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2003 archive :: 2002 archive :: 2001 archive MSU and Asst:TO ratio in the 2008 conference season (2008 Mar 19)--Click on the image below and look at the ES' analysis of MSU's assist:turnover ratio. You make up your mind on this data, but it certainly demonstrates MSU's proclivity for more TOs relative to assists on the road than at home; especially the last half of the season. Note that off-the-chart data is the absurd game at Wisky where they had a school record 1 turnover.
ES Thoughts on MSU-Wisky (2008 Mar 15)---""I want this to hurt every bit as much as it does," he said, "so I can remember every frickin' minute of it." Read Drew Sharp calling out the refs for robbing MSU on Saturday. Losing on the last shot to the Big Ten champs doesn't make you a bad team. Rather, I think this is a very good team, as good as any team as we've had the past 7 years; the potential for more was always there, but it doesn't make us a bad team. Maybe inconsistent, but we're still 25-8. I think that is pretty good. Izzo was in tears -- seriously; he was also in disbelief... it will be nice to get out of the Big Ten. I would argue that last dozen or so fouls on MSU were ticky-tacky and should have been called both ways, but were not. And we still almost won with four of our best players fouled out. The article in the Lansing State Journal on the wrap up is as good as any. I think that there needs to be a little more compassion on these kids -- they are college students after all. And saying that "is their problem; or they need to get over it; etc." isn't really fair, either. The folks that are negative on this team are the same ones who were negative on MSU before we went to the Final Four three years ago. I say - they should root for Northwestern or Michigan or Iowa. We're spoiled. And that is the gods-honest truth. Spoiled rotten. Rarely did we ever have a team this good under Jud (sweet 16 with Steve Smith was the furthest we made while I was in school). Now, if we have a team that ends up 4th in the Big Ten, "we suck." ???? Come on, gimme a break. Let's support the team and lighten up. These kids were CRUSHED yesterday. Only if you saw the game, could you see how HARD the Spartans were working. They couldn't have played much better. To say "they should have or could have" is nonsense; or, "the good teams always find a way to win" neglects the other side of the coin in a 30-game season... MSU is a good team, just not AS good on Saturday. They are 20 year-olds, for godsakes. They left it all on the floor, and if you saw the game you saw a championship slugfest. My bet is that MSU will go further than Wisconsin once the fouls are called evenly. These two teams were virtually tied yesterday -- dead even. To say otherwise is nonsense. Again, it is easy to be pessimistic... but, I would bet most schools would wish to be in our shoes. I'll take that. If we sucked and were a bad team, we wouldn't be going to the NCAA tourney. People need to really consider their OWN expectations and how this team meets them... sure we could have performed better this year, but we were 25-8!!!! I would like to know if these folks think that we SUCK in football too at 7-6 this year. People are more disappointed out of our 25-8 basketball team than our 7-6 football team... which is ABSURD. Big Ten Tourney Should Be in Detroit (2008 Mar 13)--Since they started the Big Ten tournament in 1998, it has been housed in two locations (Indy, Chicago) fan friendly to the western teams in the conference. The ES sez it is high time that the Big Ten move this tourney around, and the Palace in Auburn Hills and the metro Detroit area certainly should be considered worthy of the tournmaent. The Final Four will be hosted at Ford Field in a few years, NCAA tourney games have been held successfully at the Palace (including the regionals this year)... there really is no reason why the Big Ten can't move to Michigan for a year or two. If the Big Ten considers itself an all-inclusive conference, it would move this tourney around... Detroit ain't THAT far away. Too often MSU has received the shaft in conference scheduling, and it also gets the shaft with tourney play in Chi-town or Indy. A Big Ten tourney in Detroit would only be fair to us fans further East. Purdue, Indiana, Illinois, Northwestern, and Wisconsin are all in very close proximity to Indy and Chicago. Moving to Detroit would put scUM, MSU, Ohio State in short distance, and also reduce the travel for JoePa. It's our turn. MSU Football in March? Five questions to ponder (2008 Mar 8)--Amazing, with hoops March Madness all around us, but Michigan State is about ready to join its Big Ten brethren in Spring football practice. MSU's Spring game is slated for 1:30 pm on April 19 in Spartan Stadium. Illinois:
March 24-April 19 What about MSU? The first five questions that the ES has entering Spring ball: 1. How will the Doctor manage revamping the defensive line? Clearly, MD showed he could do a lot with little, as MSU actually had a pass rush - 37 sacks, including 10 from Jonal St Dic and 7.5 from Ervin Baldwin. MSU also had an impressive 92 tackles for loss. This, with roughly the same personnel as John L Smith, who managed just 16 sacks and 61 TFL in 2006. Now, Brandon Long, Justin Kershaw, Antonio Jeremiah, and Oren Wilson need to find the QB. And, Who is Trevor Anderson? Can this be the answer at DL, a guy who sat out a year after leading Cincy in sacks under Mark Dantonio? 2. How are the linebackers? Greg Jones and Eric Gordon surpassed expectations last year at LB as super frosh, and sophomore Adam Decker filled in nicely at times. Can this young corps take it to the next level... and, have they added the brawn? This has the makings of one of the Big Ten's best LB corps growing into its own. 3. Who will replace all-world Devin Thomas at WR? Junior Blair White (#25) has the wheels and is super fast, but we all saw him drop several wide open passes in the Champs Bowl. The Spartans will turn first to Deon Curry, Ryan Allison, and Carl Grimes. Certainly, incoming super talent Fred Smith has a chance to crack the lineup as a true fresh. Can Smith make the strides at wideout? 4. Will a solid offensive line kick it up a notch to be among the Big Ten's best? MSU had a capable and effective offensive line last year... now, little used Rocco Cironi and Mike Bacon join an experienced Roland Martin, Joel Nitchman and Jesse Miller. Can this line gouge holes for a 1,500+ season for Javon Ringer... the potential is there. When one considers the work of the Doctor on the offensive and defensive lines with leftovers from JLS, he certainly has demonstrated effective coaching where it matters most: on the front lines, with the beef. 5. Can Brian Hoyer get over the hump and play more consistently? Hoyer has shown he has the ability to make big throws and make solid decisions -- his games vs Purdue and Joe Pa demonstrate his arm and his sure-headedness. However, Hoyer had his two worst games at the most inopportune times: MSU's two most important games (vs scUM, Bowl Game vs Boston Coll). In five of MSU's tight losses, he didn't make the throws late in the game, or was not in the right position, to make the plays to win. Hoyer needs to be smart and make the throws a full 60 minutes. If he can't get over the hump, are either big rock, Nick Foles or the speedy Connor Dixon read to take over? Scout.com has as good of a skinny as any so far: "The most important position to watch is ... Wide receiver. It was hardly a shock to lose Devin Thomas early to the NFL, but it still hurts. Also gone is an excellent target in tight end Kellen Davis, so while receiver was a major focus in the recruiting class, getting a future star in Fred Smith, it's obviously going to take at least a year for the good haul to contribute. Mark Dell and Deon Curry, who combined for 44 catches for 430 yards and three touchdowns, have to establish themselves early on, and a few young players have to take advantage of the opportunity. Spring attitude... Start strong. The opener is a nasty one going to Cal on August 30th, but things ease up considerably facing Eastern Michigan and Florida Atlantic before hosting Notre Dame, going to Indiana, hosting Iowa and going to Northwestern. The second half of the year is brutal, so anything less than a 6-1 start could make for a rough final record. There are major holes to be filled on both sides of the ball, and with the game against the Bears, there isn't going to be much time to jell, so every practice will be vital to figure out who the new replacements are going to be on the defensive line, at safety, and in the receiving corps." Big Ten Bloggers Roundtable (2008 Feb 15)--ES chimes in on the new Big Ten Blogger Roundtable on the ridiculous nature of rating high school kids for their college gridiron prowess... 