Dantonio elicits sympathy from Jamie Samuelson via Detroit Free Press
"The only thing that might trump the Harbaugh obsession is the obsession that Michigan State fans have over the Harbaugh obsession in the first place. Mark Dantonio went on SportsCenter, got asked about Harbaugh, and the Spartan fans went ballistic. Rolling Stone (a noted sports publication) printed an article wondering if Harbaugh and Ohio State’s Urban Meyer could restore the Big Ten to greatness and MSU fans harped that Dantonio is a pretty good coach too. And then a caricature of Harbaugh made it on the cover of ESPN’s College Football Preview magazine and the whole cycle repeated."
Source: Detroit Free Press, 8/11/2015 [Jamie Samuelsen]
August 11th, 2015 at 6:37 AM ^
August 11th, 2015 at 6:42 AM ^
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August 11th, 2015 at 7:53 AM ^
August 11th, 2015 at 8:33 AM ^
tears from tear gas while rioting over either losing or winning in the NCAA tournament.
August 11th, 2015 at 10:17 AM ^
But they have kicked our asses since Dantonio took over. Granted, he was gifted RR and Hoke, but still...winning is winning. I don't think we can say much until we beat them this season, which will happen.
August 11th, 2015 at 10:45 AM ^
Not this narrative again. This is the type of thinking that led Brady Hoke to apologize because a spike got planted on the field at MSU. Its tiring. Jim Harbaugh not going that way. Bottom line, until Sparty wins the next 35 in a row then I, as a Michigan supporter, will continue to talk all day, all the time as indicated.
As to these ongoing Sparty threads. Dammit OP. When does the season begin, anyway? I said it last week and I'll say it again...
August 11th, 2015 at 1:38 PM ^
August 11th, 2015 at 1:31 PM ^
August 11th, 2015 at 7:13 AM ^
August 11th, 2015 at 9:42 AM ^
August 11th, 2015 at 6:48 AM ^
Please, just stop.
August 11th, 2015 at 9:53 AM ^
They are our rivals. Rivals talk about each other.
August 11th, 2015 at 6:51 AM ^
I can't wait for the first harbaugh/dantonio handshake at midfield after a emotional close controversal michigan win. its going to be so epic.
August 11th, 2015 at 7:45 AM ^
Dantonio is going to be super-pissed after Harbaugh barely shakes his hand while celebrating.
August 11th, 2015 at 11:17 AM ^
"We're driving, trying to score and get the two-pointer to tie the game," Neuheisel said, as he starts to get animated.
"We don't get it done. I walk across to shake his hand. He runs up, he's as excited as he can be, he slaps my hand and says, 'What'd you think about that, Ricky!' And takes off.
August 11th, 2015 at 7:57 AM ^
If you listen real hard, you can hear the Dantonio/Harbaugh pot bubbling on the back burner and it's only a matter of time until it boils over. And IT WILL boil over. You know that Harbaugh knows how much all this attention Michigan is getting bugs Dantonio. So, he'll use it to his advantage. But yeah, it will be interesting to see the post-game meeting between the two after Michigan beats them this year.
August 11th, 2015 at 7:12 AM ^
What's annoying about this whole disprespect meme with Spartan fans is how misplaced is their ire. Dantonio goes on ESPN and gets asked about Harbaugh and Spartan fans blame....Michigan. Rolling Stone writes an article about Harbaugh and Urban Meyer and Spartan fans blame....Michigan.
Let's get things straight here Sparty, the only thing Michigan has done directly to disrespect you in the last 10 years is when Mike Hart called you Little Brother. That's it. All the rest of this stuff that you're bent out shape over is just your jealousy and insecurity coming out and has nothing to do with the Blue Wall conspiracy theories that you love to throw around. I realize it must be frustrating to have Harbaugh steal so much of your thunder given your recent achievements. Grow up and get over it.
August 11th, 2015 at 7:23 AM ^
August 11th, 2015 at 9:47 AM ^
The whole meme of "national football power, fallen on hard times, rescued by former QB who was a top NFL coach" just screams for press coverage.
Especially so when Harbaugh is such a quirky guy. How many other major college coaches can you imagine who would get their faces on camera in Judge Judy's courtroom or who would run around shirtless at a camp? The guy knows how to get the publicity, whether he consciously seeks it or not.
August 11th, 2015 at 12:42 PM ^
For all the bitching that Spartan fans do about Harbaugh's antics, Tom Izzo is every bit the media hog that Jim is. Dressing up in costumes, etc. Granted basketball doesn't get the same kind of coverage as football, but hypocracy much?
August 11th, 2015 at 1:20 PM ^
August 11th, 2015 at 3:31 PM ^
Two posts in six weeks and one is to chime in like this. Hmm.
August 11th, 2015 at 7:30 AM ^
amazing that State has done what they have without ever really being "accepted" into current elite status. In a five year span, they have won a regular season conference title, a BIG championship game title, lost another in a heartbreaker, beat a very good Georgia team, won a Rose Bowl and a Cotton Bowl. This is a list of acheivements that gets you in the club, other teams like Stanford have been welcomed into said club based on far less. But State does not get recognized as a power even though the results say they are, they remain an afterthought nationally and really are not that reveared even locally. I get that they are ranked high so I am not saying they are not respected but they still seem to get an implied asterick when discussed among top level teams.
