Sparty recruiting 26 year old Australian weight lifter for football
Mark D'Antonio is not only recruiting nationally; he's recruiting worldwide. I can't even make this stuff up. What's next? Offering participants off the World's Strongest Man?
February 3rd, 2012 at 9:37 AM ^
Well if he gets him that might move MSU up to 34th in the recruiting rankings.
February 3rd, 2012 at 1:10 PM ^
I wouldn't go there... they've had "worse" classes every year and they've won the last four. Shows that stars don't mean as much as we hope they do. So lets not play the "better classes than them" card until we win a few back.
February 3rd, 2012 at 9:39 AM ^
February 3rd, 2012 at 9:50 AM ^
For every one of these supposedly non Michigan-related threads that have been cropping up as of late at a time when there is a complete dearth of relevant info concerning U of M, I read at least 10 comments such as yours sadly lamenting their existence upon the apparently sacrosanct ground that is MGoBlog. Newsflash: making fun of Ohio State, Michigan State, etc. is in fact part of what it is to be a Michigan fan. The title of the thread was quite clear, if it you found it problematic, you should not have opened and read it, and you certainly could have felt free to not comment upon it.
Again, just to be clear, as a U of M fan, I enjoy reveling in the stupid things said and done by OSU and MSU, their staffs, their players, and their fanbases. If you don't- sorry? You're in the minority, I'm guessing. While I agree these items should not take up the majority of our thread space, peppering them in here and there is hardly the impact event that many of you try to make it out to be. While I love the threads numbering one in three amounting to "Will he or won't he" re: Jordan Diamond, variety is the spice of life, and I appreciate others bringing something to the table. If you find this problematic, two possible, easy solutions- (1) do not read, or (2) create your own thread topic so we have something else to read.
Off soapbox.
February 3rd, 2012 at 9:51 AM ^
or is it hear hear? whichever. i agree.
#rememberthefive
February 3rd, 2012 at 3:32 PM ^
It's "Hear! Hear!," as if to say, "Please listen to what this person is saying." (The speaker himself/herself isn't the one saying it, so it wouldn't make sense for it to be "Here! here!")
February 3rd, 2012 at 10:20 AM ^
When did sharing a funny story about one of our rivals get old?
Check out the Aussie's recruiting video. The standing vertical and the 20 yd dash are hilarious:
February 3rd, 2012 at 10:32 AM ^
When he's running, he kind of looks like Pom Pom from Homestar Runner.
February 3rd, 2012 at 10:36 AM ^
not to mention, EMU recruited a Mich HS weight lifter to throw shot and discus...granted this is barely even tangential however a lot of these power lifters are darn good athletes as well, inclusive of strength as their biggest asset. You put a guy like this in the center of the line and blow up the snap exchange...it could be problematic. Realizing this is also potentially far fetched and anything is possible, I'm all for stuff about ohio and moo u...DON'T LIKE IT...DON'T OPEN IT...that's one irk I have with some of the folks here...snobbish has to be this way don't you dare post about anyone or anything but Michigan. I personally like to know what our competition is up to. Should it dominate the posting? no...but it's the football recruiting season and we should compare ourselves a bit to those around us...
February 3rd, 2012 at 12:22 PM ^
Please make this happen!
February 3rd, 2012 at 1:36 PM ^
With a belly like that he can't have the greatest motor. I'd love to see him on the field trying to go a couple dozen plays against our best.
February 3rd, 2012 at 10:10 AM ^
Sparties like to claim that Dantonio is in our heads, and you know what, they're right.
February 3rd, 2012 at 11:28 AM ^
Although not in the way they want him to be... I'm pretty sure they don't want me walking around thinking of him as the oldest little brother in the world.
February 3rd, 2012 at 10:06 AM ^
But there is a pretty big game on Sunday, and I'm not talking about the one people watch for the commercials. Sparty is on the menu until Sunday, and hopefully for several weeks later on the a la carte "4 in a Row" insert.
February 3rd, 2012 at 10:09 AM ^
There was a time, my MGoFriends, before Dantuzzi, when it was sort of fun to talk about Sparty.
They have a very long history -- one of the most interesting in the NCAA -- of recruting "outside the box". I think mostly of Duffy Daugherty, who was a fun and funny guy, and a very good coach, whose expertise, frankly, was more in clever recruiting than in any kind of Hall of Fame level coaching.
Duffy was the guy who realized that he could raid Texas and the rest of the southland to pick up the talent that was being refused by the segregated SWC and SEC. Bubba Smith, George Webster, Gene Washington, etc. And then Duffy went to Hawaii, to grab Bob Apisa and the barefoot kicker Dick Kenney.
Fritz Crisler taught Biggie Munn, and Biggie Munn taught Duffy. Just think -- if MSU hadn't fired Duffy, Tony Dungy would have been a Spartan.
February 3rd, 2012 at 10:29 AM ^
the only MSU coach I ever liked. Can you imagine Dantonio saying: "We're small, but we're slow"?
February 3rd, 2012 at 10:39 AM ^
How would jimjam know? I'm sure it's just someone who's pissy about something. Good thing negs don't count!
February 3rd, 2012 at 10:55 AM ^
when Duffy was coaching, but that quote was repeated somewhere in the last few years. Much like Dantonio (sarcasm), Duffy had a smile on his face most of the time and seemed to enjoy life, but that was before Bo.
