Congrats Sparty
January 1st, 2014 at 9:41 PM ^
God help me if their basketball team makes the NC game this year as well.
January 1st, 2014 at 9:43 PM ^
Sparty deserves everything they achieved this season. In fact, they probably deserved to play in the NCG (where else but in South Bend do teams get called for pass interference five times in a single game?). A genuine, heartfelt congrats to Michigan State. That Rose Bowl win was the final nail in the coffin of the little brother meme.
It also accentuates how badly Michigan has shit the bed the past few years. The last time Michigan won any kind of football championship, "Twitter" was something hummingbirds did. The last time Michigan won the Rose Bowl, "Photoshop" was a place where you dropped off your film to be developed. This year, the program that we Michigan fans love to look down our noses at just did both. If I have to hear "This is Michigan" one more time, I'm buying a Brady Hoke dartboard.
Fuck it all.
January 1st, 2014 at 9:43 PM ^
I think they will wake us.
January 1st, 2014 at 9:58 PM ^
Overall, they were good at many phases of the game but failed to close. We - on the other hand - are truly not good at anything. There is no aspect of UM's game that could hold a candle to MSU's in 2012 (save kicking).
January 1st, 2014 at 10:07 PM ^
And 7-6 is still 7-6 it's the same record no matter how you lose.
January 1st, 2014 at 10:44 PM ^
Also, save the bowl game, we lost by a total of 34 points.
January 1st, 2014 at 10:07 PM ^
Exactly the argument I've been trying to make with some friends of mine about the state of the program. The program at Michigan is dysfunctional from top to bottom and I don't see it changing anytime soon.
I like Hoke as a person, but it stretches the imagination to think that someone who can't even articulate what the problem is will be able to correct it.
January 1st, 2014 at 10:27 PM ^
UM lost 4 of their games by a combined 11 points, with a bunch on the final drive. Only MSU was a real blowout, since a bowl game without your QB and starting a freshman probably isn't a great barometer.
They had a great defense last year and they lost a lot of close games, but "unlucky" last year got them to 7-6. UM had an equally bad string of luck and finished 7-6. And I'd argue the offense, with a healthy Gardner, could run circles around MSU's offense last year.
January 1st, 2014 at 11:22 PM ^
The only bad team that Sparty had a close win against was IU last year. Their other close wins were Wisconsin in OT (who won the Big Ten) and TCU by 1. They dominated the bad teams and barely lost to the good teams.
Michigan, on the other hand, barely beat 5-7 Akron (on the last play of the game), 3-9 UCONN (on the last drive of the game), and 5-7 Northwestern (on a miracle field goal). We're much closer to being 5-7 than 9-3. The only truly decent/good teams that we played tough against was ND and OSU, and I guess Nebraska (though we only led briefly in that game).
January 2nd, 2014 at 12:26 PM ^
Well, that Wisconsin team did go 8-5, so I wouldn't say that is a good team; it wouldn't have made the championship game without OSU being on probation, and I believe PSU would have been in the running as well without their suspension. And losing to Iowa (4-8) is pretty poor.
Some of this is just optics and perception; I thought MSU played every game tightly last year because they couldn't score to save their lives; this year UM played some tight games because their offense struggled as well. I tend to think they were a good team with some bad luck, much like UM this year. I am not saying UM is going to go 13-1 next year, but this team is close enough to make a decent leap next year.
January 1st, 2014 at 10:50 PM ^
They were also 6-7 in Dantonio's third year as HC.
January 2nd, 2014 at 7:21 AM ^
MSU expectations = UM expecations.
Welcome to the second tier gentleman.
January 2nd, 2014 at 12:33 PM ^
Well, a bunch of 11 wins seasons should kind of be the goal.
January 1st, 2014 at 9:44 PM ^
Does this mean that Dantonio has upgraded from Weeds to Roses?
January 1st, 2014 at 9:44 PM ^
January 1st, 2014 at 10:05 PM ^
"Welll...."
January 1st, 2014 at 10:10 PM ^
January 1st, 2014 at 10:12 PM ^
I think the guy is a total dick and comes across as a hater. But he's obviously intelligent, a fierce competitor, and a solid leader. By comparison BH seems like a jr high gym teacher.
January 1st, 2014 at 10:17 PM ^
What Michigan fans have apparently forgotten, if they ever really knew it in the first place, is that Bo Schembechler could be a giant dick. We loved him, but I guarantee you that he was roundly despised by every other program and their fans in the conference.
The same applied to Fielding Yost as well. The vast majority of the most successful football coaches are not pleasant people in many ways.
January 1st, 2014 at 10:39 PM ^
you just blew my mind
January 1st, 2014 at 9:46 PM ^
they are going to regret it. The guy can motivate kids and I bet he will be a great recruiter.
January 1st, 2014 at 9:47 PM ^
Sorry Sam Webb I am done listening to UM recruiting hype. MSU hasn't had a top 30 class in a long time. The number of walk ons and guys who weren't heavily recruiting out playing 4 stars who have no desire is everywhere. Reminds me how much we did miss walk on Kovacs this year.
Also need to give Hoke and his staff another year with fan patience. Good programs have systems and recruit to those systems. This takes time and leads to "player development". I'm not exactly sure what Hoke's identity for Michigan is though to be honest.