1. As a general question, evaluate your recruiting class. Is it more or less what you expected, were you pleasantly surprised or horribly, horribly disappointed? Were your team's needs adequately addressed or will you be starting a two star running back at center next year? The ES harkens back to 1986, freshman year at Michigan State. Recruiting class? What the hell is that? Who gives a shit, let's see what these big, bad, ugly fuckers can do on the field! Fast forward to 2008: Who gives a shit, let's see what these big, bad, ugly fuckers can do on the field! Some insight -- at this point, I think you can plan on the big green slotting VHT Fred Smith as a true-frosh starter at defensive end. 2. Who were the big catches in your recruiting class? Name two players matriculating to your school whose existence everyone else in the Big Ten will curse for the next four years. The "big catches" for MSU in its recruiting class were Steve Gardiner out of Ohio, who would've been admitted without an athletic-based scholarship, sporting a 3.5 GPA an 23 ACT with his 180 tackles. Oh, and as an identical twin from out-state myself, I can say it would take some balls to split the twins up -- MSU offered Cameron Jude but not his gridder brother... The Big Ten will be cursing the academic success of Gardiner and Jude for years. 3. You can't win them all. Maybe some slick talking carpetbagger schmoozed his way into your living room, sold you a set of ginzu knives made out of tin foil, and walked off with your wife and your star recruit. Perhaps an in-state lock who grew up with [Insert University Here] posters on his wall and your coach's face tattooed on his arm decided to go elsewhere for reasons no one seems to understand? Did your recruiting class lose someone big on signing day, who was it, and was your school able to yoink someone else to cover his loss? Nope. Some might think that MSU wuz screwed when former Spartan All-American Mark Ingram's son selected Saban and Roll Tide... but, naaaah. Wouldn't you choose warmer 'Bama weather over the past 10 Michigan weeks of sub-20 degrees and constant snow? The better question is: why signing day in the middle of winter? Better yet, why signing day at all? It's a pathetic self-promotion excuse by the NCAA to support football under the guise of protecting the 17 year old kids. Regardless of the pathetic nature of signing day, for MSU these days, we'll always use the weather as an excuse for anything... especially recruiting. 4. There's been a spirited debate about this whole "Coaches' Code" among the members of the Big Ten coaching fraternity. Do you believe this exists or is it a line being floated by the guys who couldn't keep their recruiting classes together? Bonus points for declaring your coach a poacher or a poachee in creative fashion! Coaches' Code? What in God's name is this bullshit? Methinks, mehopes, mebegs that MD is a poacher and a backstabber... what the hell is that anyway? Is this football or footsies? But, we just ain't good enough to move up to that level. If there is a Coaches Code which exists, we're clueless in East Lansing, which may explain our difficulties on the gridiron. 5. Finally, who's the slickest, smoovest, most Billy Dee Williamsesque recruiter in the Big Ten? Who's the worst, most incompetent, "trip over the flat tire on his Yugo" recruiter in the Big Ten? Best recruiter in the Big Ten? Russell Crowe and the garbage-based scUM connection to address the South Sydney Rabbithos. Truly patheticly interesting. Worst recruiter in the Big Ten? Jesus Christ. He's taking all the talent away and sending it to Fat Boy down in Indiana. And, God went 3-8 last year in South Bend. Guess He ain't all that omniscient, is He? My, how I hate Jesus' impact on football. Doesn't He have better things to do? What is Wrong With Drew Neitzel? (2008 Feb 13)--OK, the ES doesn't have time to investigate this, but what the hell is wrong with Drew Neitzel? Seriously. MSU lost 60-54 to Purdue today, and was absoloutely dismal in the first half. But, the Big Green was GREAT defensively in the second half, and outside of the stupid turnovers, may have won the game. (PS - give Purdue credit for a ballsy game... and, give the refs credit for not ruining the game -- it was well called!) However, the larger story is... where was Drew Neitzel? He had just 6 points, and his shots were off... way off. Again. It is no longer a trend. It is reality. He no longer drives and winds through traffic to the rim. He no longer drives and dishes. Rather, he weaves through traffic to look for a shot, and plays GREAT defense. But, he rarely shoots with the quick release we've become accustomed to. And, more likely than not these days, if he does shoot... he misses. MSU can't afford 6-point games from Neitzel. If we had a subpar 10/11 point effort today, we would have won. But, we didn't get that. What is MSU's biggest problem? turnovers? rebounding? fouling? Actually, now I think it is safe to say it is Drew Neitzel. We can't win with 4, 6, or 8 point efforts from him. MSU needs 14+ out of Neitzel every game. We NEED him. Without him, we're good. When he is on, we are GREAT. It's too bad. Neitzel has proven to be the biggest disappointment not only at MSU, but in college basketball this year. And, it is not fair for the ES or any of the press to put that weight on the young guy, but truly we did expect greater production. This year, his shots are just off... and it is now costing MSU in the big games. Neitzel is not a player we can count on anymore in the stretch. I'd rather give the ball to Lucas. I don't know if Neitzel has a family member has health issues, if he's on crack, maybe he is failing a class, if he knocked up his girlfriend, or if he has other team issues. But, something is wrong. It is time for him to start kicking some ass. We've seen what he can do... where is he? Let's talk about recruiting; '09 stud on board (2008 Feb 1)--MSU received a verbal commitment from Nick Perry to play football for the Spartans.... NOT. Or, Mark Ingram has agreed to play football for MSU... Maybe. Bottom line, the ES says the most important thing is how we compete vs the Yellow Bellies every year. Our comparative recruiting classes since 2002, as ranked by Rivals.com:
OK, so it takes a few years for the recruits to make a difference, but what this tells the ES is that recruiting doesn't make THAT much of a difference when it comes down to it. MSU always plays well vs MSU (2002 Bobby Williams led blowout vs scUM aside) regardless of the talent on the field. Better talent, we might get over the hump; but we might not. What it does tell you is that the rankings don't tell the whole story. I'm excited as any to see us get great recruits... but we need better coaching FIRST and with Dantonio, we are off to a good start so far. He needs to get over the hump this year vs Rodriguez and scUM, to really prove we're improved. Rutgers and Northwestern are proof positive you can make great strides with good coaching and average to below-average recruiting classes. That said, MSU has an EARLY recruit for 2009 out of Detroit Renaissance from LB Chris Norman. This kid is only a junior in high school, yet he is is all over the blogs and chat boards. According to Rivals, Norman has expressed interest in Northwestern, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, Stanford, Vanderbilt, West Virginia, Cincinnati, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa. But, the guy is only maybe 17 years old! Let him grow up a bit -- will he still choose MSU this time next year? Let us hope so, if he remains a solid individual. But, we've all had our HS experiences, so who knows? This is yet another reason to find a way to get the recruiting paparazzi under control; and, yes it is paparazzi. Rewind to Champs Bowl: CHock Preview from Orlando (2008 Jan 15)--OK, the ES' buddy CHock made his way over to Orlando for the Champs Bowl and recorded this great video preview, from the stands, with tall brew in-hand.... Constructive criticisms include placing the blame on the powers that be for serving Bud Light instead of a beer with hops; and, no post-game wrap up? Bring it on, C! Regardless... Nicely done! Will Tieman Sucks; MSU Falls 42-36 to Iowa (2008 Jan 12)--MSU may have lost to Iowa tonight, but Will Tieman sucks. Tieman is the long time radio announcer for Spartan mens hoops, and he is awful. You can hear the crowd yell and wait 5-10 seconds before you know what happened; and he still doesn't know -- and it happens ALL THE TIME. What is wrong with YOU, Will? I am so tired of his saying, "I don't know what happened there, Gus" or "and its out of bounds... not its not, what was it?"