brainsplotch

Hands down, my favorite sports moment of the entire year. Definitely worth watching again (and again, and again, and again).

Several weeks ago I quit with my fantasy football updates, because I was sure that nobody could possibly care whatsoever about what my fictional team was doing--and even I was getting bored with the updates. Anyone out there who remembers any of those fantasy football posts will recall that in my final update, I mentioned that my record was 6-2. Well I'm back to let everyone know that, for the first time since I started participating in the Schuler Books & Music Fantasy Football League, I won the title. I've been doing this for eight years, and have never sniffed first place before, but this year absolutely everything came together and I breezed to the championship. I had lots of luck all season, but also made plenty of roster moves that helped me along the way. I finished the regular season with a 12-2 record. In the playoffs, my luck continued: I was behind in my first round matchup, but got huge performances from Brandon Jacobs and Andre Johnson to pull ahead and win by ...

On January 1, the Michigan State football team will be playing against the Alabama Crimson Tide in the Capital One Bowl in Orlando, Florida. It marks the first meeting ever between the two schools. As everyone probably already knows, Alabama's coach Nick Saban was also head coach at MSU from 1995-1999. In addition, the Tide's special teams coach, Bobby Williams, was also an assistant under Saban at MSU and took over as head coach at State when Saban left for LSU, and Joe Pendry, also on Saban's staff at 'Bama, served under coach Muddy Waters at MSU from 1980-1981. Tuscaloosa could be rightfully called "SOUTH East Lansing". To add a little to the Spartan/Tide soap opera, MSU's head coach Mark Dantonio was linebackers coach under Saban at MSU throughout Saban's tenure in East Lansing. When Dantonio became head coach at MSU, both he and Saban went after running back Mark Ingram, Jr. from Flint. Ingram's father, Mark Sr. was an outstanding wide rec...

It drives me crazy that whenever I look at the posts I've just published, I have a ridiculous number of typos and spelling mistakes. I am not disciplined enough as a writer. I tend to write quickly and want to get it out there quickly, and I hate editing. It's not until I go back and see all the mistakes I've made that I see the true value of taking a deep breath, a step back, and EDITING. So, anyway, please accept my apologies. I will make it a New Year's resolution to be more diligent at checking for spelling mistakes and grammatical errors.

I know that all of you Big Ten football fans and loyal readers were just dying for the annual tradition handing out my Brainsplotch Big Ten Football Awards. Unlike the previous two years, in 2010 I will honor more than one defensive player. In 2008 and 2009, I was too flat-out lazy to break down defense and distribute multiple awards. I'm sure the Big Ten was extremely disappointed by my lack of comprehensive analysis. Hey, it's not like I'm getting paid to do this! You were restless with anticipation to see the players I selected, as I'm sure the players themselves can hardly wait to receive their "virtual" awards. Never fear, your wait is over...drum roll, please: Most Valuable Player: Denard Robinson, Michigan. There was not a single player in the conference who was more valuable to his team than Denard Robinson, the Wolverines' quarterback. With Michigan's defense and special teams as terrible as they were, it's hard to imagine how miserable t...

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...

I will be off to my sister-in-law's house in East Lansing for some great food, family, and those exasperating Detroit Lions. Can they pull of the upset against the Patriots? Highly doubtful even if Brian Hoyer has to play for Tom Brady. Anyway, I wish all my millions of readers a wonderful Thanksgiving.

I work at a library in the blue collar Midwest. We get an extremely broad mix of patrons: everyone from families, to elderly people, to folks desperately trying to find jobs and who use our computers in order to fill out applications and create resumes. I see so many people come in the library who have little idea about the very basics of using a computer. They don't know how to use the internet, they have no idea how to set up an email account, or use Microsoft Word. One would think that by the year 2010, most people would know the basics of computer usage, but this is not the case. There are so many people who are being left behind by our increasingly technological world. I'm not just talking about older folks, either. There are people in their thirties and even a few in their twenties who struggle with new technology. This is an even bigger issue recently because many companies and businesses only accept online applications. On Tuesday, a...

