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Showing posts from October, 2023

2023 Week 9 Recap: The Walking Dead

Imagine, if you will, a hypothetical fan of the Michigan State Spartans. Let's call him Rick. Maybe Rick works in law enforcement, but that doesn't matter for this story. Rick was hanging out at home with a few of his buddies on the afternoon of Saturday, September 9. They watched the Spartans demolish the Richmond Spiders by 31 points. Michigan State was 2-0. Things were looking good. Rick was optimistic about the 2023 season and about the direction of the program. Once the game was over, Rick decided that it was time to have another brewsky, so he walked into his kitchen towards his fridge. But on the way there, his foot slipped on a melted ice cube on the floor, he bonked his head on the corner of the kitchen island, and he slipped into a coma. Rick woke up Sunday morning. Imagine trying to explain to Rick what has transpired in East Lansing over the past seven weeks. "Mel Tucker did what? The Spartans haven't beaten anyone? Noah Kim threw how many interceptions? St

2023 Week 9 Preview: Go For Broke

In some college football seasons, there comes a time when it feels like giving up might be the correct answer. This is certainly an emotion felt by fans and I would guess that some players might be feeling that way as well. The Michigan State football team is suffering through a five-game losing streak. They just suffered the worst home loss in the history of their most bitter rivalry and the worst loss in the series overall since 1947.  But with five games left on the schedule, the show must go on. The list of "things left to play for," is starting to dwindle, but it is not yet empty. There is a good chance that Michigan State will suffer two more big loses to Ohio State and Penn State before the season is complete. However, there are also three very winnable games left on the schedule. One of those games is this Saturday afternoon. The odds that Michigan State wins the six games needed to automatically qualify for a bowl game are vanishingly small (less than 1%). However, m

2023 Week 8 Recap: Larceny

Hello, is this 911? I need to report a robbery.  A few months ago, I had hope the Michigan State might be a program that was retooling after a tougher than expected 2022 season. Despite having the most difficult schedule in the country in 2023, I believed that the Spartans were building towards being competitive in the Big Ten again. I was hoping that we would see some positive progress this year. This hope has been stolen for me and from the Spartan family. The suspect is a well-known head football coach in the state of Michigan... No, not that guy, the other guy. He is 51-years old, bald, and has a bad tendency of engaging in completely inappropriate Zoom meetings. He's goes by Mel... That's right... I also heard he tried to steal a bunch of money from a school, but that's another story. Without proper leadership for Michigan State football, the team has seemed flat, listless, and rudderless over the past few weeks. They have been robbed of the chance to improve and to co

2023, Week 8 Preview: Under Pressure

Happy Rivalry Week to those who celebrate! A few weeks ago Spartan fans envisioned that this week and this season was going to be a lot more fun. But Michigan State has struggled through controversy and adversity and finds themselves in the midst of a four-game losing streak. The pressure so far this year has almost burned the building down. These are the days it never rains but it pours. Meanwhile, in Ann Arbor, the No. 2 Michigan Wolverines has laid waste to six straight opponents by an average of 33 points per game. The odds for Michigan State to have anything resembling a good weekend are small, but they are not zero. Earlier this week I laid out my case for optimism in this year's battle for Paul Bunyan. The main points are as follows. There is a chance that Michigan State is a little better than we realize and possibly much better if they can just eliminate the turnovers and other mental mistakes. There is a chance that Michigan's soft schedule has hidden some issues that