Transcript
Timothy Quealy: And this podcast is going to be about Boston College basketball. Yes, that's right. We're going to do a podcast on BC Hoops with the recent Luke Murray hire. Renewed optimism around the program. We're two lifelong fans who are who are excited to see some of the next steps. We think there's just a lot of you out there that might be excited as well. And Tim's going to talk a little bit now about the the why of this podcast and and a little bit more in terms of why we're doing it.
Tim Linehan: So like like most people who graduated, you've got to... a text thread with all your friends. And Tim and I have been on one for about 20 years now. And there's about 10 guys.
Tim Linehan: and really only me and Tim and our other great friend, Matt. Our college basketball guys and we have a college basketball side text And we were talking the other day and I asked Tim Quigley if there was a BC podcast out there.
Tim Linehan: I was looking for some... intel I wanted to hear how summer practices were going. I've seen some of the Instagrams, but I just wanted more content in the middle of the summer. because we're kind of college basketball junkies.
Tim Linehan: And Tim said, there really isn't one. And that kind of had us kind of start this conversation about maybe we should. do something about that. So here we are. We are College Hoops guys. We've been raised on college hoops.
Tim Linehan: We're a little bit of a dying breed. We know college basketball has its warts. We know that they're... There's a lot of things wrong with the sport between NIL and transfer and the recruiting and the money and expansion.
Tim Linehan: But. We love it. And we don't just love it in March. We love it. and Feast week. We grew up watching the Big East. We grew up watching in two different states but the same players, same teams, huge rivalries.
Tim Linehan: We're just really college basketball lifers. We're the kind of guys. which makes us sound like losers but Coming home from Faneuil Hall. uh you know we're
Timothy Quealy: No, we we're losers. It's okay to say.
Tim Linehan: Yeah, throwing on Nick Nolte's monologue on blue chips after night out. So we're just really college basketball diehards, and we care. And we probably care too much.
Tim Linehan: And we... Love BC Hoops and it's kind of gone awry as we know. We had a great tradition. That we've done for many years where the NCAA tournament Saturday We meet up about... 10 plus BC guys meet up in New York City.
Tim Linehan: And we used to go to this bar called the Blue Haven. and probably around 2015 or so Tim and I were
Timothy Quealy: 2007. 2007.
Tim Linehan: Was it 15? 17. Uh, we're there and we're a little depressed we're watching northwestern celebrate. Northwestern was the laughingstock of college basketball.
Tim Linehan: and we were yearning to be Northwestern. because of how BC basketball has taken its turn for the worse. And we have a new sense of optimism with Luke Murray.
Tim Linehan: College basketball has brought us a lot of joy. It brings our family's joy. It breaks up the winter. It breaks up the week. Uh, you know. We're the kind of guys that are watching. Butler Creighton on FS2 on Wednesday night.
Tim Linehan: and rooting for your home school rooting for your alma mater it's different than rooting for pro teams And we just kind of felt that the time was now to... dive in
Timothy Quealy: Yeah, and it's it's funny that Northwestern 2017, they had never been. Never, ever been to the tournament. you know and we're sitting there like oh my god i wish i wish we were northwestern they finally made it And and and we're sitting there like. I wish BC was that team.
Timothy Quealy: and What's interesting is. you know, thinking a little bit about our backgrounds and kind of our. previous fandom with bc you know I grew up, my my my dad went to BC and I'm just a BC family. So I really was. in many ways sort of indoctrinated with with bc basketball when i was a young younger kid And.
Timothy Quealy: Going back to 1993. You think about 1993, I was nine years old, and I'm sitting there watching a BC basketball team make the Elite Eight, and that seems... almost impossible at this point. That seems like it couldn't even happen. But it was it was a fantastic team, and I fell in love with basketball watching that team. Howard Isley and Billy Curley and Malcolm Huckabee and Gerard Abram, these four seniors that
Timothy Quealy: played out of their minds, beat North Carolina and Rasheed Wallace and Jerry Stackhouse and made the Elite Eight, almost made the Final Four, beat Bobby Knight in Indiana on the way there.
