?

Did Michigan fans actually get angry at this statement by Mark Dantonio?

"Hey, we just work at it. Right now, we’re selling results. I’ve said this over and over. We’re selling results. Other people are selling hope."

Seriously?

Spartans 2015 Uniforms

MSU unveiled updated uniforms for the new season today:

I'm not a fan of the alternate look, but the regular uniforms do seem to be an improvement. At least Nike's kept their ridiculous obsession with bronze to only the alternate uniform as it's been removed from the other two. I'd prefer all-green not to be the standard for home games instead of green jerseys with white pants but I guess someone has decided single color outfits are cool. The helmets are now metallic instead of flat green, which I like. In the end, I guess if you can get through a Nike redesign without something eye-meltingly awful you can call it good.

Football Thoughts

College:
 -The Buckeyes winning the national title should have been impossible. I couldn't really root for them, but you have to appreciate what it took to pull off such an improbable season.

-If the story of Cardale Jones was unfolding on a movie screen instead of real life I'd probably walk out of the theater. It's completely ridiculous.

-Does the B1G benefit from OSU's win? I think you have to say yes. The conventional wisdom was a team from the Big Ten couldn't compete at the highest level. MSU started to prove that wrong last year, followed it up again this year, and OSU blew it up completely. I think some, maybe most, of the Power 5 might be better from top to bottom but at least the B1G isn't a laughingstock now.

-I do feel a little bad for Mariota.

-I wasn't a huge fan of the idea of a playoff, but I have to admit it did deliver.

NFL:
-I'm having a hard time maintaining interest in the NFL playoffs. I can't bring myself to root for any of the remaining teams. The only player I like is Russell Wilson, but I can't stand Richard Sherman, so the Seahawks are out.

-Does any quarterback who hasn't won a Super Bowl get more of the benefit of the doubt than Neckbeard? I get that the guy is good, but some of the commentary gets a little ridiculous.

-As the season winds down I was reflecting that I'm going to miss NFL commentary once it ends. Favorite analysts: Trent Dilfer, Mark Schlereth, Brian Billick.

"It'll never be over here."

What were the Wolverines thinking planting a stake in the turf at Spartan Stadium?

So @zimme1me was correct. UM's Bolden with the stake in an ABC montage before the 12:08 mark. pic.twitter.com/VFK5TgNc1f
— Isaac (@WorldofIsaac) October 26, 2014

When you're in their position you need to hope the other team isn't as enthusiastic as you are, maybe looking forward to the next game against OSU. Now, that's not likely because because you've got a guy coaching on the other sideline that said this (emphasis mine):

I find a lot of the things they do amusing. They need to check themselves sometimes. Let’s just remember, pride comes before the fall. ... They want to mock us, I’m telling them, it’s not over. They want to print that crap all over their locker room, it’s not over and it’ll never be over here. It’s just starting. ... I’m very proud of our football team, and I’m very proud of the way our football team handled themselves after the game as well. You don’t have to disrespect people. If they want to make a mockery of it, so be it. Their time will come.

Does that sound like a guy who's going to allow his team to be unfocused? I guarantee you if Dantonio coached the Spartans for 50 more years and never lost another game against Michigan it wouldn't be enough for him. So you give that guy and his team another reason to be jacked up for the game? That's madness.

Unsportsmanlike

In case there's any question, I don't support this type of behavior. After all the attempts on Sparty over the years I don't exactly have a lot of sympathy for the folks in Ann Arbor but it's still classless.

NFL Quarterbacks by College

Since the Spartans are crushing Eastern I decided to take a look at the question I had the other day about NFL quarterbacks and colleges. I'm not crazy enough to go through and check out wins and losses, but the data at ESPN.com made it pretty easy to determine numbers. Here are the schools with more than alumni at quarterback on an NFL roster:

USC	4
Virginia Tech	3
Michigan State	3
North Carolina State	2
Tennessee	2
Oregon State	2
Florida State	2
Boston College	2
Georgia	2
Oklahoma	2
LSU	2
Purdue	2
Michigan	2
Texas A&M	2
Auburn	2
Eastern Illinois	2
Wisconsin	2
Missouri	2

The two schools that surprised me are Eastern Illinois (Tony Romo, Jimmy Garoppolo) and Virginia Tech (Michael Vick, Tyrod Taylor, Logan Thomas). It also demonstrates just how impressive a run USC had at quarterback (Carson Palmer, Matt Cassel, Mark Sanchez, Matt Barkley), though it is amazing to me that Cassel is still in the NFL and Matt Leinart isn't on a roster.

?

Just how unlikely is it that three former Spartan quarterbacks would get wins in the NFL today? Drew Stanton had his first start since and 2010 helped the Cardinals beat the woeful Giants, Brian Hoyer led the Browns to a surprising victory over the Saints, and Kirk Cousins stepped in for an injured Robert Griffin to smash the Jaguars.

