Blair ready to break out

A defining moment. One defining moment is all you need to earn it all - playing time, respect, accolades, love.

One defining moment can also make it all fall apart.

On Feb. 11, while one massively talented but ostracized Boston College center watched from somewhere far, far away, another center saw time ticking off the clock, saw the point differential, saw his shot at glory fall through the net with three seconds remaining against Florida State.

68-67, BC.

Big Time, who? It's Tyrelle Time now.

"It was kind of funny, because the team was all celebrating and stuff, and I didn't really show any kind of emotion because I was trying to tell them that I made the shot, but there were still [three] seconds left," Blair recalled with a smile. "If they threw a long pass, we could've lost. So I was like, once the game's over, we'll celebrate."

And celebrate they did. The Eagles won by a point and improved their record to 9-2 in the ACC, all without their biggest defensive star, Sean Williams, who had his own defining moment when he was dismissed from the team for a violation of team rules a mere month earlier.

So what's it like to be the guy who replaced Sean Williams?

Well, it's like being Tyrelle Blair.

"People always said I stepped in [Williams'] shoes, but I block shots as well," Blair said. "I'm not a breathtaking athlete like he is, but I can get the job done, too."

Don't get it twisted: Sean Williams was, and Tyrelle Blair is. The future is now. It has nothing to do with some guy playing for the New Jersey Nets, and everything to do with the 6-foot-11 senior center who currently dons No. 44 for the BC Eagles.

In his first season since transferring to BC from Loyola Maryland, Blair played in 30 games for the Eagles and averaged 2.1 blocked shots per game. He blocked four or more shots in seven games, and he had six blocks three times last year - one of which was in that critical FSU game, when the Monticello, Fla. native was playing in front of his own home crowd.

That's only one of the advantages that have been bestowed upon Blair after transferring. It's almost as good as the first-rate education he's received from BC.

"I grew up watching the ACC because I grew up in Florida watching Florida State, so I get a chance to go home and play against them," Blair said. "And I also got a chance to do a fifth year [after red-shirting for the 2006-07 season], so I got a chance to get my master's. Both my parents are college graduates, so I really value school and I think the best place you can get a college education is at a Jesuit school."

It's also the best place to play basketball - as long as your Jesuit school is a member of one of the most competitive conferences in the nation. But there is a certain sense of maturity that is needed to be successful on this team and in this league, and, luckily for the Eagles, Blair has it.

He also has an X-factor that BC greats like Troy Bell, Craig Smith, and Jared Dudley all had.

"One of the reasons why I picked BC was because I felt like they had a lot of guys who were under the radar, and they came out to have great careers," he explained. "I felt like I was the same way." Despite leading the state of Florida in blocked shots when he was a junior and senior in high school, Blair garnered minimal attention from big-time schools - which, like the legends before him, landed him under the watchful eye of Eagles head coach Al Skinner.

"Coming here, it's like a major market," Blair said. "Playing in a great conference, if you have one good year, you can go from nowhere to being one of the highest [scouted] guys. Hopefully, I'll have a great year this year."

This year, however, will be very different from the past few at the Heights.

This year, there's no Craig Smith or Jared Dudley to take the reigns of this team.

It is full of youth and inexperience - but that doesn't mean it's devoid of talent and leadership.

So what's in store for this band of Eagles?

"Last year, we had Jared and Sean [Marshall], so you kind of knew what to expect from the team," Blair said. "This is a different team, but they're freshmen. They could be pretty good, or they could be up and down. I think we're still finding out who we are."

But there is one person here whom the Conte faithful will find familiar - and rumor has it that a certain 6-foot-1 junior captain can dunk over the shot-blocking machine.

"Can dunk over me?" Blair asks incredulously. "Tyrese can dunk it, but dunk over me? It might happen, but it hasn't happened yet."

In all seriousness, Tyrese Rice has a big load on his shoulders as the bona fide star of the team this season.

He must lead, and he must do it well, or else the Eagles will land in peril.

"He's gonna have to be [a leader], because if not, we're gonna lose a lot of games," Blair said. "I don't want to put the pressure on him or anything."

And who knows? This team could surprise people. They're slotted eighth in the league preseason poll, but that means nothing.

"It's BC, so people never think we're gonna do anything. Look at the football team. They weren't ranked at all in the preseason," Blair pointed out.

He's right: You never know.

When Drew Bledsoe went down with a sheared blood vessel in 2001, who thought that a kid named Tom Brady would step up to become a demigod in New England?

When Tim Wakefield missed a start due to back soreness in September, who thought Clay Buccholz would get called up and become the first Red Sox rookie to ever throw a no-hitter?

And when Big Time got dismissed from the BC Eagles last January, who thought that Tyrelle Blair would step up to be ... Tyrelle Blair?

He did.