Vintage Michigan State

As the game went on Saturday night and the cold front came through throwing waves of wind and rain in our faces, my dad and I wondered when it would happen. Which quarter would be Michigan St.'s bad quarter, or had it already passed? You have to understand, in recent years, Michigan St. is known for playing 45 minutes of great football. Unfortunately, the other 15 are not very good, full of mental breakdowns, mistakes, turnovers, etc. After State jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the 1st quarter, would the 2nd quarter be the one? Nope, an INT for a TD helped State keep a 31-14 halftime edge. How about the 3rd quarter? Negative. In the monsoon, State appeared to be the mentally tougher team, running the ball down Notre Dame's throat to lead 37-21. At the beginning of the 4th quarter, State started down the field again, playing power Big 10 football.

Then it began. Multiple holding penalties took State out of scoring position and gave the ball back to ND. Several plays later, Jeff Samardzija was running into the end zone after catching a Brady Quinn pass to make it 37-27 . Then, Drew Stanton fumbled (uh oh). Quinn to Rhema McKnight, 37-33 State. On the ensuing kickoff, Demond Williams took a knee at his 12 yard line because the hands team, not the normal kick return team was in the game. Williams could've gotten another 5-10 yards on his own, but instead he put his team in a big hole. On 3rd and short, State actually tried to throw the ball. But Stanton threw into a crowded middle, got picked off by Terrell Lambert, and you know the rest. Notre Dame 40, Michigan St. 37. After a loss like this, Michigan St. is known for going in the tank the rest of the year. Will it happen again? Maybe not next week vs. Illinois, but back to back games with Michigan and Ohio St. loom which will be a challenge.

Notre Dame is set up to be 10-1 going to USC to end the year. Purdue will score some points but won't stop ND. UCLA could be interesting and Navy has played the Irish tough recently, but if the Irish are anything but 10-1, it will be a disappointment, especially considering 5 of the next 7 are in South Bend. ND needs to get the running game going to help Brady Quinn. Quinn is back in the Heisman race after throwing 5 TD passes Sat. night, but Troy Smith is my front runner.

Some other notes from our Saturday night in East Lansing:

• 3rd largest crowd in stadium history, 80,000+. Magic Johnson was there with other notable basketball alumni.
• I knew the open container rules were lax, but I had to get used to people walking around with open cans and bottles a mile away from the stadium. What a tailgating scene though, very fun atmosphere.
• Yes, when the weather got bad in the 3rd quarter it was tough. But we were prepared, with only my shoes taking on water. It was a little eerie with the portable lights and the goalposts blowing back and forth. Thankfully, no lightning.
• We parked in a field and when trying to depart after the game, we got stuck for a few minutes and I got covered in mud pushing the van out of it.
• Included with the game program was a program from the 1966 "Game of the Century". Which makes me wonder, how many "Game of the Centuries" were there? Wasn't the 1971 Nebraska-Oklahoma game a "Game of the Century"? I'm sure there were others too.
• It was fun and not so fun sitting in the Notre Dame section. It was great being around the spirit and tradition, but I can't believe how wild it got after the comeback was complete. I mean, it was only Michigan St. (sorry State). Now USC, Michigan, Ohio St., someone like that I could understand. But Michigan St???? Michigan St. doesn't have that good of a program. Notre Dame should beat State 8 times out of 10 at least. Plus getting hit with 2 elbows in the back of the head without a word of acknowledgement left a little sour taste in my mouth. But in the end, a good experience.

Now some other sports notes:

