Tom Izzo

Me: Coach Izzo, do you think big-ten-regular-season scheduling is much different now with Nebraska in the conference than it was before?

Izzo: "'Everything has changed so much,' coach Tom Izzo said. ""

Me: "Changed so much"?  Really coach?  I see that since at least as early as the 1998-1999 season, a big ten team would often avoid playing twice against at least two teams each.  What do you think about the effects of having to not play every team each twice?

Izzo: "'There's been seasons we've either won or lost strictly on schedule,' Izzo said. 'If it's really erratic -- playing the top four twice and the bottom four once -- that could be a four- to six-game swing. And who you play on the road (means) a lot. I think the champion a lot of times is now determined by the schedule.'" 

Me: You say the champion is "now determined by the schedule"?  Doesn't logic suggest that that must have been the case as far back as 1998 then?

Izzo: (silence)

Me: So you're saying that at least some of the big ten titles MSU won since 1998 were not based on merit?

Izzo: (silence)

Me: Do you think you'd make the same argument if your team were today alone in first place in the big ten conference?

Izzo: (frown)

Dantonio (surprise appearance): "'OK, here's what we're going to do,' Dantonio said. 'We're going to get other people up here. We're going to talk about more than [scheduling].

'How many guys got a guy that's [knowledgeable on big ten scheduling]?' Dantonio asked . . . . After a couple raised their hands, Dantonio said: 'One, two -- so the two guys can go back there in the corner and talk about that. All of us right here, we're going to talk about [excuses for losing] for everybody. Let's go.'"  

sources (disclaimer: one link is to a free press article; please avoid clicking to it if possible): http://www.freep.com/article/20120201/SPORTS07/202010433/Big-Ten-schedule-imbalance-irks-Michigan-State-s-Tom-Izzo 

http://www.freep.com/article/20120120/SPORTS08/120120037/Mark-Dantonio-cuts-off-Michigan-assistant-Jeff-Hecklinski-during-coaches-convention 

Interesting article from Mick McCabe on the perils of 7-on-7 football...

Armageddon has come to the world of high school football -- and its name is 7-on-7.

Wildly popular in the South, 7-on-7 football is a relatively new phenomenon in Michigan.

Until recently, 7-on-7 in this state was limited to high school teams playing in summer passing scrimmages. But now there are two organizations with 7-on-7 all-star teams that travel to other states during the spring and occasionally summer.

"I was wondering when that was going to happen," said Lowell coach Noel Dean. "They're exploiting the hell out of kids. It's just incredible. It's kind of like AAU basketball meets football now."

Click here for the rest of the article: http://www.freep.com/article/20110522/HSS1201/105220568/1048/rss03

OK, yesterday I called Tom Izzo a "pussy" for his histrionics over his pursuit of the Cleveland Cavaliers HC opening.  Perhaps I was harsh, that full post is here:

http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/should-i-stay-or-should-i-go-now-ode-izzo#comment-513699

UFR, as they say, I think Tearful Tom is more like Sarah Bernhardt, uber-emoting actress of the late 19th century and the early 20th century silent movie era.

Here is how Sarah looked, not a very close resemblance to Tom (except in profile):

But here is one description of Miss Bernhardt, and it fits Tom to a "T" (no, not a Tech):

Her amazing power of emotional acting, the extraordinary realism and pathos of her death-scenes, the magnetism of her personality, and the beauty of her "voix d'or," made the public tolerant of her occasional caprices.

Amazingly, the Sparty faithful are very tolerant, even noting the passing yesterday of Day 7:

http://www.theonlycolors.com/2010/6/12/1514760/izzo-watch-day-7-alls-quiet-on-the

(My favorite posts there on this topic are of the "hold me, will we be all right?" variety.  The prospect of thousands of MSU sophomores in a fetal position on dorm couches for nearly a week is just too rich.  The Breslin Center "vigil" Friday night with ritualistic candle-burning?  WTF!?!).

Which leads us to a simple question: 

What does a Spartan head coach have to do to get fired, anyway?

Clearly with each passing day we see the likelihood of Izzo leaving trending toward 0%.  I never thought he was serious about leaving in the first place.  The phrase "Attention Whore" springs to mind.  MSU AD Mark Hollis is now seen as the wimp that he is.  (We should never be more thankful that Mary Sue hired an AD with experience, integrity and guts.)

But we know that  Dan Gilbert will not let this go on much longer, since Izzo is just a bit player in his all-in pursuit to re-sign LeBron James.  Tom thinks this is all about him!  So Gilbert soon gives Izzo an ultimatum, and hires Byron Scott.  

Because of his allegiance to MSU and Izzo, Gilbert lets the Pride of Iron Mountain issue a press release a few hours earlier that just drips with Spartan Green wherein Tom proclaims his allegiance to East Lansing, college basketball, and the 2010-11 season.

This melodrama ends possibly today, likely tomorrow, Tuesday at the latest. 

And somewhere, Sarah Bernhardt is proud.

I would have posted this in the other topic but that thread has developed so much and the MGOcommunity loves stats so here it is:

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2010/03/incredible-izzo-again-defies-odds...

Nate Silver is obviously a homer but the stats look pretty damn good for Izzo, and by posting one nice thing about MSU and feel better bashing them for the rest of the year.

The article basically just says with stats that the chance the MSU has done this well in the tourney on luck alone is extremely small.