I was too busy to post about this, but it needs to be said: This was the weekend of upsets.
MSU stumbled (again) against a sub-par team they should have put away and, well, we all know what happened when Plaxico Burress went against Tom Brady in the Big Game.
Happy (belated) New Year. As is usual, I was taking time with the family and not paying terribly close attention to the blog.
I was among the Spartan faithful who watched the...amazing...performance by Brian Hoyer at the Champs Sports Bowl (via satellite, unfortunately).
Five turnovers. Five.
Coach Dantonio insists he's the guy for next year, but...geez. Still, I guess it would be ungenerous to pile on at this point.
Adding insult to injury, Michigan won (though I did enjoy Mike Hart's fumble-rama).
Oh well, the new season is only nine short months away.
Well, what a difference a couple of weeks make.
I was pretty hard on Brian Hoyer, but after Saturday's victory over Penn State, I think it was justified. Hoyer has a good QB within him, he just needs to let the poor guy out. I was pleasantly surprised by his performance in the second half. Some of those passes were NFL-calibre and if he looks like that at the beginning of next season, the Spartans may be Big Ten title contenders.
Meanwhile, down the road at the Other School, the bathos has reached epic proportions. C'mon guys, get over it. I know of no other nationally recognized athletic program that is so deeply in denial about its shortcomings. Seriously, Bo Schembechler died more than a year ago and they still haven't bothered to clean out the man's office.
Please. Let go. Dr. Sanity is from Ann Arbor. Maybe she can help.
Ugh. No, I didn't watch the Big Game. I heard part of it on the radio in the car and had to change the dial before I wrecked.
Instead I watched the LSU-Alabama game to see if Nick $aban would get his comeuppance. He did, proving that there is some justice in this crazy world.
MSU's next stop is West Lafayette, also known as Pardieu to those of us in the Green and White. I predict my beloved Spartans will get routed because that's what they usually do after dropping a big game, but maybe Dantonio will surprise me.
Discipline remains a problem, something that will take time to solve. But another, apparently overlooked, weakness is that Brian Hoyer simply isn't that good. He's lousy, actually. I don't mean to be cruel, but he is a thoroughly sub-par quarterback. He isn't mobile, or accurate, or all that savvy. It must drive Jim Miller nuts to do the color commentary and think to himself "If only I had an offensive line and running backs like this when I was there." Miller was of course a very good quarterback, not very mobile but accurate and strong. I always enjoyed watching him play.
I don't see Hoyer amounting to much and think that one of the backups may well vie for the starting job next year.
Meanwhile, I notice Mr. Michigan Man is spouting off again. You'd think the Appalachian State loss might have given him some notion of humility, but then again, this is a COLLEGE STUDENT who presumes to sit in judgement of retired NFL greats.
Here's to hoping Jim Tressel and the Buckeyes teach the Wolverines that there's another lop-sided rivalry in the Big Ten that makes them look like the "little brother."
The annual matchup against Michigan has me less inspired than usual. The pathetic meltdown in Iowa pretty much soured me on the season.
Of course, this is THE game, the rivalry game, and despite abysmal coaching and nonexistant discipline my beloved Spartans have managed to at least make a game of it.
My predictions have generally been off so I'll spare myself the humiliation and just content myself with hopes for a win.
GO STATE, BEAT MICHIGAN.
Okay, the Spartans pulled it out. It was a damn close run thing, but the final 52-27 score hides the fact that MSU fans are total pessimists at this point. The fact that sportswriters describe Indiana as "threatening" when they cut MSU's lead to a mere 18 points speaks volumes.
Next up: Ohio State. This one could go either way. MSU hasn't done well on the road, well, ever. But we did pull off that upset in 1998, so maybe we can do it again. Certainly this OSU squad hasn't had a real test this year. We may as well give it a go.
Fearless prediction: A blowout. Either MSU completely folds up and assumes the fetal position or it will hammer the Buckeyes into the turf.
The recent heat wave seems to be a fleeting thing. "Indian summer" they used to call it (now they blame it on global warming).
Still, there are certain "signs of the season" as it were. The leaves are changing. The air has more bite. The Spartans are losing.
What is it with October in East Lansing? Next week MSU will face a fairly weak Indiana squad (if that isn't redundant, I don't know what is) but this will still be a struggle. Could go either way.
I've been pretty busy of late and have recovered from MSU's heartbreaking predictable last-minute loss to an inferior opponent by watching 300 over and over again. It's still an awesome movie, and holds up well.
And, unlike our Michigan State Spartans, they stick with the fight the whole way through (though Leonidas' last toss is, like Brian Hoyer's, lamentably off-target).
I wisely decided not to jinx my beloved Spartans and have been rewarded with a solid win - and the longest winning streak by an opponent in South Bend.
There are those of the Blue-Aid drinking persuasion (worshippers of the false-god Skunk Bear) who will point out that Notre Dame didn't put up much of a fight and that the Other School managed to shut them out.
To this we can only smile indulgently and point out that a win is a win. While some may question the quality of Michigan State's opponents, we Spartan fans take at least some small satisfaction in knowing that while beating a MAC team doesn't bring a lot of glory, it beats the hell out of losing to a Division-IAA one.
On to Wisconsin!
For the record, I pick Notre Dame over Michigan, 13-10.
Cheer up. By this time next week, one of your teams will have won a game.
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