Bob, T.J. & Smoker

A few friends of mine went out to have a few drinks and watch the MSU - Northern Iowa game this past weekend. We all live in Lansing. All are UM fans, but I was the only one wearing colors that night. We went with the intent of going to a sports bar downtown called the Nuthouse but when we arrived it was packed wall to wall so we skipped over to a new bar next door that just opened upstairs called the Loft above Harem. This is where they were having a T.J. Duckett MSU basketball party as a promotion for Harem's new bar. 
  All of us walk upstairs, go to the bar and order a few beers. Its big and open but all of the tables have already been taken up except one and this particular table doesn't have any chairs so we walk up and just use it to set our drinks on. As we are watching the game and shooting the shit, T.J. Duckett comes walking up and says "Hey I am T.J. and there are a few chairs right over there that are free so go ahead and take them." He starts shaking hands with all of my friends and then he looks up at me and my jacket and sees it has MICHIGAN FOOTBALL embroidered on it. Disgusted he doesn't shake my hand. He then looks at everyone and says "Are all of you Michigan Fans?.." We answer a quick yes. Then he tells us something to the affect of -"I got somebody for you, i'll be right back..."- 

  2-3 minutes later he walks over With Jeff Smoker and says "Do you know who this is?!" Everybody says yes and then he drops right into the shit talk. "You remember Bob?! We put it on ya'll that year!! Yukyukyuk. blah blah blah... 

  I was somewhat enjoying this even though he brought up a really touchy subject because I felt like they had just taken their best shot and it was such a fraud and complete miracle that even manufactured that win. If this is what you are proud of and boasting then I feel "semi-sorry" for you. T.J. sees this didn't really get the reaction he was hoping for and walks away. Jeff Smoker stays and says, "Well it's good for the state of Michigan and all so I know you guys are all here to represent for our state right??" I looked at him as seriously as possible and said "Absolutely not. When was the last time you rooted for Michigan, your not kidding anyone." Jeff Smoker got a very serious and irritated look on his face, mumbled some stuff under his breath I couldn't hear and walked away waving his hand saying, "Bullshit." This coming from the guy who just came over on a whim with T.J. to rub in a lucky victory from almost a decade ago. 

 I kind of chuckled a bit, took a sip of my drink and tried to grasp what had just happened. I just cannot ever imagine a scenario where Mike Hart, or Desmond, or Long or Charles etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. - - - - has to come up, introduce themselves, especially at their own party and boast to a fan or fans, who weren't even bringing anything up to gloat about before hand, just to rub in a phony victory like that particular one in front of perfect strangers. It is definitively little brother syndrome at its finest. Involving actual players from the field, not a fan vs fan. Glad it happened though. That experience sums up everything I feel AND KNOW about Spartan sports culture. 

  Was I a bit of a dick for going into a Spartan party wearing Maize n Blue? Yeah maybe a bit. It wasn't planned and I do live in Lansing. But I was no more of a dick than the Spartans who tried to give me shit as I was walking to the Shoe in Columbus Ohio -4 hours away from their beloved East Lansing(and who knows how far from PSU who was owning Sparty that day)- in 2006. As they say, there is one everywhere you go. I guess that rule kind of applied to me that night except I don't feel like the jerk...