Just go the distance

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 my previous post, it's been one odd and exhilarating year in college football, particularly in Big Ten country. Regardless of what happens in tomorrow's Penn State game, it's been a wonderful year for Michigan State. They have already exceeded any reasonable expectations and will be headed to a nice warm-weather bowl game.

As far as tomorrow's MSU/PSU game goes, I really don't expect the Spartans to win. To use another Rocky analogy, I just want the Spartans to "go the distance." (As fans of that movie will remember, all Rocky Balboa wanted to do was make it all fifteen rounds against the heavily- favored champion Apollo Creed). I'd be satisfied if the Spartans hung with the Nittany Lions and made them sweat until the final gun. I don't mean to say that I don't want MSU to win (of course I do), but let's face it, the cards are really stacked against them in this game. (Okay, that is one of the world's most overused cliches. I apologize for using it). They haven't won in State College since Duffy was coach and Lyndon Johnson was President. But, hey, this has been a year when a slew of long-standing streaks have ended (Michigan's bowl streak and MSU's Ann Arbor losing streak to name a few), so who knows?

I have always believed that Michigan State was a sleeping giant in football. There is absolutely no reason why, with the advantages and facilities MSU has, that the school should not be a consistent power in the Big Ten. I don't expect the Spartans to be winning Big Ten titles every year, but it's not unrealistic to believe that MSU can consistently finish in the upper half of the Big Ten and occasionally take a conference crown. MSU has finally found a coach who looks like he'll fulfill this promise.

Allow me to comment on the Michigan Wolverines football situation. Like many others, I'm astounded at how far Michigan has fallen this year. I know that the Wolverines lost several star players who are now on NFL rosters (Henne, Hart, Long, and Manningham in particular--and it must also be noted that Ryan Mallett transferred), but how is it possible that Michigan is so devoid of talent that they can't even win more than 3 measly games? I googled "Michigan Wolverines 2005 recruiting class ranking" (since those players would be seniors this year) and found that Sports Illustrated ranked Michigan's class #2 in the nation. For those who are interested, here's the link:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/football/ncaa/scout.top25/

Of those signees, two big ones (Mario Manningham and Kevin Grady) are out of the mix. Manningham, of course, is in the NFL and Grady has had both legal and injury problems limiting his playing time. The other players mentioned by SI, I must admit, I've never even heard of--so all you Michigan fans out there tell me how much they're contributing this year.

Oh, by the way, Michigan State's 2005 recruiting class isn't anywhere in the Top 25 (big surprise, eh), but includes big 2008 contributors like Javon Ringer, Otis Wiley, Deon Curry, and Kendall Davis-Clark to name a few. It makes you wonder if these recruiting rankings are based more on perception than reality.

Well, this post has become excessively long (and I probably still haven't touched on everything I wanted to discuss) so I'll wrap it up now. If I'm not too tired tonight, I'll do another installment of "My Spartan Memories," as I know everyone is dying to read more of my blathering about MSU football.