This wild and wooly Michigan State Spartan football season just keeps going. What an amazing come-from-behind win. We went to my parents' house in the Thumb for a (pre-Thanksgiving) Thanksgiving family get-together. When I stepped in the door a little after 12 o'clock noon, my dad announced that State had just scored the first touchdown. It seemed at that point that the Spartans would go on to roll the Boilermakers and have a fun, relaxing senior day...how wrong I was. The game went gradually downhill from there. By the time Michigan State was down 28-13 at the end of the third quarter, I was writing off the game as yet another of a long line of headscratching MSU football losses. The Spartans could do nothing right and nothing was going in their favor. Kirk Cousins was banged up and briefly left the game, meanwhile MSU had suddenly forgotten how to tackle, and were committing stupid penalties left and right. Once again, I thought (and said to my dad at one point) the Spartans...

I had a particularly long and grueling day at work, it wasn't necessarily bad, it just wore me out and it was such sweet relief to finally get in my car and drive home. My normal habit on the nightly drive home is to listen to NPR, generally WUOM 91.7 out of Ann Arbor, because that NPR station has a nice clear FM signal. However, the night before I'd been listening to the MSU basketball game on the way home, and hadn't bothered to change it to nice, staid, calm, relaxing NPR. Instead of the BBC NewsHour (or whatever is on at 6:00 PM), I was greeted by The Beatles' "The Ballad of John and Yoko." That was a pleasant surprise. I stopped across the street from work for gas, and when I finished it was John Lennon singing "Watching the Wheels," a song I didn't much like when it came out in 1980 but a song I've come to appreciate much more the older I become. I turned up the volume a little on that one. It soon became obvious that this was a L...

Two years ago, I apologized to those who may be reading this blog (and at this point I believe I've bored everyone to death and they've long sinced tuned out) about my football obsession. I'm truly sorry that I'm presenting myself as completely narrow-minded, but I have to admit that this time of year, with my favorite team and alma mater MSU having an excellent season, football is my obsession right now. My plan is to try and sprinkle this blog with a few non-football posts (we'll see how that goes). I want to write a post regarding the recent election and my observations of the political atmosphere in Michigan. Many blogs out there are devoted to the emotional lives and personal angst of the blogger. Hey, if that's what they want to write about, that's great. I'm all for it if it's done well, and there are some bloggers out there who do a wonderful job writing personal confessionals. I just don't think I'm comfortable with airing my dirty l...

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...

I didn't think MSU had a realistic shot at going undefeated, but I definitely didn't foresee the drubbing they took at Iowa. I now consider myself lucky that I had to work at the library yesterday, and did not have to subject myself to the pre-Halloween horror show put on by the Spartans. Hats off to the Hawkeyes, they definitely came to play, and it was exactly the scenario that I was afraid of after Iowa suffered their heartbreaking loss to Wisconsin last week. Iowa was angry and focused. The game exposed MSU's deficiencies that have been glossed over in their recent victories over Illinois and Northwestern. The running game has improved, but is still not where it needs to be. Kirk Cousins is not a great quarterback, but a very good quarterback still prone to making mistakes, and the secondary continues to be a liability. Michigan State also looks like a physically and emotionally tired group right now. This has been one rollercoaster of a season and the guys look li...

Not much time to write, since I have to work today. Unfortunately, my schedule has changed at work and now I must work one weekend per month. It's too bad that on the eve of MSU's biggest football game in 44 years, the big story was not the GAME itself, but the reinstatement of Chris L. Rucker. Everyone has to put in his or her two cents, and MSU has gotten a big black eye over this whole situation. Well, gotta run. Wish me a quick day at work and good luck to the Spartans.

Wow, yet another amazing win for the Spartans. They really had to dig deep to get it done against the Wildcats. Now it's on to Iowa to play a huge game against the Hawkeyes, in the hostile and crazed atmosphere of Kinnick Stadium. No doubt, the Hawkeyes will be ornery after their heartbreaking loss to Wisconsin. (I'm not sure whether to thank the Badgers or curse them. I'll go ahead and thank them for pinning a Big Ten loss on Iowa). I will be adding a little more to this entry when I get time.

