brainsplotch

A college friend of mine just recently--today, in fact--posted on Facebook this old picture of me and some friends. It really blew me away because I'd never seen it before. I'm pretty sure this is either freshman or sophomore year at Michigan State, which would make it circa 1986/1987. (In case you're wondering, I'm the guy in the red shirt). I can't quite put into words how gleeful I am to see this photo. The guy standing next to me is Pete Overton (Kadyk), who introduced me to The Smiths, The Feelies, and Pete Shelley of the Buzzcocks. Yes, he was "that guy": the guy you always hope to meet in college. The guy who says, "If you're into so-and-so, you might like such-and-such." He was the cooler guy who leads you down unknown paths. (Unfortunately, he left this earth far too early, in 2001). The first time I met Pete was my second or third day on the MSU campus in September 1986. I was dragged out of my room by a few other fresh...

The Spartans bowed out in the first round of the NCAA tournament with a performance that was befitting of their entire season. They started off incredibly sluggish and throughout the first half and most of the second half were getting blown off the court by the UCLA Bruins. Then, when it appeared they were completely dead--down by 23 with a little more than eight minutes left--MSU made a furious comeback and and made us all dare to dream that maybe, just maybe, they could walk off the court with a most improbable victory. But, much like the season, they dug too big a hole to successfully climb out--and lost by two points. Thus ends one of the most disappointing MSU basketball seasons in many years. I can tell you that most MSU fans don't quite know how to take it. We've gotten just a wee bit spoiled around here and aren't accustomed to disappointment. We're certainly not used to losing to our archrivals in Ann Arbor not just once, but TWICE, in the same season. (I...

The last time Michigan State won a Big Ten title in football, I was 22 years old, and still (sort of) a student at MSU. I had (so I thought--it's a long story that I'll get to some other time) finished my coursework, and was awaiting placement as a student teacher, so I was sort of in limbo during the autumn of '90. I still had friends on campus, so I drove to MSU a few times that Fall to hang out. (I was living at home that autumn, and missed campus life terribly). I recall that the big popular song that autumn of '90 was Bell Biv Devoe's "Do Me!", I was on the MSU campus the day the Spartans beat Michigan in the "Number one vs. No one" game (and joined an impromptu crazed-but-happy rally at the "Sparty" statue following the game), I had a couple crushes on two girls--neither of which panned out (due mainly to my then-cluelessness with the opposite sex), and that I had a youthful scrape with the law--during Thanksgiving weekend--that...

"Don't get your hopes up," "don't get your hopes up," don't get your hopes up". That is my mantra as a Michigan State football fan. It was once my mantra as a Michigan State basketball fan, until Tom Izzo came along and essentially changed all of that. Is it possible that Mark Dantonio may do the same for MSU football? Time will tell if MSU's football fortunes are truly changing under Dantonio's tutelage. For now, though, I still find myself almost always thinking, when Spartan football has a chance to do something good, "don't get your hopes up." Since I first became truly conscious of MSU football back in 1977, when I was nine years old, the years have been riddled with one disappointment and mediocre season after another. Sure, there have been the periodic moments of glory, like the 1978 Big Ten championship (which, as I've mentioned before, only seems like a rumor now, since there seems to be no visual proof of it...

It was a little dull, a little vanilla, but Michigan State got the job done against a team in turmoil, the Minnesota Gophers. Now, the Spartans get a much deserved and much needed bye week before the final two-game push of the season. I really can't find much to say about this game. Really not much to say. I will give credit to Minnesota for playing hard and not quitting. Adam Weber is a talented quarterback, and MarQueis Gray (who split time between quarterback and receiver) showed a real upside, but the Gophers made too many mistakes to make it a competive game. As far as the Spartans go, the coaches probably kept the playcalling deliberately conservative because they could. MSU's focus was to simply get through this game with a victory, as few nicks and bruises as possible, and get the guys healthy for November 20 against Purdue. Special mention goes to Edwin Baker, who had a tremendous game for the Spartans (admittedly against an extremely weak defense) with 179 yards...

