Back in the 60s, the 1860s that is, there was a certain leader of men named David Farragut. He was a coach of sorts. OK, technically he was a admiral, but at the time his team was facing a major challenge. Farragut was attempting to capture the port of Mobile, Ala. during the during the U.S. Civil War, and he had a problem. The Confederacy had placed naval mines (referred to as "torpedoes") and Farragut had sustained several loses as his navy attempted to enter the bay. But Farragut was a bold man, and despite the adversity, he gave a clear order to his troops: "Damn the torpedoes. Full speed ahead!" His team pressed on and eventually won battle. Farragut's victory allowed the Union to complete a blockade on the Gulf of Mexico, a key step for the Union to defeat the Confederacy. While the stakes are certainly much lower, Michigan State football head coach Jonathan Smith may find himself in a similar position. After a strong start to the season, the Spartans hav
I have an opinion about the city of Champaign, Ill. I used to travel there for business periodically. That opinion is not positive. Champaign is my least favorite Big Ten college town, and I spent four years in West Lafayette. For fans, it is virtually impossible to get there in any reasonable amount of time. The options from southeast Michigan include two flights, one of which might involve a plane with propellers, one flight to Chicago or Indianapolis followed by at least a two-hour drive, or a six hour drive, much of it over the flattest, most boring Midwestern scenery imaginable. Once one arrives in Champaign, I will admit that the University of Illinois has a lovely campus, but there is not much else. A quick search for descent restaurants in the area on OpenTable results in three Red Lobster locations in the top six, two of which are literally in different cities an hour away. I am sadly not joking. With this in mind, I can somewhat understand why the Spartans were flat and unins