February 2, 2019
Conte Forum (Capacity: 8,606)
Chestnut Hill, MA
Boston College Eagles vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Final Score: 73 – 79
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A few months after seeing the football team, I made a return to Boston College for a visit to their indoor arena. Chestnut Hill is the location for the school and this suburban village in Eastern Massachusetts sits right between the cities of Boston and Newton. The upclass area is mostly associated with Boston College, a private Jesuit school of 14,000 students. BC is a highly-rated school that comes with a beautiful campus. Built in 1988, Conte Forum is Boston College’s home arena and it hosts both basketball and hockey, the latter being the more successful of the two. I came to see the basketball program, who in 2005 left the Big East to join the ACC as part of the unnatural fit to grow that conference in large markets outside the Mid-Atlantic. Since then, it’s been mostly pedestrian seasons as the school’s last appearance in the NCAA Tournament came in 2009. They’ve been to the Big Dance 18 total times with the Elite Eight being the furthest advancement (three times). Conte Forum is an adequate home, one that has a nice display of character, but less than desirable seating in spots.
Prestige Ranking: 3 out of 5
Location
Depending on your mode of transportation, it’s about 25-45 minutes to reach most of Boston’s attractions and if you have the spare time to explore, I would certainly try to do so. For this game, time was limited. Thankfully, I toured most of this striking campus during football season, getting the chance to see a distinctive gothic design, one of the first schools done in that fashion. Our walking tour consisted of beautiful Gasson Hall and Bapst Library. Both are in middle campus, uphill and relatively close to the arena. Outside of BC, you can drive in either direction on Beacon Street to find some dining or drinking establishments.
Location Ranking: 6.5 out of 10
Accessibility / Parking
Basketball parking is nearby on campus at the Commonwealth Ave Garage or in an adjacent surface lot. Getting here isn’t terrible as the Mass Pike (I-90) and I-95 are somewhat close. However, you’ll spend at least 10 minutes on local streets that always find a way to confound with some sort of funky turn or three-way intersection. Despite police directing, getting out of the garage was a giant pain as it took a very frustrating 30 minutes to exit and leave campus. Another mode of transportation is Boston’s subway (The T), as there is a street-level station on a section of the Green Line that is a 5-minute walk to the arena. One issue is that this is the end of the line, so doing a park-and-ride is not viable as it makes the trip cumbersome.
Accessibility / Parking Ranking: 6 out of 8
Exterior
Conte Forum is adjoined by Alumni Stadium, while the east side of the building is quickly abbreviated as the hillside acts as a barrier. Thus, visitors have two looks to this arena, which is a drab brown and brick. Not exactly as appealing as the rest of the stone/gothic buildings on campus. “Silvio O. Conte Forum” is inscribed above each entrance and it is the south one that is a little more unique as the brick structure is slightly concave before reaching the doors. Plus, there is an eagle display out front. Small carvings of athletic poses can be found on some of the building and these cool visuals look much older than they really are.
Exterior Ranking: 5 out of 10
Concourse
Each entrance has a small-ish lobby before leading to stairs into the main concourse. The area is well-decorated with walls that are gold and maroon to go along with a BC logo here or there. There’s also a nice amount of displays. The square concourse runs behind and underneath the seating on the sides, while the ends have an opening to the interior. Space is ok, but there is some level of crowdedness at halftime and especially at the end of the game. Concession lines can get lengthy and slow during the intermission break.
Concourse Ranking: 3.5 out of 5
Food
Most food stands offer what looks like a lengthy menu, until you actually read it and see that it consists of generic snacks like chips, peanuts and “jolly rancher pop”. The real food is weak as it is mainly hot dogs and pizza as a surprising omission is burgers and fries. There is a lesser variety here at the arena than what is seen at the football stadium. They do have Broaster Express, a combination cup of chicken tenders and potato wedges that were decent and a Barbeque offering (brisket or pulled pork). Common items favored in New England aren’t available. Beer at least featured choices including Harpoon IPA, UFO and Sam Adams.
Food Ranking: 4.5 out of 8
Interior
Most of the seating comes in the middle, which is divided by a railing that separates individual maroon seats below and bleachers with individual plastic molding above. The higher seats are obviously less desirable because of comfort and the inability to lift a chair means that there is a lot of difficulty letting people by as they try to walk down a narrow row. There’re also a few problematic seats in this area as the first 4 rows near the concourse entrance have railing obstructions. Pitch between each row is ok, though there are some heads that can get in view of the court. In the chairback section, this is less of an issue as the view is good. The arena has a wall cutoff on the upper section once you get to the corners, but because of the need to fit hockey, it takes a while to get to those slow-rounding corners. End seating is thus further from the action. The students are on the floor behind each basket as they use a gradual riser for the chairs that are mainly just sat in during breaks in play. The seating bowl is on a concrete base (leading to a stadium feel). On each end wall is a sign that says “Conte Forum – Home of the Eagles” and I’ve always liked this as it has stuck out to me during televised broadcasts. Suites are above this end wall as they are conveniently out of the way for the general ticket holder. These suites are shared with the stadium.