Tim Linehan: Cover Sports Illustrated, right?
Timothy Quealy: Amen. Yeah, cover of Sports Illustrated.
Tim Linehan: Imagine that now.
Timothy Quealy: and You can't you just can't and I was a you know, nine years old, 10 year old kid. And it was just so cool because that's how I watched. a tough team that's how i watched the team play together that's how i watched that's how i learned about basketball And I would go to Connie Forum. I'd go with my dad. Again, seems foreign now.
Timothy Quealy: It would be completely sold out. you know people forget you don't really forget because the Celtics and Boston is a, is a basketball town. Boston loves basketball. And if you put a winning product on the floor,
Timothy Quealy: Students and local fans will go. And, you know, those 90s teams with Jim O 'Brien, they were good teams. They were so they were the teams that, Tim, that you and I would love, you know. they They played together. They played smart. They maybe didn't have the most talent, comparatively speaking, but they were routinely.
Timothy Quealy: making the tournament. they They gave you something to watch. on those Tuesday nights in February that you mentioned where. you know, hey, it's fun to watch Creighton versus Butler, but I'd love to watch it. BC. you know I'd love to watch a BC product on a Tuesday night that that keeps me focused and keeps me engaged. And those teams under Jim O 'Brien in the 90s did that.
Timothy Quealy: And for me, that's how I fell in love with basketball, watching those 1990s. You know, they sold out TD Garden, BC, UMass. Sold that out. John Calipari versus... Jim O 'Brien. I mean, it was like It was an event
Tim Linehan: is that Is that Marcus Camby?
Timothy Quealy: You know, i don't I believe it was Gamby for one year, 100%. Now, interestingly enough, BC is playing UMass in the Garden this year. as part of a doubleheader with UConn and Michigan.
Timothy Quealy: So we'll have to see how that goes. But just to put that in perspective, they sold out TD Garden and. As a young kid, I was So pumped to go to a BC basketball game. So pumped to to to share that with my father and with with my friends, too. I know that you also you know have a basketball background. If you want to touch a little bit on that in terms of.
Timothy Quealy: where you come from with loving the game and growing up around it.
Tim Linehan: Yeah, so our our college basketball stories are the same, just I'm doing it from New York. So my dad went to St. John's. grew up with season tickets. going to Madison Square Garden, going to Alumni Hall, which is now Carneseca.
Tim Linehan: Those are some of the best memories. Big East tournament Thursday. You know, my dad.
Timothy Quealy: I mean nothing. in the Big East tournament. Come on.
Tim Linehan: Yep. my dad lets me take off from school we go to two games in the morning go out for a steak dinner go to two games at night eating thin crust dominoes at MSG for people who remember that back in the 90s.
Tim Linehan: It's just a family affair. My parents... They've told me that it was great for their marriage. They would have a Tuesday night and they'd be driving into Queens and go out to dinner and go to a game.
Tim Linehan: And it strengthened their marriage. And that my mom's a diehard. She's an all -time fan. Never quits on on St. John's. We've come up with this golden rule of eight with eight, right? If you're down eight, you got eight minutes to go. You're still alive. and now my son who's seven years old knows eight with eight when we're watching a game So it's just a...
Tim Linehan: you know we we're indoctrinated in it and and it's intoxicating when it's going well right we talked about you know i'm watching from saint john's point of view you're watching from bc but we're seeing
Timothy Quealy: happen
Tim Linehan: you know Iverson we're seeing Ray Allen we're seeing Kerry Kittles uh and that was
Timothy Quealy: All those guys came through. county forum you know i saw all those guys alonzo morning
Tim Linehan: Yeah.