Michigan State takes its undefeated record to Evanston to face the pesky Northwestern Wildcats. I expect a big crowd of Spartans to invade Ryan Field. Northwestern is a tough team to call. They are 5-1, but they have looked unimpressive in their wins, and lost at home to Purdue. I expect they will come to play, and their spread offense will keep the Spartans on their toes. I just don't expect the Wildcats to be able to make enough big plays, or the Spartans to make enough mistakes, for Northwestern to pull out a victory. However, this game does make me nervous. The Wilcats are certainly capable of winning. I'm going to assume MSU's athleticism and depth will be enough to give them a 37-24 victory. _______________________________________________ Awful first half. Is this SOS, Same Old Spartans? Bad tackling, no energy, inability to pick up third downs, Conroy misses his first field goal of the year. State needs to pick it up in the secon half or they will have their first lo...

No longer undefeated, a team beset with injuries and slammed by the dreaded bye weeks. I'm sitting at 5-1 now and have another slapped together team for this weekend. With the Jets, Texans, and Colts not playing this Sunday, I can't start Austin Collie, Braylon Edwards, or Andre Johnson. I will be starting such luminaries as Danario Alexander and the underperforming (and overshadowed by Terrell Owens) Chad Ocho Cinco. Could I be staring at 5-2?

I'm a big fan of National Public Radio, in fact I listen to it every single day, but I'm dismayed at their handling of the recent Juan Williams situation. They played directly into the hands of the right wing and the ilk at Fox by making themselves look the like the politically correct "thought police". Unless you've been living in a cave for the last four days, you're probably already familiar with what Juan Williams said on Fox News and NPR's response. (If you don't know what happened, why are you reading this?). I didn't particularly like what Juan Williams said on Fox (essentially, he stated that people he sees in airports, dressed in Muslim garb, make him "nervous"), although compared to some of the stuff that passes for political discourse on that network, it wasn't THAT egregious. (The readers of this blog, if there are any, may wish to argue that point). The broader issue is the aftermath of Williams' comments, and I did ...

Somebody pinch me, please. Tell me I'm not dreaming this up. Is the Michigan State football team really 7-0? What a ride this season has been thus far. The Spartans overcame first half miscues, unispired play, mental errors, and a terrific Illinois defense. They turned up their performance more than a notch in the second half and dominated the Illini. Now they stand as the only undefeated team in the Big Ten. Once again, somebody pinch me and tell me this isn't a dream. I started watching the game on our bedroom television, since the kids were playing Wii on the living room TV. With the Spartans behind 6-3 late in the first half (and they were lucky to only be down by a field goal), I knew I'd have to assume my "nervous nelly" Spartan football watching position in our basement, where I'd be relatively safe in screaming at the TV and whooping it up. I grabbed a beer out of the fridge, headed to the dungeon, and watched the second half. Thankfully, M...

My point total this week was the lowest it's been this season, but thanks to my opponent having an even lower point total, I was able to win yet again. My team is held together with duct tape at this point, with Knowshon Moreno still out and Andre Johnson still struggling with injuries. Phillip Rivers and Antonio Gates once again had excellent weeks, and Peyton Hillis made a solid contribution at the running back position.

It's been eleven years since Michigan State football started the season 6-0. The last time was 1999, and the next two weeks that followed that great start were not good for the Spartans. The team lost in successive weeks to Purdue (52-28), and eventual Big Ten champion Wisconsin (40-10). State eventually righted the ship and went on to a 10-2 final record, but those two ugly weeks cost the Spartans a shot at the conference title and a higher national ranking. Back in 1999, Michigan State couldn't handle the accolades that came with their great start. At that time, it'd been 33 years since MSU had a 6-0 start. (Coincidently, just like this year's team, that '99 squad topped off their great start with an emotional win over Michigan). Local sportscaster Tim Staudt often relates a story of Nick Saban telling him that he was worried about the Purdue game because he didn't think his players could handle the attention (and pressure) of being undefeated. I hope that th...