February 3rd, 2012 at 11:00 AM ^
Is it a proxy vote, like saying that "-1 expresses that I don't like Dantonio"? Because I know that I don't like Dantonio. But I don't mind getting neutral facts about this kind of information. I'd rather know about an MSU recruit, than not know. Doesn't imply any rooting interest.
February 3rd, 2012 at 9:40 AM ^
I vaguely remember having a walk on that was a huge lifter.
February 3rd, 2012 at 9:43 AM ^
just a rumor I heard a while back
February 3rd, 2012 at 10:36 AM ^
You're right. Just confirmed via Twitter.
February 3rd, 2012 at 10:44 AM ^
This guy is almost 400 lbs of solid beef. If this guy learned even an ounce of technique he would be dangerous just based off of sheer power alone. Let's hope Dantonio doesn't actually figure something out here. You all might remember another Aussie in CFB by the name of Brad Wing? And, yeah, while a punter, he is a rediculous punter and ALWAYS wins the field position game for his team. Just saying, there is football talent outside of our borders and a coach who finds and capitalizes on it will prosper.
February 3rd, 2012 at 9:50 AM ^
Yep, Gary Yerden. He was a preferred walk-on. I'm pretty sure he quit the team, though.
February 3rd, 2012 at 9:52 AM ^
He made it to campus and left within a week or two. The Internets showed that he went to Charlotte, NC, but I don't know that he ever popped up at another school. Kid was a beast, but had very little football experience. I imagine that it was daunting for him to come in as a walk-on and try to compete against the talent at a school like Michigan.
Edit: Damn, beaten to the punch.
February 3rd, 2012 at 9:42 AM ^
just cause they can bench press a house doesn't mean they can play football
February 3rd, 2012 at 9:45 AM ^
ps is there really no age limit for college football?
February 3rd, 2012 at 9:54 AM ^
I don't think so. As long as you have eligibility you can play. That's why guys like Brandon Weeden (29) and Chris Weinke (won the Heisman at 28) can play. I don't know about Weeden, but I'm pretty sure Weinke is a Mormon, so he came back and picked up football after his time as a missionary.
February 3rd, 2012 at 10:08 AM ^
weinke played minor league baseball.
February 3rd, 2012 at 10:12 AM ^
Ah, and so you are right. I thought I had heard somewhere that he was a Mormon. At any rate, I should have researched it before saying it.
February 3rd, 2012 at 10:29 AM ^
Wasn't Scott Bakula in his 40's while he was leading the Texas St. Armadillos in Necessary Roughness?
February 3rd, 2012 at 9:52 AM ^
Australia was a British penal colony. Clearly a legacy recruit for MSU.
February 3rd, 2012 at 10:00 AM ^
February 3rd, 2012 at 10:31 AM ^
Australia is entirely peopled by criminals. And criminals cannot be trusted. And so I cannot trust you, Mark Dantonio.
February 3rd, 2012 at 9:53 AM ^
and you got Magic back to try to breath some (well) Magic back one more time. Next up: Andre the Giant. Free popcorn to the first 500 who pay full price for tickets.
February 3rd, 2012 at 10:00 AM ^
What in the hell are you trying to say?
February 3rd, 2012 at 11:17 AM ^
What you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this thread is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
February 3rd, 2012 at 1:48 PM ^
You probably do have to have won a Hopwood Award to wrap your brain around that one, and all is forgiven if you cannot, but the point is that they're scraping the bottom of the barrel over there with (Urban Please Don't Hurt Me) Don'tonio, and they're now going for Aussie weightlifters to fill their more expensive seats. It was a rapper a while back, but you have to keep up to know that. So much explication kills the joke, but that doesn't always make the teller the fool.
February 3rd, 2012 at 10:02 AM ^
This couldn't be any better for MSU...playing right into their wheelhouse.
February 3rd, 2012 at 10:08 AM ^
My favorite parts:
Johnstone, 26, visited the midwest for three weeks in December, meeting with coaches at Toledo, Eastern Michigan, Michigan State and Saginaw Valley State.
They talked about me enrolling for fall classes, coming back to walk on. I'm definitely considering it. Michigan State is one of the best programs in the country.
Yep, right up there with those other schools he visited.
February 3rd, 2012 at 10:09 AM ^
Dantonio lied. They don't recruit nationally.
They recruit INTERNATIONALLY.
February 3rd, 2012 at 10:10 AM ^
D'Antonio will start recruiting live stock as well.
February 3rd, 2012 at 3:09 PM ^
I think livestock would have better technique than this guy (and better discipline than is acceptable for Sparty)
February 3rd, 2012 at 10:14 AM ^
Sort of OT, but I always wondered about sumo wrestlers too. It seems like their skill set (using leverage and agility) to push large men around would translate well to an OL position. If MSU has staked their flag in Australia, let's go recruit Japan!
February 3rd, 2012 at 3:58 PM ^
I agree with the leverage and agility observations, but if Sparty actually got one on the field it would most likely turn out like the egg eating fiasco in The Replacements.
February 3rd, 2012 at 10:15 AM ^
February 3rd, 2012 at 10:22 AM ^
D'antonio can do what he w'ants.
February 4th, 2012 at 3:09 PM ^
Use university money to travel to Austrilia
February 3rd, 2012 at 10:21 AM ^
Because iocane comes from Australia, as everyone knows, and Australia is entirely peopled with criminals, and criminals are used to having people not trust them...so he is clearly in line with Dantonio recruiting.