Timothy Quealy: Lawrence Moten, Rip Hamilton. like All those guys came through Connie Forum and BC battled with every one of them and would routinely beat them. And. To your point, it's the ritual of it, too, the the the family time around it, the the emotions, the silliness of caring so much that you're you're a 10 -year -old kid crying when they lose and ecstatic when they win. and you know that's why we that's That's still why I love basketball at 42 years old.
Tim Linehan: Yeah, I mean you have your Like this past year, you know, we're... The schedule, the winter schedule was based around when the team's games were, when was St. John's playing. Everybody's filling out our bracket. All that stuff is, it's just.
Tim Linehan: it's become such a great thing and in my household but it's not bc and my kids couldn't name a bc player in the last 15 years which i'm ashamed to say but it's it's true
Tim Linehan: So it's just.
Timothy Quealy: Thank you.
Tim Linehan: Yeah, it's
Timothy Quealy: Let's go. This is for us. We think about college, you know, cause you have St. John's now, which you've, you've leaned into and they've been incredible with Patino and I'm jealous that you have that. I actually.
Timothy Quealy: text you all the time about St. John's because I catch myself watching those games. You know, I'm desperate for BC to be good, but it's tough when you throw them on and they lose to Dartmouth. You know, it's just, you can't, you can't totally buy in.
Tim Linehan: Yeah.
Timothy Quealy: So I, you know, I don't blame you. I think there are a lot of. people like you fans like you that you know when we were in college right you can touch on that together a bit here we touch on the 90s and growing up but in college 2002 to 2006 some of the best years of bc basketball too you know so i grew up around it you you obviously were coming from out of state but watching craig smith and jared dudley and sean williams and tyrese rice and just
Timothy Quealy: do wonderful in the big East as they exited out of the big East. And then first year in the ACC, they went 28 and eight overall went to the sweet 16. You know, what was it like that? What was that like for you? You came to BC as a St. John's fan, but then all of a sudden.
Timothy Quealy: You got it. a tournament caliber team and a sold out Connie forum for beat for BC.
Tim Linehan: Yeah, I mean, I think about... When I'm in the college application process, I'm like, oh, I want to go do it. school that has a great sports program. And, you know. species on that list. And I'm you know this diehard St. John's fan coming off the...
Tim Linehan: our test years. going to the Elite Eight, losing to your boy Jim O 'Brien and Scooney Penn. you know probably the last time i cried watching a sporting event
Timothy Quealy: transfer to Ohio State, right?
Tim Linehan: Yeah, they came together. Right. i' i'm
Timothy Quealy: They did.
Tim Linehan: Pretty much cried and in 1999, 2000 there. it Probably wouldn't cry again. Maybe. bc nova sweet 16 almost shed a tear probably uh came pretty close but then i have to now Obviously, I'm going to adopt BC. I'm a freshman.
Tim Linehan: And I remember sitting with you and your dad watching Marcus Hatton play Troy Bell at Conte our freshman year. And I remember I was openly rooting for St. John's still. at that point in time and it's like uh you know you just love college hoops now it's my alma mater and then now now i'm here and i'm at bc and they're a super likable team you got yuka agba you got ryan sydney and they don't make the tournament. Remember that?
Timothy Quealy: Yeah, our freshman year. I think they were the The last team out. troy It was actually Troy Bell's senior year. And real ones, no, like Troy Bell. Senior year at BC was...
Timothy Quealy: ridiculous like if you look his numbers up he was like 27 a night in the big east They probably honestly. we're right on the cusp of of the you could It could go either way if you remember.
Timothy Quealy: They lost to UConn by about 40 points on senior day.
Tim Linehan: Oh yeah.
Timothy Quealy: We went to it last game of the regular season, and that really cost them. They wound up not making the tournament our freshman year. sophomore year. That's the year they they went to made the tournament out of nowhere and played Georgia Tech.
Timothy Quealy: I want to say right to the wire in the second round of the tournament.
Tim Linehan: Yeah, they beat Andrew Bogut in Utah in the first round. And then.