... or "Michigan leads 24-20" (not Michigan STATE)... He does this EVERY GAME. He is awful, and an embarassment. He can't call plays right, he will say someone is fouled who is not, and he just gets the play by play wrong and late! And, he calls MSU or the Spartans, "Michigan"! Aaaahhhh! He does this all the time. No excuse! He might be a die-hard Spartan, God Bless him, but he is the worst and more frustrating play-by-play man to listen to. (By the way, Gus Ganakas ROCKS. Here this guy is doing the play by play by filling in Tieman's blanks, and providing quality Xs and Os). The ES can say this - I've done play by play for college basketball, and was much better than this joker. It's not saying a lot. And, as an SID, I hired Mike Sinnott to do play by play for football. Someone bring on Mike Sinnott to do the play by play (he does MSU womens bb and volleyball) -- he's a pro who would be a HUGE improvement on this crap we listen to. The problem is that Tieman owns the radio network... but the Spartan brass needs to make some real professional decisions here. Gimme a break; we can do LOTS better. Tieman is just slow and bad. By the way, MSU lost to Iowa today, 43-36. What you say? Worst performance of the year. Izzo said on the post game show: "everything went wrong. I have been questioning our play. We got what we deserved. We didn't play well enough to win. We missed breakaways and layups. Turnovers were ridiculous; I felt bad for Raymar, the turnovers those guys made -- it was just bad. It was one of those games that not even one guy played decent. "I'll be honest with you, Gus -- I have never seen a game where guys struggled more than they did tonight. I wasn't happy with the game was called, but the tougher teams get the calls. We will make adjustments, for sure." Screams of Agony from Ann Arbor Turn To Laughter in Spartanland More
Great YouTubes: (2007 Sept 2)--mgoblog has turned all pink with kittens. What a freaking woosie. We here at MSU put up with incredulous losses for 30 years... but, one miserable game for scUM and they can't take it. And they wonder why "arrogant" is associated with Michigan? Thanks, Brian, we expected nothing less... the silence is deafening. More laughter here in the Spartan Nation! But, there is some pretty good stuff over at the M -Zone, where they're calling for the head of LLLLoyd Carr, Ron EngLLLish, BiLLLLL Martin, Mike DeBord, and anyone else who gets a paycheck with a gold "M" on it. Sad, but true, these folks all lack context of reality ("The End is At Hand") and it speaks volumes about the lack of priorities of football at Michigan. And, still ZERO respect for the team that beat them... hey, Appalachain State HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH IT! No wonder they LLLLost. Straight Bangin' calls for a new football coach, despite three consecutive Rose Bowls and a National Title out of Carr. The insanity of the moment is priceless! Come on, more more more... Today's Obituaries: The Big House. Ann Arbor, MI
Big 13 Talk?? (2007 July 31)--The ES says, why should Jim Delaney shoot for 12 teams when instead you can have a Lucky 13, dump all non-conference games from each teams' slate, and have a pure round-robin schedule all year? If the ES had to expand the conference, he'd add the 'Cuse and Pitt. OK - so we can dream. But, let's put on those Ouzo-tainted glasses and see where the talk is now by reading between the lines, and the potential lineup of such a 12-team conference. Delaney mentioned the BTN, a conference football championship game, a "ninth state" put expansion on the table. Below is a map with expansion possibilities. Click on map to enlarge...
1. Syracuse. 472 miles from MSU. But, the Big Ten would stretch to 1/3 of the width of the USA. Distance would be extended from Minny - JoePa of 977 miles conference from a distance of to 1087 miles. But if you read the Orange44 blog, you note that the 'Cuse aren't that thrilled with the Big Least. They're ready to bolt. Big Time football and men's basketball traditions. This fits as New York is a new state for the Big Ten errr 12 errr whatever. And, it is a Research I member of the AAU, as are all other members of the Big Ten (what, are we mixing academics and athletics... hell yes!) 2. Rutgers. 673 miles from MSU. New York City, here we come! Let's expand the Big Ten length to 1196 miles - tack on an extra 219 miles one way... that's one helluva bus ride for the soccer teams. All of a sudden they have a great football program, after 120 years of blah. Women's basketball is a powerhouse here. Baseball and women's soccer are also very good. Another incentive to invade another oil-rich nation -- keep our gas prices down so we can afford our college teams to travel and compete. But, Rutgers is also AAU. 3. Missouri. 580 miles from MSU. Only 875 miles from JoePa, but 271 from Illinois and 235 from Iowa. This would be the southern stop of the Big Ten. Another AAU member, but one with a mediocre football tradition, and good basketball tradition. 4. Pitt. 350 miles from MSU. This also a member of AAU. More importantly, it is just 135 miles from JoePa and a conference bit would bring that Pitt-JoePa rivalry back into reality. Good sports program in a big city. But, it wouldn't add a new state. 5. Nebraska. Big time football and women's sports programs. An AAU member. But, it has roots and rivalries with Big 8/Big 12 schools dating back 100 years. Nebraska is a 9th state, but has little to offer out in the middle of nowhere. It would stretch Lincoln-Joe Pa Big Ten for 1,075 miles. Its 737 miles from MSU, and the ES can't make it to Iowa games, let alone the Big Red... although the Watering Hole is a great bar downtown Lincoln! 6. Notre Dame. The perenniel favorite likes football money. The 20-year independent contract to play scUM announced today leaves no doubt ND ain't interested. And, it's not a new state. 7. Louisville. Count the Cardinal out -- it isn't a AAU member; though, football and men's basketball are very strong... no way. Likely Big Ten alignment East Outtakes of Interview with BTN's Silverman (2007 July 22)--Here are some outtakes from the interview with Big Ten Network President Mark Silverman on July 21. The full interview (35 minutes long) will be included in the next podcast by tomorrow morning, with of course some context of this interview and other content from the ES. ES: Why did you contact the ES to be interviewed? MS: We wanted to reach out in different means to Big Ten fans to learn what they want, and what there questions are, to make this network as good as it can be. ES: Your fact sheet states"the Big Ten Network wil become integrated into each university's curriculum." How? MS: We will be sponsoring internships we offer onto Big Ten campuses for college credit to work in sports TV and media. At each school 10-15 students will learn the tv business hands on... it is invaluable experience for future job entry... The Big Ten Network will bear the brunt of the costs associated with providing these opportunities. ES: Isn't the BTN's generation of $50, $60,or $70 million making the job more difficult to bridge the divide between athletics and faculty? Doesn't it just contribute to the arms race? MS: These athletic departments are working to be self-sustaining so that they won't take money away from other key elements of the university... The BTN