brainsplotch

I'm definitely not a fan of the University of Michigan, nor am I a fan of Ohio State University. As a college football fan, though, I can't help but grudgingly respect the success the two schools have had for so many years. The architects of this football success, at least in the last half of the twentieth century, were Woody Hayes at Ohio State and Bo Schembechler at Michigan. As a died-in-the-wool Spartan, it was with a great deal of trepidation that I picked up this book (and for any Spartan fans out there who think I've completely lost my mind, I assure you that I checked the book out of the library and did not purchase it--so no Green-and-White money was exchanged for a Maize-and-Blue/Scarlet-and-Grey book). I had heard enough good buzz about the book from reliable sources, and had listened to an interview with Michael Rosenberg on the "Huge" radio show out of Grand Rapids. This, of course, meant that I had to suffer through Bill "Huge" Si...

I've heard rumblings that the NFL should no longer allow the Detroit Lions to have a monopoly on the Thanksgiving day football game and should rotate it amongst all the league's teams. As much as I realize how much of a drag it must be for the rest of the country to suffer through the Lions every Turkey Day, as a born and bred Michiganian, I'd really miss this tradition. From a purely objective standpoint, it makes perfect sense to rotate the game, but my heart says "No! Leave the poor Lions alone!" Some of my most permanent Thanksgiving memories have to do with the Lions. There was the 1980 game against Chicago when the Bears' David Wiliams ran back the kickoff in overtime to beat the "Lie-downs." I can vividly remember sitting in front of my grandma's TV, the rest of the family watching with a combination of horror and humor, as the Lions let another one go in typically inimitable Lions fashion. There was the game against the Steelers a f...

This shot of Glenn Winston getting gang tackled by Penn State's outstanding defense tells you everything you need to know about this game. So much for that 1997 magic I was hoping for! I intended on writing about this game much sooner after the fact, but am just getting to it now. Saturday night I spent watching Oklahoma's massacre of Texas Tech, Sunday I was busy doing other things, and yesterday I was both coming down with a cold and helping my son finish up a school project. So here I am at home trying to recover from my first bout of the winter cruds. At this point, I don't have much to add to what has already been said or written about MSU's loss to the Nittany Lions. It's pretty simple that the better team won. Penn State is a team that, if not for losing control of their game against Iowa (a game the Lions dominated), would be undefeated and possibly playing for a national championship. Michigan State has the misfortune, every other year, of having to conclu...

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.

With Michigan State facing Penn State today for a shot at the Big Ten title, I can't help buy recall the best, and certainly most amazing, game I ever witnessed at Spartan Stadium. The date was November 29, 1997 (the Saturday after Thanksgiving). The beaten and bruised Spartans thrashed the #4 Nittany Lions, 49-14. One aspect of journal keeping that is wonderful is that I can often go back and see what I wrote about particular events in my life. Here are my observations of the game the day after: "...I saw the greatest college football game ever played in Spartan Stadium. I realize that sounds like grand hyperbole, but I swear it's true! I have never witnessed, in person, a better game at Spartan Stadium...Michigan State rushed for over 400 yards, with Marc Renaud and Sedrick Irvin gaining over 200 yards each. An absolutely unexpected and awesome display, the likes of which I may never see again...Michigan State took out all the anger and frustration from the season ...

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...

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.

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 ...

Election night I drifted in and out of sleep plopped in front of the TV, but snapped immediately awake when i heard someone on NBC's coverage, at 11:00 PM, declare Obama the winner. It was one of the few moments in my life when I truly felt like I was witnessing history I was definitely teary-eyed when, at midnight, Obama delivered his acceptance speech in front of that amazing sea of people in Chicago. I'm not afraid to admit I was misty--the election of our first African-American President is a monumental achievement for this country. Obama also brings the promise of a new direction for the United States. I'm not naive enough to believe that one man alone can correct all that ills the country. This is an incredibly difficult time for anyone to become President. One thing is certain however--as of right now, world opinion of the U.S. just went up exponentially upon Obama's election. That's definitely a step in the right direction.

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...

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 ...