Rivalry game #2 happens today at noon as Michigan State makes the short trip to Ann Arbor on a frosty day where there's plenty of snow left on the ground thanks to a stronger-than-expected storm earlier in the week. Sour-faced hypocrite Mark Dantonio "leads" his 4-5 team, losers of their last four, into Michigan Stadium for the annual game he actually cares about.
This is a series that's been dominated by the Wolverines overall, with the occasional stretch where the Spartans take over for a bit, after which things return to normal. I grew up on Michigan being in charge, seeing my team take 18 of 25 games after I was born. It was a "rivalry" in name only, with the other team vanquished without an issue or a one-off loss, sometimes attributed to brutal refereeing. So I never really had much hate for Michigan State growing up--they didn't really warranty any.
It's no coincidence that things started slipping in favor of East Lansing after Michigan's disarray once Lloyd Carr retired and Dantonio arrived in EL--State has taken eight of the last 11, and the Wolverines haven't even won at home since 2012. MSU even got an extreme case of good fortune in Jim Harbaugh's first year, 2015, with a bad bounce. But 2019 has seen the chickens come home to roost for a program that has become downright despicable under MD's watch, or rather complete lack thereof. This is a guy willing to turn a blind eye to some horrible behavior when scouting recruits, needing his arm twisted to kick the worst offenders off the team, and deflecting responsibility with false piety. It looks even worse in the wake of the Nassar scandal, an athletic department that's completely lost control while it ignores its charge of protecting student athletes.
Dantonio is one of the worst human beings--arguable, as the species typically has a functioning heart and sometimes a conscience--ever involved in the sport, and if Michigan vanquishing his rudderless team in 2019 can help speed his exit from the school, that's even more motivation for a 7-2 Wolverine squad looking to prove that they have plenty of fight in them.
That fight wasn't completely apparent to some after Michigan handled Maryland a couple Saturdays ago, returning the opening kick for a score and maintaining control for the remaining 59 minutes and change. But I don't think the desire to keep the Paul Bunyan trophy in Ann Arbor will be a problem this year, even if I'm realistic enough to realize the score will likely be relatively close as usual. This can be a fluky series that can turn on a play or two, but MSU has returned to its mediocre norm with no-shows against top 10 conference foes and an inexcusable collapse after a 28-3 lead against Illinois last week. What's left of the leadership of Grumpy Cat's unfortunate doppelganger is circling the drain, so it's up to Harbaugh to keep his team motivated and focused to finish the job.
Win or lose, keep your eye out for a warm glow as you look toward East Lansing this evening as Spartan fans perform their annual tradition of lighting their couches on fire. As for me, I'll be sitting inside, warm, and looking forward to a Dantonio-less future when MSU is once again irrelevant and all my sports antagonism can be directed where it belongs, at Ohio State.
Another week... another win. Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mark--this one definitely felt good!
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