Posse Incitatus

Dantonio does the right thing

In my younger days, I was often harshly critical of college coaches who tolerated any kind of misbehavior from their student athletes. Being on the team was a privilege, not a right.

Thus, any infraction that brought disrepute on the team and university should be strongly and harshly punished.

Ah, for the certitudes of youth! What a luxury it was to not have many any mistakes!

The older I’ve gotten, the more I’ve come to realize that screwing up is as inevitable as breathing – the question is how you respond to your mistakes. A zero-defect mentality quickly becomes a zero-accomplishment reality.

Thus, when I heard about Glenn Winston’s involvement in the fracas with the hockey team, I (like many fans) wondered whether he should be allowed back on the team. Coach Mark Dantonio announced that he had learned his lesson and changed his ways. And for a while, it seemed this was so.

Similarly, Roderick Jenrette had still-undisclosed “personal issues” to work out last season. Again, the coach gave him space and presumably guidance to take care of things.

And then there comes this story of a dorm brawl. The details aren’t clear, but both Winston and Jeanrette are off the team. Permanently.

This is as it should be. The wheels of justice will continue to grind forward, but Dantonio’s actions are exactly right: no benefit of the doubt, no third chance. All he needed to know was that they were somehow, tangentially involved. They knew the stakes and now their athletic careers here are over.

Incidents like this are always wonderful opportunities for opposing fans to taunt each other, but I think MSU is on firm ground here. You screw up? We can help. You do it again, you’re on your own.

Lest people forget, collegiate sports aren’t about creating pro athletes. Most college athletes won’t go pro. What college sports really do is give solid life experiences to those that participate. In the right circumstances, the afterglow can last a lifetime.

Successful coaches are more than trophy-winners, they are mentors. One of the reason Tom Izzo is so worshipped here is that he does more than win games – he helps his players. Always, in every way. He wants them to succeed on and off the court.

Dantonio is cut of the same cloth. He knew Winston and Jenrette had issues. He cut them slack. He went out of his way to help. And they effectively threw it back in his face.

That doesn’t mean he should have made the offer; it merely means they should have taken that chance more seriously.

And now, basketball season

I remember when the Big Ten was a football conference.  No more.  They are rapidly losing ground to the MAC in terms of gridiron prowess, but at least the hardwood belongs to the Conference That Can't Count.

What can one say about the regular football season that has finally, mercifully drawn to a close?

For the Spartans, it was almost as bitter as the John L. Smith days, a series of disasters punctuated by moments of glory. We can comfort ourselves by saying that MSU was three plays away from being 9-3, but the Spartans were also two more plays from being 4-8.  Those moments add up, and part of moving to the next level is being the kind of team that captures those moments.

Mark Dantonio has his work cut out for him, and part of that work is educating his staff.  They need more strategy.  Discipline will only go so far; the Spartans also need some skilled generalship.  Too many plays were botched in the booth, from the senseless quarterback rotation to the pig-headed insistence on establishing the run when it simply wasn't going to happen.

Still, next year the Spartan faithful have much to look forward to.  The senior class is taking few standouts and both running back and QB positions will show marked improvement.  Keith Nichol by now should be the backup, but his skills should not be overlooked.  During the off season, Dantonio should look at using him for special plays or as a slot receiver.  He's fast and has a good arm - putting both Cousins and Nichol on the field at the same time would give opposing defensive coordinators fits.

Hopefully they will use the bowl as a chance to open up the playbook.

Meanwhile, the snow in Ann Arbor is about six feet deep.  I suppose a victory lap is in order regarding my March 25 5-7 prediction, and we'll have to wait a few weeks to see if coach RichRod will last into the new year.  As I said before, the question is how the NCAA investigation goes.  If sanctions are likely, RichRod is toast.  Stick a fork in 'im, he's done.

