One quick thought

I've been meaning to write an extended entry for some time, but have had the hardest time finding the time. Here's one quick thought: Who would have ever guessed that this year's Ohio State/Michigan game would be the third most important game in the state this week. Michigan State and Penn State are playing for the Big Ten title this Saturday, and tonight Ball State takes on Central Michigan in a game with both MAC title and BCS implications (Ball State is trying to stay undefeated and get a shot at a BCS bowl game, CMU is undefeated in the MAC and, along with Ball State, vying for the MAC title). It's been one odd, but exhilarating, year in college football.

Happy Senior Day! (Michigan State 21, Purdue 7)

The Spartans knocked off Purdue today in what was not a pretty game, but as the expression goes: I'd rather win ugly than lose pretty.

Here are some random thoughts about today's game and MSU football in general:

Is Michigan State a great team? No. Are they a good team? Most definitely. Are they a very good team? If the definition of a "very good" team is one that never gives up, always plays hard, makes the big play, and gets the most out of its talent, then the answer is certainly "yes." Depending on how the Penn State game goes, and how the Spartans play in their bowl game, it's still possible that they could be remembered as a great team, but I'm not too concerned about that. I want to just appreciate what this team has already accomplished this year.



Let's put this season into perspective. Two years ago, in John L. Smith's last (brutal) season as coach, the team completely imploded after the awful loss to Notre Dame. With the possible exception of Bobby Williams' awful 2002 season, the 2006 season was about as dark and dismal as it's been for Spartan football, and we're talking about a program that has had LOTS of peaks and valleys. In only two years, Mark Dantonio has taken this program and completely changed the attitude and culture from top to bottom. One can argue all they want that the Big Ten is down, and perhaps they're right, but that still doesn't change the fact that Michigan State has played with a desire, toughness, attitude, mental discipline, and flat-out consistency that we as Spartan fans have not seen since at least Nick Saban's 1999 squad. I'm as encouraged by this development as I have ever been in my 31 years of following this program. I'm amazed that in Dantonio's second year as head coach, we are uttering the words "Spartan football" and "Big Ten title contenders" in the same breath.

I continue to be flabbergasted by the Detroit media's hostility towards MSU's football season. Not every Detroit sports journalist has been nasty, but some (like the Free Press' perpetually negative Drew Sharp) continue to pooh-pooh MSU football every single week. I know that I shouldn't care what these people write, but it's still extremely annoying. I don't expect the media to be cheerleaders for any program, but a little positive spin once in a while wouldn't be asking too much.

Having just ripped on the Detroit media, I'd like to thank the Free Press' Michael Rosenberg for his classy article about the Spartans. For anyone interested, here's the link:



http://www.freep.com/article/20081108/COL22/81108058/1048/SPORTS

Back to the game: Purdue's offense looked AWFUL! Maybe that was just as a result of Pat Narduzzi having a great game plan against the spread (and MSU's defense playing really well--too bad they couldn't hang on to the shutout) but I couldn't believe this was the same Boilermaker team that tagged Michigan for 48 points and over 500 yards total offense. It further proves how wacky college football, and the Big Ten in particular, can be and how each game needs to be judged independently.

Johnny Adams' interception for a touchdown late in the second half was a HUGE play. One of the defining characteristics of this team is their uncanny ability to make big plays when they need them the most.

The bye week is coming at a great time for Michigan State. They sorely need it (pun intended). They're banged up and need rest before the Penn State game. Win or lose in Happy Valley, it's been a great season for Spartan football. Let's not forget how much they've exceeded our expectations.

College football is still the greatest sport in the world. Today saw Iowa upset Penn State on a last second field goal, and Alabama beat LSU in overtime in a thriller in Baton Rouge. I had the good fortune of listening to the LSU radio broadcast on my car radio as the Tigers blocked 'Bama's game-winning field goal try in regulation. Those guys were going completely bonkers--unfortunate for them that LSU couldn't win it in OT.

I'm keeping tabs on the Cal/USC game. I'd love it if Cal beat the Trojans (however as I write this, USC has a 10-3 lead deep into the second quarter).
 

That's all for now, I'm going to go back to watching "iCarly Goes to Japan" with my son!

