MSU Donates Footballs To Our Armed Forces
A great idea to give some sort of normalcy and American recreation to our service men and women overseas. Kudos to Sparty, as well as CMU, WMU, ASU and Purdue. Michigan needs to get in on this.
http://www.mlive.com/spartans/index.ssf/2009/09/michigan_state_passing_…
September 24th, 2009 at 4:03 PM ^
MSU owns the US army, not just the state.
September 24th, 2009 at 4:09 PM ^
for target practice.
September 24th, 2009 at 4:12 PM ^
...I am supposed to say, "But the Taliban intercepted the ball, 10 seconds before it arrived for the awaiting troops in Kabul." Right?
Seriously, it is nice to see a program doing something for our troops. Other than losing to Notre Dame, Mark D'Antonio seems to be doing a lot of the right things in E. Lansing, which is good for the Big Ten, and not bad for Michigan.
September 24th, 2009 at 4:17 PM ^
go about accumulating so many negs? That is quite impressive!
September 24th, 2009 at 6:09 PM ^
To get -295 negs, all you have to do is:
1. Be a good, ordinary, MGoBlog memeber with about +100 MGoPoints.
2. Be a solid non-troll supporter of Michigan football. (Alum, season ticket holder, Victors Club member, etc.)
3. Don't violate any forum rules. Don't call fellow participants any names, etc. Resist all temptation to call others names when they do it to you, (calling you, "dick, asshole" etc.) Don't say or do anything trollish, stupid, anti-Michigan, etc.
4. [This is the critical part.] Suggest that it is NOT okay to stand up in the Stadium and block other people's views, when you don't have to stand yourself. Keep your posts focused on that point, and stick to your convictions even when everybody else is negging you. In short, hold firm to a basic point of view that is different from the majority of the MGoBlog demographic. (Even though many others agree with me.) That's how you get to -295 in the space of about 72 hrs. Simple, really. It is nothing more than me versus the "STAND-UP!!!" crowd at MGoBlog.
September 24th, 2009 at 8:37 PM ^
If you don't want to stand up and root for your team, that is fine.
Do NOT bitch about the people in front of you who wish stand and create an intimidating environment. If you want to watch the game whilst seated, please do one of the following: (1) Be happy to stare at the ass the Michigan supporter in front of you, or (2) Stay at home and watch the game from your couch. You will get a better view from your television and the food is cheap.
September 24th, 2009 at 8:41 PM ^
That's how it works. I rest my case.
September 24th, 2009 at 8:47 PM ^
110,000 people in the stadium, all 18-25 years old, all wearing identical Maize-out t-shirts, all standing and all screaming their lungs out. It would be very, very noisy.
And, the Athletic Department would very quickly have no money, as all the real donors no longer came to Ann Arbor.
September 25th, 2009 at 12:15 PM ^
For you to imply a negative correlation between fan intensity and ability to donate money is absolutely absurd. Your assumption that I am an 18-25 year old pauper incapable of donating money to the athletic program is ignorant to say the least. Not all who cheer are proles. More importantly, not all who donate are Michigan men.
Please choose one: (1) Be appreciative that the fan in front of you, regardless of age or social class, loves Michigan football and is willing to help inspire the team. (2) Watch the game from the comfort of your own home and STFU.
September 25th, 2009 at 3:45 PM ^
Here's what I know. The vast majority of fans in my Section love the school, and the football program, and want to support it, and do support it with big PSD's and lots of other giving.
So let's stipulate that any attacks on that particular group of Michigan fans are way out of bounds. I can't even begin to tell you how many of the Bluest of the Blue are in the general area I am talking about. That's the reason I mention the demographics. Because guys like you are making the presumption that the football team is somehow poorer and less inspired because of fans in the midfield sections. I didn't start the name-calling or the criticism or the comparisons -- YOU GUYS DID. I have many times said; I sort of like the students standing and yelling. And I have no problem with people standing and yelling as long as they don't block the view of people behind them. (Although the business of standing the whole game is sort of like Notre Dame, which I think is inherently evil.)