First of all, allow me to apologize for my hand-wringing, neurotic pre-game posts. If you've been reading this blog, you're probably used to it by now. Call it the most satisfying victory over Michigan in my lifetime. I had waited my entire 42 years on this earth to enjoy an absolutely dominating performance over the Wolverines. A game that left no doubt that the Spartans were the better team. Absolutely nothing for Michigan fans to complain about, they were served in their own stadium in front of 110,000 or so of their fans and supporters. I never thought I'd live to see the day when MSU would defeat Michigan in football three consecutive years. Reading some Michigan Wolverine football blogs and it's clear their fans don't like Dantonio. It's at least partly because Dantonio had the audacity to call out the Wolverines after Mike Hart's infamous "little brother" comment after the 2007 game. Michigan fans are miffed that Dantonio didn't realize ...

Trying to fight off pre-game jitters. I feel as if I'm playing, when in reality I have no control over the outcome of a game between 18-22 year old athletes. Whtether we want to admit it or not, Michigan State people feel that we are the "little brother" in comparison with our snooty brethren in Ann Arbor. We do perceive arrogance, imagined or not, in the folks from the University of Michigan. (Although, in my experience, the most annoying Michigan fans are the ones who never actually attended the school). Though I'm proud of MSU's history as a land grant institution and the advances it made in scientific agriculture, the "Moo U" epithet I hear still stings. It's difficult having the winningest program in college football history only an hour's drive from us. Whether we should or not, we at MSU are always trying to measure up with U of M. Three wins in a row over Michigan would be incredible. I never thought I'd see two in a row, but I find...

After some nifty maneuvering to avoid the pitfalls of the first NFL bye week, I'm happy to report that my team won again and I am now 4-0. I picked up Mike Nugent, who was my kicker for the week, as well as the Tennessee defense. Both performed admirably for me. New running back Peyton Hillis was solid, and I had another outstanding week from tight end Antonio Gates. If I can just get Andre Johnson and Knowshon Moreno back and healthy, I should keep on rolling (knock on wood). Aside from some minor injuries to the forementioned Johnson and Moreno, my team has been injury-free, which has not been the case in previous years.

It's Michigan week, and with it comes my annual hand-wringing, angst-filled, pre-game post. This is the most anticipated Michigan State/Michigan football game since 1999, when both teams entered the game at 6-0. This season, both teams are 5-0 and in the upper reaches of the top 20. There are some intriguing storylines with both teams. On one hand, you have the dazzling Denard Robinson and his quest for a possible Heisman Trophy and on the other hand, there is Michigan State's "rallying of the troops" after Mark Dantonio's heart attack after the amazing Notre Dame victory. I'm nervous about this game. I'm always nervous about this game. I've seen too many MSU losses against Michigan to EVER get overly confident. Denard Robinson scares me. He is a fabulous player and I'm astounded by his improvement from last year to this year. And, despite what some people have been saying, Michigan is not a one-man team. Stonum, Roundtree, Hemingway, and Odoms are...

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...

Amazingly, incredibly, I am off to a 3-0 start. This is the best start I've ever had in fantasy football, and now I feel the stakes have been raised. It's not enough for me to halfheartedly meander through the season hoping to finish with a record above .500. Now, I need to make a concerted effort to do really well this year. If not win the league title, at least finish in the top three. I had low expectations for week three based on how minor injuries and silly behavior seemed to be hampering my team. I knew Brandon Jacobs wasn't going to play much for the Giants (and he didn't) and I did not expect Braylon Edwards to get on the field for the Jets (he did, surprisingly, and caught two passes, one of which was for a touchdown). Knowshon Moreno was hurt and didn't play. Consequently, I received no production from my backfield, but other players on my team picked up the slack. Philip Rivers racked up big passing yardage for the Chargers, and his teammate, tight end An...

I'm just now getting this fantasy football update on the blog and I know you've all been dying with anticipation. I'm off to a 2-0 start in the Schuler Books & Music League, and that is probably my best start ever. Last week, I got a great week from Philip Rivers (that draft pick is looking good so far). Knowshon Moreno and Andre Johnson also had nice weeks for me. I'm a little bit concerned though because various members of my team are either banged up or are behaving like fools. Most notably, Braylon Edwards was arrested last week on a DWI charge. That's what I get for drafting a former Michigan Wolverine: bad kharma. Brandon Jacobs of the Giants got into some trouble for throwing his helmet into the stands in Indianapolis. It was an incredibly stupid move on his part, and he's been demoted to second-string running back. With Knowshon Moreno hurt this weekend and not starting, I was forced to put Jacobs in my lineup but have a feeling he may not do much fo...