• Miami: 0-4. I knew it could be rough, but 0-4 is still surprising. UC and the Battle for the Bell loom this week. The Hawks are about a touchdown underdog and deservedly so after UC played OSU and Va. Tech pretty tough the last couple of weeks. Whichever team's offensive line plays better will win the game because both aren't very good.
• Da Bears: 3-0. First win at the HankyDome since 2001 and nice to see Rex Grossman bounce back from a bad throw to throw the game winner. That's one thing about Grossman, he's a gunner and he never loses confidence, which can be good and bad. Now if the running game can get going, all will be well.
• If Ohio St. gets by Iowa, I can't see them losing until possibly to Michigan to end the year. Iowa will test that OSU secondary with their talented receivers and the experienced QB Drew Tate. If the Bucks can keep getting pressure with just their front 4, that will help things. What an environment Kinnick Stadium will be Sat. night. I hope OSU/Michigan will be a battle of undefeateds, when's the last time that happened?
• Not shedding a tear that Free Shoes U. and The U are out of the national title picture. Larry Coker won with Butch Davis's players. The U lacks the offensive playmakers that they had in the past. Bobby Bowden needs to retire, he's not getting the recruits he normally goes. FSU, with all that talent, should not have trouble running the ball.
• The Ryder Cup, yuck. Captain Lehman did all the right things. Too bad he couldn't get out there and make some putts. It's getting to be a broken record, the Euros on and around the greens, holeing shot after shot. You can analyze it all you want, but they simply outplayed us, period. If I had to make one change, I would make the US Ryder Cup venues PGA Tour venues so there actually was a true home course advantage. Oakland Hills, Valhalla, Whistling Straits, and Medinah are all great venues, but they only host a major every 6-7 years. Meanwhile, The Belfry and the K Club host Euro tour events every year. Venues that come to mind: Pebble Beach, Torrey Pines, Riviera, Sawgrass, Cog Hill, Bay Hill among others. I know it would take a minor miracle to make this happen, but how about Augusta??? Last Euro to win there: Olazabal in 1999. No matter how poorly Tiger and Phil are playing, they put together good tournaments at Augusta. So what if the flowers aren't in bloom, we need to win this thing.
• The Tigers are in the playoffs for the first time since 1987. Not a bad first sports year here in Detroit. Super Bowl, NCAA Tournament, Pistons won a couple of rounds, and the Tigers are the feel good story of baseball.
• Contender season finale, I like Steve Forbes tonight. He will take Grady Brewer seriously and will defeat him. His punches will do more damage and I think he'll wear Brewer out. What a great 2nd season, kudos to ESPN for putting on a good show.

Speaking of The Contender season finale, it's on now. G'night.

The Notre Dame Mystique

I'm not the biggest Irish fan, but I have to admit I was rooting for them this past week for one major reason. I have bought Notre Dame/Michigan St. tickets from someone at work, so my dad and I will be at Spartan Stadium Saturday night for the big game which should be a lot of fun. I was hoping both teams would go in undefeated so there would be a lot on the line, but Michigan made sure that didn't happen. The Wolverines appear to be for real and ND's defensive secondary still has some issues. Michigan St. did their part by beating a pretty good Pitt team in Pittsburgh, so it should be a very entertaining game.

Michigan St.'s offense is very good and can put up points quickly. The biggest obstacle for State is usually State. Mental breakdowns and/or lack of intensity get in the way of the great talent State usually has. Drew Stanton is one of the top QBs in college football, Javon Ringer is a future Heisman candidate, and the receiving corps is deep, big, and fast. Defensively they're fast, but are prone to the big play. This game should be a shootout, just like last year when State won 44-41 in overtime.

This will be my 5th Big Ten Stadium (Michigan twice, OSU twice, Indiana, Northwestern), not bad ehh?

Anyway, here's the roundup:

