Do you root for MSU in the Big Dance? Why?
I don't know why this question is always brought up when OSU or MSU are playing in a significant game. To hell with both of those schools. Who has two thumbs and isn't rooting for MSU? This guy.
I'm from New York, so unlike most Michiganders I don't have any friends/relatives who went to State, nor do I have any other reason to care what they do while they aren't playing us. And I don't even like basketball to begin with.
This is MSU we're talking about. No way.
I don't root for them, but I'm not pissed when they win. It's a conference loyalty thing.
Never. I didn't go to school there.
Only Michigan can make Michigan look better
...both in the way your athletic department has been run recently, and in this classy thread.
I don't see the big deal - as long as MSU is not playing UM and their success or failure will not affect UM's season, I don't see the big deal about rooting for MSU. I'm not saying anyone should out of some "conference loyalty", but I really liked that Spartan team that won the NC and I was happy they won. I'm not going to run around with a faux Spartan war helmet on and paint my body green, but I wouldn't be unhappy if then won the NC. Same goes for OSU.
I think there is a fine line between team loyalty and pettiness. I expect MSU fans to cheer for UM losing as much as when they win, but I hope that the average UM fan is a bit better than that.
I used to root for all Big10 teams except OSU when they weren't playing us. But the way Sparty has acted over the past three years has gained my eternal malevolence. I hope they lose every game from here 'til the day they slide into irrelevance, and are forced to join a conference with Delta College and Northwood University.
That said, I still root for all Big10 teams except for MSU/OSU.
I didn't grow up in Michigan, so my experiences at Michigan has always treated as Ohio State as our only real rival. I don't really root for them in football because they don't haven't earned the respect necessary to get that. In basketball, things are a bit different. Their program in basketball is quite respectable, and if they are playing a team I'm less familiar with, I'll lean toward the Spartans out of respect and familiarity.
In baseball, things are totally different. While I don't claim to be objective about the conference, I do give each team credit, and I'll root on any Big Ten team against out of conference opponents. Unlike basketball and football, Big Ten is an RPI vacuum. Michigan needs teams like State to do well in the OOC to build up their RPI, so when we play/beat them, it boosts our RPI more (as compared to NU two years ago where sweeping 4 games dropped our RPI).
That and Jake Boss is building a program in the right way in East Lansing. So he gets some of that respect-related cheering.
I do not openly root for MSU, but I can enjoy them either winning or losing.
I enjoy seeing them lose for obvious reasons. My hall was doing a pizza party last year on the night of the title game, and needless to say, watching Sparty get destroyed by North Carolina was fantastic entertainment to go with it.
On the other hand, I also know quite a few people that go to State, and a couple of them are big sports fans with which I can have very good conversations with. So when something like their game against Maryland happens, I have no problem going "Put in your place, not Big Ten team" and commenting about the awesome buzzer shot to my friends at State. Its more of a respectful nod to your rival, and I generally receive the same from then when we get a big win that doesn't involve MSU (For example, this last weekend I got a nod for beating up on Miami and Northern and extending the streak).
Its kind of a win-win really. I can take great joy in their epic failure, but can also respect and somewhat enjoy their winning when it has nothing to do with us. I guess I get more fun out of their failure, but I respect them, even if just by pre-college association with some of their students, enough not to openly wish for such a result.
no..... NO...... HELL NO.........HHHHHEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLL NNNNOOOOOO........... I hope the Sucknuts lose too. I am rooting for Pudue though if anyone cares.
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:11 PM ^
I pretty much have always rooted for MSU, so long as they're not playing michigan. I mean, not like root as a fan, but pull for. I cheer for them against OSU, ND, in bowl games. Otherwise, its ambivalence, but I tend to favor them than not. Although, if the game is close or they're ahead late, i get really excited at the budding prospects of a Sparty No moment, or whatever it is we call it. Those are always goodt
Their hoops team doesnt really need my fringe support, but I do know that i was riding them during their 1999, 2000, 2005 and 2009 final four runs. I even have a 2000 championship t shirt that I still wear. And, I had coin on them on the +2 on Sunday's game. So, I have zero problem getting into their corner in hoops, but I dont openly cheer for them they way I would in football in the ND, OSU and bowl games.
I doubt I will cheer for them Friday. I really like UNI. Elite D. MSU without Kailon. I think the Panthers muscle them right out of the tourney. Then, they break evan turner in two.
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:37 PM ^
The UNI game is almost a no-brainer.
With Lucas, you take Sparty big time. Cinderella has almost a week to revel in what she's done, wake up and realize where she is, read her press clippings, feel the glass slipper (who the hell would actually wear one of those things?)--and then promptly lay an egg in the third round.
