The Zany Preview: Boston College Eagles vs. UMass Minutemen

Nov 2, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Boston College Eagles running back Myles Willis (23) is pursued by Virginia Tech Hokies linebacker Tariq Edwards (24) in the third quarter at Alumni Stadium. The Eagles defeated the Hokies 34-27. Mandatory Credit: Ed Wolfstein-USA TODAY Sports

Now comes the opener against the UMass Minutemen 3:00pm Saturday at Gillette Stadium. The Minutemen, who claim that their nickname does not translate into other parts of their lives, drew first blood earlier this week when one of their supporters threw a UMass t-shirt on the Doug Flutie statue in front of Alumni Stadium.

Quite obviously, I am not so concerned about previewing the game (Editor Joe has already been doing a fine job in that respect). I personally think that unless the Boston College Eagles fall into a trap, this is going to be a clinic. But you need Soaring to Glory’s thoughts on tailgating, playlists, cheers and the general fan environment for each week.

STG’s UMass Tailgate Playlist

1. The Boys Are Back-Dropkick Murphys
2. Whiskey’s Gone-Zac Brown Band
3. Rollin and Tumblin-The Gaslight Anthem
4. Born Free-Kid Rock
5. Roses-Outkast
6. All the Small Things-Blink 182
7. Badlands-Bruce Springsteen
8. Fancy-Iggy Azalea Shake It Off-Taylor Swift
9. Still Fly-Big Tymers
10. Trippin’ on a Hole in a Paper Heart-Stone Temple Pilots

That was terrible. Send any suggestions for next week to soaringtogloryhq@gmail.com.

I was away in study abroad in London during the last football season and the word coming from Boston College was that the band was not up to par with their performances of recent years. After I came back from overseas, I went to the Boston College-VCU basketball game at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. While there I saw VCU’s band bring down the house with various formations, the conductor literally going out of his mind, and Boston College getting squashed. I had never been more excited by the performance of a band. The Boston College band was noticeably absent.

Is anyone else as nervous as me about the bussing from Alumni Stadium to go to UMass? Probably. But no one can be more nervous about anything Boston College than the student body is about the new edits to the Gold Pass system which are now controlled by an Iphone app (you are kind of out of luck without a smartphone). Heck, this could have the potential to fail as spectacularly as Apple Maps. A couple of my friends are already having issues with the app crashing. God, I am starting to hate all of this technology.

Anyways, should be a fun game to open the season and if Editor Joe lets me, you’ll see a hopefully better version of this column next week.