January 1st, 2014 at 9:55 PM ^
January 1st, 2014 at 9:51 PM ^
January 1st, 2014 at 9:53 PM ^
January 1st, 2014 at 10:22 PM ^
Wake the fuck up. If I were Sparty, I wouldn't give a shit about Michigan. They have won eleven or more games in three of the last four seasons. When was the last time Michigan did that? They have surpassed us. It's painful to admit, but it's true. They were a couple of bullshit pass interference calls away from playing for the national championship.
We are the new little brother. Let's stop deluding ourselves.
January 1st, 2014 at 9:59 PM ^
January 1st, 2014 at 10:41 PM ^
i think it's more likely that he thinks that a great team like stanford couldn't beat sparty, so there's obviously not a coaching issue here. it will just reinforce the youth and inexperience meme.
January 1st, 2014 at 10:02 PM ^
January 1st, 2014 at 10:28 PM ^
A year of redshirting and they should be ready to go?
How many RS freshmen were playing in the Rose Bowl today? Stanford only has four on their whole depth chart, and two of the four are the backup punter and backup place kicker. Only one even saw the field today.
If somebody plays their way in during camp, that's great, but functioning programs do not depend on contributions from their redshirt freshmen.
January 2nd, 2014 at 12:12 AM ^
We're currently number 20 in team rankings in Rivals. He's never had the best recruiting class in the Big Ten according to the Rivals rankings. He's a good recruiter, but he's not so good that he's unreplaceable. He's never beaten OSU in recruiting (even when they had a disaster year and we went to the Sugar Bowl) and he's beaten ND once.
January 1st, 2014 at 11:34 PM ^
David Brandon doesn't give a shit. Did you read his blog post?
Brady Hoke thinks we're fickle for daring to expect more than seven wins out of a program that acts like it's God's gift to football.
If anyone is screwed, it's us fans.
January 1st, 2014 at 10:08 PM ^
Honestly? If you put this team over the Russ Wilson-Wisc/Cousins-MSU teams that one year (both of those teams were really good), this is probably the best B1G team in a long while.
The way this program develops its players should alarm the absolute shit out of Hoke & DB, but I'm not even sure Hoke gives a damn. The fact that Cook is this competent from where he was earlier this year alone should be enough to send Borges the fuck out of AA.
January 1st, 2014 at 10:12 PM ^
"When I saw their offensive linemen's stance, I knew the way to make a play was to go over the top," said Elsworth, selected the game's defensive MVP.
I wonder if our coaches could even guess what he's talking about, let alone whether they're teaching it to our players.
January 1st, 2014 at 10:17 PM ^
Well, he was a SR playing behind an All American, but duly noted.
Also, a blind man could have guessed what that play was going to be. Stanford lined up in the same formation, with the same playcall, both before and after the TO. So yeah, I'd hope someone could have picked up that play.
January 1st, 2014 at 10:45 PM ^
They lined up in the same formation with the same playcall both before and AFTER the timeout? No way! I'm so glad our coaching staff would never, ever do anything that idiotic and self-defeating in a crucial end-of-the-game situation.
January 1st, 2014 at 10:12 PM ^
Congrats on the season.
Despite the impact it likely has on recruiting, I have no problem with B1G teams winning (when they're not playing UM). Michigan needs to face good opponents, and improve. Hopefully, other B1G teams improve, too.
January 1st, 2014 at 10:13 PM ^
January 1st, 2014 at 10:13 PM ^
I would bet my house one of these threads would show up if MSU won the national championship with everyone congratulating them on the game like they don't give a damn about our rivalry with them.
January 1st, 2014 at 10:19 PM ^
If you mean people can be human beings and recognize a good performance, then yes by all means bet your house. Getting pissy at another team simply because you are their rival gets old pretty quick too. Noboyd here "likes" seeing MSU win, but just ignoring them and being all "hur hur most wins ever. Leaders and the Best!" is just as bad and any trolling MSU or OSU fans are guilty of.
I had a number of MSU fans give props to UM last year for their NCAA run. And they HATE UM.
January 1st, 2014 at 10:30 PM ^
January 1st, 2014 at 10:18 PM ^
The defense was impressive and I do hope this performance inspires Brandon to do a compare and contrast and demand some sort of change. This season has been frustrating on many levels but I think the worst has been seeing these douchebags have their best season ever.
January 1st, 2014 at 10:20 PM ^
Brandon should compare and contrast Dantonio at year 7 of his program, or at year 3. Because as noted earlier, at that point Dantonio was coming off a losing season and had a worse record than Hoke after 3 years.
January 1st, 2014 at 10:19 PM ^
January 1st, 2014 at 10:20 PM ^
January 1st, 2014 at 10:21 PM ^
Congrats on joining the blog and immediately going into a rant.
January 1st, 2014 at 10:38 PM ^
Nobody just joined the blog today, for the first time, and put "manball" in his username.
And it's a familiar rant.
January 2nd, 2014 at 12:34 PM ^
Um, the "Joined" date was 01/01/2014
And yes, I recognize this is not a novel rant style.
January 1st, 2014 at 10:22 PM ^
January 1st, 2014 at 10:27 PM ^
Even if you choose to congratulate them, do we really need a thread on them. I don't because most of their fans are extreme douchenozzles but I respect how other fans act towards teams. If you think it is necessary to have a 500 comment thread every time MSU does something good then why haven't we ever done the same for Meyer and his 24-0 start. This has to do with our indifference towards MSU around here.