I remember watching the game as an 11 year old, relatively interested thinking about how much I hated Michigan and how was it that all of their plays were better than ours? State had the lead in the waning moments, but Michigan was on the prowl and scored with just a few seconds left. D Alexander, I believe? Then the two point conversion attempt: I give Moeller all the credit going for the win. Michigan was #1 in the country and a tie would likely cost UM the national championship even if they ran the table. However, Desmond is tripped (no call) and drops the ball as he lands (ground can't cause the fumble, right? Or was it an incomplete?) The ruling on the field was incomplete. Fast forward to today's ability to have replay, and I still think they call it incomplete, but pass interference is not "replayable." We all watched in the living room (not in HD) and speculated what call the refs would make. It seemed like forever, but when the call came, we erupted!
I must have blocked the next several years out since Michigan ran the table, so my next major memory came in highschool in 1995 UM @ MSU. It was a night game; snowing and freezing. My bro and I went together and MSU pulled out the win with Tony Banks at the helm and Nick Saban making the calls. It was intense and rewarding.
In highschool my girlfriend was a Michigan fan, which I despised. I hated the fab five, and resented UM with all my heart. With all the talk of "little brother," the fact is, this is how I a Spartan fan really feels. Decades of losing to Michigan really takes its toll. Back then, we would lose in basketball and football, and it was hard to bear. The resentment was incredible. The hatred was real.
Then, with my 3.9 GPA in highschool, I decided to attend UM (hey, they had the number 1 business school in the country.) I was instantly converted to a umich fan, which was very easy to do because of the success of the 1997 team. Since 1997, I have only missed one MSU-UM game (2007) because I had a one-month-old baby and decided to watch the game at my buddies' house in Okemos (his son was having his first bday party). MSU was in control for much of the game, but Henne and co. lead a late-game charge and won at the end. The bday party turned into a debacle (state fans and um fans in the house all going crazy and yelling, but amazingly the one month old still sleeps through all of it).
2008 and 2009 have been the darkest days for the Michigan program since 1968, and MSU has capitalized winning back to back for the first time in over 40 years. Now on the eve of the 2010 game, MSU has a chance to threepeat. The thought of losing three straight makes my stomach turn over. While I realize there is a strong possibility of this happening, I can't bring myself to imagine the effects. Is MSU finally on par with Michigan? Obviously they are far superior in Baseketball and have been for years and years, but is the tide turning in football right now? Is Dantonio the answer, despite his lackluster big ten performance and lousy bowl games? I can see this happening right now. If State gets today's win, I will believe this IS happening right now. Despite all our wins from 2002-2007 (6 in a row), many of them were close and ended with OT.
This years game is going to be close. I am hella excited, and hella nervous. We have the worst pass defense in the country and probably the worst kicking game. However, we have the best QB in country and the third best rushing attack. MSU has a pretty good defense and a pretty good offense. We are playing at home. The atmosphere will be crazy. I expect a record-breaking crowd at the big house (surpassing the rededication game vs UCONN) and it will be LOUD, despite what the BIG HOUSE critics have to say. I think it is fair to say WHOEVA has the ball last will win.
Michigan 35
MSU 31
Lets get Denarded in here.
Bring it.
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