shows a leadership position by Big Ten universities to be creative to solve solutions for the finances needed for college sports. ES: There is a lot of discussion of how college athletics should be pulled under other departments on campus; considering that, how have faculty become engaged in learning how the revenue generated by the BTN will improve the institutions themselves? MS: I haven't had interaction with faculty. I can't tell you how each school is addressing this issue internally... I am not aware of efforts to fully integrate faculty into the details of the network. ES: What do you think of the perception of big numbers ($4 million for Saban, $70 million for BTN, $250 for new UM stadium) furthering the divide between athletics and academics? MS: For some of the universities, the money isn't going just to the athletic department; at several schools it is being shared with other parts of the university. There are also some important but bigger issues here that I don't think are a part of the issue: coaches salaries, stadium construction. ES: What about the non-taxable income of the BTN... isn't this just the continued expansion of commercialization of college athletics? MS: The BTN is a limited liability corporation that is fully taxable. We will be paying our taxes. ES: What about Comcast? MS: They are fully aware that a network like the BTN, with this kind of content, with the appeal it has... well, of course it can be on basic cable and they know that. But, they are negotiating their position so that at the end of the day they can pay less for it than they have to. It is that simple. ES: So you believe you've made the sale? MS: We at the network can do a better job in our network explaining to the general public our position and why we feel it is right. Other questions included exploitation of athletes, the Big Ten kickoff luncheon, a timeframe that Comcast will be on board with the BTN, and making BTN content available over the web. Listen to the podcast for more... BigTen Network to Begin its Exploitation, Sans Comcast, Aug 30. (2007 July 2)--The Big Ten Network announced it will officially debut at 7 pm CST on August 30. In a press release from BTN headquarters in Chicago, the network boasted it had reached its 75th commitment from a local tv carrier, thus "demonstrating the broad appeal" of the network. Notably missing from the conversation is Comcast. Comcast refuses to host BTN on its standard tier and make it available at an exhorbitant fee on its expanded tier. While Big Ten commish Jim Delaney can spout all it wants about how great the Big Ten is, Comcast doesn't see a wide audience for non-revenue sports such as swimming, field hockey, volleyball, track, and the like. If you have Comcast, like the ES, it looks like more money to be spent in local pubs to watch yer Spartans. The Big Ten just is too self-absorbed and as such won't be caught blinking first. The most interesting part of this conversation remains how the public, Congress, and the IRS perceive the revenue piece. As the ES stated back on May 24, the BTN's cashing in on revenue of its sports program smells of self-serving. Regardless of how you slice it, college athletics vis a vis the Big Ten now is generating its own television programming. And, that means it is expanding even more, with its own production staff (how many are on staff) and multi-million dollar budget. So, one can argue that these college students, as athletes, are now being exploited that much more by the Big Ten conference to bankroll the salaries of even more staff. Congress should hold hearings into this to see why athletics, and its commercial sponsorships, should remain tax exempt when the student athletes are being used to creating thousands of jobs. Hey, the ES believes a scholarship is payment, and if the athletes don't like it, then they don't have to play. But, on the other hand, there is a point of no return when competition can be considered exploitation. Has that time come? It is interesting that in the release, it states the BTN "will begin working with Big Ten institutions to become part of the curriculum and incorporate student production from Big Ten Network-sponsored campus facilities into its core operations..." this includes internships and the like. So, is the BTN becoming an academic arm of the Big Ten? This is likely a response to what the ES and other critics have been hinting at all along to get around the IRS and Congress. But, it is a feeble attempt, and one that is best left to academic communication departments on the campuses and not a third-party like the BTN. In the meantime, BTN subscribers can look forward to a blood-letting on Sept 1. It will be the official start of the Big Ten playing the sisters-of-the-poor: Appalachian State at Michigan; Youngstown State visiting BCS championship runner-up Ohio State; Florida International at Penn State; and Northeastern University at Northwestern. In prime time, the network will air Bowling Green at Minnesota and Indiana State at Indiana. Football is LIFE, but even the ES may have to turn to Man Vs. Wild when the lights of the scorebord flicker relentlessly in the second quarter: scUM 45, App St 7, or OSU 38, YSU 0.... The BTN is kicking its first week off with an embarassing lineup. Big10 Network's $1.10 Fiasco (2007 June 18)--As reported here on the ES after the interview with Big Ten Network chief Mark Silverman, the BTN's continues to clash with Comcast in a game of chicken. And, the LSJ's Joe Rexrode is betting the Big Ten blinks first. The Big Ten is selling to Comcast the deal for a whopping $1.10 per subscriber in Big10 in states with BigTen squads (MI, PA, OH, IN, IL, IA, MN, WI), but just a dime everywhere else.That is not only exhorbitant, it's a ripoff. Let's take a look at the lineup for this fall in football, so far: 9/1 - Indiana
St (1-10) at Indiana (5-7) Thrilling lineup, yes? The combined record for the "early lineup" from a year ago was just 32-77, or a winning pct of .293. OUCH. That's a tough sell. Now, there is more than just football in the lineup, but this is how the selling starts in year one, with shortsighted and football-crazed America looking to the fall lineup first and foremost to see if they should shell out the cash at home, or head to the bars. For those not in the know, the NYTimes had a really nice recap of what the BigTen Network is all about. "By carving enough rights to create the Big Ten Network out of a new 10-year, $1 billion contract with ESPN and ABC, Delany has bucked the trend to be satisfied only with rights fees from networks and has chosen to extend the conference’s brand, expand the reach of its recruiting and build a valuable asset.The channel, which Fox Cable Networks will run and own 49 percent of, will carry 35 football games, 105 men’s and 55 women’s basketball games, archived games dating from 1960, Olympic sports (the rights to some of which are still owned by CSTV through the 2007-8 season) and 660 hours a year of academic programming." The ES is agreeing with Rexrode on this. The BTN will have to come down drastically in price to engage the cable giant. The BTN thinks it shit don't stink, that it is the best sports commodity out there... and its just flat wrong. Silverthorn needs to take a step back and a deep breath, and maybe be a bit more realistic when considering the crap that will be on this fall. Comcast had $25 billion in revenues in 2006, so you know who owns the cards here. MSU Football Kickoffs Set; Staudt on Crack (2007 June 18)--The ES has updated kickoff times (see schedule above) for the Big Green, with the recent announcement last week of UAB and Pitt being shown at noon on espn2 and espn, respectively. Locally, the ES picked up the Lansing State Journal this weekend and read Tim Staudt's most recent column... is the guy on crack? He mentioned that because IUPUI is a Division I school, maybe MSU should play IUPUI in football. Mr. Staudt: "football" is not part of the definition of what the NCAA membership voted on for Division I 30 years ago (membership requirements). Today, Division I means that you have to have 7 male and 7 female sports, your squads play a minimum number of contests vs other Division I teams, pay $1,800 in annual dues, and then meet a mix of schlarships in sports specific to that level. The other divisions have different requirements. It ain't black and white, Mr. Staudt, for a variety of reasons, and football is not a part of the definition. If a Division I team wants football, it plays in the bowl division (like MSU) or the championship division (like Youngstown State). What everyone has been calling for recently is for the bowl division to have a playoff championship. The ES agrees with the premise in competition, but has problems with how it impacts players as students first. But, NOT EVERY DIVISION I TEAM MUST SPORT A FOOTBALL TEAM. That's not a requirement, and dozens (or more) don't have football. TAXES ON SPORTS? And, to top it off, Mr. Staudt ridicules the proposal to add a 6% tax to sporting events because it already costs too much. Gimme a break. The fact that they cost too much is a problem of the owners and supply and demand for the rich White folk, and has nothing to do with the benefits to society -- aka redistributing the wealth -- that a itty bitty tax can help. Let us demonstrate: Detroit Tigers Lansing Lugnuts Detroit Red
