brainsplotch

This is a photo, published on the Lansing State Journal's web site, of a clearly emotional Tom Izzo hugging Earvin "Magic" Johnson after MSU's 70-69 win over Tennessee. Looking at this picture, it's hard for me not to get choked up, just like Coach Izzo. What an exhilirating, tension-filled, amazing game today. Same can be said about this entire tournament. Just an astounding journey for the Spartans to a most improbable Final Four. After the game, I was thinking of all the Final Fours in the Tom Izzo era, and how they made me feel. This was has to be the most special for me personally. 1999 was great because it was the first one, and none of the national pundits were predicting MSU, the upstart, to get past Kentucky, the defending national champion. I'll never forget being glued to my TV screen, watching Morris Peterson calmly sink a seemingly endless string of free throws to ice that game. 2000 was a great run by a great team that was on a mission to win it...

We're less than an hour from tip-off of Michigan State's Elite Eight matchup against Tennessee. Is there still magic left? Do our guys have enough left in the tank to get past this game and on to another, most improbable, Final Four? MSU basketball continues to amaze me. Tom Izzo's brilliance as a coach continues to bowl me over. This is a team that lost it's starting point guard for the season, has a forward (Delvon Roe) whose knee is in excruciating pain, a guard (Chris Allen) who is still nursing* a sprained arch. The team is getting valuable minutes out of a walk-on from Okemos High School (Mike Kebler). It's essentially a team that is seemingly held together with duct tape (or, maybe more appropriately, athletic tape). Yet, somehow, they've continued to win gutty game after gutty game in this NCAA tournament. Korie Lucious has exceeded most everyone's expectations and has been brilliant at point guard. Draymond Green has established himself as the team...

As I write this, the Michigan State basketball team is preparing to play the Northern Iowa Panthers in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA tournament. It's MSU's ninth Sweet Sixteen appearance in the last 13 years. Pretty remarkable. The team is banged up, battered, and practically held together by duct tape as they enter this game. Kalin Lucas is out for the season, Chris Allen and Delvon Roe are nursing ailments, while Raymar Morgan had dental surgery to fix a broken tooth suffered in the Maryland game. I am hopeful that they can somehow conjure up some of the magic that got them past Maryland last weekend, but it may be difficult for them to do so against a tough Northern Iowa team. Regardless of what happens tonight, it's been another great year for the MSU basketball team. Today, as I was out walking during my break at work, I was struck by the fact that there is an entire generation of Michigan high school hoops prospects who don't remember a time when MSU was not good-...