Yesterday, I entered a drawing at work for two tickets to today's Michigan State/Wisconsin football game. I never win these drawings, so I had no expectations for that to change. Well, lo and behold, I won the tickets. As it turns out, they're great tickets: lower deck, west corner of the south endzone, row 13. These may be the best seats I've ever had at Spartan Stadium. Initially, I thought of having my brother come down for the game, but knew it was short notice and he may not be able to make it. His Saturday was already booked, so I'm taking my son Avery. My plan is to keep him supplied with hot dogs, popcorn, and soda pop and he should make it through the entire game (provided it's a game worth staying until the very end). I have no idea what to expect from this game, but presumably it'll be close. Go State! _________________________________________ Update: I took my oldest son to Michigan State/Wisconsin game and we had a fun time. Above is a picture of hi...

'Nuff said.

The Michigan State basketball team is in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA tournament for the eighth time in the last twelve years (and as I come back to finish this blog, the Spartans are in the Final Four for the fifth time in ten years). This is quite an amazing feat and got me to ponder how these are really the glory years of MSU basketball and we'd better appreciate them while they last. As anyone who has spent any time on this blog knows, I spend a good amount of time reading MSU sports fan sites as well as reader comments in various online local newspapers (Lansing State Journal, Detroit Free Press, etc.). For every excited and happy fan, there seem to be at least two others who complain about which player "didn't step up" or how "if the team doesn't cut down on the turnovers, they won't go any futher" or some such thing. Now, people have the right to complain and express their opinions (God knows I can get ticked off sometimes about MSU sports te...

I went through my personal archives of newspaper clippings and came across the Lansing State Journal sports section from November 30, 1997. Here are some post game photos from the newspaper. I hope the Lansing State Journal doesn't stumble on this blog and decide to sue me. I remember that day as being cold, drizzly and very gray (in other words, a typical November day in Michigan). It's great to see these photos and have my memories confirmed. By the way, Ike Reese is one of my all-time favorite Spartan athletes. What he may have lacked in sheer athletic ability he more than made up for in grit, determination, and character. He parlayed that into a nine-year NFL career. I hear that he is now hosting a sports radio show in Pennsylvania, and will be the Spartans' honorary captain when they take on the Nittany Lions.

It's funny to me that the creation of this blog coincided with the start of the football season. When I started writing this thing, I had no idea what form it would take. It was my intention to just let it flow naturally and write about whatever I deemed important or interesting at the time. However, as Michigan State's season unfolded, I became more and more excited about the direction the team was taking and eventually Brainsplotch became, for all intents and purposes, a football fan blog. I even considered renaming it something like "Dispatches from Sparta" or some such goofy Spartan-themed moniker, but have decided to keep it's current name. (I'd hate for all zero of my fans out there to not be able to find this wonderful blog and, once they did find it, have to reset their favorites list--that could get messy). Once the football season is over, I'll write about other things unless, of course, I become obsessed with college basketball. As I stated in...

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 ...

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...

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 r...

First the good news, it was a lovely, sunny day in the Lansing area today. Now the bad news, Ohio State kicked MSU's tail today. This was one ugly game. So ugly that I pretty much turned it off at halftime and only tuned in sporadically in the second half to see how bad the carnage was. Wow, I feel a little foolish to have ever doubted Ohio State. How in heaven's name did they ever lose 35-3 to USC? (Yeah, I know, unsettled quarterback situation, Beanie Wells hurt, etc. But still, is USC that good to have hammered OSU that badly? How the heck did USC then lose to a mediocre Oregon State team? I'll have to save that for a different discussion). As the Lansing State Journal's Joe Rexrode wrote, it was a "reality check" for MSU. Yes, they have improved, but they are not yet close to being in Ohio State's league. Perhaps if the Spartans had caught the Buckeyes earlier in the year, they could have won this game, but Ohio State has had some tim...

In keeping with the Michigan State football theme that I seemed to have established thus far with this blog, I might as well keep the ball rolling, so to speak. I never consciously aimed to make this a "Spartan football blog," but with our nation's economy in utter shambles, and the election year increasing in intensity and nastiness, my mind really craves escapism lately. For the moment, MSU football is providing that escapism. So why not escape along with me? I have been mulling this idea around in my head for awhile, and was actually going to start it prior to the Indiana game. However, it wasn't until now that I have finally got around to doing a little feature that I will call "My Spartan Memories." I hope all of my one or two readers out there in cyberspace enjoy it. Michigan State will be playing the Northwestern Wildcats in Evanston tomorrow, so this is a perfect opportunity to reflect back on the very first MSU football game I ever att...