Postscript: Texas Tech looks like the best team in college football. That offense is absolutely amazing and if I could vote for the Heisman, I'd go with their quarterback Graham Harrell. (Having just written that, watch them lose next week! That's what happens when I make statements like that).

Maybe outplayed, but definitely not out-toughed (Michigan State 25, Wisconsin 24)

I just returned from Spartan Stadium. I don't have much time to write, but I will be adding to this later. The first three hours of the game were "ho hum," but the last half- hour or so was the best half-hour (certainly the most surreal half-hour) I've ever spent at an MSU football game. Wow!

I'm finally returning to this post, and all I have to say is that there is truly something special going on with this Michigan State football team. They may not be the most talented team in the Big Ten, but they are certainly the guttiest and most determined.

As I wrote earlier, I was actually at Spartan Stadium for this game. Through most of it I was thinking that, as usual, I had selected the wrong game to attend. Wisconsin's beefy offensive line was blowing our defense off the line of scrimmage, and the Badger's outstanding tandem of tailbacks, P.J. Hill and John Clay, were running all over the field. Little did I know that the Badgers' (and their head coach's) lack of discipline, coupled with the Spartans' resiliency, would lead to the most dramatic finish I've ever witnessed at Spartan Stadium.

Here's an interesting side note to the game:

Our seats were in the west upper deck. Seated directly behind us were, as my wife referred to them, the "Brady Bunch": a mom and dad and their two sons (one who was probably 15 and the other about 11) who were clearly witnessing their first MSU football game. They were four of the most relentlessly cheery, guileless people I'd ever encountered (particularly the mom and dad). As it turns out, their eldest child, a daughter, is a freshman at State and they had come to East Lansing for the weekend to pay her a visit (and attend a football game). It was so funny to hear these MSU football "virgins" react to what was going on during the game. When the Spartan Marching Band took the field for their pre-game show, the mom and dad were beside themselves with joy and amazement, "Oh wow!!! Look at that! They're so precise! How do they do that? They must have to try out for this band!" I wish I'd written down everything they said during the game, because their comments were priceless. The mom made the cardinal sin of calling Michigan State "Michigan," the youngest son wanted to know why the smokestack next to the Stadium had the letters "M.S.C." (someone behind them explained the history of the school). Anyway, I'd like to think that this naive foursome brought some magic with them into the stadium!

This week in MSU football, rebuilding the Blue Wall, plus: Coming up, Wisconsin

I've meant to write in this blog earlier this week, but am just now getting around to it.

What a strange week it was for MSU football. Immediately following the Spartans win over Michigan, the "Blue Wall" was being reconstructed. Ancient Detroit sportswriter Jerry Green rose from his crypt and treated us to this column:

(The following URL is no longer valid. If you want to read this column--I don't know why you would, but if you do--find the Detroit News microform in a library).

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081025/OPINION03/810250452/1004

Then, fellow Detroit News scribe Rob Parker stated on Detroit TV that MSU backup quarterback Kirk Cousins was involved in a fight involving Spartan football and hockey players. His information was bogus, and he apologized in the middle of the week for getting the story completely wrong. (I will give Mr. Parker credit for at least apologizing for his mistake).

On Monday, I made the egregious error of listening to Grand Rapids sports talk show host Huge (aka Bill Simonson) while he went on a diatribe about how MSU still "hasn't beaten anybody" and ripped MSU and its fans for getting overly excited about beating a bad Michigan team. Ugh! I really wanted to get on here and write after listening to that nonsense. Let's just say that Huge showed us his true (maize and blue) colors.

On the subject of the Michigan game, I must admit that I did not actually start watching the game live until the Spartans went for it on 4th down late in the 4th quarter--and even then I thought I'd have a heart attack if State didn't convert. I'm sorry, fellow Spartan fans, I was a WIMP. I did, however, watch the replay in its entirety on ESPN 360, and I gotta tell you it's probably for the better that I didn't watch the game live because I definitely would have had a heart attack. Pylon Pete's phantom touchdown call, combined with Hoyer's questionable fumble (resulting in another Weasel TD) and MSU's unfathomable placekicking woes would have certainly put me over the edge. I'm glad we at least had the highlight reel of Blair White and Javon Ringer to fall back on.

