarmond said. "I think sometimes we don't brag enough about ourselves and these accomplishments these young men have done. So I was on the horn starting on Saturday night (after Syracuse) to brag about Boston College and how excited and honored we would be to travel to one of the bowl games that Steve and I felt were really positive for the program."
This season opened the lid and provided a view inside the nature of a locker room. Perhaps more than ever, outsiders caught a glimpse into how the program operated in its veins, how that heart never stopped pumping. It revealed a team committed to itself at all levels and a roster with coaches and players who never stopping their belief in one another.
"We had to overcome a bunch of adversity with the loss of a lot of players," Addazio said. "The way we handled it spoke to the glue and the foundation of which this thing is built on right now. That was something that was very encouraging to me. When I made the statement that it's going to be beautiful, that's really what I was saying because there was a great foundation. I felt terrific about our players and where we were headed."
"Like I always say, no pressure, no diamonds," Moore said. "We have a next-man-up policy. Regardless if I go down, if any other starter goes down, the next man up has to be ready and have to be prepared. I think we hold a standard within ourselves to make sure everybody's game-ready always."
For a team competing in an ultra-competitive environment, it's simply one more. It's one more set of practices in preparation for another opponent. It's one more opportunity to display the bonds between players with one more game for a family. It's one more opening to the spirit of Boston College football by players who reinvigorated a fan base, inviting all to join them along the way.
"The glue was really tight," Addazio said of his team. "That's the real mark of a foundation and chemistry. That's really what it is. We have a chance right now to go out and get our eighth win. We have a chance to get six out of seven. The last time that happened was 25 years ago. We haven't done it yet, but what we have done is established what that chemistry is, what that foundation is."
The Eagles will play the Iowa Hawkeyes on December 27 at 5:15 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN with radio coverage available locally on the Boston College IMG Sports Network and nationally on ESPN radio.
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