Just finished watching the Spartans wear down the Hoosiers and get out of Bloomington with a win. Not pretty by any stretch, but I'll take it. Very nice to start off the Big Ten season at 1-0. MSU's next opponent is Iowa on Homecoming in East Lansing. The Hawkeyes lost at home to Northwestern, so next week's game for the Spartans is definitely winnable. (Having said that, Northwestern looks like they will be a tough team to contend with this year. They are still undefeated. With the parity in college football, which became particularly evident this weekend, that's saying something regardless of the competition the Wildcats have faced). Back to MSU/Indiana: First of all, I could not believe the number of empty seats at Memorial Stadium. Is Indiana that indifferent towards football? (The answer must be a resounding "yes." I suppose the Hoosier faithful are too busy counting down the days until basketball season). If I didn't have responsibilitie...

As I write this post, I am relishing my "victory beer," a very smooth Indian Pale Ale from the Michigan Brewing Company. It's tasting pretty darned good right now. Nice, solid win for the Spartans today. I knew that Dantonio would have the boys ready today, and MSU as a team were about as good as I have seen them in quite some time. I felt that for any Heisman talk regarding Javon Ringer to be truly justified, he'd have to bring it against big-name competition. Yes, I know Notre Dame is not a great team, but they have improved from last year and they are still NOTRE DAME. That name is nationally recognized and if you can light them up, you can guarantee that the national pundits will take a shine to you. Having said that, the long Big Ten season is still in front of us, and the test for the Spartans will be if they can stay healthy enough to finish with a winning record. I am still maintaining relatively low expectations until proven otherwise. I know that man...

I am still awake when I should be sleeping, but hey, it's Friday night (actually Saturday morning) and I don't feel like going to bed. Now, let me gab for awhile about an important issue: college football. Later today, at 3:30 PM, Michigan State and Notre Dame will kickoff at Spartan Stadium. I have never seen as much confidence in a Spartan blowout as I have seen on various MSU sports chat rooms and blogs. Why so much confidence? How long have these people been State fans, I wonder? Yes, it's true that Notre Dame struggled against a weak San Diego State team and Michigan virtually gift wrapped last week's Irish victory (and, at least for now, Michigan is not a good team) but what exactly has Michigan State done? The Spartans lost to a decent, but not great, Cal team on the road, manhandled the predictably woeful Eastern Michigan Eagles, and then escaped the drizzly, rainy slopfest last week against Florida Atlantic. The bottom line is that it's way too early to jud...

Michigan State knocked off Florida Atlantic in a virtual monsoon at Spartan Stadium on Saturday. I still don't think we know anything about this Spartan team until they take on Notre Dame this coming Saturday. I will continue to maintain low expectations for this year unless proven otherwise. I wasn't able to stay up to watch Saturday Night Live, but frankly I wasn't particularly interested in the "Michael Phelps as guest star" angle (and, in fact, have seen nothing of Phelps' performance or ever heard how he did). However, through the wonders of You Tube (by the way, I love You Tube) I caught Tina Fey as Sarah Palin. Oh my, was she good! She has the voice and mannerisms down perfectly, and she looks almost exacly like her. The only bright spot of a McCain victory would be that we'd be able to watch Tina Fey impersonate Palin on SNL for (hopefully no more than) four years. Every so often, I'll dig through my musical archives and find a CD that I have...

The waiting is over... no more suffering through a disappointing Detroit Tigers baseball season. I can officially put baseball on the back burner and say "hallelujah!" to the beginning of football season (in particular, college football). It was a sunny and unseasonably warm day in mid-Michigan (and also the day of my oldest son's birthday party), so I wasn't able to plop in front of the tube and take in the full glory of College Football 2008-Day One, but I did see enough to be quite satisfied. I caught a tiny bit of the Ohio State/Youngstown State game (the Columbus, Ohio version of "Christians being fed to the lions"), then once my son's birthday party had ended (which, by the way, was lots of fun and way more important than football--seriously!), I watched the bulk of the Michigan/Utah game. I must admit to being overjoyed at the Wolverines' demise. (I had the game on in the background while putting together a Lego "medieval catapult...