Earlier today, I got down on people not coming to the game. There was a ridiculous amount of parking available and we didn’t have any luck passing off our tickets for free. I figured no one was coming to the game. At the root of it I felt like there was an entitlement to a team that’s good after two seasons in which MSU was indisputably good. I didn’t like the implied entitlement that by virtue of two good seasons fans now “deserve” a team that’s always competing for championships. As it turned out, the attendance was better than expected and it all worked.

Entitlement was the theme of the day in the face of the loss. A bunch of players sounded off on twitter because the refs stole the game. What? You know what cost MSU the game. Not stopping the Huskers on 4th and 10 on the final drive. Not being able to run out the clock in the fourth quarter.

I feel entitled to mouth off after the money dropped on season tickets, parking, concessions annually. I mean jeebus, I could have sponsored 5 or 6 kids in Africa who need food and shots and stuff. But I don’t, I give my money to Spartan football to slam my junk in a car door.  I feel entitled to not watch crappy football.

So I am going to take my entitlement here and get a little pissed. If that’s not your bag tonight, I suggest you just move along now.

There have been a number of excuses surrounding the offense this season. Maxwell is young, the receivers are young, the Offensive Line is injured, Dan Roushar is an alien, but you know what. The offense did their job well enough today. On the day where the offense pulled through, the defense didn’t and the response? Blame the zebras? Oh, MSU only lost their four big ten games by 10 points?

Nope, the truth is that on the day where the offense did it’s job. The defense didn’t do theirs, which completely sucks. If Johnny Adams manages not to get a Personal Foul on Dennard’s pick-six, the game is over. If they manage to stop T-Magic on 4th and 10 on the final drive, the game is over. If they manage not to lose contain three times on Martinez the game isn’t even a damned game to start out with.

Outside of all that, WHEN YOU’RE RUSHING FOR 5.5 YARDS A CARRY FEEL FREE TO RUN ON 4th and 2 with 2 minutes left in the game, RUN THE DAMNED BALL. WHAT IN THE HOLY SHITBALLS DID MSU PUNT FOR? An extra 19 yards of field position? You’re either going to stop Martinez or you’re not. I don’t think the ball being at the 39 or the 20 really mattered a damn bit. Another coaching thing, when in the holy shit is MSU going to quit running between the tackles on 2nd and long? I cannot think of a single time this season where MSU has converted a 2nd and 9 or more for 5+ yards on the ground. I’m sure it’s happened, but it’s not happened a whole lot more times.

Anyway, that game was not a fun way to lose. (As though such a thing exists.) I’m going to turn off the computer and watch a football game I don’t give a shit about, like LSU-Bama. And I’ll be back ready to cheer on Monday. And so will you. And for the team it’ll be back to work(although likely twitter disabled). Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Yesterday, I missed most of the game live. I was late coming back from a movie which caused me to miss most of the first quarter and then my wife was delayed coming home from a workshop in Ann Arbor by the dude shooting up I-96. As a result my folks and I spent the time from getting home until about midway through the third quarter helping my kids get ready for a Halloween party. Then actually taking the kids to the party.

I was salty about it all. I “hate” Wisconsin. I hope they never win at anything, least of all against us. I have the opportunity to watch both Badgerfreude and have my team be the team inflicting it. As we were getting ready to walk out the door, the Mrs. offered me the opportunity to stay home and I declined for fear of it being a trap. (It wasn’t, I think.) As I was driving to the party MSU continued to struggle on offense and I grew increasingly frustratedangryupsetannoyed. “How can any team’s offense be THIS BAD? There have been times this year I’ve thought an offense with 11 true freshmen might play better. How is the defense going to continue to be part of the team when they are clearly BCS caliber and the offense is not? And Holy God we’re going to lose to Bielema again and I hate that smug shitsipper.” And then…

“It’s just a game.” The first time it rattled through that list of surly, crappy thoughts I didn’t completely believe it. A dude got shot on I-96 yesterday. He’ll be ok thankfully, in fact, he may not agree with the “It’s just a game” sentiment:

Workers at the Mobile station told 7 Action News that the man hit by a bullet refused their help and just wanted to go to the World Series. He was eventually treated by an ambulance crew at the scene and taken to St. Joseph Mercy Hospital of Livingston where he is listed in stable condition.

Yesterday a man who’s much angrier about something than I am about a football game injured someone and inconvenienced thousands of people. As a result, I missed some of a football game live. I watched the whole thing later. We went to the party and the kids had a great time. I ended up “watching” the end of the game with Ty and bunch of other friends on twitter. Celebrating with them was a much richer experience than it would have been to watch the game alone. It’s just a game.

Anyway, enough about all that shit.

