Boston, MA
Penn State’s James Franklin Says Bill O’Brien and Boston College Are a ‘Win-Win’
Twenty years ago, James Franklin and Bill O’Brien spent a season together on the Maryland football staff. This season they nearly coached against each other as Big Ten opponents. Instead, they’re college head coaches simultaneously for the first time, and the current Penn State head coach said he’s happy for the former.
In his first season as Boston College’s head coach, O’Brien is 2-1 with an early win over Florida State, a week in the AP Top 25 and a tight loss at No. 7 Missouri. Franklin, watching from afar, had some kind words for O’Brien.
“I’ve known Bill for a long time,” Franklin said. “I’ve known [Craig Fitzgerald], his strength coach, for a long time. We were all at the University of Maryland together. Me and Bill lived in the same neighborhood. His wife and my wife were good friends. … It’s been cool to watch it, and I’m happy for those guys and not surprised.”
O’Brien, who spent two seasons as Penn State’s head coach in 2012-13, nearly returned to Beaver Stadium on other sideline this season. He spent about a month last winter as the offensive coordinator for Ohio State and head coach Ryan Day. Then the Boston College head coaching job opened, and O’Brien called it a natural fit for him.
A native of Dorchester, Mass., O’Brien played at Brown and began his coaching career there before moving to Georgia Tech and Maryland. That’s where Franklin and O’Brien met. They served one year together on Ralph Friedgen’s staff in 2004; O’Brien coached running backs, and Franklin coached wide receivers. O’Brien bracketed his time at Penn State with two tours with the New England Patriots and seven seasons as head coach of the Houston Texans.
Franklin viewed the O’Brien-Boston College partnership as a “win-win” for both parties.
“Obviously I followed his career in the NFL, and now back obviously at BC,” Franklin said. “For a short period of time he was also in our conference at Ohio State and now back at BC. For a lot of those guys from that part of the country, BC is like a dream job. It’s interesting. I talked to a ton of guys. That BC job is a very desirable job. If you know Bill, his background, it makes a ton of sense. So when that hire happened, when that whole thing went down, I thought it was a win-win for both BC and Billy.”
Evidently, Franklin has watched a bit of Boston College, likely during the bye week when O’Brien’s team visited Missouri.
“He’s got a really mobile, dynamic quarterback [in Thomas Castellanos] that has done some nice things last year,” Franklin said. “When he got that piece of the puzzle, you can build from there. Billy has tremendous experience doing that. So it’s been cool to watch it, and happy for those guys and not surprised.”
Franklin’s comments echoed those of O’Brien six years ago at the NFL Scouting Combine.
Bill O’Brien: ‘All of us who were at #PennState in ‘12 and ‘13 are very proud of what’s going on at Penn State right now.’ pic.twitter.com/54Szh7a9XM
— Mark Wogenrich (@MarkWogenrich) February 28, 2018
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Penn State on SI is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on X (or Twitter) @MarkWogenrich.
Boston, MA
ICE blasts Boston: Feds say BPD refused 198 immigration detainer requests for ‘egregious crime’ in 2024, not 15
Federal authorities said the Boston Police Department refused to act on 198 immigration detainer requests last year, far exceeding the 15 reported by BPD’s commissioner, while blasting the city for jeopardizing “public safety and national security.”
BOSTON – South Street Diner is an institution in the city. They see Bostonians coming at all hours of the night. The line out the door comes for the breakfast, particularly the eggs. Only these days, a shortage in the country is making eggs harder to stomach for the only restaurant in the city licensed to serve 24 hours.
“Just about six weeks ago, middle of November, we started getting phone calls from US Foods,” said Solomon Sidell, owner of South Street Diner. “Our pricing has not changed at all. We have ingested the pricing to be able to make sure we can serve the customer at this time.”
Impact of bird flu
The price of an egg has doubled for Sidell and his team now that the shortage has impacted their supplier. Chickens became impacted by an avian flu. Roughly 40% of the country’s hens are raised in cage-free facilities, and 60% of the bird flu cases were found in such type farms. In addition to the price hike, Sidell also has to order two weeks ahead just to make sure they keep coming.
“We have about just under a pallet of eggs about 150 dozen left,” said Sidell. “We buy those Friday morning, Saturday morning, and then by Monday morning they are gone, so we have to start the process again.”
On a given weekend, they can go through 400 dozen eggs. Their busiest night of the year is New Year’s Eve through New Year’s Day.
“To have the highest prices for eggs for the year on your busiest day of the year is a punch in the gut,” said Sidell. “I would prefer not to raise pricing in inflation time.”
He expects the shortage to end in mid-February. Right now, they have no plans to adjust their pricing, but if the shortage continues past February, he says they will have to re-evaluate.
Boston, MA
Defending champions Hellen Obiri and Sisay Lemma are returning to run Boston Marathon – The Boston Globe
“Boston annually brings together the world’s best each April, and this Patriots Day is no different,” said Jack Fleming, CEO of the BAA. “Coming off an Olympic year, top contenders from around the world have turned their attention to Boston and hope to etch their name into Boston Marathon lore with a victory.”
The last woman to win three straight Boston Marathons was Fatuma Roba in 1997-99. Just three others — Bobbi Gibb (1966-68), Sara Mae Berman (1969-71), and Uta Pippig (1994-96) — have three-peated.
Among the threats to Obiri’s bid are Ethiopia’s Amane Beriso and Yalemzerf Yehualaw, whose personal bests top the women’s field, at 2:14:58 and 2:16:52, respectively.
Sharon Lokedi, who finished second last year, also will return, along with fellow Kenyans Edna Kiplagat (a two-time Boston winner), Irine Cheptai, Viola Chepngeno, and Mary Ngugi-Cooper.
The BAA said the women’s race will include the best-ever field of Americans, with 2018 champion Desiree Linden joined by Dakotah Popehn, Keira D’Amato, Emma Bates, Jessica McClain, Sara Hall, Sara Vaughn, and Lindsay Flanagan.
Ethiopia’s Sisay Lemma, who finished 41 seconds ahead of the second-place men’s finisher last year, will face a deep field trying to keep him from repeating.
It includes Kenya’s Evans Chebet, who finished third last year and has won Boston twice. John Korir and Albert Korir, also from Kenya, will be back as well, after finishing fourth and fifth, respectively, last year.
“I was very happy after winning the Boston Marathon last year, and in 2025 I know it will be an even bigger challenge to win again,” said Lemma. “I was unlucky, because of an injury, not to be able to participate at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, and I was not completely ready at the Valencia Marathon last December, but I will be 100 percent ready next April because the Boston Marathon is a special event.”
Among American men, Olympians Conner Mantz and Clayton Young, who finished eighth and ninth, respectively, in Paris last summer, will run Boston. So will CJ Albertson, who finished seventh last year and first among US men. Also in the Boston field will be four runners who finished in the top 10 at last year’s US Olympic trials: Zach Panning, Nathan Martin, Reed Fischer, and Colin Bennie.
Michael Silverman can be reached at michael.silverman@globe.com.
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