• My remote got a workout with all of the great games on this past Saturday. One I would've liked to have seen was the first 3 quarters of Ohio St./Cincinnati. UC did not look good at all vs. Pitt the previous week, but they were very close to taking a 14-13 lead at the half if not for a great interception by James Laurinaitis. Ohio St. should've been able to name the final score, but you can't blame them for the let down. Penn St. comes to Columbus this week, followed by the big road trip to Iowa.
• Speaking of not looking good, Miami losing at home 16-14 to Kent Read, Kent Write, Kent St??? First Kent win in Oxford since 1988 and only the 5th win in 27 meetings. I was able to watch the game online and for 3 quarters, there was no fire, no intensity from the Redhawks. I knew it was going to be a tough year with so much youth, but I didn't think effort would be a problem. Now a road trip to Syracuse looms before the Battle for the Bell with UC. Miami could be 0-5?!?!?! Let's go boys, let's get one!
• LSU/Auburn was about as physical a college game as I've seen. Usually, 7-3 games are boring. Not this one. I could feel the impacts of the hits through the tv. Auburn is very good, but can they make it through the SEC unbeaten?
• And yes, I think Oklahoma got screwed at Oregon. The NCAA should make the instant replay rules uniform for all of football.
• Florida is going to be really good next year with Tim Tebow. Chris Leak is pretty good, but he is like a square peg trying to fit into a round hole with that offense. Even in beating Tenn., the running of DeShawn Wynn was the difference. And how about Tebow? You knew by the 4th quarter he was going to run everytime he was in the game. And he still got that 4th down with a tough run.
• The Florida schools are no longer getting the best athletes, as evidenced by the struggles of The U and Free Shoes University. Larry Coker might be on his way out, he's only won with Butch Davis's players. Bobby Bowden needs to retire. When he is interviewed, he responds as if he's an honorary coach who is just a fan and is there for the game. I can't believe how much they're both struggling on offense. I know they have lost guys to graduation and to injuries, but historically they've been so deep, they reload, not rebuild. This year, they are rebuilding. It's not good when you rely on missed/blocked kicks for points.
• Watch out for TCU. Anytime you can hold a Texas Tech team to just 3 points is a job well done. As much as I don't like Texas Chicken University, they have a team capable of sneaking into the BCS.
• What's with all of the missed extra points this year??? Has kicking become that much harder or are there that many poor kickers this year?
• Da Bears, 2-0, 60 points in 2 games. I know it's only Green Bay and Detroit, but I like the way Rex Grossman has played. Desmond Clark looks like an all-pro tight end and the defense hasn't missed a beat. Even Danielle Manning is playing well. We'll see how good they are at Minnesota this week, the HomerDome has traditionally been tough for Da Bears.
• It's Ryder Cup Week and the Americans are the underdogs every way you look at it, even on paper. The Americans have lost 4 of the last 5, they should be the underdogs. But I'm quietly optimistic. Tiger has become the team leader. He actually has a partner who isn't afraid of him. Woods/Furyk and Mickelson/DiMarco were a combined 5-0-2 in last year's President's Cup when paired with their respective partners. Tom Lehman is letting the guys have fun. Now, can they make some putts?
• Big Ben's debut went about as I expected, a little less than mediocre. Against a good Jacksonville defense with a 100.4 temperature and not 100% from his appendectomy, he struggled a little bit, showing quite a bit of rust. But he had to get that out of his system at some point. I disagree with everyone that said he shouldn't have played. If he didn't play this week, he would've been rusty next week. That's just how it is. Next week, he still won't be back to top form, but he'll be much improved.
• What happened at Duquesne, scary. And it hit closer to home because I have an immediate family member that goes there and is an athlete. My prayers are with the players, the program and everyone involved. I'll be rooting for them this year.

That's all I've got for tonight. Is it Saturday yet?

5 Years Later

It was one of those days that gave you a lot of energy from the word go. Even with an 8am class, it had all the makings for a great day. Clear, blue skies filled with sunshine with a little breeze that made it not too hot. The day felt just right. It was a normal Tuesday, Intro to Microeconomics from 8-9:15 followed by the customary Bell Tower brunch with friends. I walked back to the dorm loving the day, loving the weather and mentioned this to a friend I started to chat with online. Then she told me to turn on the tv and that I should look at what was happening. And the complexion of the day changed. I went to my other 2 classes in a daze, like everyone else. I don't think the events of the day hit me until I watched the prayer service at home Friday. I'll certainly never forget.

But it seems a growing number of us are, again being consumed by the political consequences of our actions. We're looking for the easy way out of situations, not focusing on what will be needed to get the job done. We have a long fight ahead of us, but we've made good progress. Of course, you wouldn't know it by watching most newscasts. There are some out there that think there's a better way to do things, but we don't know what that entails. Just as we were 5 years ago, we are politically divided. It makes me wonder, did we learn anything? It almost seems like we're setting ourselves up for another 9/11. I certainly hope not, but the patriotism and the unity the country showed after 9/11 is gone.

I watched the ABC 9/11 'docudrama' and thought it was actually pretty good. From the history I've read, not counting the acting and making the scenes more dramatic, I thought it was pretty accurate. Presidents Clinton and George W. had opportunities to possibly prevent 9/11, but they didn't think it could happen, they didn't grasp the scale of what could happen. President Bush has acknolwedged his mistakes, I don't know why Clinton and his administration didn't do the same. Instead they attacked the movie, probably in fear that their great presidency would be tarnished some. They argued more of the blame would be put on Clinton than Bush. I didn't think the moviemakers slanted it one way or the other. Certainly Clinton had more chances because he had been in office longer. But Bush didn't make it a priority either instead focusing on uniting the country politically after the close 2000 election.