First off, oh hai there Bret BieLOLema. I know you lost Joel Suave and all but I bet you didn’t know our defense is rugged like Sam Elliott and shit did you? I cannot think of a more excellent way to break Wisconsin’s 21 game win streak than to steal one from Bielema at the end of the game. In case you were wondering, this makes for late game heroics in 2008, 2011(regular season) and 2012. MSU has also won the last three regular season match-ups which would normally constitute a winning streak if it weren’t for Roughing the Punter. Early prediction: MSU wins the 2017 game.

There had been a lot of talk this week about MSU dropping three conference games by six points. OSU and Michigan stand out particularly as games where a simple make instead of a miss on a FG try have MSU at 6-2 instead of 4-4 going into the Wisconsin game. I’m going to go ahead and chalk yesterday up as a “Shoulda Lost”. If Wisconsin doesn’t lose Suave, something tells me they’d have put up more than 10. After two “Shoulda Wons”, I’ll take a Shoulda Lost. If you were to go back and poke at the 2010 and 2011 teams I’m pretty sure you’d find a handful of Shoulda Losts. 2010 Northwestern and 2011 Minnesota I’m looking at you.

This offense plays well when they pass the ball with some urgency. So much so that I wrote a post encouraging some hurry-up play a couple of weeks ago. At this point in the season we are far enough along to know that our defense is filthy good. If it gets MSU an extra 10-14 points a game to let Maxwell gamble a bit more, let him do it! Even if he Rick-Sixes his way through the season I think you still come out ahead in that scenario.

The counterpoint to that argument is that with the Legends Division crown effectively out of reach and a bowl game pretty well assured now. Everything should be about preparing the offense for 2013. Next year MSU has a stupid favorable schedule skipping Wisky, PSU and OSU and getting Indiana, Purdue and Illinois. If you want to win the Big Ten MSU’s schedule is about as favorable as it can be.

It’s just a game. And MSU Shoulda Lost. But they didn’t and it was awesome. On to Nebraska.

Despite having the worst MSU offense since Internet Recordkeeping began back in 2003, MSU lost to Michigan on Saturday by two. The Michigan/Michigan State internets have lit up like a brushfire about “what this all means” going forward.

Naturally, the Order of the Universe has been restored over at MGoBlog. One great throw to Drew Dileo in the last minute of the game is equal to total vindication of all Denard Robinson’s 14 of 29 day for 163 yards and no touchdowns. It’s cool to be excited about beating your rival that you don’t care about that much, but apparently cooler than I thought.

Denard Robinson is 13 of 29 for 143 yards; he's run 20 times for 96 yards. His team is down a point and has managed to turn 120 seconds into eighteen without moving the ball anywhere near plausible field goal range. A few drives ago Jeremy Gallon was as wide open as you can be on third and goal and Denard blasted it hard and behind the guy—if it was to keep it away from a defender it was because the throw was late—or Michigan would lead by three.

Behind me, some Michigan State meathead has spent the better part of four quarters screaming "throw it, Denard, huh huh huh." Juggalo Nation, reprazent.

Could it be the same Juggalo who saw this last year?

In this particular case, the stats were on the Juggalo’s side. Interesting fact. Andrew Maxwell after Saturday has a higher QB passer rating than any of Denard’s four showings against MSU. I get the delicious gooeyness of Robinson making a throw when it counts against the team that has not respected him, but it does not unmake a career of mediocre play against MSU.

Even better.  After a two point home win in which Michigan did not score a touchdown.

MSU fans are still clinging to the recruiting-rankings-are-meaningless thing. They're in for a harsh reality check once Michigan's recruiting rankings are paired with something other than crippling attrition, lackadaisical talent evaluation, and crappy coaching. Maybe not next year, when Michigan's breaking in a new quarterback and the upperclass talent levels are still relatively even, but after that… back to the salt mines, Sparty. Or maybe Alabama, OSU, and USC are only good because of their helmets.

It’s certainly true that MSU is not recruiting at the clip that U of M is, but they never have.  The last four years were the result of “crippling attrition, lackadaisical talent evaluation, and crappy coaching”. Which one was last year? Next year doesn’t count either since U of M will have a new quarterback and all. It might be easier if we can set up a schedule in advance of which years count based on quality of inbound recruits, home schedule and which years MSU will be having their worst offensive season since Internet Recordkeeping began. Who knows, maybe someday MSU fans can get enough UM cred to pick when it’s losses don’t count, but doubtful on account of the salt mining thing.

I’ve always hated the little brother quote. It’s always encapsulates the idea that if an MSU fan really wants to see U of M lose it’s because of a “complete obsession with the rivalry”. But if a distinguished U of M fan deigns to acknowledge the rivalry it’s because the pecking order of the Big Ten has been disturbed and requires correction.