Counting Down

I was going to write a post about how we're down to about 3 months until the kickoff of the college football season, but in looking at the schedule to get the exact number of days I noticed MSU moved their opening game to a Friday from Saturday, a fact I was not aware of. So for the second-straight year I'm likely going to miss one of the few games (possibly the only one this season) I was actually planning on being around for because they changed the schedule after I bought tickets. Thanks a lot.

Completion and Other Thoughts

Some thoughts on the Rose Bowl and the rest of the end of the college football season:

-Having your team win the Rose Bowl is pretty cool.

-I can't believe Dantonio thought in May that the Spartans would be there in January. He must have been the only one.

-That game ended perfectly. The whole thing was movie-like in the way things unfolded, as if plot lines from the entire season were being wrapped up.

-So, I want to buy Rose Bowl gear, but I don't think I'd actually wear any of it.

-Do the normal poll rules not apply at the end of the season? How is Auburn still #2 after a loss? I don't really care and I'm cool with the Spartans being #3 (which I think is reasonable but I still can't wrap my mind around it) but it seems a little odd.

-I loved how ESPN set Bob Stoops up to be the butt of jokes about SEC dominance and then Oklahoma went out and beat Alabama.

-How come SEC losses never actually count against the SEC? I get it, the conference (at the top at least) is good, but they aren't invincible.

-It takes too long to get to the title game, I'm totally checked out by the time it's kicked off. And Monday night is a stupid night for a college football game.

-All of the BCS games being on ESPN instead of ABC is ridiculous. I know I'm late to the party on this but it actually makes me pretty mad.

-I think the new playoff format is going to be horrendous.

Quote of the Day

College basketball game of the month tonight: #1 Kentucky v #2 MSU.

"Kentucky has a bunch of freshman, Michigan State has guys that have been there FOREVER. I think there are some guys on the team that played with Magic Johnson they've been there so long."

 - Mike Greenberg on Tuesday mornings "Mike and Mike Show."


Is tonights game good for the sport? What is better: A college football game in August between #1 and #2 that could determine National Championship opportunities, or a college basketball game in November between #1 and #2 that won't mean ANYTHING at the end of the year?

Thoughts on the Game

A few thoughts on yesterday's game:

-I don't think I've ever seen a team so thoroughly punish an opponent the way MSU did yesterday. That's a performance that will get them some national talk this week.

-Gardner especially looked ready to be done; he was obviously really beat up.

-Actually, I think he just got sacked again.

-And Fritz Toussaint is probably not his favorite person right now.

-Taylor Lewan doesn't have a leg to stand on complaining about dirty play. You'd think he actually had facemasks attached to his hands.

-I get why he's wearing 98, but Gardner looks stupid wearing that number.

-Speaking of looking stupid, can someone tell Hoke that "soggy fat guy" really isn't a good look on the sideline?

-Though his numbers weren't great, this was the first game where I thought Connor Cook might turn into a good quarterback.

-While MSU did pull out green pants, which I wasn't a big fan of, I'm surprised neither team had a flashy alternate helmet or something else exciting. I think it's a good thing though, because they don't really seem to fit the character of either team.

-How hard do you think the Buckeyes are rooting for the Spartans now?

-So, my prediction about the losing team feeling like they could have won the game? I don't think that's the case here.

RE: World Series - Lions - UM/MSU Game

World Series: I wasn't rooting for the Sox, but it doesn't bother me too much either that they won. They're generally pretty likeable, though Victorino really bugs me for some reason, and they deserved it. I also don't know that the Tigers would have been able to pull it off with the bullpen injuries and Cabrera's injury and seeming them lose the series to the Cardinals might have been worse that the loss to the Sox.

Lions: I heard on the radio that when the Lions got the ball at the end of the game they only had a 1% chance of winning, yet I wasn't surprised at all when they managed it. I said earlier in the season to my Dad that there was no outcome to a Lions game that could shock me. They're so talented and so inconsistent that anything is possible.

The Game: On paper MSU should win this one. The offense has improved from utterly pathetic to just very poor and the defense is legitimately good. However, they have a tendency to give up the big play, and Gardner is good at that, but you'd also think there's a good chance he throws a pick six. Whatever the outcome, I'm pretty sure the loser is going to feel like they should have come out on top.

World Series - Lions - UM/MSU Game

It's gotten a little easier to watch the World Series after the Tigers blew it. But, I'll stick with my personal thought: Watching Boston in the WS is like seeing your ex-girlfriend with the guy you hate the most. By the way, when Boston wins this WS, does it make the Tiger choke job hurt more? Just think, that could have been us winning the title this year!