By the way, I view the Spartans win over Michigan more as relief than triumph.

Today, the Spartans are taking on Wisconsin and I will be at the game. Folks, I have not witnessed a Spartan win in person since 2002, so I sure hope my luck changes NOW. The Badgers should give State all they can handle, but I'm hopeful for a Spartan victory this afternoon--finally putting to rest all that "Same Old Spartan" talk.

I have gone to at least one MSU football game every year for the last 16 seasons, and I'm really looking forward to today's game, not just for the contest on the field, but the whole spectacle and atmosphere of college football. I love the Spartan Marching Band, and hope I'm able to see them march from Adams Field, past "Sparty" and to the stadium. I'm also excited to witness the football team take the field, because I know they'll receive a wildly enthusiastic welcome from our fans.

Michigan State 35, Michigan 21

A pictures tells a 1000 words. Not much for me to add, except that I'm one happy MSU alumnus right now!

(Post script: full disclosure, I was too much of a wimp to watch MOST of the game while it was being played. I finally tuned in with MSU up 28-21 and caught Brian Hoyer throw a a 3rd and goal touchdown pass to Josh Rouse to put the Spartans up 35-21. Then it was party time for yours truly).

Could Michigan really be that AWFUL and other pre-game thoughts

Tomorrow's the big game between MSU and Michigan and I have continually mulled the game over in my head for the last week:


My entire adult life, forty years and change total, the Michigan Wolverines have fielded a generally strong football team, usually contending for a Big Ten title. I can think of only one season in which they were truly mediocre: 1984. That was the year that quarterback Jim Harbaugh broke his arm in the MSU game and was out the rest of the year (see my post, "Spartan Memories Volume 2" below). The Wolvies finished 6-6 that season. Based on Michigan's incredible run of consistent excellence going all the way back to Bump Elliott's last year in '68, it's hard for me to fathom that they are so seemingly AWFUL this year. I continue to be nervous about State's chances in tomorrow's game, but then I remind myself that Michigan lost to a bad MAC team (Toledo) AT HOME! (To put Toledo's mediocrity in perspective, the Rockets have a record of 2-5. The week after defeating the Maize and Blue at the Big Hole...er House, the Rockets were thrashed at Northern Illinois, 38-7. One might argue that the Rockets, still sky-high after their upset of Michigan, were not focused for the Huskies. Keep in mind, however, that Northern Illinois is only 4-3--a good if not great team). It's absolutely amazing to me that Michigan has only two wins this year: a lackluster 16-6 win over Miami of Ohio (who are 2-5 so far) and a come from behind 2-point win over Wisconsin (which, at the time, looked like a big victory over a top 10 team. Wisconsin, however, is now winless in the Big Ten and has an overall record of 3-4).


If Michigan continues to struggle this season, we may finally see how many self-proclaimed "die-hard Michigan fans" are truly "die-hard." The Michigan football followers have no idea how good they have had it for such an astoundingly long period. No other major college football program has had such long-standing success. USC, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Alabama, and Nebraska--to name a few established football powers--have all had lean periods. Nebraska and Notre Dame continue to struggle. Perhaps Rich Rodriguez will get Michigan up and running by next year, but it's certainly also possible that Michigan could face a rough stretch. With Lloyd Carr's retirement, the "Michigan Men" have all been swept away. It's RichRod's show now, and it'll be interesting to see if he really is the guy to lead Michigan to national championship contention, or if he's just a snake oil salesman.

As far as tomorrow's game goes, I won't even bother to make a prediction. When Michigan State is involved, I can't be expected to go with anything but my heart. All I know is that Mark Dantonio is well aware of this game's importance. I just hope that MSU's players can play a smart, methodical game and not get the "deer caught in headlights" problem we've seen too often in the past with MSU teams. The keys to the game will be, as they usually are, eliminating turnovers, smart special teams play, and getting a decent passing game together to open up holes for Ringer. Hoyer needs to play smart. I hope MSU's defense can get pressure on Threet/Sheridan and get those guy(s) to make bad decisions. I'm a little concerned about Minor and McGuffie. If State's defense can at least contain these guys (if not completely stop them), then they should be okay.


