How Massachusetts Learned to #GetIn

A shamrock was the last thing Jeff Hafley probably wanted to see after Notre Dame's 45-31 win last week. The proud Eagles fell short in their bid to upset a top-ranked team for the second time in three weeks, and the Fighting Irish emerged victorious despite BC's bitter fight and battle. It was the eighth consecutive win in the Holy War rivalry for Notre Dame, and the bitter pill to swallow echoed through Alumni Stadium.

The site of that clover, though, likely eased his pain. It was from Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens and offered a word of encouragement.

Stevens' note probably didn't take long to rattle off, but it transitioned Hafley right back into his trademark excitement. It proved Boston College's ascension into the greater Boston sports scene to him, and it showed how even the most famous sports figures outside of Alumni Stadium noticed the new era introduced by the head coach, his staff and his players.

"I had texts from Matt Ryan and Doug Flutie," Hafley said, "(and) I had a text from (Boston Celtics head coach) Brad Stevens that he loves the fight in this team. That one surprised me, and it meant a lot to me. It showed that Boston is seeing (us), and they can count on me to get this thing going. As disappointed as I was, I didn't come in (the next day) pouty and yelling and screaming or pointing fingers. That's not us. We're going to coach (the team) hard, win or lose, and we'll be excited to get back on the practice field after we catch our breaths."

Massachusetts is known for localized differences and parochialism fracturing along sports fault lines. Rivalries within the Commonwealth run deep for individual cities and towns, and identities are built by the lineage of wins and losses over the years. Matchups are ingrained pieces of societal culture and offer the link between generations of families and friends.

They celebrate asymmetrical characteristics through fierce competition while uniting under broader, uniting institutions. Professional sports teams represent the bigger swath and link those people otherwise divided by municipal borders, and the uniformity harnesses passion into the most intense fan base in the country.

The colleges occupy the space between the local and professional ranks by combining elements of intercity and intrastate rivalries. The fierceness permeates generations but manages to blur municipalities by extending beyond their standard deviations. Former rivals convert into teammates while allies turn into enemies.

That realm is where Boston College lives as the region's only power conference college sports program. Regional fissures still exist, but it's the only nationally-branded college football program with an automated path into the College Football Playoff pantheon. There is a perceived chasm between BC and that area, but the glass ceiling cracked by the team's success in 2018 is now starting to shatter under Jeff Hafley's leadership.

It's this year's Eagles who are capturing fans' imagination with their commitment to each other at a time when society needs shreds of good headlines. The game against Clemson won its time slot with over 4.3 million viewers and was eclipsed by the Notre Dame game's 5.2 million viewers two weeks later. Jeff Hafley's media appearances on ACC Network and local radio are often must-see or must-listen theater, and the social media interactions of a digital age are proving fans are flocking back to BC even as they can't attend football games.

"It meant a lot that Brad Stevens shot me a text," Hafley said. "He's a guy I'm looking forward to getting together with. We were supposed to (meet up), but then COVID hit. I don't know what it was like before I got here, but I'm hoping that when fans come to games, there will be energy and excitement. You would've seen a good crowd (against Notre Dame) that would've been excited and helped us a lot. I'm hoping for the students and community to continue to get in, and we're going to make this exciting for them."

It's exposing fans to what they already knew about Boston College by highlighting the Eagles' place in the pre-existing Boston sports infrastructure. TD Garden is the home of both the Celtics and the Boston Bruins and hosts the Hockey East championship annually, but BC additionally plays in the arena as one of four Beanpot schools, though this year's iteration was canceled due to COVID-19.

Likewise, the basketball program played games at both the old Boston Garden and the FleetCenter against local schools over the past decade, and BC hosted the 2018 NCAA Tournament's East Regional at the arena. It will do so again in 2024.

Then there's the unique relationship between BC and the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox long supported the Eagles' baseball program with a secondary home stadium for Birdball's ALS Awareness Game, and Pete Frates hit his magical home run in the Baseball Beanpot on the stadium's lawn. The Harrington Athletics Village is named for university trustee John Harrington, himself a former CEO for the Red Sox, and served as an auxiliary spring training site for the Red Sox during this year's Major League Baseball season.

Further, BC helped restart football at Fenway Park in 2015 when Notre Dame's Shamrock Series game was the first game at the stadium in nearly 50 years, and its success pushed momentum for Connecticut to "host" BC two years later. The Eagles' games were an impetus for this year's inaugural Fenway Bowl before COVID-19 postponed the postseason football game.

Even the New England Patriots, who play in between Boston and Providence, have roots at Boston College from their 1969 season at Alumni Stadium. The then-Boston Patriots moved out of Fenway Park after 1968 and found a temporary home at BC for a 4-10 season best remembered for the press conference that nearly electrocuted head coach Clive Rush.

"I got to a Celtics game right before COVID," Hafley said. "I was fired up to get to a Red Sox game and a Bruins game. I love sports. I can't get to Patriots games because we work on Sundays, but maybe after the season, if things open up. It's awesome to be in such a sports town with such awesome coaches around."

Boston owns more than its share of sports glory over its history, but the last 20 years generated more championships than any other city cares to admit. Titles and banners flow freely from the rafters at every venue, and a hockey town is a basketball town and a pro football town. It will always be a baseball town.

Now it's becoming a college football town once again. The glass ceiling is shattering, and once eliminated, it will expose the sports heart in Massachusetts has a little extra maroon and gold brought by Boston College.

Boston College Athletics

Related News

Related Videos