This is a rivalry game and Michigan fans were exactly right to be excited as hell to win it. The same way MSU fans will be excited as hell to win it next time they do. This isn’t about relevance, if it were that I’d be writing about how much MSU cares about how Wisconsin not Michigan has kept them out of the Rose Bowl the last two years. It isn’t about recruiting either, after all on paper, Michigan had the better recruits the last four years. This is about being the champion of the state of Michigan. You won this year. Good for you, enjoy it while it lasts. We’ll see you in East Lansing next fall.

My wife is a former bando. As such we tailgate on Adams Field and the beginning of every home game starts for us by following the band in after they’re doing Series. If you haven’t yet done this, it’s a part of the gameday experience not to be missed.

On the ensuing walk is one of my favorite moments of coming to Spartan Stadium. As you walk towards the Sparty statue the stadium comes into view from behind the trees and that’s the moment it all comes together. I’m no longer part of pedestrian crap like having a job or worrying about paying bills. The next 3-4 hours belong to me, my friends and my family.

Last night we round the bend and the very first thing I see is HOLY SCOREBOARDS. I had intentionally avoided going to see them in person so my first experience would be last night. People say the pictures don’t do their size and grandeur justice. People were right.

Through a ticketing snafu we ended up sitting detached a couple rows over and up from our main block of friends and I got to watch the game with my wife and a couple friends from out of town. The last time she and I watched the game alone was probably MSU-Hawaii in 2004 and she fell asleep at 2:30, like a reasonable person should. The scoreboards were beautiful and amazing and frankly distracting at times. We watched our new Quarterback lead his new receivers against a Boise State opponent that had no business at Spartan Stadium and the whole game just felt surreal.

It was like watching a game in an alternate universe where what I know about Michigan State football offensively felt broken. MSU ran on third and short to wild success. The sure handed receivers were trying to catch a buttery football all game. Maxwell managed to avoid getting sacked, but probably would have been safer to get sacked a couple times. The PUNTER got a late hit penalty. (I actually thought this was kind of badass.)

The most amazing thing about it though is outside of the fact that Bell CANNOT tote the ball 44 times a game all season, nothing about the offense was statistically broken. Except turnovers obviously, but that can be fixed. 10/19 on 3rd down? In 14 games last year MSU did that once. Time of Possession of 39 minutes I suspect that’s a Dantonio record as well. The defense stayed fresh and only allowed three earned points.

The challenge as fans was adjusting to something new. This was not the Michigan State team we had come to know and love the last two years. It also wasn’t the Michigan State team of 2009 with the offensive sputters or the 2008 Ringer throws to Ringer who passes back to Ringer or even the 2007 Ringer/Caulcrick Offensive Victory march. This was just something altogether different and different is bad and scary and new. The newness is certainly not over yet either, what we saw on offense last night is unlikely to reflect the polished product of 2012, but it won’t be what we’ve seen before.

Bullets?

Bullets

The Good

• Le’Veon Bell scored himself a pair of the hover shoes from Back to the Future II. His ability to get positive yardage on every single play won MSU the game last night. A beautifully executed performance by him.
• Dion Sims and Maxwell are going to cause some problems for anyone who doesn’t have 260 lb linebackers this year. Which is to say, everyone.
• I don’t know if there’s an English word to describe our defensive performance last night. Inexorable comes to mind. Merciless is another.
• I’m actually going to put Maxwell’s performance in the good category, but only just. Of the three picks only one goes squarely on him and MSU was pressing because it was the end of the half. What concerned me more was the throwing the ball while he was getting sacked. Take a sack dude, we’ll still cheer for you.
• The defense sniffing out the two throwback plays in a row. I’ve never seen a team, not even Boise, do that before. Keeping on their toes for a second trickeration play was sharp.

The Bad

• Uhm, the receivers had a bumpy night. I’d wager a guess(I haven’t rewatched yet) that of Maxwell’s 16 completions that roughly half were catchable balls.
• The offensive gameplan cannot be to run Bell 44 times a game, he will need new legs by season end if MSU even a few more times.

The Ugly

• I know Roushar gonna Roushar, but the reverse pass to Lippett made me crazy. Overall I thought he called a pretty good game, but we were moving the ball well on that drive. The trickeration seemed unnecessary.

1-0. On to Central.

“The gods had condemned Sisyphus to ceaselessly rolling a rock to the top of a mountain, whence the stone would fall back of its own weight. They had thought with some reason that there is no more dreadful punishment than futile and hopeless labor.”