Timothy Quealy: Right.
Tim Linehan: Damn near beat Georgia Tech, who winds up being the national runner -up to UConn. That was a loaded Georgia Tech team.
Timothy Quealy: Right.
Tim Linehan: Jarrett Jack.
Timothy Quealy: Good point. Yeah, that Georgia Tech team. like you said, went to the championship. Unbelievable.
Tim Linehan: Yeah.
Timothy Quealy: then junior year When we're at BC, again, talk about falling in love with basketball. They start 20 -0. I mean, it was just, it was it was awesome. 20 and 0. they were They were winning games in all different types of ways. I think they climbed the rankings up into the top five. And again, I think...
Timothy Quealy: You just hear those things and you're like, how is that possible? bc basketball in the top five you know bc basketball a national story but they were they have
Tim Linehan: I think there's a... There's a game in there I remember. We're home for winter break, so I'm in New York, and I want to say they're playing Kent State. And like Craig Smith hits a... pseudo buzzer beater.
Timothy Quealy: Love it.
Tim Linehan: I think you're there with your dad.
Timothy Quealy: It was. Yeah.
Tim Linehan: uh and at the time that probably made them like 11 and 0 or something so it wasn't as you know but without that 20 no doesn't happen i remember hitting refresh on like an old internet server on my house trying to
Timothy Quealy: It was great.
Tim Linehan: trying to see if things were going on like i can't even fathom you know It's just a different a different world with BC Hoops. and we're hoping that the tides are going to turn there. That junior year.
Timothy Quealy: Yes.
Tim Linehan: The Syracuse game, you were abroad, right?
Timothy Quealy: I was in Ireland following it at an internet cafe. They used to be those things, you know, and I would be, I was tracking the game. It was a top 10 matchup. Beat Syracuse. storm the floor.
Timothy Quealy: you know.
Tim Linehan: Yeah, they caught some flack for storming the floor because I think we were ranked higher than them, but it didn't matter. It was just a moment of... proven themselves. It was the front page of the globe. It was a huge deal.
Tim Linehan: just an awesome team and we talk about We're going to talk about throughout the show. like teams we loved and why we love them and like Those guys just had grit. They had toughness.
Tim Linehan: They knew their role. They cared right we're gonna talk about a lot like caring and and for lack of a better word, giving a shit, right? And like that team. was all in. And they just.
Tim Linehan: busted it and one of my favorite things that seems to go by the wayside was the rotations. I can picture sitting with you and your dad. and some other our our buddies and like we knew at the under you know.
Tim Linehan: 12 timeout jermaine was coming in right it was like people had roles
Timothy Quealy: skin your oils. awesome with that.
Tim Linehan: you you You came in here, you came in there, and maybe it was too regimented, but... I watch some teams now and... a lot of these BC teams the last few years. it's a different lineup at each minute and you don't know what's happening whose roles is what and I just remember Skinner.
Tim Linehan: locking that in and it was predictable and they were predictable. and It didn't matter. They were still so good.
Timothy Quealy: And then again. type flex that's the name of the pod for a reason right i mean they had such a system and a style And to to continue with the glory days, just for one more moment, when we were seniors, you know, they made it to Sweet 16 just to...
Timothy Quealy: killer loss on a goaltend. They were that close to the Elite Eight. to face Noah and who else was on that Florida team. they would have
Tim Linehan: Yeah, it's it's Florida's first run.
Timothy Quealy: Yeah, it was Florida's run. It would have been an awesome matchup. They they lost it in the last second goaltending against Villanova. We're sitting there in the mods, senior year, like, oof, that one hurt. but Hey, we.
Timothy Quealy: We got to be honest that. although we're kind of reliving these the past and sadly the past really is all you can talk about when it comes to BC basketball. It's kind of the remember when.
Timothy Quealy: you know and
Tim Linehan: Yeah, well, remember when we talked about like Duke comes to town. Kids are camping out, like making a pseudo Krzyzewskiville.