Continuing with what I know: If somebody thinks he is going to stand up for the whole game in my Section, I know for a fact that he'll be asked to sit down at some point. Naturally, there's not a section in the whole stadium that won't at some point stand up. And there are some places in the Stadium where standing is more the rule thant the exception. You don't hear me complaining about what other sections do.
It is just you guys, telling people who have done more tangible things to support the Michigan football program than you have, what sort of fans they should be.
It's really nice to be called a "moron" and to be told to "STFU." Let me get this straight; you guys are the point-winners and point-leaders at MGoBlog, and people like me are told to get out?
September 25th, 2009 at 4:00 PM ^
so many things wrong with this rant. First, you sound like one of those awful parents that try to buy their kids' love. Look, your money is nice for the program but it in no way, shape, or form is the only form of "tangible support" for the team. In fact, your presence at the game, sitting stone-faced and occassionally jangling your keys is a fucking DETRIMENT to the team and the overall gameday experience.
You know what else is tangible? Delay of game penalties, forced timeouts and opponents' mental errors from real fans making noise. You don't contribute to any of this.
And you are STILL forgetting that everyone in that stadium IS giving monetary support to the program - they all bought tickets and are decked out in Michigan gear, remember? Just because you choose to donate more does not allow you to lord over others. It does not buy you any sort of exclusivity. If you want exclusivity, BUY THE FUCKING LUXURY BOXES. That's what they are there for. Until then, yes, shut the fuck up, and let people enjoy the game the way they want to (short of violence and screaming profanities with kids around, etc).
September 25th, 2009 at 4:10 PM ^
You are just the worst type of person. Probably a bloodsucking lawyer.
September 25th, 2009 at 4:16 PM ^
Me and a lot of other MGoBloggers are bloodsucking lawyers. While we may generally suck, at least most of us know how to cheer on our team.
September 25th, 2009 at 4:23 PM ^
Based on your well crafted response to Section 1, which I could not have phrased any better myself, I have to assume you are the good type of lawyer ;-)
September 25th, 2009 at 4:38 PM ^
As a lawyer, perhaps you'd be in a good position to do a memo to Bill Martin, Joe Parker, Marty Bodnar and the Regents on the consequences of having a de facto policy of allowing all patrons in the Stadium to stand for the entire game.
You'd want to address these issues, among others:
Accomodations to persons with disabilities who are not otherwise in the disabled seating areas.
Whether demand for handicapped seating would outstrip capacity if all fans were told to expect to stand for the entire game.
How to explain to patrons with children how those children will be able to see the game.
How to explain to the University's self-insured retention fund risk managers, and the excess carriers, the liklihood of injury if children and other patrons stand up on bleachers in order to see the game.
How to explain to long-time season ticket holders that they will now have to stand if they wish to see the game. That will need to go in a special memo to the University of Michigan Athletic Development Office. They may be losing some donors as a result, and they will want an explanation.
September 25th, 2009 at 4:53 PM ^
Apparently, I was correct with my bloodsucking lawyer comment.
September 25th, 2009 at 4:56 PM ^
no one is making you go to the game. The gameday experience is clearly not for everyone. You sound like you are waaaaay too uptight to enjoy a live game. Regardless, I'll give you a bulletpoint memo:
1. The stadium already has accomodations for people with disabilities. This is a good thing. If people with disabilites are not making use of the designated space and there is excess space, I say too bad. If there is not enough space, more should be made. Somehow, I don't think demand for wheelchair seating will make capacity issues.
2. Children ALWAYS run the risk of having an obstructed view. If you get the big-headed guy or 300lb. 6'9" guy in front of you, you're SOL. Where are going to draw the line? Children have a right to the game as much as anyone else, but unless we are going to assign seats based on height and age, there's no feasible alternative. If this is a risk that you as a parent are not willing to take, stay home.
3. Are you honestly suggesting that this doesn't already go on? People stand all over the goddamn stadium. So, no NEW risk is introduced. As a separate matter, just about any civil suit arising from such injuries would fail unless there were defects in the building itself, which, again, would occur regardless of whether people chose to stand.
4. Your final point is the reason everyone seems to hate you here. Having the money doesn't allow you to make the rules. You CAN make the rules in the luxury boxes. I trust you have one reserved already? Until then, you are a prole. You are in the general population and subject to the same rules as everyone else. If you want to vote with your feet and leave, there are 10,000 people waiting in line to grab your tickets. You won't be missed.