As a good Spartan fan, I should at this point remind what few readers I have that like the Skunk Bears that I hope he stays on indefinately.  This is a long and storied rivalry and it will take years of MSU victories to tip it in our favor.  So keep him, please.

Final weekend

I missed the MSU game due to unexpected travel plans, and it's probably just as well: my heart probably couldn't take another close-run game.  Still, better to win ugly than lose ugly.

Penn State will close out the season and MSU has a fair chance of pulling off the upset.  Unlike last year, we have yet to be blown off the football field.  Unfortunately, we're also beating ourselves in frustratingly close games.  Without these friendly fire incidents, we'd be 9-2 rather than 6-5.  Oh well, the Spartans still have a decent chance at a decent bowl game - though at this point we have to take what we can get.

Down the road in Ann Arbor, the wheels are really coming off the wagon.  Last spring, I ventured a bold prediction that will likely be half-correct: the Skunk Bears are poised to go 5-7 though RichRod will likely survive to pound the last ounce of prestige from the program - and set some new (losing) records.

This was not a popular position to take in September, but oh how the mighty have fallen.  It's like John L. Smith is running the show down there (4-0 start and 1-7 finish).  The fact that the OSU game starts at noon speaks volumes - it's almost an afterthought.  A far cry from the prime-time showdowns of years gone by.

I still think RichRod would be given the axe but for Athletic Director Bill "Do you know who I am?!!" Martin essentially serving as a human shield until his retirement next September.  Obviously Martin is loathe to give the guy he hired the sack and then look for a replacement at this stage.  So RichRod will probably be whacked a year from now, though if he is able to crawl into a bowl game before then, he may survive to delight Spartan fans for years go come.

The Puck Stops Here

My beloved Detroit Red Wings did something few people expected them to do last night: Lost game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals at home, where they usually are so dominant.

Hats off to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the 2009 Stanley Cup champions, and the team Detroit defeated a year ago this month in the Finals.  Pittsburgh is a younger team and was healthier than the Wings, who were hobbled by injuries to key players in recent weeks. 

But no excuses: Pittsburgh apparently wanted it more, and outplayed Detroit when it counted, becoming the first team to win a Finals game 7 on the road in 38 years. (It’s also worth noting that Pittsburgh won an earlier round of the playoffs by defeating the Washington Capitals in a game 7 road contest.)

Hey, Pittsburgh folk must be really getting to like the Motor City. Three-and-a-half years ago, the Steelers won Super Bowl XL at Ford Field in Detroit.  The Pitt Panthers college basketball team narrowly missed playing in the Final Four at Ford Field by losing 78-76 to Villanova in an Elite Eight match-up.

An interesting side note: Red Wings forward Marian Hossa played for the Penguins in 2007-2008.  He turned down Pittsburgh’s lucrative long-term contract offer to sign a one-year contract with the Red Wings for 2008-2009, figuring it was his best chance to win a Stanley Cup.  He was roundly booed whenever Detroit played at Pittsburgh. And following his lackluster performance during the playoffs, he must have felt awful as he lined up with his teammates to shake hands with the new Stanley Cup champions.

The fate of Hossa and the Red Wings parallels much of what’s been going down in our state during the past 9 months or so.

Michigan had been suffering a one-state recession for five years or so before the nation plunged into recession last fall.  Our pain has intensified with the Wall Street meltdown, credit freeze, and bankruptcies of General Motors and Chrysler.

When it rains, it pours.  Starting early in 2008, former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his chief of staff were embroiled in a sordid sex scandal, the tracks of which were electronic (text messages sent over city communication devices for several years).  The fallout was hideous: An out-of-court settlement on a whistleblower lawsuit, perjury convictions, the tarnishing of several police officials' reputations, millions of dollars shelled out by the city of Detroit for the settlement and attorney fees, and months of bad press in the national media. Mercifully, the disgraceful Kilpatrick resigned, and thankfully, he and his aide, Christine Beatty, both spent time in the slammer. He's now trying to weasel his way out of paying restitution to the city.

