By Sean Leviashvili
Rich and Paul Perillo, brothers who grew up watching the Huskies play during the ’80s, felt it was time to bring a unified voice to all Husky fans.
In 2004, the Perillo brothers launched Diehard Dogs Magazine, now released quarterly, and a partnering website, dieharddogs.com, as a way to bring sports news to hungry fans. The two sources, which exist as one entity, provide recruiting information, up-to-date stats and details that can’t be obtained through other sources, Rich Perillo, editor of the magazine, said.
“We have connections throughout the area,” said Rich Perillo, a Northeastern alumnus.” “People throughout the [domain] of every sport give us some good information.”
While the magazine is released four times a year, the website is updated every day, throughout the day. Members of the website post threads on hot topics like event attendance, Beanpot predictions and resignations.
One of the most active threads was fueled by the news of former basketball Coach Ron Everhart’s sudden, surprising leave in 2005, Rich Perillo said.
“It’s a lot of information that [fans] can’t get anywhere else,” he said. “It’s a place for [fans] to get together and talk, maybe have an occasional friendly argument about who’s good and who’s not.”
Members can explore the website’s various discussion forums and post their concerns and predictions on any topic related to Northeastern athletics.
Being that Northeastern is known to be generally apathetic toward sports, the website provides a one-of-a-kind outlet for fans, looking for other fans. Mike Brodsky, an alumni who uses the website, said that he has utilized it to strengthen old bonds.
“It’s allowed for me to reconnect with many of the people I went to school with,” Brodsky said. “That’s been the biggest thing for me.”
The social aspect of the website provides the same kind of camradarie that can be found on fantasy football sites, or more practically, between more involved sports fans. However, the website remains limited in its demographic. Although the amount of users has increased from about 600 to more than 3,000 since its debut in 2004, the population consists of mainly alumni.
The application to the magazine and website are available to anyone for a yearly one-time fee of $29.95, but are offered to Northeastern students for half the price, at $14.95. Rich Perillo offers this to encourage more students to participate and let their voices be heard on the website’s posting board.
The magazine subscription and website access are instantly granted to alumni who donate $250 or more annually to Northeastern’s athletic department. However, it can’t be advertised through the school because it is a private enterprise, leaving many potential users and readers unaware of its services.
“If students joined,” Brodsky said, “the website would have more people [and opinions].”
Brodsky, however, worries that if the website became overwhelmed by students, the level of sophistication could be threatened. But the fact that it is a pay-per-use site suggests that the people who join will be the ones who would take the site seriously.
For the fans who feel embarrassed that a Division I school doesn’t get as much attention and coverage as it should, support is available.
“Being an alumni, the apathy now is not as bad as it once was,” Rich Perillo said. “[Interest] is growing. Hockey and basketball in particular seem to be heading in the right direction.”
Rich Perillo accounted the past apathy to the fact that Northeastern was much more of a commuter school 10 to 20 years ago. Now, Perillo admitted, there are other external circumstances navigating Northeastern’s team spirit.
Rich Perillo indicated the fact that Northeastern is located in Boston, home of the Red Sox, Patriots and Celtics, who have all had successful seasons, has a lot to do with its interest in school teams.
“Boston is a pro-sports town,” Rich Perillo said. “Four Division 1 schools exist within a few miles, and with the exception of BC, I don’t think they draw a lot of fans who aren’t from the school.”
This is completely natural, Brodsky admits.
“It’s no different than any big time school,” Brodsky said. “We have all major sports teams and an Atlantic Coast Conference team down the street from us, as well as a great team at UMass Amherst.”
The combination of poor coverage and attention focused on pro-sports could possibly be the cause of what Brodsky refers to as “a generally terrible turnout.”
And as for those who support Northeastern’s teams, a sense of enthusiasm that generally won’t be found on campus can be accessed at Perillo’s website, for merely the price of the “Good Luck Chuck” DVD.
“It’s really become a clearing house for information to disseminate sports fans about the athletic department,” Brodsky said.