September 25th, 2009 at 5:14 PM ^
that's at least better than being hated in my Section (or especially being removed from that Section) on game day which is what really matters to me.
What you guys do doesn't much matter to me, honestly. I feel bad for a lot of the ordinary folks sitting behind you in your sections.
You think I'm "too uptight" to enjoy a game? Heck, I'm the one who regards it as a pleasant fall diversion to be enjoyed like anything else. I stand up a bit, cheer some, yell at the refs occasionally, enjoy the amusing spectacle of the student sections, and mostly, I sit and watch the game a bit.
It is some of you guys who seem to think that you're on a mission from Michigan-God, and that the temple must be reserved for the strong and the truly devoted. "Uptight?" Uh, maybe...
September 25th, 2009 at 5:31 PM ^
This website is full of some of the most Michigan-obsessed fans in the world. They know a lot about Michigan football and are very passionate. If you have negative 240 points it says more about you than us.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have a 4 hour train to catch so I can go watch Michigan kick Indiana's ass tomorrow.
September 25th, 2009 at 5:40 PM ^
to the sideshow that this thread has become.
I have -240 for the one and only reason that when people on this board started threads suggesting that fans should ignore and/or insult anyone who asks them to sit down because people behind can't see.
That's it. No other reason. I don't really have that much time, or that many posts one way or another. I'm as pro-Michigan as anyone; I've seen more games that practically any of you; and my conduct in posting to these message boards is a lot better than most of my detractors.
Now, ask me if it matters to me. Because if it did, I think that the best course of action whould have been to drop it immediately. And never again suggest anything that the majority does not agree with.
That is, if I cared about -240.
September 25th, 2009 at 2:12 PM ^
I was all ready to give you the benefit of the doubt for your alternate viewpoint....but then this. What makes you think your status as a donor gives you the right to tell others how to enjoy a game (in a way that is totally normal for a football game, standing and cheering!) that they paid just as much to attend as you? Better go buy a fucking luxury box, moneybags.
You deserve all the negs you get.
September 25th, 2009 at 3:50 PM ^
That is, they deserve better from you than to have their status in the Stadium challenged.
Do whatever you want. Find a place in the Stadium to stand up the whole game if you can find a place where no one behind you will complain. Just don't think that you'll be able to do it where people do complain.
September 25th, 2009 at 4:06 PM ^
Your donor status does NOT let you make all the rules. Real fans do a lot more than just donate money. Are you suggesting that you are a better fan because you have the means to donate? Can you only be True Blue if you have money to burn?
You keep forgetting that it is a DONATION. You did not purchase anything. Aside from maybe a smug sense of self-satisfaction.
September 25th, 2009 at 4:21 PM ^
I never suggested that I, or anyone else, was a "better fan." Re-read the Comments. Then re-read your own.
Read what you wrote. You just now implied that I am not a "real fan." I didn't question your fanhood. But you questioned mine.
You keep doing stuff like that. Do you even think about what you are writing?
September 25th, 2009 at 4:36 PM ^
explicitly say something to that effect - the implications of your posts are crystal clear. You constantly talk about how you are a donor, how your money is the only "tangible support" given, and how if the stands were filled with college types there would be no football team to speak of.
Now, following your logic, if there weren't people like you around, the program would collapse. Tell me what that implies. I'll be waiting.
I also enjoy how you whine about never explicitly saying you were a better fan, then turn around in the next paragraph to bitch about me implying that you are not a real fan. So, is inference only OK when you do it? You should probably examine your own critical thinking skills before trying to blast mine.
September 25th, 2009 at 5:33 PM ^
And then stomp on it.
No, I suggested that if you guys were successful in driving out of the Stadium every fan who was annoyed by the prosepct of standing for a whole game, the program would lose a lot of donors.
I never once, not ever, suggested that I was a better fan than anyone else. I only suggested that no one ought to question my devotion to the program, based upon some tangible measurables. They aren't the only measurables, and I said on another page that my giving to the Victors Club is modest by the Victors Club's historical standards. I never questioned anyone else.
I'm not inferring anything. I am being as direct as I can, and as polite as I can with people who are calling me names.