Still, I worry. I worry that State should have caught these guys earlier in the year. I worry that Michigan will have finally worked the kinks out. I worry that our past history against the Wolvies will continue to haunt us. But, gosh darnit, all of that has to come to an end eventually, doesn't it? The losing streak in Ann Arbor can't last forever, and today seems to be the perfect day to put it to an end.


I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but I'm not nearly as confident of a Spartan victory as a lot of other people. First of all, the game is in Ann Arbor: secondly, I have a feeling MSU is getting a little tired; third, the Spartans never seem to do well when good things are expected of them. For the first time in forty years, they are favored to win this game, and that alone scares me. My fourth and final point is that Michigan knows full well they have no shot against Ohio State this year--a win over Michigan State is much more realistic. The MSU game is their season at this point.


Honestly, I don't even know if I can bring myself to watch the game today. I suffered through the 45-37 overtime loss in 2004, suffered through the 34-31 overtime loss in 2005, didn't even watch the 2006 game because everyone knew what the outcome would be (and the Detroit Tigers were in the playoffs), and then suffered through last year's 28-24 heartbreaker. I may get some yardwork done Saturday afternoon (I have lots of leaves that need to be removed and a lawn that should be mowed before the snow comes). If the Spartans win the game, I'll watch the condensed version next week on the Big Ten Network and actually be able to enjoy it. If they lose, I've saved myself lots of potential heartache and 3 1/2 wasted hours watching the Arrogant Asses celebrate once again at the expense of my Spartans. Call me what you will, but the bottom line is that I love Michigan State too much to watch this game (kind of like how Adrian couldn't bring herself to watch Rocky's fight against Apollo in the first Rocky movie).


Okay, I'm done for now. After all that verbal vomit, I have two words left...Go State!

My Spartan Memories, Volume 2: October 6, 1984

On October 6, 1984, Michigan State defeated Michigan 19-7 in Ann Arbor, thus ending a six-game losing streak to the Wolverines. At the time, I was a 16 year-old 11th grader living in Michigan's Thumb amongst hordes of what are, these days, known as "WalMart Wolverines". To say the least, I was ecstatic after MSU's win. (Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see the game on TV because I was working that day--in order to make money to attend MSU two years later. In those days, MSU's public televison station WKAR showed replays of Spartan football games late Saturday night, so I'm pretty sure I was at least able to see the game that way).

When I was in eleventh grade, my English teacher required us all to keep a journal for the entire school year. At the time, I considered it a pain and a nuisance, but I thank her now because I have so much fun going back and reading the stuff I wrote back then. I thought it might be fun to share my journal entry for October 6, 1984--the day the Spartans knocked off the Wolverines. Beside the Detroit Tigers winning the World Series that season, MSU beating Michigan pretty much made my year, and I think it definitely shows in this journal entry (where I use some colorful language that I hope my English teacher didn't read):

Saturday, October 6, 1984

Final score: MSU 19, Michigan 7

I repeat: MSU 19, Michigan 7

Yes, it's been six long dreary years, but finally we good guys at MSU have beaten those arrogant asses at U of M. We did it in front of 105,000 people at Michigan Stadium. We pulled down their pants in front of their hometown a**holes. Everything was right, [Dave] Yarema had a hell of a day, Keith Gates, Carl Butler, Bobby Morse, and Aaron Roberts led the offense. The defensive line was incredible. They held Michigan down. U of M couldn't get anything going on the ground. This Michigan team is terribly overrated and now that Harbaugh is out for the season, they're going absolutely nowhere.

This win over Michigan is probably the biggest football win for State in six years. It avenges that terrible loss of a year ago [UM 42, MSU 0]. Hopefully, the Spartans can take it on from here and have a good season. I think State is headed in the right direction. I'd be happy if they could win six or even seven games this year. Next week is Homecoming. They should be fired up. I can guarantee that all of the long-suffering MSU fans (especially the old codgers) are gonna go nuts.

Finally, it's the way it should be: the good guys victorious over the bad guys. Final score, Good guys 19, bad guys 7.