HOWEVA--without Lucas, who is truly the guts and spleen of the white and green, this game has to be looked at as UNI all the way.
Oh, wait--that's just what they want us to think.
I still, though, think the media hype and the week layoff will give the Panthers of Northern Iowa time to discover a huge lump in their throats, and MSU will prevail.
64-57, Sparty.
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:42 PM ^
I even have a 2000 championship t shirt that I still wear.
I'm sorry, but that's a little weird.
March 23rd, 2010 at 11:13 PM ^
I'll wear it running every now and then. or when I am cleaning out the horse stables.
i always break down and buy tshirts of teams that do well for me. that was one of my first years gambling and i won on them the whole way.
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:20 PM ^
if they played the Buckeyes.
Other than that, no.
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:29 PM ^
No way in hell could I root for Michigan State to win. The thought of them hitting a game winning shot and me turning to my buddy and high fiving him makes my head want to explode. I am all for the Big Ten doing well except MSU and OSU. They can go fuck themselves.
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:48 PM ^
Plain and simple, it does not benefit Michigan to have a strong in-state rival. We share the same recruiting territory. If they're in the news (in a non-criminal way) in the state of Michigan and we aren't, that's bad for us. We should want them to be out of the headlines as much as possible.
March 23rd, 2010 at 11:05 PM ^
I have lived in SEC country for the last 17 years. Everyone around here talks about the superiority of the SEC in all sports. They view the Big Ten as some minor sports conference. I like that the Big Ten has more teams in the sweet 16 than any other conference. I don't have to listen to how much the conference sucks and how it means nothing for Michigan to do well against such subpar competition.
March 23rd, 2010 at 11:28 PM ^
No way. I hate MSU. It upsets me when they win.
March 23rd, 2010 at 11:28 PM ^
I'll bite the bullet and root for MSU against out-of-conference teams. Even OSU. As long as they don't win the National Championship. Last March was sweet.
(Oh, God. Is tantalizing our rivals, then watching their hopes get dashed at the end, my new definition of "sweet"?)
Last March was fine. Not sweet. I root for the Big Ten because when Big Ten teams win, it enhances Michigan's stature, even if only slightly. But I don't want MSU, OSU or Wiscy to EVER win a national championship. As for the others, I'll address that on a case-by-case basis, should the issue ever arise.
March 24th, 2010 at 12:12 AM ^
Period.
March 24th, 2010 at 12:40 AM ^
I grew up 15 minutes from East Lansing and my mom is an alum. I grew up with Izzo and sparty and I can't turn my back on such a stand up coach doing things the right way. With so many scandals all over the country (including his own school) Izzo's squad is squeaky clean and that is very impressive, especially with their sustained success. Does Michigan come first? Yes, I was heartbroken as I watched Sims shot rim out this year from row 3, but I still pull for State in the tourney as well as any other Big Ten team. This includes football bowl games (excluding OSU), because I love to see the Big Ten gain more respect around the country.
My good will stops at basketball though with the Spartys. Dantonio's childish attitude towards the rivalry is ridiculous and I can't handle any more spartan fans chanting "Just like football." Luckily, I think state will settle back into mediocrity in football once recruits realize Dantonio has no control over the program and isn't taking them to the promise land. Rich Rod is in trouble because his players were too committed. Dantonio needs to schedule his spring practices around court dates. I think the choice is clear.
Before I get negbombed, let me explain. In the past, I didn't hate them, but by no means did I ever root for them. I will admit that I respected the 2000 NC team, because that was a hell of a squad. Hell I even respected the job Izzo has done with the program the past decade and a half, but that has started to change. And that's where my struggle comes in. I don't know about anybody else, but it seems to me that State fans have become major douchebags in recent years, and that predates the RR era. That makes it SO easy to hate anything associated with that school. The thing is, if I look at them with the same blind, single minded hatred in which they look at us, then that brings me down to their level; a thought that makes me sick to my stomach. Even though they are deserving of my hatred, I think hatred is a useless emotion, so I don't even pay them any mind.
Over the last few years MSU has certainly moved up the list of hated schools mostly due to football. But in basketball I'll just say that while I do not root for them I don't hold it against them if they do well.
After all its OSU that I always want to see fall on their face.
Everybody and their mother out here is a BigEast fanatic. Nobody here respects the Big10 and the midwest in general. This past Monday, I was ecstatic at work about how 3 of 5 B10 teams were in the Sweet16, while only 2 of 8 BigLeast teams made it.
Since I've moved out here, I pull for the B10 so much to the point where I was rooting for Wisconsin to win. Any true State bball fan will tell you that they are clearly our biggest rival right now.
Anyway, if the situation was vice versa, I would be pulling for Michigan, mostly because of the BigEast slurpfest and B10 bashing that goes on here.