Wings Detroit Lions: taxes should be raised 1,000% on Lions tickets to keep people from the games and force Ford to axe Millen and sell the damn team! $40 family
fun = $2.40 tax. So, if the ES bought a Tigers terrace ticket, Lugnuts ticket, Red Wings ticket, and Lions box ticket in the past year, he'd be paying $125 in ticket fees, and just $7.50 in societal taxes. I'd certainly contribute my $7.50 to ensure that college tuition stays level, and that K-12 education doesn't get cut, to support arts/cultural funding, etc. Bottom line, those thousands who imbibe like the ES will leave the stadium and drop $7.50 on two beers for godsakes. A little extra going toward society means a lot more than saying taxes further marginalize the underpriviledged from sports. Robin Hood wasn't a bad guy, and he's revered a lot more than the cheapass anti-tax advocates. A little humanity goes a long way. Sorry, Mr. Staudt, your priorities are whacked. And, beyond that, I disagree. Bottom line, Mr. Staudt is better informed than this, he just has put on his blinders in his most recent column. 'Tis unfortunate, he knows better. Big Ten Needs To Go to Two Referee System; MSU Nets Big10 Awards (2007 Mar 7)--We are heading into the Big Ten Tournament, with our Spartoonies a #7 seed going up against #10 Northwestern on 2:30 pm on Thursday. A thought from my younger days attending football games at Cal-Berkley keeps popping into my head. See, they'd have a fan over the loudspeaker get the student cheering section fired up, and yell "1-2-3, Kill the Referee." Now, while that may be going a bit far, the sentiment is there for the Big Ten college basketball season. This year, the refereeing has ben the worst the ES has ever seen it. It is almost as if the refs HAVE to call fouls because they are earning a paycheck. Or, they are prima donnas and want the spotlight on them, with their theatrical foul calls at particularly high drama moments in games. The phantom call on Ramyar Morgan in the season finale at Wisconsin is an example, but not an exception. Plenty of calls are abound, and sure, MSU has benefitted as well as been hurt by these stupid calls. But, the refs have become a disruption and distraction to the beauty of the game. They disrupt the flow. It is unfortunate, but the refs are ruining the game. Without going into a statistical breakdown, the ES challenges stats-crazed minded folk (Big Ten Wonk, are you reading?) to look at the number of fouls this year... but not only that, but the number of touch-fouls and questionable calls. It is the most inconsistent this year that in any previous year to watch players in the blocks get elbowed in the face and kneeing in the back and not geting called, yet watch questionable touch fouls be called on the perimeter or even off of screens down low. Clearly, the Big Ten needs to do a better job and have either more intense training sessions for its referees, change the incentives, or change the assessment of how refs call games. It is as bad as it has ever been. The ES has a solution: go back to the days of TWO referees. It is my hypothesis that the third referee, while an added cost, is also likely to increase the foul calls, especially these touchy fouls. Hey, the refs want to be part of the game, too, right? (NOTE: WRONG! THEY SHOULD DO THEIR BEST TO BE INVISIBLE!!!). A two referee system will likely interrupt the game less and allow the players to do what we want -- to play the game the way it was intended. MSU HONORS Also, notably, Drew Neitzel was named First Team All-Big Ten, Travis Walton to the All-Big Ten Defensive Team, and Raymar Morgan All-Big Ten Freshman Team. No surprises there...
(2007 Feb 12)--If you had read the papers last week, the blogging sites (like this one), or especially recruiting sites like Rivals.com and Scout.com, you figured Michigan State had an average recruiting class overall. Hell, even the Doctor said MSU had a C+ in its recruiting class. But, the Doctors' voice of wisdom is the only one that matters. Because he is the one given the task to turn these young students into athletes who can win championships. And only, Mark Dantonio knows if he can get it done. Everyone else has NO IDEA. I repeat: NO IDEA. Just because a player had 5-stars or 4-stars, doesn't make them any good. And, just because they have 2-stars or 3-stars doesn't mean they are "average." Paul Posluszny, the two time All-American LB from Penn State was a 3-star from Rivals in 2003. So was 1st Team All Big-10 Kenny Iwebema from Iowa. So was All-American LB Patrick Willis of Ole Miss. All-American center Kyle Young of Fresno State was a two-star. They turned out to be big-time talented players. How many stars did Maurice Clarett have? (5-stars, you can look at his profile at Rivals.com). And, he was a two-year burnout and poster child of young-gridder-gone-wrong. Beyond that, you could argue the pressures of recruiting were too much for the young kid. Instead of working with him, he tossed himself into a lion cage when he wasn't ready. Now, that he's locked up, society is ready to throw away the key. Again, what you read today is NOT what they sow in three or four years. Rivals.com, Scout.com, ESPN's recruiting service -- in all honesty, they do the game of football a disservice, not to mention the players and the institutions. Take a good, hard look. Who are these services really pining up to? The die hard, hard core super fans. The biggest problem as the ES sees it is the "rating" of these players with stars as if they are badges of honor. They aren't no stinkin' badges. OK, Antonio Jeremiah might be a 4-star athlete... but does he have 4-star talent in chemistry, or community service for that matter? Tell me more about AJ the person, and less of AJ as a football player. It is AJ the person who will make a difference in this world, not his performance on the gridiron. OK, so what is up with the sappy Enlightened Spartan? What is it with all this BS from the ES? Well, I'm harking back to my good ole' days of college in the late 1980s. Shit, I had no idea who wuz gonna play for MSU the next year. And you know what? The stadium was still packed the first game each year, and people still abuzz about the Big Green. The question back then was, who IS playing for MSU. Today, the question is who MAY play for MSU, and how many starts does he have? At a recent meeting of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, Rivals.com CEO Bobby Burton artfully stated that his company takes great pains to accurately inform colleges and players about their status as athletes, and that the information serves both sides in trying to find the perfect match. Who is Burton kidding? His site is making MONEY through advertisers and subscribers by creating an environment through which brawn is coveted more than brain. And, he has created a culture that makes me want to upchuck microchips. You could argue that Rivals, Scout, ESPN, Phil Steele, they all should be able to rate young players as well as local papers. The Lansing State Journal has rated the state or area Top 25 for years, even back in my day, before the Internet was the new mass media; back when I was a young college punk. But times have changed and noone is fooling anyone else. There