Timothy Quealy: We know. Yep.
Tim Linehan: I didn't even get a ticket to the game. And I remember like, you know, we were kind of the diehards and then now all the. Posers, no offense everybody, came out for ACC. I think you got in because your dad.
Tim Linehan: but like it was and it was great right every whatever everybody got involved and it was this hot hot Huge deal. They lose the game. I remember Marshall getting in JJ Redick's face, right? But it was awesome. The atmosphere was awesome.
Tim Linehan: the acc tournament championship was amazing i remember lou hennett played incredible that game Didn't quite get over the hump in that one either. But we're talking about playing Duke nose -to -nose in the ACC tournament championship, right? this is like a foreign language.
Timothy Quealy: and And BC games are an event. They really were. The campus was rallying around it, to your point, camping out to go to Duke games, and it was it was awesome.
Tim Linehan: And they're running the flex.
Timothy Quealy: We look
Tim Linehan: they're they're They're bowling the ball from elbow to elbow. waiting running one of the slowest offenses in the country and then still doing it well.
Timothy Quealy: But like you said, everything we love. guys that carved out roles, toughness, smart IQ, just teams you could be proud of and then you could watch and you could appreciate. and We just haven't had enough of that. I mean, there's been like None of that, almost.
Timothy Quealy: for 17 years, like the last tournament. 2009 It's the last NCAA tournament. and And quite frankly, They haven't been close. I mean... you know So it's 17 years, and I don't even think you know there's been a... maybe two NITs in there. But in terms of even being a real bubble team, we haven't even had that.
Tim Linehan: There was it was that one year we were excited at the beginning.
Timothy Quealy: I just...
Tim Linehan: It was Bowman and...
Timothy Quealy: Robinson.
Tim Linehan: Do it. Kind of Robinson, right?
Timothy Quealy: If you do... The beat number one.
Tim Linehan: And that was like the closest to a tease, right, in that in that phase.
Timothy Quealy: It's been a couple moments. They beat Duke, like you said there, with that Robinson -Bowman team. They beat UVA. or Early Earl Grant years, it was a top 10 win over Tony Bennett, UVA team. and A couple ACC tournament. moments where they may you know won a couple games but it has been few and far between for the previous 10 minutes when we're just riffing about how much fun they used to be.
Tim Linehan: Yeah, our our four years, they went 96 and 35. They won at a 733 percentage.
Timothy Quealy: Unbelievable. It felt like it too. and uh
Tim Linehan: we We glossed over the junior year loss to Bruce Pearl. So two second round losses and then the Sweet 16 loss. but just insane right like and and honestly the nova loss they should have won that one too right so there's always coulda shouldas but that's what we're looking for we want we want to have those conversations we want to have that pain that heartache We want to care again like we did then.
Timothy Quealy: Yeah. And it's I think it's been a series of missteps. You know, I'm not here to. relitigate the past and dump on all the previous coaches. you know I think they've they've they've made some hires that haven't worked out. institutionally I think it's pretty clear they have not committed. to basketball.
Timothy Quealy: And it's just now. it It's 17 years, 17 years of losing and it's 17 years of. you know a generation of fans that have never seen them be good you know and it's sort of like what they used to be good. They, this place used to be loud and a sellout. This used to be a nationally televised game against UMass. Like those things, they're all relics from the past. and Really?
Timothy Quealy: That's wood. has us kind of you know has us so excited about Luke Murray. in terms of that higher, in terms of... i can just speak personally and i'll let you jump in here too is like as a basketball fan you know love him or i hate him you got to respect the way UConn plays Yukon.
Timothy Quealy: to me, is is a little bit like Villanova was a few years back under Jay Wright. like They're the gold standard right now. they They are a system. They are a team. They get the most out of every player on that basketball team. Talk about roles. Talk about a beautiful motion offense with tons of passing and sharing it. and you know hurley is is hurley right but they are hard not to appreciate and we'd sit there I'd sit there and watch UConn games and text you and be like, man, this UConn offense is is just awesome to watch.