--Albert Camus, “The Myth of Sisyphus”

The Rose Bowl defines “mythic.” It is legendary, eternal, iconic, inevitable. It has always been the ultimate goal of every Big Ten football team, every season, since our parents’ parents’ parents were young. It is the Granddaddy of them All, and it is one of the last things about college football that retains any of its ancient magic.

The last time Michigan State went to the Rose Bowl, I was six years old; all the adults in my life made sure I understood every ounce of that weighty accomplishment. It had been 22 long years since the mighty, undefeated, No. 1-overall ranked Spartans were upset by UCLA, and MSU’s subsequent triumph over Rodney Peete and USC was all the sweeter for it.

This season’s Rose Bowl will mark 25 years since 1988, and 47 since 1966. That’s nearly half a century spent grinding between the middle and top ranks of the Big Ten conference, only once tasting its ultimate prize.

I have two children older now than I was then.

MSU AD Mark Hollis has said the football program’s goal is to go to Rose Bowls, yet in the remarkable first five years of Mark Dantonio’s tenure it’s achieved everything but. Dantonio is 44-22 as the Spartans head coach, including back-to-back 11-win seasons. The Spartans have gone to a bowl every season he’s been at the helm. They beat Michigan in Ann Arbor, and then in East Lansing, and then in Ann Arbor, and then in East Lansing. His Spartans have clinched a Big Ten Championship, won their inaugural division championship, played in the inaugural Big Ten Championship Game. They’ve played for or won everything a Big Ten team can save a BCS National Championship Game . . . and the Rose Bowl.

In 2010, under 2009 rules, Michigan State would have gone to the Rose Bowl. In 2011, under 2010 rules, Michigan State would have gone to the Rose Bowl. Like Sisyphus, no matter how well or how often they push that rock up the hill, it seems they will never, never push it to the top. They’ll be doomed to win double-digit games and somehow miss the Rose Bowl for eternity. It is ridiculous, absurd that all that incredible effort and achievement is repeatedly denied its deserved reward.

But as Camus said in his essay, “happiness and the absurd are two sons of the same earth.”

In the intervening years, money and greed has chipped away at everything that made the Rose Bowl the Rose Bowl: from the swollen conferences that play for it, to the BCS system that prevented it from hosting their two champions every season, to new system that will protect the Rose Bowl Game Presented by VIZIO by ensuring it will sometimes feature the second- or third-best of each conference, and sometimes an unrelated national semifinal.

What was once “the best of the East versus the best of the West” will only happen if neither the Big Ten Champion nor Pac-whatever Champion are good enough to crack the top four nationally (unlikely), or if both do in a year the Rose hosts a semi and the seeds work out (even more unlikely).

BUT STILL.

The Rose Bowl still holds a massive sway over our collective subconscious. No team has ever buzzed on the sidelines of the fourth quarter their last game with a bag of Tostitos in their teeth. No team has ever collectively raised oranges into the air with fists clenched as time expires on their regular season.

It also holds sway over Mark Dantonio. John L. Smith never made it to the Rose Bowl. Bobby Williams never made it to the Rose Bowl. Tellingly, Nick Saban never made it to the Rose Bowl. If Dantonio could get to the top of that hill, in the same job Nick Saban couldn’t? It’d be a fantastic achievement and a wonderful way to cement Dantonio in the pantheon of Michigan State all-timers.

It also holds sway over the Spartan players. Throughout 2011, Spartan players talked about the Rose Bowl, wrote about the Rose Bowl, Tweeted “#P4RB,” over and over and over through spring ball, summer camp, and all autumn they sighted their target and aimed and again they just, barely, missed.

“As for this myth, one sees merely the whole effort of a body straining to raise the huge stone, to roll it, and push it up a slope a hundred times over; one sees the face screwed up, the cheek tight against the stone, the shoulder bracing the clay-covered mass, the foot wedging it, the fresh start with arms outstretched, the wholly human security of two earth-clotted hands. At the very end of his long effort measured by skyless space and time without depth, the purpose is achieved. Then Sisyphus watches the stone rush down in a few moments toward the lower world whence he will have to push it up again toward the summit. He goes back down to the plain.

It is during that return, that pause, that Sisyphus interests me. A face that toils so close to stones is already stone itself! I see that man going back down with a heavy yet measured step toward the torment of which he will never know the end. That hour like a breathing-space which returns as surely as his suffering, that is the hour of consciousness. At each of those moments when he leaves the heights and gradually sinks toward the lairs of the gods, he is superior to his fate. He is stronger than his rock.”

It is this season that interests me. The Spartans open their schedule with Boise State, and a chance to contend for national glory. This season’s Spartans can prove that even if the Gods have cursed them to spend eternity just barely failing to reach their goal, they can nevertheless achieve immortality.