A few days ago, I was listening to a podcast of NPR's "All Songs Considered," which, by the way, is a great show for music geeks out there. This particular show focused on great lead-off tracks from albums (remember those things called "albums"?). That got me to thinking about some of my favorite first songs from albums that I like. Here are a few I came up with, with some of my own commentary (that I will try to add as I get the time--so we'll see how that goes). I may add more to this list as I think of them. If anyone out there is reading this, I'd like to hear yours. "So What"--Miles Davis, Kind of Blue (A classic track in its own right that sets the mood for one of the greatest albums in jazz history). "Break on Through (to the other side)"--The Doors, The Doors (This may as well be The Doors' theme song, a darker version of "Hey, hey, we're the Monkees," if you will. One of the bands' hardest rocking ...

Michigan State defeated Notre Dame, 34-31, with the winning touchdown coming on a fake field goal in overtime. I've seen quite a few Michigan State football games in my time, but the finish of Saturday's MSU/Notre Dame game was the best that I've ever seen, and I doubt that I'll ever see a more exciting finish to a Spartan football game. Random thoughts on the game: It's too bad that the excitement and stress of that game may have contributed to Mark Dantonio having a heart attack. We all wish him a speedy recovery. Everyone thinks of Dantonio as being perhaps the most conservative coach in college football, and he threw everyone off, particularly Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly, with that fake field goal to win the game. Nobody in Spartan Stadium and nobody watching on television (including me) expected that play call. Who is the genius coach now? Before the season started, one would have thought Brian Kelly was the second coming of Knute Rockne. Now a 1-2 start, with...

This past Sunday, the Detroit Lions proved once again that the Football Gods hate them, as one of the most spectacular end zone touchdown catches I've ever witnessed was incredibly/incredulously ruled a non-catch because Calvin Johnson flicked the ball out of the end zone in celebration. This little flicking/dropping of the football--the NFL rules call this a "second act" or some such vague bullshit--was what nullified what rightfully should have been the probable winning score against the Bears. I qualify this as the "probable" winning touchdown because, after all, we're talking about the Lions here--they could have easily given up a score to the Bears in the final seconds of the game and lost. As we all know, the Lions are much better at losing than winning. By this point, enough has been written about this controversial play to fill a book as long as War and Peace , so I don't know what I have to add. I'll simply present my perspective as a Detr...

A win for me in the first weekend of the fantasy football/NFL season. Phillip Rivers, the quarterback I had trepidation over drafting, turned out to be my one of highest scorers of the week tide with my receiver, Chad Ochocinco, at 21 points), and his fellow Charger tight end Antonio Gates did well, too. If San Diego's defense continues to struggle, it may mean that the Chargers will have to throw the ball more, which (barring interceptions) will help me. I didn't get much production from my running backs, although Knowshon Moreno had a fairly decent game with 12 points. I'm also thrilled that my final round draft pick, Austin Collie, had an outstanding game for the Colts. It looks like the Indianapolis offense will have to do everything possible to make up for the team's terrible defense, so this should help Collie's receiving numbers--good news for me. I'll be holding tight with my roster this week. No injuries, nothing is broken yet, so there is really no n...

I thought of doing this last year, but for whatever reason (laziness?) never actually did it. This may be a complete snooze for most people out there, assuming anyone is still reading this blog, but I thought it'd be fun to keep a weekly journal of my experiences in my fantasy football league: the (sometime) ups and (usual) downs of the (geeky) life of a fantasy football owner. This year marks my eighth season in the Schuler Books Fantasy Football League. I have never won a league title, and I chalk this up to a combination of bad luck and a little bit of my own indifference. I'm not the type of fantasy football owner who is checking the stats every week, monitoring the waiver wire, and wheeling and dealing elaborate trades to improve my team. I am in fantasy football more for the camaraderie than the desire to win the league title. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to be league champion--particularly because there is money involved in our league--but the problem is I just d...