Father Leahy and the Rumor Mill

Talking about the game this weekend isn't really worth it.  I was away from the television for most of the game Saturday, but was pretty shocked when I turned it on and the score was 7-3.  Luckily, I turned it on just in time to watch Virginia Tech march down the field to make it 7-6 before the half.  I will leave my commentary on the game there, because saying anything more will just make me upset and want to hurt something.  I think we all have a little bit of hope that we will somehow win out and become bowl eligible, though I expect that as soon as we drop to 7 losses, that will be it for this sinking ship.

Something that I've wanted to address is Father Leahy's relationship to the athletics department and the football team.  Many people in the blogosphere are under the impression that the only ranking Leahy cares about is the one in US News.  Arguably, they are probably right.  It is Father Leahy's job as University president to ensure that Boston College remains the excellent academic institution it is and to push the school to, pardon the pun, new heights.  As such, I am sure Father Leahy has more important things to be doing than checking in and making sure everything is going smoothly down at the Yawkey Center.  However, I am not sure that Father Leahy is totally separated from the athletics department, as some might suggest, but rather does keep his eye on what goes on down the road.

Following graduation, a few people I knew found jobs working at BC in various capacities, a few in the athletics department.  Every now and then I would ask what the climate in Yawkey was like, if there was any awareness about the message boards and various blogs and what was being said about the program, etc.  I began hearing more the idea that Father Leahy cared nothing about what went on in athletics so I finally asked a friend if this was true.  As it turns out, while Leahy does not oversee the athletics department the way Gene oversees the football team, Father Leahy is at the very least aware that the athletics department in general, but the football team specifically, is a national representation of the school.  Father Leahy is not all hands off with athletics, on the contrary, he is aware of the things that go on and appreciates the importance of the success of BC athletics program to the school and alumni.

If anything is taken away from this post, I hope that at the very least it is the knowledge that Father Leahy is very much involved with the athletics department and understands the importance athletics has to the school not just in terms of pride, but also in terms of perception and revenue.  Contrary to what many believe, Father Leahy is involved with the athletics program, his meeting with Spaz is testament to that, and hopefully Father Leahy is aware, just as we all are, that changes may need to be made if things do not get better.