In some ways, the Bulgers are a normal family.

See Marc throwing spirals in the backyard. See little Patrick swinging a golf club. See Kate and Meg, the youngest, shooting hoops, hoping to someday be like their brothers. See Jimmy, the oldest, on the swings, watching it all.

Now, they’re all grown up. And little Kate, well, she’s not so little anymore. Standing almost 6 feet, she’ll be West Virginia’s first offensive option when the Syracuse women’s basketball team visits Morgantown, W.Va., to take on the Mountaineers tonight at 7.

But she’s not the only star in the family. All the Bulger kids have grown up to be great athletes. Marc is now a second-string quarterback for the NFL’s St. Louis Rams. He replaced an injured Kurt Warner last year and led the Rams to a 6-1 record.

Jimmy played golf at Notre Dame. Meg is now a star at Oakland Catholic High School in Pittsburgh and will team with her sister next year at WVU. And Patrick, considered the best Bulger athlete by the family, never even wanted to play college sports.

Normal family. Superhuman genes.

James Bulger, Kate’s father, starred at quarterback for Notre Dame in 1971.

While the Bulger kids weren’t pushed into sports, they were always around them.

They grew up with pick-up basketball in the driveways, boys versus girls. No one ever escaped without scrapes and bruises.

‘Usually, the girls would run into the house crying before the games would even end,’ James said. ‘The boys would beat them up.’

The competition only made the Bulger girls tougher. Both Kate and Meg began to play competitively in third grade. They dominated because they were taller than their opponents.

Time passed, and Marc established himself as a top-notch quarterback in Pittsburgh. Although he wasn’t recruited heavily out of high school, WVU coveted him. Despite pleas from Notre Dame supporters, Marc went to Morgantown.

At his urging, Kate would soon follow.

‘At first, I wanted to go somewhere different,’ she said. ‘But then Marc convinced me.’

Kate came in as a heralded freshman but played on a WVU team that went 6-22 the previous year. In her freshman year, she scored almost 15 points per game, but the team went 5-22.

Then came Mike Carey. In his first year as WVU’s head coach, he led the Mountaineers to a 14-14 mark. Now, in his second year, Carey’s team is 14-10 entering tonight’s game against the Orangewomen.

Carey said he expects to be even better next year. The reason: Kate’s sister, Meg.

‘I’m very excited to get her,’ Carey said. ‘(Kate and Meg) come from an athletic family. I’m hoping Mrs. Bulger has some more kids.’

This won’t be the first time the Bulger sisters will be teammates. They starred on an Oakland Catholic team that went 33-1 Kate’s senior year. They reached the Pennsylvania state championship game but lost by one point.

The girls were devastated. Down one, with a few seconds left, Oakland Catholic had a chance to win the game. But Meg, a freshman at the time, dribbled the ball off her foot.

‘I was crushed to see Kate’s face when we lost,’ Meg said. ‘I felt like it was my fault.’

Next season, they’ll get a chance to make amends.

‘Both girls are thrilled,’ James said. ‘They’re best friends. Meg can’t wait until next year. It’s all she talks about.’

The reunion will be a relief for James, his wife Patricia, and their car’s engine. At least one Bulger parent tries to attend their children’s games.

“It’ll be nice to go to one place,” said James.

Not that they don’t like traveling. With Marc playing in St. Louis, Meg in Pittsburgh and Kate in Morgantown, they get their fix. And the rest of the family is just as supportive.

‘I went to all of Marc’s preseason games,’ Kate said. ‘But during the regular season, I was at school. I have the satellite stuff, though, so I saw all of his games.’

What she saw was a brother who burst out of anonymity and onto the NFL scene. Marc had a good career at WVU, but no one expected him to lead the Rams to five straight victories when Warner, the starter, injured his hand. Bulger finished the season with 14 touchdowns.

Kate, on the other hand, has remained relatively steady over her career, averaging 15 points. She scored her 1,000th point earlier this season.

But in a family familiar with greatness, what’s more impressive: 14 NFL touchdowns or 1,000 points?

‘Fourteen touchdowns,’ Kate said. ‘But I’d rather have 20 wins right now than 1,000 points.”

Despite her accolades, Kate has stayed humble. She has never been in the limelight. Not then, when playing on the gravel courts against her brothers, or now, where she almost seems overshadowed by her younger sister, literally the Second Coming for the Mountaineers.

But though Meg will come to Morgantown with the hype, Kate put the Mountaineers on the map.

‘I have the easy job,’ Meg said. ‘I get to step in while they’re good. Kate turned the program around.’

Published on February 25, 2003 at 12:00 pm