The drumbeat of bad news continued throughout the fall and winter.  Last fall, the Detroit Lions became the first team in NFL history to complete an entire season without a victory, and the normally competitive Michigan Wolverines football team had one of its worst seasons in history, finishing 3-9 and losing at home to Mid-American Conference bottom feeder Toledo.  It was the first time the Wolverines did not play in a bowl game in about 40 years, I believe.

Adding insult to injury, the winter of 2008-2009 was particularly brutal, with bitter cold temperatures starting before Thanksgiving (much earlier than normal) and near record snow accumulation.

Meanwhile, some economists predict Michigan’s nation-leading 12.9 percent unemployment rate will soar to as high as 20 percent now that two of the Big Three domestic auto producers have filed for bankruptcy.  Remember, there are parts suppliers, dealerships, tool and die shops, and many other spinoff businesses.

Wish us luck; we’re going to need it.

Spartans throw Cardinals down well

Ah, the sweet afterglow of victory.

Louisville (pronounced Lou-UH-ville) had already made their hotel reservations for the Final Four in Detroit, and certainly the national press figured today's game would be little more than a speed bump on their glorious path to the national title.

And then the Spartans got to play with them.  I'm not an expert on basketball, what with being new to the sport and all, but this game was amazingly lop-sided.  I could feel the dominance of MSU radiating from my television, and the frustration of Rick Pitino's squad was almost tangible.  Memo to the Big East - this is what defense looks like.

Anyhow, hopefully my beloved Spartans will have plenty left over for UCONN next week.  Coach Tom Izzo has now achieved both of his goals for this year:  the Big Ten championship and a Final Four appearance.  Sure would be nice to win the whole thing, though.

GO STATE!

Let the madness begin

Well, congrats to the Spartans on their No. 2 seed. I didn’t see their meltdown against Ohio State, and I have to say I’m far from optimistic about their chances.

Does the team have talent? Sure. It’s loaded with talent, but it’s inconsistent. Even Coach Tom Izzo is at a loss in terms of where these guys are going from moment to moment.

Consider: They won the first outright Big Ten championship since 1999. They also have an outstanding record on the road.

Yet…their loss to UNC was the second worst of Izzo’s career…their losses to Penn State and Northwestern at home marked the first time either squad beat MSU in Breslin.

So are they historically good or historically bad? This team is essentially bipolar.

If they are motivated and firing on all cylinders, even Louisville has cause to be worried. But if they aren’t, they’ll be lucky to get past the second round.

Oh, and congrats as well to the Skunk Bears.  I thought Minnesota would be good for at least ONE win against 'em, but i was wrong.

What, me worry?

I've been taking it easy for the past few days blogging-wise.  Competition around the ranch for the home computer has been fierce, but more importantly there isn't much worth commenting on.

Consider:  Our new Secretary of State's primary qualification is that she is married to an ex-president.  They've received hundreds of millions of dollars from foreign officials and potentates, but we can trust her to be objective and not be influenced by any of it.

Meanwhile, the nominee for Treasury Secretary forgot to pay his taxes for years, but didn't forget to take the money his employer set to pay them.  All an "honest mistake," of course.

If you think about it, I mean, really think about it, your head would explode.  Words fail me.  We've heaved so many adjectives at the press and their sycophantic relationship with the Dems, and Obama in particular, but they aren't even bothering to wipe their chins any more.

I'd like to comment on Spartan basketball, but the sport is a mystery to me.  The refs, the calls, the players, I just don't get it.  Good on MSU for beating Penn State, that's all I can really offer.

I'm a fortnight late, but I resolve this year to make the Posse a more gun-oriented blog.  Trips to the range have been few and far between, and I mean to change that.  Gun reviews will also be happening more often. 

And now...University of Michigan basketball

Congrats to the Wolverines on their upset win over Penn State.  Of course at this point, any win they get is an upset.