If you are standing up in Michigan Stadium and not bothering anybody, that's fine. If you are standing up in Michigan Stadium when you don't need to, and if someon behind you asks you to sit down so that they can see, you should sit down. That's the one assertion, the only real assertion, that I have stuck to.
And for that I am "hated" and called names on Brian Cook's blog? I hope Brian Cook reads this. He must love to have his readers cluttering his message boards with trashtalk about penises. That's really the way to take the nation's biggest college sports blog to the next level of respect and credibility. I feel like I took a wrong turn and walked into a freshman dorm-hall.
September 25th, 2009 at 5:40 PM ^
You have -230 points for a reason.
September 25th, 2009 at 5:47 PM ^
And actually, the only reason for my negs is that I have stuck to the position that it is wrong to ignore and/or insult somebody behind you who asks you to sit because they can't see.
Just that.
I got to something like -250 in about 48 hours, for holding to that position, and repeating it. I'm not sure (because I wouldn't care in any event) if I had ever been negged before that.
September 25th, 2009 at 6:09 PM ^
Good luck fighting the good fight against "you guys."
September 25th, 2009 at 6:18 PM ^
See, what you don't seem to get is that NOBODY GIVES A FUCK HOW MUCH YOU'VE DONATED. I'd support you if you weren't such a fucking idiot who thinks we're all impressed by your money. We're not. Your donor status is meaningless yet you bring it up like it's some trump card for you to play and everyone is supposed to bow down because we're all poor cretins compared to Mr. $10,000 donation.
September 25th, 2009 at 4:57 PM ^
You must have a very, very small penis.
September 25th, 2009 at 3:53 PM ^
He donated $10,000, but he absolutely will not brag about it. He won't brag about it, because $10,000 is nothing to him as he only considers 6 figure donations to be substantial. His approach is reminiscent of Weis' policy of not making excuses.
September 25th, 2009 at 4:27 PM ^
because I suggested that the desire of some Michigan fans to stand up for the whole game was reminiscent of what Notre Dame fans do in their puny little Stadium?
September 25th, 2009 at 4:39 PM ^
I was just explaining your stance to the uninitiated. We're 3-0 and it's Friday, I'm actually pretty stoked.
September 25th, 2009 at 7:29 PM ^
I will try to be civil and respectful about this. You certainly have the right to your opinion on the standing/sitting situation, however there are those who do not agree with you and your choice of words in regard to them come off as very condescending and pompous; essentially you sound unable to accept that someone disagrees with you. That, it would appear to me, is the reason for all the negs.
It is one thing to disagree with people and stick to your opinion, that is fine; it is another thing to try to make those who differ from you feel inferior (you're very clearly trying to establish some sort of authority by consistently referring to your membership in the Victors Club) and thus that you are somehow more correct than them when in reality there is no universal right or wrong on this issue, just different perspectives.
In summary, I think the lack of respect, due to the tone of your comments, for those who disagree with you is a problem.
Likewise, for those of you that disagree with this gentlman, I think you (and me, I made an inappropriate comment in a previous thread about him, albeit it was meant as a joke, but still) need not respond with the same snarky tone. Let's rise above that, we're Michigan men after all.
September 24th, 2009 at 4:24 PM ^
It should read "donates footballSSSSSS" because donate football just sounds like they are donating the whole sport to the US ARMY.
Also, if you really wanted to throw around a football wouldn't you just bring one with you or purchase one?
September 24th, 2009 at 4:41 PM ^
I like thinking of it as Michigan State digging deep into its budget and giving the Army 1 single football.
September 24th, 2009 at 4:34 PM ^
I was hoping it would go unnoticed.
Grammar Nazis - 1
Me - 0
September 24th, 2009 at 4:38 PM ^
There's a limited amount of shit you can take with you when you deploy (whatever fits in 2 bags!). I'd assume most people would rather have something more important than a football.
Its a nice gesture though.
September 24th, 2009 at 5:23 PM ^
If our soldiers cannot take a football with them into the field then the terrorists have won.
September 24th, 2009 at 8:47 PM ^
Great for the soldiers!
Also whoever is in charge of the PR in East Lansing is doing a helluva job