College Sports
Meterparel is a relative newcomer compared with to his partner in the booth, former BC and NFL linebacker Pete Cronan, who is beginning his 37th season.
When any kind of professional or personal milestone comes around in life, a parent will often catch themselves measuring it by how much their children’s lives changed in that span.
Jon Meterparel can relate. The longtime Boston sports media personality will begin his 21st season as the play-by-play voice of Boston College football when the Eagles open their season Aug. 30 against Fordham at Alumni Stadium.
“I remember when I got the job [in 2005] and had to fly off to Provo, Utah for the opener against [Brigham Young], my son Ben was just a few weeks old,’’ said Meterparel. “Well, he’s a sophomore at Endicott now. I always kind of look back on that and think, God, the time just flies.”
Twenty-one years might seem like a long run, and it is, but he’s still a relative newcomer compared with his partner in the booth, former BC and NFL linebacker Pete Cronan, who is beginning his 37th season.
Engineer Steve Ciaccio — who previously worked with Meterparel on WEEI’s “Dennis and Callahan Show” — and sideline reporter Scott Mutryn, who is in his 13th season, give the broadcast a welcome familiarity that suggests genuine camaraderie among those that are part of it.
Meterparel confirms that is the case, though he chuckles at the recollection of his first meeting with Cronan over lunch when they were paired up before the 2005 season.
“When I got there, I didn’t know Pete at all,’’ he said. “We met up at the Stockyard [in Brighton], and when he in walked I said, ‘Hey Pete, Jon Meterparel,’ and I said jokingly, ‘What brings you here?’ He looked at me like I had five heads.
“But we figured out each other’s sense of humor pretty quickly. He has a genuine sensibility about him where he doesn’t take himself too seriously, like some former athletes might be inclined to do. He loves to have fun and throw it around with me, and that’s great. We have what I think of as a great brotherly relationship. You can tell on a broadcast when people don’t get along, and it should be obvious that we do.”
Not surprisingly, Meterparel remembers the Matt Ryan-led 2007 BC team, which rose to No. 2 in the national rankings, especially fondly. “That team was loaded,’’ he said. “It could have won the national championship if it hadn’t let some things get away from them.”
He said he’s greatly enjoying the current circumstances, with longtime NFL coach Bill O’Brien beginning his second season in Chestnut Hill.
“We were all hoping that he would get hired [in February 2024],’’ said Meterparel. “I think we all might have thought it was a long shot, but, when it happened, we were all thrilled. He’s not a BC grad, but he’s a BC guy. He’s got that sensibility about him. His wife went there. He understands the culture. He understands what he’s dealing with on campus and pretty much from Day One he knew exactly what he was getting into.
“And he’s a Boston guy through and through. Talks about growing up reading the Globe all the time, and asks questions about what it was like working at WEEI back in the day.”
Does he ask what working with John Dennis and Gerry Callahan was really like?
“He asks what a lot of people were really like,’’ said Meterparel with a laugh.
How much is it going to cost?
There are two questions I aim to always keep in mind when a new rights deal between a major sport and a network or streaming service is agreed upon.
How will fans, particularly the ones in this market, be able to watch?
And: How much — and probably, how much more — is it going to cost?
The answers to those questions are still murky when it comes to the new Major League Baseball rights deal, which has been the subject of some reliable reporting, particularly by Andrew Marchand of The Athletic, and a whole lot of speculation in recent days.
Marchand reported Thursday that the basics of a deal are in place that will give ESPN 30 exclusive MLB regular-season games during the week, with “Sunday Night Baseball” no longer part of their package. (NBC/Peacock is expected to end up with Sunday games.)
ESPN, which is loading up on content for its direct-to-consumer app that launched Thursday, is also expected to take over MLB.tv and gain the rights to all of MLB’s out-of-market games, as well as the local rights for five teams (the Red Sox are obviously not one of them).
What remains unclear, given that MLB’s new rights deals are not complete, is the cost. There is understandable concern that fans that want out of market games will have to pay the $29.99 for the ESPN app and still pay separately for MLB.tv, which cost $149.99 on its own this year.
Once the deal is official and the MLB rights are divided up, there will be some clarity on what it will cost to watch out of market games, and whether the price-point is as insane as it could be.
Kudos to Caron
An overdue nod of appreciation for NESN’s Tom Caron, the pride of Lewiston, Maine, who just celebrated his 30th anniversary with the network. Caron’s interview with Brianna Wakefield — the daughter of the late Red Sox pitcher and NESN analyst Tim Wakefield and his late wife Stacy — was among the most genuine and heartfelt moments among many during the NESN/WEEI Jimmy Fund Radio Telethon this past week. Caron always gets the important moments just right.
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