Timothy Quealy: And of course. you know I'm not saying that Hurley... isn't hugely responsible but of course the architect behind those good Yukon offenses is is Luke Murray.
Tim Linehan: Yeah, we've we've known it. Like... We've seen it and we've known it. a couple of times through the years, right? Like you can go back to the Villanova teams that I loved while I was kind of cheating on Boston College during those.
Tim Linehan: uh Strong going over the years with Ryan Arch. You just knew what you were watching, right? Then we loved Virginia in 2019. That was our first nice Final Four future bet, remember, that we actually hit.
Tim Linehan: Uh, thanks to that crazy we were at blue haven and watched them Come back and beat.
Timothy Quealy: We hit it.
Tim Linehan: Do you remember who?
Timothy Quealy: They beat Purdue.
Tim Linehan: Purdue, right? and And I got them there. like The eye test, like we've watched enough basketball, you can see when the pieces fit. when the coaching's there, when the system's there, when the scheme's there. So I have a very...
Tim Linehan: hate -hate slash love relationship with UConn as a St. John's fan, as a BC fan. but Those those last couple of years you knew what you were getting They played incredibly hard.
Tim Linehan: Their defense was there. The offense system was beautiful. It's not. You know, everybody touches the ball. It's all this misdirection, right? multiple plays in the set.
Tim Linehan: And everyone kept buzzing on Luke Murray, right? We kept hearing Luke Murray. They keep showing Bill Murray on the sidelines. And it was kind of a pipe. pipe dream i thought because based on the early names we saw in the process the hiring we're not hiring but no the attempted hiring we weren't feeling great about it, right? And then all of a sudden there was a little bit of buzz that this might happen.
Tim Linehan: And now we're here.
Timothy Quealy: Thank you. the name from the get -go, I was like, boy. That would be awesome. i texted him himm like i he's my number one i I doubt he, you know, cause Luke Murray. the thing and i think has us very excited about the hire is that Luke Maury has been pretty picky about...
Timothy Quealy: Jaws. And he's been named. for a number of opportunities. and it felt very clear to me that Luke Murray was not going to take a job where back to that word, institutional support. Right back to that phrase there.
Timothy Quealy: it hasn't It hasn't existed at BC. for basketball. I mean, just just laying it out plainly, it has not. I don't think Luke Murray takes... the BC job without some assurances that. We're going to try to get good at basketball again. We we have a history where we have.
Timothy Quealy: and Let's commit to it. you know i don't know if do the Same way.
Tim Linehan: Well, I think I think there's a Hurley quote out there and I think that's what we got really excited about is Hurley basically said Luke wasn't gonna go unless they
Timothy Quealy: with
Tim Linehan: committed and He went. because allegedly they committed. so That's another reason to be excited for all the BC basketball fans that are out there. and We know this seems crazy, right? To be starting a podcast for... a basketball team that hasn't made the tournament in 17 years.
Tim Linehan: but we're We're trying to, when we got hope, right?
Timothy Quealy: We have hope.
Tim Linehan: We got hope. Hope's a dangerous thing as Morgan Freeman told us, right? Can drive a man insane. but uh we gotta have hope we've had too many texts the last 12 august where we were just saying get us to thanksgiving And then they'd lose to...
Tim Linehan: I don't know, name name one of those horrible losses in in November. and And then it was done.
Timothy Quealy: Absolutely. at Hartford, Dartmouth, the list goes on and on and on.
Tim Linehan: Yeah.
Timothy Quealy: But. you know, and I did. Always want to try to get into them every single year. I love BC and I love basketball and they just you just couldn't You know, you'd sit there it's it's tough to watch a team that's 11 and 21. Hey, again, no fault of the coaches, no fault of the kids. I think just institutionally, the support wasn't there. The ACC is is a wagon. Yeah. just didn't stay up with the times. They just really didn't.