By the way, what's up with Harvey Keitel, who played John O'Neil the FBI agent, coming out and criticizing the script of the movie??? If you didn't like the script, why did you do it? I think it's a case of needing the work, then trying to make a statement.

Anyway, President Bush spoke to the nation tonight, urging Americans to keep believing in the cause and to stay committed. It's not going to be won overnight or in a year, it will probably continue for years to come, hopefully not as long as the Cold War, but we will have to be patient and supportive of our troops. I didn't see Bush the politician tonight, but Bush the leader, someone who truly cares about his people. So what do the networks concentrate on? The political ramifications and how this will affect the upcoming midterm elections.

I don't care if you agree with me politically. I do hope that we never forget that we were attacked and those people that attacked us are still out there, ready to pounce on any sign of weakness we show. Pulling back means they won. We can't pull back, we must win or we will be at the mercy of others. Here's hoping that America stays strong.

Not Exactly North Texas

So Ohio St. won the big game 24-7 in Austin, confirming their #1 ranking. Texas quickly found out OSU is a little better than North Texas. Colt McCoy still has a lot of growing up to do. Texas needs to find a way to throw the ball downfield more. I thought Texas got outcoached as well as outplayed. OSU got killed by the option and swing pass last week against Northern Illinois. The Texas drive that ended in the Billy Pittman fumble consisted of mostly option and running on the edge which OSU had trouble stopping again. But after that drive, Texas went away from it. Troy Smith played a Heisman-like game, he showed off a strong arm. Most of his incompletions were drops. And what's with everyone saying, "Anthony Gonzalez is developing into a sound receiver." He already was a solid receiver last year. The OSU defense played better but the secondary still missed a lot of tackles and they don't fight off blocks very well. Both teams have placekicking issues, the two missed field goals weren't even close.

Interesting day of football to say the least:

• Oh Miami. 31-all, 15 seconds left and Nathan Parseghian's 39 yard field goal attempt is blocked. Purdue goes onto win in overtime 38-31. Despite the loss, Mike Kokal threw for 354 yards and 4 TDs. Ryne Robinson caught 10 balls for 169 yards, one of 10 receivers to catch balls, a far cry from last week. The defense forced 3 turnovers, but gave up too many big plays. But, this is a young team that has improved a lot over the course of 2 weeks. They will be a force in the MAC.
• Speaking of the MAC, Akron got the big non-conference win, beating NC State 20-17 with a Dennis Kennedy TD run on the last play of the game. Gutsy call by coach JD Brookhart to go for the win instead of kicking the field goal and going to overtime. Congrats to the Zips. Chuck Amato's leash in Raleigh just got a little bit shorter.
• Surprise of the day in the MAC: Ohio 35 Northern Illinois 23. When's the last time an OU and/or Frank Solich coached team threw for 332 yards?!?!?! Garrett Wolfe rushed for 196 yards in a losing cause.
• Buffalo took BG to 3 overtimes in BG before losing. Ball St. had Indiana down 23-7 before losing 24-23. Western Michigan took it to Toledo 31-10. There is growing parity in the MAC which is a good thing.
• Florida St. needed 2 fourth quarter touchdowns to come back and beat Troy 24-17. Tennessee held on at home to beat Air Force 31-30. Drew Tate couldn't go for Iowa today with an ab strain. Iowa needed overtime to win at Syracuse 20-13.
• And one week after beating Colorado, Montana St. lost to Chardon St. 35-24. Talk about the ultimate hangover game. A strange day of football.

Maria Sharapova defeated Justine Henin-Hardenne in straight sets to win the US Open, her 2nd major title. Sharapova finally looks to have stopped growing, which affected her game last year. Her big serve was working and her inconsistent forehand was not so tonight. I don't think it's fair to compare her to Anna Kournikova. 1. I think she's more attractive than Anna. 2. She wins tournaments. 3. She really wants to win, she's about tennis first and foremost. I do like the I Am Pretty commercial, especially John McEnroe's little part. In the men's final tomorrow, it's Roddick/Federer. Just as Sharapova was the most impressive woman in NYC, Roddick has the been most impressive male this summer. Jimmy Connors has him hitting down the line backhands, staying aggressive, and retruning serve better. Federer has been a little off. Even when he won in Toronto, he didn't dominate.