is a difference today, and it has grown into a cultural flat-world phenomenon. Young kids growing up today expect to see stars next to their name, and want to be recruited by all the "top football programs." Many of these gridders don't even consider if they are a good fit academically or socially. And, that is where the problem lies. Let us not forget that these athletes are supposed to go to college to be the future of our knowledge economy. Save me the right-wing philosophy that "if they don't like it, they don't have to go to school" or "if people don't like it, they don't have to subscribe to Rivals" or "everyone else is doing it" or "laissez-faire economy, people be damned." Those arguments are all self-satisfying, Reaganesque-me-first mentality and show disregard for the players as people first. Instead, college football and basketball recruiting is nothing more than a meat market. I miss the good ole days. Hey, the ES reads all this recruiting stuff - and I even share with all of you what these "experts" are saying about our future athletes. But, in all honesty, I'd rather it was gone. And, if you ask the star athlete who keeps getting text-messaged 15 times every day by college recruiters, he'd say the same thing. The reality is: it isn't going away anytime soon. But, what CAN be done is for colleges and universities to quit allowing athletic departments to run the admissions of their student-athletes. The NCAA recently called for this in a Presidential Task Force report, but the poor saps have no teeth to enforce it. It's left up to colleges to have the balls, the courage, and the intellectual might to match this fight with the same fight they want their teams to display on the field. Those in the marching band, nor the student newspaper, aren't allowed a special recruiting process. Athletics should be no different. Recruiting of athletes should fall under the auspices of admissions. All of these mandated recruiting deadlines by the NCAA have turned into a circus sideshow and should be eliminated. Period. Athletes should be admitted like other students. It still can, and should, provide a means for access to underprivileged gridders and cagers, but not the way that it currently is run. It seethes of favoritism at the expense of integrity. There are a crap load of issues that surface by having this done. But, unless universities have the cahonas to reign in recruiting, you'll see more and more Claretts with problems and less and less Polusnszys and Iwebemas. At least for us Spartans, as for as the recruiting trail, it really doesn't matter who we recruit, anyways: more often than not, at season's end we are usually in the basement or at Holiday Lanes.
(2007 Jan 31)--why would going to Michigan State be the right move for your life? First - MSU is a solid community built on values and commitment, built with leadership committed to learning, diversity, and opportunity. What does that mean? MSU is inclusive, a very open campus, one that loves the people who create it. Welcome! Second - we give you an opportunity to thrive. Unlike other places (AA), you have an OPPORTUNITY to express yourself and experience compassion and caring. It is only through these values that you will LEARN NEW SKILLS to succeed in life. Education, that is MSU. Third - play hard. The Doctor emplores you to be a part of a team that will bring success to East Lansing. Work hard, an ye shall find rewards. Come to MSU, Mr. Johnson. You will find it invigorating enough to join the Sparatn nation for a lifetime of Love, Courage, and Commitment! We have a beautiful, large campus, open offices, and a football-loving family. Come be a part of the Spartan Nation! ES Likes Dantonio (2006 Nov 27)--The Enlightened Spartan really digs Dantonio as a choice. MSU really couldn't go wrong with either of their top two finalists: Dantonio or Pelini. Both have been immensely successful as defensive specialists, but ultimately what gave the nod to Dantonio? It may be that Dantonio has more head coaching experience, has for the most part kept his players out of trouble and graduating, and his ties to MSU as an assistant under Saban. You've got to love Izzo's involvement in the search -- if anyone can make a good decision around here, he can. According to Izzo about Dantonio: "He's a guy who's dying to be here and knows we're all dying to get this program going." It is also nice for MSU to have an individual with a serious demeanor who means business, instead of JLS' "slap-happy" cowboy-clown aura. Regardless, Cincinnati has been a much improved program since Dantonio took over. He has ties all over the midwest to help with recruiting. And, MSU's program must get back to basics without the shock-jock syndrome that JLS instilled at MSU. Pelini may exude more intensity and fire -- he is still the ES' first choice -- but Dantonio obviously has the defensive pedigree at all coaching levels to prove his success. Terry Foster at the Det News also offers some insight:"Pelini has lost steam because he is a hot head and if you think Smith smacking himself during press conferences was bad there is no telling what Pelini might do. There have been a number of rumors circulating. One is that Grantham is no longer interested in the Michigan State job because it was his understanding he would be its next coach two weeks ago. But MSU president Lou Anna Simon was enamored with Kelley and put Grantham off until he said 'enough already.'" It's great that we will shit-can the god-awful spread offense that did not work under JLS (Dantonio uses fullbacks). He runs a rough 4-3 defense. In 2006, his Bearcats rank 36th nationally in total defense, giving up 305 yards per game. Cincy gives up 108 yards per contest on the ground (27th) and 197 per game through the air (58th). They are giving up 19.25 points per game, 36th best in the land. Coach Dantonio: Welcome back to East Lansing! ES: HIRE BO PELINI
Print out the Hire Bo sign (at right) and bring to the Minny game! Show your support! Read the LSU message board, they love this guy. Read his bio and drool. I keep seeing that damn Alamo Bowl game, with a crappy Nebraska offense but an out-of-this world defense. He obviously has that knack, turning up the heat on LSU's defense to be vicious and among the best in the land. He's from the midwest. He played at Ohio State. He has been the d-coord at Nebraska and Oklahoma. He coached for the 49ers, Packers and Patriots. HE IS A WINNER. Pelini is in the running for the Iowa State job as well... so time is of the essence. As reported in the Det News: "His players give effort unlike anybody else," said Marvin Sanders, a co-defensive coordinator at North Carolina, who worked with Pelini at Nebraska. "He has an aura that makes guys want to play for him." Let's get vicious at MSU. Let's hire the guy who's Nebraska team knocked out Drew Stanton for a season, and who's defense kicked our ass. Let's hire a guy who is no-nonsense, and understands defense. Let's hire a guy who is named "Bo." HIRE BO PELINI! FIRE
JOHN L SMITH (2006 Oct 28)--MSU returned to reality with a blowout loss at Indiana today, its worst loss ever to the Hoosiers, Do the ES a favor: print out the Fire John L Smith signs (at right) and bring to the Purdue game next week. The man has GOT TO GO. The Spartans played best with backup Brian Hoyer and walkon running back Brett Kahn entering the game for the fourth quarter, and MSU down 46-7. Kahn scored a pair of TDs late. Drew Stanton had his worst game as a Spartan, throwing for only 100 yards and unable to sustain any offensive drive, and was unable to get a single first down after the first TD drive of the game until he left at the end of the third quarter! Stanton failed to throw a single pass downfield until only after MSU trailed, 37-7. MSU, the most penalized team in the Big Ten, showed continued lack of discipline with 12 more penalities against Indiana. In the game, MSU trailed 431-197 in total yards, converted just 3-of-14 third downs, dropped countless passes, can't cover any receiver, and have zero pass rush. JLS is an emabarassment at press conferences, he is an embarassment to the school with his antics, he has a shit-eating "no answers" grin as a smile on the sidelines, he fails to inspire, and as he told ESPN announcers earlier this week "losses