Dr. Green and White Sports Authority

The year was 1998. The time was probably something like 2 a.m. The place was a computer laboratory in the bowels of the engineering building on the campus of Michigan State University. The scene was a group of senior undergraduates sitting bleary-eyed at individual workstations and hammering away on some computer simulation for a capstone engineering design project that certainly must have been due the next day. In an act of bravery or exhaustion or simple sarcasm, one brave student started half-mumbling and half singing a familiar refrain from the radio of the day: "I get knocked down, but I get up again. You are never gonna keep me down. I get knocked down, but I get up again. You are never gonna keep me down." It occurs to me that this catchy tune from the British band Chumbawanba is not unlike the refrain of Michigan State Spartans' football team. The message from head coach Mel Tucker is to be relentless and to "keep chopping." If you get knocked down, you ...

It seems like a lifetime ago, but two weeks ago, the Michigan State Spartans were 2-0 and ranked in the top 10 of the Coach's Poll. The last two weeks have been disappointing to say the least. It feels almost as if Spartan fans have passed through some sort of black mirror into a darker dimension of pain. Last week's beating in Seattle was no fun at all. But the Spartans did attempt a late rally and there was at least some reasonable travel-based excuses for why Michigan State may not have been operating at peak performance.  But Saturday's beat-down at the hand of the Golden Gophers was a completely different story. The Spartans were playing at home and the coaching staff should have had the team's full attention. Starting with the National Anthem and ending with the final whistle, the Spartan were flat-out humiliated by a team from the Big Ten West.  As we will see below, the prospects for the Spartans' season have taken a serious nosedive. Over the summer and int...

Throughout the course of any college football season, there are bound to a few dog-legged twists and turns. The Michigan State Spartans had a couple of good shots to start the season, but they ran into a bit of a hazard last week at Washington. As the Spartans enter Week Four (Fore?) they find themselves in the rough. With one loss on the scorecard already, one mulligan has been used up. I guess we're playing for keeps now. I guess the kidding around is pretty much over. Out of nowhere, the current Michigan State season is starting to feel like a Cinderella story. The Spartans need to make their next few shots count. This week's opponent is the Minnesota Golden Gophers. As for their mascot, any graduate of a land grant University will tell you that gophers are varmints. They're one of the lowest members of the food chain. The University of Minnesota could just as easily replace Goldie with a rat. (Just kidding, Minnesota fans. People don't say that about you, as far as ...

I would like to start today by welcoming home all of the Spartan fans who traveled to the great city of Seattle this week. I hope that you all had a chance to take in the sights like the Space Needle, view of Mount Rainer, and Pike Place Market. As for the game itself, the Spartans were trying to buck the trend of losing regular season games on the west coast. Unfortunately, they were trying to accomplish this task with an increasingly large list of star players out with injuries (most recently wide receiver Jayden Reed and defensive tackle Jacob Slate.) By contrast, the Washington Huskies seem to have found a new star of their own who is a familiar name to Big Ten fans. Husky quarterback Michael Penix, Jr., a former Indiana Hoosier, has seen Michigan State's defense before. Starting from the opening drive on Saturday night, Penix roasted the Spartan secondary. On the other side of the ball, the Spartan offense seemed a bit over-caffeinated. The first drive ended with a botched han...