Another Big Ten Network FAIL
I don't know why this bothers me, but it does.
I'm sitting on my couch, cruising the internet while watching Big Ten Friday Night Tailgate on the BTN when they start talking about Michigan vs. Michigan State. This catches my attention so I watch more closely. On the screen, they put up a graph about the history of the Paul Bunyan Trophy. Everything is good until they get to the part where is says, "Overall series record since 1953" They list on the screen, in plain English, Michigan State leads the series 34-20-2. WTF? Does the Big Ten Network do any research what-so-ever? Is this just an arrant typo? We all know that Michigan leads the overall series 67-29-5, and 34-20-2 since 1953 when MSU joined the Big Ten. What the hell is going on with the BTN and their constant research FAIL?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Bunyan_Trophy
October 3rd, 2009 at 12:40 AM ^
I'm pretty sure they did it to mess with your head.
October 3rd, 2009 at 12:48 AM ^
Mistakes happen and its not that big of a deal?
October 3rd, 2009 at 12:55 AM ^
Their biggest mistake is taking a great rivalry game and putting it on their insignificant, parochial little network, preventing a lot of people from having the opportunity to see it. As for the mistake on who leads the series, it is unforgivable. They are THE BIG TEN NEWTORK!!! It is their fucking job to get shit like this right.
If they can't even get the records of the second-best rivalry in the conference right, how can they be expected to show competence in other areas?
Big Ten Newtork is Big Joke Network. Fuck them.
October 3rd, 2009 at 1:09 AM ^
The big ten network wants to make money so they take the biggest game they can get. I don't see what's wrong with that.
If you can't see where you are then just use it as an excuse to go to a bar with some friends and have a good time. EZ game.
October 3rd, 2009 at 2:43 AM ^
I am in Boise for the weekend, and even some of the sports bars here don't get the Big Ten Network. On top of that, the ones that do get it don't open until 11:00 (mountain), which is an hour after the game begins. I was hoping that I could pay for a stream from the BTN on my computer, but I can't even BUY access to the game. Not cool.
At least I will be able to attend the Boise State game after the Michigan game. It should be interesting to see the Broncos in action, whether or not they are actually the 5th best team in the nation.
October 3rd, 2009 at 1:09 AM ^
From the wiki link:
"The overall series record is 67–29–5 in favor of Michigan, and since Michigan State achieved Big Ten membership in 1953, it is 34–20–2 for Michigan."
Big Ten network is giving the record since MSU joined the Big Ten. Go figure. The same year the trophy was introduced. So since, as you said, they are graphing the history of the TROPHY, and not every M/MSU game in history, they give the 34–20–2 record.
EDIT: Oh, wait. They said STATE leads the record? That's dumb.
October 3rd, 2009 at 1:21 AM ^
That was the point of my original rant. They said Michigan State leads the series. You have to be pretty clueless to think Michigan State leads ANY type of series against Michigan. I would expect that from a Spartan fan, but not from a sports network dedicated to the Big Ten.
October 3rd, 2009 at 1:05 AM ^
I'm a fan of theirs, but egregious errors like this are unforgivable.
October 3rd, 2009 at 8:43 AM ^
I've never seen that before, but it was pretty funny.
October 3rd, 2009 at 1:06 AM ^
As long as the game is on their program tomorrow I am not concerned.
October 3rd, 2009 at 1:07 AM ^
They have the coaches talking on Big Ten Football... and Beyond. They're talking about how Michigan State started pulling away with in-state recruiting. Gary Barnett goes on and on about how important this game is to in-state recruiting. He says in the past, Michigan and Michigan State recruited different types of kids, and now Rich Rodriguez is going after the same kids that Michigan State has gone after in the past, from the same areas in Michigan.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this completely the opposite way around? How is this analysis not 100% FAIL? When is the last time Michigan State recruited the likes of Denard Robinson?
October 3rd, 2009 at 1:39 AM ^
This is exactly what I was thinking. Not one word that came out of that idiots mouth was correct. If you sat down and tried to write the exact opposite of how things really are, you could not do better than what he just said.
Than they are going on and on about in-state crap. News flash, winning the state of Michigan gets you nothing! Only schools, teams, and people who can't compete on a national level care about wining the state of Michigan.
October 3rd, 2009 at 1:58 AM ^
I saw that too...I really don't think he knows what he's talking about. Michigan will always be able to recruit nationally, and will take the better kid as opposed to the less talented in-state kid. Michigan State recruits locally in-state and midwest on purpose (and also cause I think they have no choice.) BTN uses the word 'analyst' and 'expert' pretty loosely.
October 3rd, 2009 at 2:19 AM ^
Barnett is a fucking dumbass. I heard him on the radio before the season and he all but chuckled about how bad the situation was at Michigan (post-Rosenberg article). Totally clueless. This clown ran the Colorado program into the ground and is basically untouchable in the coaching world. Lucky for him the Big10 Network has no hiring standards. I hope, for his family's sake, that he isn't judged by the validity/accuracy of the words that come out of his mouth and can continue to collect a paycheck despite knowing nothing about the world of college football.
October 3rd, 2009 at 1:50 AM ^
Relax. It's a simple mistake made without bias or malice.
It never ceases to amaze me how The Internet prompts so many people to overreact to so many inadvertent and otherwise meaningless mistakes. People screw up, and it's often not really that important. There must be more productive things to do than to trumpet unimportant errors on the internet.
October 3rd, 2009 at 1:59 AM ^
But in this case, someone was put in charge of typing the words that went into the graphic displayed on the BTN. That person had two choices: Michigan, or Michigan State. Since it takes more effort to type Michigan State, something there went horribly wrong.
October 3rd, 2009 at 2:31 AM ^
No harm, no foul. Anyone who actually watches the Friday Night Tailgate on the BTN knows that it's a typo.
October 3rd, 2009 at 2:39 AM ^
Van Earl Wright if they are going to put blatantly incorrect stuff on the air like this. VEW was notorius for doing stuff like that. He reported the outcome of a fight he saw on ESPN Classic that was 15 years old on an evening sports cast thinking the bout was live.
October 3rd, 2009 at 3:11 AM ^
I'd rather have UM lead the series and accept the typo, than be MSU and lose the series but win the typo.
October 3rd, 2009 at 4:04 AM ^
bad b/c it is the only specific programming I get outside of the internet. I live in KS and we just don't get that kind of coverage.
October 3rd, 2009 at 8:08 AM ^
If you watch the ticker it routinely contains incorrect info. Last week the BTN listed Brown as Brown MSU in the list of leading rushers of the week. They must have people handling the day to day production that don't really know football. It is not the first time I noticed the ticker was wrong. Last season I saw several other errors
October 3rd, 2009 at 8:36 AM ^
The BTN sucks. Their stupid announcers will ruin this game. Might have to mute it and listen to the radio.