seem to linger longer than wins": he fails to psychologically prepare a team each week. JLS has a poor coaching staff that makes poor decisions at crunch time, that fails to teach the fundamentals (tackling, catching the ball, blocking, time management, no penalties), that is just a big-time embarassment to Michigan State University. While MSU may not be a championship caliber team, it should be competitive for Gods sake! The coaching staff CAN'T GET IT DONE. This team, this coaching staff, is not good enough to go bowling this year. He is being paid far too much to fail, much less to not even being competitive. If JLS has no dignity to resign, we need to cut this cowboy clown loose. He doesn't fit in here, and he is a laughing stock. It is time to write Ron Mason, call him, and tell him to Fire John L Smith. "These fans deserve something special..." Can the Spartans Afford Not to Fire JLS? Mason must act (2006 Oct 9)--Remember what JLS said before this season kicked off? "These fans deserve to see something special, and they will." Right, we're seeing a special way to destroy a program. It's a slowly sinking ship. Thanks, JLS. You have no answers, you have lost this team, your fans, and this community. By the way, read the nice prose by Terry Foster in the Det News this weekend (link here). The reality is, MSU is not improving and cannot afford to keep John L Smith around. Even the players are buying into the hype that "its the players not the coaches." But, that only lasts so long. We've had four years of witnessing mediocrity on the field, and Ron Mason should be ashamed of himself for signing JLS to a long term deal that now stinks of raw sewage. That crap will cost us $4.3 million for two more years of loserdom. The ES endorses Foster's commentary that if JLS won't leave on his own, that the Spartan brass make the decision and shitcan all the pathetic coaches. Maybe that will force the clown out of town. But, money shouldn't necessarily force the issue. The assistant coaches suck and can't recruit anyways - Baldwin, Smeland, Sirmans, are terrible, overrated, and uninspiring. Did you see JLS get in Sirmans face on the sidelines of the game? Yet, JLS continues to take the blame. How much more blame do you need? JLS is doing NOTHING to help the Spartans. Why keep incompetence at the helm of a sinking ship? It is time to move on. MSU will have another losing season, which is directly contrary to MSU President Lou Ann Simon's very minimal directive of "I expect to go to bowl games, to compete for championships... I am tired of it like the rest of us." In other words: you're fired. JLS won't even get to square one and have a winning season... And he's taking the whole program down with him. Mason got us into this mess, it is his problem to get us out. Pathetic. FIRE JOHN L SMITH (2006 Sep 30)--It is time to fire John L Smith. (Get a Tshirt and more). At least we know what the L stands for: LOSER. The reality is that this guy is not emotionally attached to this school, to MSU. He could care less. And, without a peformance-based contract, without any incentives built in to top his $1.6m base, why should he bother? This guy is coasting, and at the very best he'll be kicking back on a rocker on his ranch in Idaho. Fine by me - JLS has been a blown hire. How much more can you take, Spartan Nation, after the 23-20 loss to Illinois? This coach can NOT get his team ready and prepared for a Big Ten game. This is a pattern: this is the 9th Game that JLS has blown (for proof, link here) as coach, more than any other at MSU in recent history. You will hear the same old response from John L -- "blame this on me" -- but how many more times to play the blame game? MSU played its worst game of the season, completely uninsipired, against a TERRIBLE ILLINOIS team (ranked #111 by Sagarin, behind teams such as Furman and UC Davis). Illinois looked awful, but the Spartans were worse! Even my wife, who hasn't been to a Spartan game in FIVE YEARS, saw that MSU played awful. God knows if I'll ever bring her back to a game... why bother? Drew Stanton should be BENCHED for the remainder of the season... he was awful. But, the coaching was atrocious, once again an inability to get the players inspired -- and this was a BIG TEN GAME. JLS, in this morning's LSJ, stated about the character of his team, something he has had PRIDE in since he got here: "we'll find out. I hope. We'll find out what character we do or do not have." Well, JLS, you have the character of a loser. MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS ARE LOSERS.There, I said it. Why are you losers? Because you have no sense of pride in your school or your team. All you players should be ASHAMED of yourselves. It's Big Ten football, not pee wee. You suck, and so do the coaches. Here are quotes after the game, that CONFIRM the need to fire John L Smith.
Hear that: a long way to go and he has had FOUR YEARS AND $6.4 MILLION DOLLARS STASHED IN UNDER HIS MATTRESS. How much more of our time, money, and heartbreak are you going to take away from us? You are criminal! Drew Stanton: "We have to go back to the drawing board and make a good season out of this because we are still a good football team." Sir Darean Adams: "It's true. We didn't play like we've been practicing all week. We need to be prepared mentally and take advantage of every day we have. We went out there and didn't play with any heart." Kaleb Thornhill: "We had too many mental errors, and we did not practice well this week. We are going to have to get better and practice with more emotion this week." This is coaching folks. It is time to fire this guy. He won't beat scUM, he will lose to OSU, and MSU will likely lose all the rest of their games this season. Why? Because JLS is OUT OF HIS LEAGUE. It is time to cut our losses and look for someone new while we have a step up on the competition. To pay someone $1.6 million for four years, to not beat any of the big teams in the leauge, and to have just a 21-20 record is not acceptable. JLS sucks. Figure it out. FIRE JOHN L SMITH. What good comes out of keeping him? None. Our teams are doing worse, they are NOT improving. FIRE JOHN L SMITH. Should the ES kick JLS' Tail? (2006 Sep 6)--Listen, the ES received a couple of emails and was also chewed out a bit by fellow Spartan chum, Chock (listen to this week's podcast for more) that we have all been a bit too critical of JLS after the ho-hum victory over Idaho. OK - maybe we are a bit harsh. But, in all honesty, JLS built up our expectations a tad by stating that "we deserve something special" this year. And, the Spartan faithful have been plenty patient through two losing seasons, and dreadful October and Novembers. Struggling against #153 Idaho (Sagarin rating) was not the performance we had in mind. Certainly, MSU was victorious, but unless MSU can improve its offensive run blocking schemes, find a way to get a pass rush, and stop the bull rushes by opposing fullbacks, it will be in for a long year. JLS called MSU's line play "tentative," and Idaho's "much better up front than I had expected." Ain't no way this line can play that way and stop Notre Dame, Ohio State, scUM, and others deep into October and November. There is concern, but hopefully the Idaho game was a wake up call. We can't learn alot by playing #153, other than MSU needs to improve along its interior or be in for another long season. The most important part of the team, other than QB, is arguably in the trenches. That is where the most important work gets done, and that is where MSU needs to improve the most. Otherwise, say bye-bye to 2006, and to JLS. N. Dakota Should Be Ashamed Of Itself (2006 June 15)--This should be an interesting fight, and fun. The North Dakota Board of Regents voted 8-0 to sue (read this) the NCAA over its decision to ban North Dakota from hosting NCAA tournament games or displaying its Fighting Sioux nickname at tournament events. While the ES didn't support how the NCAA went about its business, he does support the NCAAs decision in support of local Indian tribes who don't want their heritage used as a mascot or nickname by a university's athletic team. We're not talking about the Greek Spartans or the Irish Fighting Irish, both of which are ethnic classifications which have not pissed off anyone. We are