With Pitt's foray into the ACC, we figured it was time we go to know some of our ACC brethren. So each day for ... well, as long as we have them, we'll be posting Q&As with other SB Nation ACC blogs. The bad news? I'm lazy/tired/too busy (pick one) to get too creative here, so all ten questions were the same for every blog. The good news? That's still better than nothing.
Up today are our good friends over at BC Interruption - SB Nation's Boston College blog. Check them out. Answering questions for us is Brian Favat.
1. First, give us a little background on your blog. How/why did you get started? How long have you been at it?
I started the blog in 2007 with my roommate from college. Since we didn't see eye to eye on a lot of Boston College sports topics, we wanted a forum to debate topics concerning Eagles football and basketball. While we were at school, we batted around the idea of getting on BC's local access TV station and hosting a Pardon The Interruption-type BC sports debate show. Since that never worked out, we "borrowed" the PTI format and threw it on a blog. BC Interruption later moved to SB Nation in 2009 and has certainly outgrown its PTI-style roots with writers covering football, basketball, hockey, baseball and other Olympic sports. But if you were ever curious about our odd name, there you go.
2. So tell us a little about our ACC brethren. Besides maybe your own, of course, whose fans are the most hospitable? Who do Pitt fans need to avoid like the plague?
Clemson is the ACC's most hospitable fan base. I'd put trips to Death Valley up against any other road trip in the conference. They are more than happy to tailgate with you and share a beer before the game, but it's all business when the whistle blows. Tigers fans are also some of the more knowledgeable fans in the conference.This may prove to be a popular answer on Cardiac Hill, but I'd avoid Virginia Tech fans. There's a lot of "personalities" in this lot and there's lots of them.
3. Again, leaving your school out, best road trip? And the place you wouldn't go even if given free airfare, lodging, and tickets?
Jumped the gun a bit here. Clemson is the best road trip in the conference. That part of South Carolina is beautiful. Rent a lake house and stay the weekend. Maryland is the worst trip in the conference. Byrd Stadium is a hole and the football program enjoys shoddy support from the fan base anyway. Luckily, we won't have to worry about this for much longer.
4. After dealing with John Marinatto in the Big East, we're pretty sure John Swofford's a genius, ninja, or both. Can you confirm/deny?
On a scale of genius to ninja, Swofford definitely skews ninja. I think that a lot of the ACC's most recent moves were a bit reactionary in nature and not the product of a whole lot of foresight (genius). That said, the commissioner has more than positioned the ACC for stability and growth in the future by poaching Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Louisville and Notre Dame (halvsies) from the Big East.
5. Okay, with that out of the way, what did fans of your school think about the additions of Pitt, Syracuse, and Louisville? It's okay - rip into us ... you won't hurt our feelings (much).
So glad you asked. Here are our thoughts here, here and here.Hazing the new kids aside, BC fans are generally excited to have a division rival in Syracuse, which as you know was part of the original ACC expansion plan. Feelings are mixed about the addition of Pitt. We have some history from the Big East days but won't see each other much being on opposite sides of the conference.Notre Dame is whatever. We're more than familiar with the deal the Irish received from our time in the Big East. Same deal, different conference. If regular meetings between BC-Notre Dame and Pitt-Notre Dame don't happen more often than a once in three years clip, those two programs are most adversely affected by the arrangement as it relates to football.
6. For Pitt fans, Tony Dorsett is absolutely untouchable. Who's the athletic icon from your school (any sport) that we should never, ever make fun of?
Has to be Flutie, right? I mean hard to make fun of a guy who won a Heisman Trophy and topped Miami. Win, win.
7. Not counting football and basketball, tell us a little more about a non/small-revenue program at your school that excels.
Men's and women's ice hockey are the big ones. The men's hockey program has been on an unprecedented run of success under Coach Jerry York, winning three of the last six National Championships (and 4 in 13 years) as well as playing for a title in 2006 and 2007. Women's hockey has been close to bringing home a title, but the sport is dominated by the western powers. All 13 of the National Championships handed out to date have been won by either Minnesota, Wisconsin or Minnesota-Duluth. In fact, Minnesota just finished an undefeated, untied 41-0-0 season which in hockey is straight up filthy.It's not an NCAA-sanctioned sport, but the school's sailing program is regularly among the best in the nation -- having won six National Championships in women's and co-ed sailing over the past few seasons.Boston College also fields strong men's and women's soccer programs, field hockey and women's lacrosse. The ACC is uber-competitive in all of these sports.
8. While ACC fans (we're told, anyway) like to dress up to the occasion for games, Pitt fans are mostly the opposite. Even our most buttoned up fans are typically rocking a jersey (including the occasional Steelers jersey) or t-shirt with jeans/shorts for nice weather games. That goes for our ladies, too, by the way. Will that cut it for a game in your neck of the woods or do we need to try harder if we don't want to get mocked endlessly?
Really? Haven't run into this too much around the conference to be honest and I've gone to road football games in Syracuse, College Park, Blacksburg, Chapel Hill, Raleigh and Clemson. Also being in a pro town, we get our fair share of Patriots, Red Sox or Atlanta Falcons (Matt Ryan tho) gear at games which is a bit of a pet peeve of mine. If you are going to a college football game, support a college team. If you're coming to Chestnut Hill, wear Panthers gear. Not Steelers gear or even worse, Penguins gear.
9. If we're in town, what do we need to eat and where do we eat it? Oh yeah, and give us a local attraction/touristy thing, if you can.
Eagles' Deli in Cleveland Circle is regularly featured on Food Network (including Man vs. Food) for their rather large burgers. Home of the Challenge Burger, the new bar for most challenging burger is the Eagle's Challenge - 5 pounds of burger, 20 pieces of bacon, 20 pieces of american cheese, 5 pounds of fries, 1 deli pickle (important!) and a fountain soda. That'll run you $59.99.Anna's Taqueria on Beacon Street is known for quality Mexican food. A bit further off campus, no trip to Boston is complete without a jaunt through Faneuil Hall / Quincy Market with plenty of options for local fare. Try to New England clam chowder in a bread bowl.http://www.faneuilhallmarketplace.com/
10. Pitt is known for its medical facilities and research - give us something non-sports related that's important about your school?
Being a Catholic school, obviously the church is important to the school. Boston College is the only Jesuit Catholic school playing I-A football and one of 28 Jesuit universities in the country, along with Georgetown and Marquette, among others. Academically, while not a research-heavy school, the school has strong programs in business, education and nursing. The undergrad business school was just ranked top 6 nationally and both the education and nursing schools rank in the top 25.
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