Why Michigan matters and other pre-game thoughts
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 myself not satisfied and wanting more.
It's hard for me to be too critical of those who, with no familial allegiance with either MSU or U of M, chose Michigan as their favorite team/school back in the seventies and eighties. MSU's only great year in football between 1967 and 1987 came in 1978, and because of probation MSU did not appear on television. It's almost as if the 1978 season never really happened.
Lesson learned from the 2004 game: never call anyone in celebration before the game has actually ended. More on that later.
Game time is almost upon us, I hope the football gods are smiling down upon the Spartans today.
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 myself not satisfied and wanting more.
It's hard for me to be too critical of those who, with no familial allegiance with either MSU or U of M, chose Michigan as their favorite team/school back in the seventies and eighties. MSU's only great year in football between 1967 and 1987 came in 1978, and because of probation MSU did not appear on television. It's almost as if the 1978 season never really happened.
Lesson learned from the 2004 game: never call anyone in celebration before the game has actually ended. More on that later.
Game time is almost upon us, I hope the football gods are smiling down upon the Spartans today.
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