These weekends go by too quickly.

Baby You Can Drive My Car

Today was the last of the 4 economic forums we hosted statewide, this last one being in Grand Rapids. Grand Rapids is a very nice city with a lot going for it. It has become known for hosting all kinds of conferences because of the great facilities it offers. The room we had our forum in today was top notch. Downtown has great hotels and restaurants and there are more going up. Grand Rapids isn't really booming, but because it isn't directly tied to the auto industry as most of the other major Michigan cities are, the local economy is holding its own. At 9pm last night, there was country line dancing taking place in the middle of downtown, a very big group of people were participating. If I didn't have to get a workout in, I might've stayed.

It's been awhile since I've updated, I'm going to try and hit everything and I apologize if I don't:

• Andre Agassi has completed his career. I was happy to see him win a couple of great matches before losing in the 3rd round. During the latter half of his 2nd round match and throughout his 3rd round match, you could tell Agassi was in pain, unable to walk properly. His return game was nulified because he couldn't bend over and get into his normal crouch. But he fought until the end, still believing he could win the tournament. His farewell speech will go down as one of the most memorable, possibly greater than all of those except for Lou Gehrig's farewell. Agassi is what life is all about, continually finding yourself, getting better in every facet of life every day, enjoying your profession, bringing joy to others and giving back to the community.
• Ohio St./Texas will be the first regular season 1 vs. 2 matchup since 1996. The Buckeyes showed off some of their offensive weapons against Northern Illinois, ending the competitive phase of the game very early. OSU probably could've thrown deep every play and run up the score if they wanted to. There are still some question marks about the defense. The pass rush is there, but how good is the secondary? They didn't have to make many plays thanks to NIU's ineptitude at throwing the ball downfield, and when given the chance to tackle Garret Wolfe, they struggled. Wolfe is arguably one of the top 10 players in the nation, he'll get some Heisman voters. But when you know he's getting the ball, you should be able to contain him a little better than how OSU did last week. Texas didn't get tested at all. North Texas would get blown out by Northern Illinois. Watching some of Texas/North Texas, North Texas was slow, small and intimidated. If Colt McCoy didn't put up the numbers he did, I'd be really worried if I were a Texas fan. Now without their top cornerback, Texas must rely on secondary depth to contain the OSU receivers. I might give Texas the slight edge not solely on their home field advantage, but because OSU has no place kicker, and the kicking game will be key in what should be a close game.
• Tennessee was the most impressive team in Week 1. At every position (except QB and kicker hehe), they are fast! Is David Cutcliffe that good of an offensive coordinator? Erik Ainge could become a Heisman darkhorse at this rate. Is Tennessee that good or is Cal that overrated? I'm thinking the former. Tennessee has always had the talent, but they've lacked the focus and discipline needed to compete at a high level the last couple of years.
• If I'm a Notre Dame fan, I'm not worried about last Saturday. Georgia Tech will win at least 7-8 games with their fast defense. Tech needs to get Calvin Johnson the ball. If he has a 45 inch vertical leap, Reggie Ball should be able to loft the ball up for the big man because the only other athlete I know of ever having a 45 inch vertical was David Thompson from the 70s. We'll find out more about the Irish's secondary this week vs. Penn St.'s passing attack. Penn St. QB Anthony Morelli will have a great college career, he looked very good last week, in the rain nevertheless.
• What else is there to say about Tiger Woods? This will be one of the few times his game will be ready for the Ryder Cup. I don't think he'll have a losing record this year, especially since he's playing in the HSBC Match Play at Wentworth the week before, so he'll be in match play mode.
• After our forum in Gaylord, MI, we played the par 3 Threetops course, the one featured on the Par 3 shootout that is shown on ESPN every summer. Each hole is its own self portrait. The couple of holes that feature the 100 foot plus vertical drops are amazing. Driving the golf cart was like driving your own personal roller coaster thanks to the elevation changes. And the greens were the purest I've ever putted on. It was a time to not worry about score but hit different shots and enjoy a beautiful afternoon. The more time I spend in northern Michigan, the more I love it.

I think that's enough for tonight, there will be more forthcoming, have a good night.