Timothy Quealy: And what's crazy is. You know, you think about the profile of BC and and this Luke Murray touched on this in his press conference and I loved it. you know he didn't say they're they're a sleeping giant he didn't say it arrogantly but he said it in a way that like hey like there is history here and there is a profile at bc to be to be a good program. You're in a a great city that loves basketball.
Timothy Quealy: You're in a great conference. You've won in the past. You are in the Northeast, which, you know, football. Maybe not in terms of a hotbed for recruiting, but basketball? Absolutely. Absolutely is. There are tons of prep schools right around the corner from BC. all throughout New England that Murray has good relationships with from UConn.
Timothy Quealy: People will go to BC basketball games if they're good. you know so i hesitate to say sleeping giant but i think there's a real opportunity for BC basketball. to get back to being an NCAA battle. caliber team under Murray that that.
Timothy Quealy: That's my hope.
Tim Linehan: That's it right. be Be in the conversation. you know for A lot of people out there. including myself. hating on the expansion but from a bc point of view hey there's a few more bids that may be a bc bubble team has a little bit of a...
Tim Linehan: a chance to be in the conversation. i was just at we had our 20 -year reunion right and i was touring the new facility the hogue And it felt like. you know. a changing of the guard like it felt like we were actually putting our money where our mouth is here and and it instead of just seeing an interview with luke murray saying they're behind it like now i'm walking through and seeing all these analytics and all this state of the art equipment.
Tim Linehan: it's like okay this is this is really happening here so Now we just got to roll it out. and and You know, I'm not saying they're going to go, you know, 25 and five this year. Right. But like.
Tim Linehan: there's There's a reason for hope. And if Murray can tap into that UConn. common denominator, right? like have a little bit of an edge, care, share the ball.
Tim Linehan: Make sure the pieces is fit. have that grit, have that toughness, right? and and then you don't know. no I mean, the ACC has been... i was sharing with you some of those duke numbers right it's duke and then everybody else so Is it so crazy to say BC can sneak into the top?
Tim Linehan: seven or eight who knows this year right but like that's the goal right
Timothy Quealy: and i just think Murray's got. He sort of has that it. you know again he's got to prove it we know that but there's some swagger there you know i think there's some confidence there and some swagger there and some instant credibility Like the hire was universally praised, you know, and BC oftentimes is a punchline these days, basketball, especially.
Timothy Quealy: that that hire was like wow like that that's a big boy hire like they you know that it seems like they're going to commit. to hoops you know i just don't i look around the landscape and i say to myself providence is doing well Gonzaga is doing well.
Timothy Quealy: Villanova is doing well. creighton's doing well marquette's doing well i mean think about all all those are for the most part small Catholic. private institutions like there's no reason that bc with their facilities with their alumni base Can't.
Timothy Quealy: Can't be good in basketball. And I do think. This could be the start of it. and At least that's what I'm telling myself and that's what I'm hoping for.
Tim Linehan: totally and the new environment hate it or love it it can happen quicker than it could ever in the years past right you don't need three years of development and all that It can happen in a year or two. You got to have you know spend your money on the right guys and then have the right system.
Tim Linehan: and then We're all hoping for the best, obviously.
Timothy Quealy: Yeah, speaking of that, you know, we've we've touched on a lot of things in this first episode. We've talked a little bit about our love for the for the game. We've talked about our backgrounds in terms of what brought us to basketball, reliving some of those BC glory years that, hey, listen, so many haven't seen and we want other people to see.
Timothy Quealy: Right. It's been 17 years of pain in a lot of ways. Maybe it's time to turn that. We want to. speaking of roster and speaking of Murray and all that, you know, You want to give the listeners a little bit of a glimpse into what we hope to do throughout the season and what some coming episodes might look like?