talking about a nation within a racial group, Sioux Native Americans, who feel their heritage is being abused. Those institutions, like Florida State and Central Michigan, which have agreements with the local tribes, can continue to use their names without sanction: that is the right way to go because these schools for years have worked with the tribes. But those, like North Dakota, which fail to listen to the local Indians, should be sanctioned. Want to know what its like to have your heritage used when you don't want it to? Read this. Hey, ND is fighting it because they have an $100 million ice arena with Indian carvings that they reportedly didn't ask the tribe to display. "The whole arena is plastered with logos," said Sebastian Braun, assistant professor of Indian studies. "It's kind of an in-your-face approach." (read this). The ES tells the North Dakota regents to act like educators and respect your citizens. It is a freaking nickname; its easier to change it than to insult a nation for the next thousand years. Go for it NCAA and shame on you, N Dakota. You are pathetic and mean-spirited. BigTen Has No Excuse To Avoid Round Robin (2006 May 22)--The ES thought long and hard about this one. OK, no I didn't. It only took three swigs of my Red Hook ESB to come to this conclusion: The Big Ten has no excuse but to require a full round-robin schedule in which each team plays each other at least once. With the NCAA now going to a full-time, 12 game schedule, a round robin means 10 conference games for each BigTen team, with two non-conference games. This would be an accurate assessment of Big Ten championship, since we don't have a tournament, by requiring each team to play each other. A tie at the top would be extremely unlikely -- with any tiebreaker determined by head-to-head. Jesus, this makes more sense than having JoePa join the conference 10 years ago, let alone that freakish (albeit somewhat successful) Instant Replay system. As it is, each Big Ten team plays one or two patsies each year, which only hurt their BCS standings (see below). So, why not toss two of these games and add the full round robin? Schools can still schedule a toughie and a patsie if they want. Sorry, but you'll sell more tickets for a conference game, and the ES argues the teams will be better prepared for bowl season by virtue of better competition than playing the Southern Sisters of the Poor. As it is, the Big 12 will likely go to a 9-game conference schedule: but at least they have a title game. The Big Ten can be a leader here and go the full distance. My guess is, they just don't have the guts to do it. What a bunch of wimps. 2006 Throw-Aways
Games:
(2/16/06)--Once again, here is another school bitching an moaning over "what have you done for me lately" and being mean to its head coach, in effect forcing him to resign at season's end. The criticism by Hoosier fans over Mike Davis has been relentless, and Indiana's recent nose dive (lost six of last seven) has left him to make a decision to leave the school. Who can blame him... here is a guy who took a team to the national championship game and graduates its players, but its not enough for U of Indiana and its alumni who want more. Hoosiers should be ashamed of themselves for running a nice guy -- and a winner -- out of town. Even Tom Izzo said (quoted in LSJ): "I'm surprised and really disappointed. I am sick of the public being able to pick and choose coaches... I think it's a travesty." Trust me, without Davis, the Hoosiers will get worse before they get better. The ES has two words for Hoosiers: PATHETIC and LOSERS. Cast your aspersions at firemikedavis.com
(1/5/06)--Don't worry Spartan fans... I'm as disappointed as the rest after losing to Illinois AGAIN -- but there is hope on the horizon. I see us beating this team on a netural court... unlike year's past. How many more games will Dee Brown shoot the lights out, and how many more games will Ager be invisible? I see this as a one-time occurrence, and Spartan defense will only improve. And, the Spartans did themselves in more than Illinois in the second half -- too many times did MSU finally stop Illinois defensively, only to not be able to score themselves (either wide-open missed shot or unforced turnover). Illinois' defense is the best in the conference, and we'll face them once more at home, where we should win. Sure we lost, but Trannon has come of age and we know what needs work -- being patient on offense. A good start to the season, kudos to Illinois, but we'll get you in March when it REALLY counts! Letter to BigTen Wonk: Wonk -- Don't get so jazzed over the win over MSU that you get yer knickers stuck in yer stats. Sure, great one-man win for the Illini (yes, the Jordan rule does apply -- if one man IS good enough, he can carry a whole team to victory... which is why the ES prefers the team sport of football). Yet, in all honesty, when MSU really had its chances... plenty of them in the last 10 minuutes... they either threw the ball away with unforced turnovers (UNFORCED, not forced by Illinois), or just flat out took bad or missed open shots. MSU finally gets Illinois to miss, but then does something stupid on the other end. You could see Izzo throwing his jacket off and holding his clipboard in disgust. Not to say that it was a nice win by Illinois, but the ES sees these errors being worked out as the season goes along. See you Politically Incorrect Indians in March, when the season REALLY counts and the Spartans finally have the schedule in their favor. (who are the scheduling demons at the Big11 who have it out for MSU year after year anyway? at Illinois, at Wisky, home v Indiana, at Ohio State, home v Iowa.., I'd trade that schedule with you Illini in a heartbeat) good win but you'll be had. Too much Dee Brown, not enough team. It won't last in this conference, especially on the road... See ya in March!
Time To Whoop Some Illini Ass! (1/5/06)--The ES was interviewed by Fox Sports roving blogger JWatters regarding tonight's early season title tilt with the Fighting Illini... let it be known that that orange swarm is gonna get some whoop-ass tonight with a Big Green Victory! Link here to the full JWatters preview featuring MSU and Illini interviews, as well as lots of great indepth materials: Here is the full ES commentary, with A (answers) by the ES: Q - How do
feel this team has played so far? Exceeded expectations? Failed to meet
expectations? Q - Do you
think the loss of the four senior guards had an impact at the beginning
of the season? Q - Has this
team improved since Maui? Q - Out of
the "Big Three", who is the team's MVP? Q - Where
have you seen Maurice Ager improve over the past season? Q - Who do
you take in a footrace - Ager or Brown? A - His strength is his decision-making when he gets the ball; he positions himself well and when he gets it, you know it's at least 2 points -- he'll cash in on a jumper or post up move; he has extended his range to the 3-ball; he's hitting on 80+% of his free throws, so he can hit from the stripe; and, he is an EXCELLENT passer, finding the right wing man if he's doubled. Not to mention his great box-out rebounding skills Finally, he's making the plays IN THE CLUTCH, including hitting all his free throws down the stretch. His weakness is that he may disappear for short stretches on offense -- but this is vastly improved from years ago. He's a stud so far in '05-'06. Q - Could
MSU being so reliant on three players come back to bite them at some point? Q - After
the big three, the only other really consistent contributor is Drew
Neitzel. Of everybody else, who is the top player? Who has the best chance
to develop into a regular contributor? Q - Describe
the strengths and weaknesses of this Spartan team. Is there an achilles
heel? Is there a certain quality of this team that allows them to
have success? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Column
Archive 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005 & 2004
(2007
Sep 2)--The Big House died September 1, 2007 at the age of 79. She was
born on October 22, 1927, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, at a price of $950,000
and a capacity of 72,000, the daughter 
(2006
Nov 10)--OK, the ES sees all these name, but who do I REALLY want in East
Lansing. BO PELINI that's who. 