2020: Last Word  https://mgoblog.com/diaries/mgococktail-michigan-state

2021: Greenskeeper MGoCocktail: Michigan State 2021 | mgoblog

2021 is great rivalry snark, No topping that one from me

As someone who lives in Michigan, I have many MSU grads and fans I consider friends. They aren’t the type of fans that populate RCMB, most of them look blankly when I mention one of their good players who aren’t a skill position like Jacob Slade.

From November last year up to a week before the season started in August, they would ask me questions like:

“Were you happy with the season?
“ Why did Hutchinson get a chair at the Heisman ceremony?”

“Was beating OSU the most important thing?”

And even the more pointed, “What did you think of that call?

After engaging for a little conversation depending on how much alcohol in  my system, I would usually hit the MSU friend with a version of what Scott Bell said on Twitter.  “Both teams accomplished their primary goals: MSU beat Michigan, Michigan beat OSU and won the Big Ten.”

Then the season started.  Now they certainly aren’t trying to start up conversations about college football.  I don’t because of the strange dichotomy of a MSU fan.  They only really care about beating Michigan and trolling Michigan fans when they do.

As the season went quickly sideways, their media sycophants and even their head coach said things that wouldn’t feel out of place as an Onion sports or Michigan Every Three Weekly (RIP) headline.

This is the MSU’s Super Bowl as soon as they lost to Minnesota.  Trick plays, defaulting to the all Reed/PI offense, completely changing defensive alignment are expected.  The best case scenario is 2-3 quarters of teeth clenching worrying out MSU will manage to roll triple 6’s in this game of Risk again, followed by a quarter of paranoia on MSU injuring Corum, McCarthy, Mazi or Olu.  To be fair, once Dantonio’s guys have graduated from the team, there seems to much less “60 minutes of unnecessary roughness” from Tucker’s program. 

  Yes, losing by 29 and giving 600 yards at home is digified.

If we win, MSU fans will default to talking about 2015, Appalachian State, or Tucker’s 2-1 record vs Harbaugh. Remembering nothing, like Michigan’s Big Ten basketball championship, during Covid counts.  But Tucker is 2-0 vs Michigan and worth 9.5 million per year.  It’s a no win situation for Michigan fans, win and its expected and buys at best 1 year of silence from little brother, and I don’t even want to think about a loss.

Totally real:  And interesting from a DB's coach

Grave Digger

The metaphor may be a little too obvious, but I hope Michigan is digging the grave of MSU’s bowl hopes by 11 pm Saturday.  It is Mezcaloween after all, it gives an opportunity to work with tequila’s smokier bigger brother, Mezcal.

If not familiar with Mezcal,  it is tequila’s smokier more flavorful Big Brother.  All tequila is mezcal, tequila is made with 51% or more Blue agave, while Mezcal can be made with the 50 types of Agave.  The smoky more robust flavor comes from cooking the agave pits in the ground which gives the spirit a depth tequila doesn’t match.

Ingredients

2 oz Mezcal; I’m using Casamigos here, can find it in pints if you  don’t want the long term commitment to a marginal product like MSU does

2 oz  spiced apple cider

.5 oz lemon  (half a lemon squeezed)

.5 oz Triple Sec

2 dashes orange bitters

Ginger beer for top

Rosemary sprig for garnish

Fill an old-fashioned glass with ice.  In a cocktail shaker, combine the mezcal, apple cider, triple sec, lemon juice and orange bitters.  Add ice and shake for 20-30 seconds.  Strain into the prepared glass.  Top with Ginger beer.  Garnish with the Rosemary twig.  Since this is MSU week and to add smokiness to the drink, light the rosemary on fire.