Tim Linehan: yeah so you know the hope is that you're going to tune in because We're going to be your cheat sheet. Uh, We know that a 30 plus college basketball season. 30 plus games in the college basketball season you know everybody's not tuning into particularly for BC, right?
Tim Linehan: But we're hoping there's this new investment in the program. And we're going to be watching every game. And it's you know it's hard to watch every game. but you know, it's not that hard to throw on a podcast on the way to work and and hear about the last couple of games. So I think. you know we want you popping in here find out you know what players are flashing What's the rotation look like? Does the offense look as good? know Anything that we think deserves to be talked about, we're going to talk about it.
Tim Linehan: It's not going to be an every game basis, but every couple of games, a couple of times a month. For our next episode, we're going to... Do a deep dive on Luke. and and the new roster.
Tim Linehan: There's a lot of new faces. We're going to look at you Murray's past and and his numbers and the offense. uh and then also all the new faces that have come from around the world around the country around all different levels And then another episode probably looking at the schedule. and going through the ACC and the national landscape.
Tim Linehan: uh but then just taking you through the season like taking taking you guys along the ride We're very excited. haven't probably been this excited since that.
Tim Linehan: bowman robinson season i want to say where there was like true belief or at least a tease of belief And that's a long time ago now.
Timothy Quealy: Listen, we we grew up. when BC basketball mattered. And, uh... We lost it. right But we we never stopped loving college basketball. And I think ultimately what we're hoping is that Luke Murray can give us a reason to care about BC like that again.
Timothy Quealy: That's really what we want.
Tim Linehan: Yeah, we want we want that. All that family stuff that we talked about, like now we have kids, right? we We want to be doing that with them. We want them to be. tuning in. you know the day that my son can advance bc my son and daughter can advance bc on there bracket would be a a day that makes us all pretty happy.
Timothy Quealy: I bought season tickets first time in... 10 years probably. That's all I've got. Seems like it was with my dad. We're gonna go. you know And I think just that ritual and that that that tradition of going back and grabbing a bite to eat at the Stockyard right near BC and going to the game, like I'm excited about it. I really am.
Timothy Quealy: So we hope that. There's some listeners that this resonates with. We hope that there are some folks out there that have that same optimism and hope and and you know kind of interest again. let's Let's see if they got our attention again wow with BC basketball.
Timothy Quealy: And if you have that. Hey, give us a listen. Like Tim said, next next episode. We'll do a deep dive on the roster. He really did some work in the portal. i'm pretty excited about it so i want to do some we'll do some numbers on that look at possible rotations and lineups and you brought up some awesome stuff to me just on Murray's numbers at UConn.
Timothy Quealy: I don't know if you want to briefly touch on that before we go, but they're pretty impressive as offensive.
Tim Linehan: Well...
Timothy Quealy: See?
Tim Linehan: It's just like, you know, every every time BC is mentioned traditionally on... Twitter or wherever. It's a punchline, right? It's it's the Clifford postgame press conference. It's the...
Timothy Quealy: god
Tim Linehan: winless right and now all of a sudden it's hey they actually did pretty good work in the portal hey they hired the hottest name So there's there's this positivity around it and we're going to hopefully.
Tim Linehan: uh you know be there along the way with you guys. and And just... Hot dog. Fun winter, hopefully, right?
Timothy Quealy: Just... honestly get ready to get hurt again if if we even if we can get hurt would'd be we'd be pumped we just wanna
Tim Linehan: I mean, that's that's what we want. I want to be so mad that they lost in this. I don't even know the full NCAA tournament lineup yet. So mad they lost on a Tuesday game.
Tim Linehan: uh in the first four or whatever they call it now the first 12 or something along those lines Wouldn't that be great?
Timothy Quealy: It would be great. I totally agree. So we hope you enjoyed listening to us. We're new to it. We're excited about it. Like we said, we're going to try to pump out maybe two a month during the season. But in the coming days ahead of the season, we'll do a preview. We'll look at the rotation. We'll dive into the Murray numbers. and Give us a listen.