Lions, what an unbelievable win. The HUGE Show Monday question: Where does Sunday's victory rank in Lions history? That's a great question. Some would say "no where, because it didn't mean anything." And that's just it, the Lions don't play any meaningful games, and if they do, they lose. The only meaningful games they've had are playoff games and Lambeau Field and they lose. So, if you are a franchise that doesn't win many games, let alone a come-from-behind win with 1:02 remaining, no timeouts, and needing a touchdown, then Sunday's win has to be ranked pretty high. And, it DID mean something: the difference between being 5-3 and 4-4. 5-3 is playoff bound. 4-4...forces you to go 5-3 in the second half of the season for a shot at the playoffs with a 9-7 record.

So, the fact they played a meaningful game and won in dramatic fashion has to be one of their all-time greatest wins.


Saturday's game at East Lansing: As a UM fan, I'm nervous. Very nervous. Game is at MSU. Advantage: MSU. MSU has by far the better defense. Advantage: MSU. MSU has gotten better lately. UM has the better overall offense, but MSU appears to have the better running game. Advantage: MSU. MSU is favored by 6.5 points. I'd like to have seen this game played in September and November. It would probably be two different results. All I know is the game will come down to turnovers...and Devin Gardner is a TO machine.

"I've got a lot of apologies to make..."

I think I owe Brian Hoyer, and Cleveland Browns fans, an apology. You see, my fantasy team is struggling and I needed to do something crazy to keep myself interested so I picked up Hoyer and started him at QB this week, thinking my usual starter, Russell Wilson, might not score many points this week and Hoyer might just come up big again. Plus, if I could win with the former Spartan QB it would pretty much make my season. Within six hours Hoyer's season was over.

Sorry.

Quarterback U?

After a dismal showing by MSU's QB combo of Cook & Maxwell and a shocking three touchdown performance by former Spartan QB Brian Hoyer for the Browns I've been thinking about quarterbacks. During the fantasy draft we all laughed at the commentator doing the Bears preseason game who called MSU "QB U" and I still think it's pretty ridiculous. However, I did some research and came up with a few interesting stats:

-There are currently three former Spartan QBs on NFL rosters (Stanton, Hoyer, Cousins).*

-The last four Spartan QBs who have completed their careers (Smoker, Stanton, Hoyer, Cousins) have gone on to play (some) in the NFL.**

-Six of the last eight Spartan QBs (Miller, Banks, Smoker, Stanton, Hoyer, Cousins) have been drafted or played in the NFL.

That's not exactly like USC having Palmer, Leinart, and Sanchez all drafted in the first round, but it's not actually too bad either. We tend to minimize guys playing backup roles, but being one of the top 96 in the world at your job is still pretty good when you put it in perspective. I wouldn't say MSU is "QB U" but it isn't quite as crazy as I would have thought.

*And since I know you're going to ask, there are two former Wolverines (Henne, Gisele Bündchen's husband). You could stretch that to three if you want to consider Ryan Mallett a Michigan QB, but that's probably not fair to Arkansas.

**Maxwell will surely break this streak.

?

For Veterans Day the NFL brought some veterans to games and I'm sure had some patriotic pregame activities. However, they've spent the whole last month wearing garish pink on their uniforms to support "breast cancer awareness" or some such. Does that seem right to you? Compare that to the MSU Spartans basketball team (and UConn), who opened the season in a hangar at the U.S. Air Base in Ramstein, Germany and wore special uniforms for the occasion. Seems to me the NFL comes up a little short.

Shiny

I should probably write something about the game before kickoff, which has been tough to do all week since my computer died. So here's MSU's shiny gimmick helmet for the game:

Analysis? Both teams suck. The Big Ten sucks. I barely care who wins. The game is on the Big Ten Network, so no one nationally will even see it, and frankly, that's where it ought to be. This might as well be EMU vs. WMU.

Stanton-ed

Pity the Michigan State quarterback in the NFL draft. Kirk Cousins was selected in the fourth round today by the Washington Redskins. Being selected by Washington is bad enough, but the 'Skins had already selected Robert Griffin III with the second overall pick. So KC1 has ended up in a scenario where he either plays the bad guy by outperforming the top draft pick, who is much loved by the media, or he's left with little opportunity to prove he can play the game at an NFL-level. I think calling it being "Stanton-ed" adequately sums up the situation.

In The Jungle

You know you're big time if you're in "The Jungle" and Draymond Green "visited" yesterday on the Jim Rome Show. He's definately the difference in MSU's season. What an impact he makes now that he's 40 lbs lighter than other years.

?

You know how I said UM vs MSU in basketball didn't excite me much? Turns out when I actually watch the game that's not true at all. Victory for MSU!