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| History :: MSU History :: Series Records :: MSU Museum 150 Exhibit :: MSU v UM :: MSU v ND :: History pdfs :: ES Archives | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Spartans -- The Nickname In 1926, Michigan State's first southern baseball training tour provided the setting for the birth of the "Spartan" nickname. It all came about when a Lansing sportswriter imposed the silent treatment on a contest-winning nickname and substituted his own choice, the name that has lasted through the years. In 1925, Michigan State College replaced the name Michigan Agricultural College. The college sponsored a contest to select a nickname to replace "Aggies" and picked "The Michigan Staters." George Alderton, then sports editor of the Lansing State Journal, decided the name was too cumbersome for newspaper writing and vowed to find a better one. Alderton contacted Jim Hasselman of Information Services to see if entries still remained from the contest. When informed they still existed, Alderton ran across the entry name of "Spartans" and then decided that was the choice. Unfortunately, Alderton forgot to write down who submitted that particular entry, so that part of the story remains a mystery. Rewriting game accounts supplied by Perry Fremont, a catcher on the squad, Alderton first used the name sparingly and then ventured into the headlines with it. (Incidentally, after two days of spelling the name incorrectly with an "o," Alderton changed it to Spartan on a tip from a close friend.) Dale Stafford, a sports writer for the Lansing Capitol News, a rival of the State Journal, picked up the name for his paper after a couple of days. Alderton called Stafford and suggested that he might want to join the Spartan parade and he did. As Alderton explains: "No student, alumnus, or college official had called up the editor to complain about our audacity in giving the old school a new name, so we ventured into the headlines with it. Happily for the experiment, the name took. It began appearing in other newspapers and when the student publication used it, that clinched it."
Standing at the entrance way to Michigan State's athletic establishment is "The Spartan," a huge statue which symbolizes the university's athletic teams. "The Spartan" was designed and produced by Leonard D. Jungwirth of the art department, and dedicated in June 1945. It stands ten feet-six inches, and is mounted on a brick-and-concrete base five feet-four inches high. The statue weighs three tons and is one of the largest free standing ceramic figures in the world. Figures representing the 12 sports then included in the varsity program are incised on the base of the statue. Popularly known as "Sparty," the statue is one of the favorite photo subjects of visitors to the campus. Details are sketchy as to when Michigan State athletic teams officially began using the school colors green and white. But records of the Athletic Association of the then Michigan Agricultural College show tha on April 11, 1899, the organization took steps toward adoption of a green monogram, "to be worn only by athletes who subsequently take part in intercollegiate events." It is generally thought the colors came intowide use with the arrival in 1903 of Chester Brewer as the school's first full-time director of athletics. Brewer also coached the Spartan football, basketball, baseball and track teams, the only varsity units in existence at the time.
The seven-foot costume weighs in at 30 pounds, allowing enough flexibility for playful gestures and animation. Made of hi-tech materials, including a vinyl chest plate and fiberglass molds like the ones used for making Muppets, Sparty is a far cry from the many papier-mache heads that have popped up since the 1950s, mostly from fraternity efforts. The first official one apparently debuted in 1955 courtesy of Theta Xi. Other versions were introduced from time to time. In 1984, Sigma Phi Epsilon introduced the first "gruff" head -- sporting th eunshaven look that still adorns many sweat shirts and jackets. By contrast, the current Sparty costume is a state-of-the-art, full-bodied uniform that costs about $8,000. Today five students -- their identities kept private -- take turns being Sparty with one of two costumes. Because of the costume size, Sparty aspirants must be between 5-10 and 6-2 in height. Candidates who fit the physical needs are chosen after a hands-on proces that includes interviews and rehearsals. Run by the Student Alumni Foundation, Sparty is funded by the Michigan State Alumni Association and the Department of Athletics. Sparty's home page is http://msuaa.alumni.msu.edu/saf/sparty.htm. In April 1998, Sparty was named the Buffest Mascot in the country by Muscle and Fitness Magazine, beating out Purdue Pete, the Georgia Bulldog, the Florida Gator, Montana's Grizzly Bear, Iowa State's Cyclone, the Razorback of Arkansas and the USC Trojan. The Spartan Chariot has been a popular part of the pregame show for Michigan State's home football games since 1997. The 450-pound chariot, manufactured out of composite fiberglass, is pulled by a team of purebred Arabian geldings, HJH Avenir (15) and Klassy Kid (16). Charioteer Mike Hall (Traverse City, Mich.) and his father Jim (Williamsburg, Mich.), both Michigan State graduates, own the Arabian horses. Former MSU board member Russell Mawby and former school interim president Gordon Guyer came up with the idea to add the chariot to the pregame pagentry and it made its debut at the 1997 Homecoming game against Minnesota. Yellmaster Francis Irving Lankey, a civil engineering major at Michigan Agricultural College, composed the school's Fight Song in the Spring of 1915. His friend, Arthur Sayles, also a MAC student, wrote most of the words to the Fight Song. The football team's back-to-back road wins over national powers Michigan and Wisconsin in 1913 inspired Lankey to compose the MAC Fight Song because he felt those two schools had great fight songs. "Lank," as his friends called him, was a very popular and talented piano player. Following graduation, he worked for the highway department and later became an instructor for the Army Air Corps. In a volunteer air demonstration in 1919, he crashed while attempting to land. Months after his untimely death, a girlfriend published his song. Members of the football team sold 770 copies of the song for 50 cents each at the 1919 Homecoming pep assembly. When it sold out in less than 30 minutes, everyone knew the Fight Song was a winner. In 1920, the Military Band played the MAC Fight Song at home football games. With slight variations to the original words, like changing Aggie to Spartan and MAC to MSU, it has been played ever since. Click here to listen, and sing along with the words below! On
the banks of the Red Cedar
The Spartan Marching Band wa a military unit connected with the college ROTC for most of its existence. Until 1952, the band wore military khaki uniforms. When Michigan State began playing Big Ten football in 1952, the band received its first green and white uniforms. Most of the strict military uniform codes are still adhered to today with squad leaders holding routing inspections before every performance. No flutes or clarinets are used in the Spartan Marching Band, as these instruments are difficult to hear in the large Big Ten stadiums. Instead, tiny E-flat cornets play the high "woodwind-like" parts. The Spartan Marching Band has entertained five U.S. Presidents: Theodore Roosevelt (1907), Herbert Hoover (1930), Franklin D. Roosevelt (1936), Lyndon Johnson (1965) and Bill Clinton (1996). The Spartan Marching Band has performed at 13 bowl games, including four Rose Bowls (1954, 1956, 1966, 1988). In addition, the band has made appearances at the 1964 New York World's Fair, the 1984 New Orleans World's Fair, the 1984 World Series in Detroit, and the 1993 Coca-Cola Bowl in Tokyo, Japan. In 1995, ABC Sports selected the Spartan Marching Band to record its theme music for college football.
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.pdf
spreadsheet files 2007 (7-5 all/3-5 Big10) 9/1 UAB.
W, 55-18 2006 (4-8 all/1-7 Big10) 9/2
IDAHO, W 27-17 2005(5-6 all/2-6 Big10) KENT ST,
W 49-14 2004 (5-7 all/4-4 Big10) @ Rutgers,
L 14-19 2003 (8-5 all/5-3 Big10) WMU, W 26-21 2002 (4-8 all/3-5 Big10) EMU, W 56-7 2001 (7-5 all/3-5 Big10) CMU, W 35-21
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The
Enlightened Spartan, copyright 2005. The
Enlightened Spartan was designed by Athletic
Experts 1. |
Sparty