Interior Ranking: 7 out of 14
Scoreboard
In place of a center-hung scoreboard is an American flag as the video screens can be found at the top of each end, which I always find awkward. There is a nice assortment of in-game statistics while about 60% of the board is devoted to live video. Clarity is great, however I found replays lacking. At the top is a “Boston College” wordmark and ads flank the sides.
Scoreboard Ranking: 2.5 out of 4
Displays
BC does quite well in the display department and my favorite section is the wonderful trophy cases behind one end that extend from the floor to nearly the ceiling. Tons of trophies, pictures and memorabilia honor the school achievements and the section is centered by a bronze eagle with the honoree for “Eagle of the Year”. At the other end is the Varsity Club Hall of Fame, a series of plaques honoring each member. Informational banners hanging down from the concourse ceiling do very well to detail the greatest moments and players in BC history. Inside the forum, the rafters are full of maroon and gold banners that highlight individuals at the ends and team championships for basketball and hockey in the middle. The team banners are hard to read since there are beams in the way and some get stacked behind each other. Back in the concourse, BC also has a “In The Pros” section and a display called “The Heights of Success” a clever play on the nickname for campus and athletic stature.
Displays Ranking: 5.5 out of 6
Cost
Parking is free and that is something that really should be commended for a Power 5 school in a big city. Ticket prices vary depending on the opponent as they begin at $10 – $25 before topping out at $30 – $60 for the biggest games. That range is similar to most within the ACC and given that many conference games feature a ticket around $20 (without fees), that is not a bad deal. Concessions were on the higher end with a Hot Dog going for $4.50 and $3.50 for a water. There wasn’t much bang for your buck as the tiny round pizza was $6.50 and the Pulled Pork was equally small given the $8 price.
Cost Ranking: 7.5 out of 8
Fan Support
BC is like many power conference teams that struggle to draw in the non-conference part of the schedule, though it was more evident here with a November game against undefeated Minnesota when most of the building was empty. As ACC play gets going, crowds get significantly better and this rivalry game against Notre Dame was well-attended with about 90% of the building occupied. Still, the team annually ranks near or close to the bottom of the league’s attendance standings.
Fan Support Ranking: 4.5 out of 8
Atmosphere
This unusually large crowd for the Eagles was generally subdued and mildly interested at first. They picked up their game after certain plays and moments, but things you’d expect from a big house did not happen here. Like when BC got the lead for the first time in the second half, usually you get enhanced clapping and maybe a standing O, which didn’t occur. Students were ok with chants of “Let’s Go Eagles” and “Defense”, nothing crazy. I did enjoy their school tradition of finishing the lyrics to “Mr. Brightside”. Also, I thought the pep band was really solid as they played a good variety of old and new music
Atmosphere Ranking: 8 out of 14
Other Stuff
The Forum is named after Silvio O. Conte, a congressman and alum…..I may be getting old, but turn the music down! The speakers were way too loud and there were times I wanted to plug my ears…..BC’s most played and likely biggest basketball rival is Providence and the annual contest usually features a good amount of fans at the opponent’s arena…..The basketball team’s high point was a 1994 victory in the Tournament against #1 seed North Carolina. The low point: a point-shaving scandal in the late 70s….Eagles hockey has a remarkably storied history with several NCAA championships and plenty of trips to the Frozen Four. They also play in Conte Forum…..You’re likely to see some “Superfan” shirts in the crowd and this gold apparel trend started in the 1990s thanks to Jeff Bridge and Chris Millette…..It was warm in the building, especially in the upper seating. Make sure to wear a short-sleeve shirt, even if it’s cold outside…..Ushers don’t hold fans back during play, so there’s a lot of annoying jostling in-game.
Game
This was a good game as I always enjoy the play of Mike Brey teams and the Irish delivered this afternoon. It felt like they were in control most of the time, however the score was close throughout. A key pair of buckets with two minutes left pushed the Irish lead to five and BC was unable to find their way back in it. Nikola Djogo scored 21 for Notre Dame, while Ky Bowman selfishly had 25 points for the Eagles. Of his 23 shots, I’d say a third of them were of poor quality.
Stadium and Arena Visits 