Rumor had it that a big part of the reason Saban left State is due to the fact that they were not going to get out of Michigan's shadow regardless of what they did. I think there is kind of something to that but not just Michigan. Throw Ohio State and Notre Dame in the mix and State is kind of in a Bermuda triangle of marginalization.
August 11th, 2015 at 8:15 AM ^
August 11th, 2015 at 8:51 AM ^
I am not sure I follow your line of thinking. Dantonio, more than anyone in D1, has done lots more with less. Michigan and OSU can have all the 5 stars and 4 stars they want, MSU is content on finding defensive gems in the rough. The question on my mind is was it Dantonio or Narduzzi as the ring leader of the defence? Franklin doesn't really impress me much and Maryland is, well Maryland. Maryland soared under Friedgen and now Randy Edsall is, well Randy Edsall.
August 11th, 2015 at 9:07 AM ^
he framed it wrong when he said "box of underacheivers" but I think his point is well taken. Michigan State has formed its identify as "the little engine that could" to carve out who they are in the grand landscape but it might be a blessing and a curse for them. It may be the source of their motivation but also the reason for their pertetual marginalization.
As for the Narduzzi v. Dantonio question, I think Dantonio is the ring leader of everything there. Not to discount Narduzzi's ability as a coach but I think of Dantonio when I think of State's identity, even defensively. I think the bigger question is whether the "coaching up" narrative was born more from getting incredibly lucky in recruiting over a relatively short amount of time than it was from anything in particular they are doing from a coaching angle. It would seem that water will find its level at some point unless somehow Dantonio is some coaching god that can turn water into wine with the snap of a finger.
August 11th, 2015 at 9:35 AM ^
August 11th, 2015 at 9:41 AM ^
best posts I've read on here. Very well said. Your last sentence sums it up perfectly.
August 11th, 2015 at 2:05 PM ^
August 11th, 2015 at 7:51 AM ^
I love family portraits, how can they be considered disrespectful?
August 11th, 2015 at 8:17 AM ^
August 11th, 2015 at 7:12 AM ^
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August 11th, 2015 at 7:52 AM ^
It's like Ohio State fans singing a song dedicated about Michigan, saying how they don't care about Michigan.
August 11th, 2015 at 9:13 AM ^
Right before they do their "Buckeye Bounce" to a song by a band from Michigan. Unless they've stopped doing that. It was big in 2008-10 when I was down there.
Anyway, the whole MSU disrespect thing has long since reached the point where it seems like they'd have no other national identity without it. Drop it and respect will come. Continue to act like Jan Brady, and you'll continue to be recognized as such, regardless of what happens on any field.
Good thing Jamie Samuelson is part of the "Blue Wall", though.
August 11th, 2015 at 9:46 AM ^
August 11th, 2015 at 7:18 AM ^
Saturday, October 17th.
Words are just words. But football is football.
Until then? Chatter.
August 11th, 2015 at 7:33 AM ^
Samuelson is usually pretty balanced in his takes. If you look hard enough you can probably identify that the entire peice is built on sarcasm however derivative it may be. Jamie and Wojo provide pretty much the most balanced discussion of college football on any Michigan radio station at any time of day.
August 11th, 2015 at 7:38 AM ^
JFC there are an awful lot of posts about Dantonio on this board.
August 11th, 2015 at 7:44 AM ^
August 11th, 2015 at 7:45 AM ^
Maybe not at the moment but there was some post about his name being misspelled a few days ago. I preferred the days of irrelevance. Oh well, maybe once we start winning again.
August 11th, 2015 at 7:56 AM ^
August 11th, 2015 at 7:44 AM ^
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August 11th, 2015 at 9:52 AM ^
August 11th, 2015 at 11:18 AM ^
That may be true in reality, but not in Dantonio-land. This faux outrage/disrespect illusion thing needs to be propped up at all costs. It's his entire schtick for motivating his locker-room. So even when they ARE respected, he won't acknowledge it. He'll be like Baghdad Bob, denying until his last breath that his team is getting any kind of respect at all.
The problem is, at some point even if he denies reality, the locker room will see through the act eventually. It may be a delayed effect because he will try to manufacture slights wherever he can. But at some point his own players will stop buying into that story-line.
August 11th, 2015 at 7:45 AM ^
and this thread supports the notion that UofM fans are obsessed over the obession MSU fans have with the obession UofM fans and the media have with Harbaugh.
August 11th, 2015 at 8:14 AM ^
Who gives a shit?!? I'm so tired of people getting upset about other people talking about Michigan State. Are we so insecure that we can't even acknowledge Michigan State's rise in recent years by - gasp - talking about them without some folks getting bent out of shape? And what official rankings are we adhering to when attempting to determine what fans are most obsessed with their rival school?
It's all so fucking dumb. It's a rivalry. They're good. Deal with it.
August 11th, 2015 at 8:34 AM ^