I graduated MSU in 1977 so it was 1973 when I went to my first MSU football game. I have been to most every MSU-U-M game since then. But up until last year, I couldn't really understand why. So I came up with my Top 10 reasons why I went:
10. There would be some green in the Big House
9. Even the Lions win a game once in a while
8. Earle restaurant in Ann Arbor is great after the game to ease the loss
7. MSU did win the game once in a while and when they did. . .
6. Turkeyman barbeque is good enough reason
5. Spartan Stadium when it's sold out gives you enough GO GREEN! for the entire year
4. I could talk to my brother in Florida about another loss
3. It's a rivalry after all
2. I paid for the tickets so I might as well go
1. Too see if MSU can win two games in a row
It gives me great pleasure to say that after 36 years of watching MSU football, my #1 reason came to fruition. But it wasn't pretty.
I went with my son Daniel who is never any fun to go to the game with because he went to U-M. More times than not, he is standing and cheering on his team while us pathetic Spartans sit, swear, kick seats and ask "why?"
But this time around, for the first 52 minutes, I was the one standing. Oh sure, there were the usual Spartan "are you kidding me?" moments, but none that actually got Daniel to stand up.
We dominated Michigan. They had -21 rushing yards in the fourth quarter. They only scored a meager field goal in all that time (the first one was a gift).
It was the last 8 minutes that made you wonder why you were ever a Spartan and why you still bought season tickets. In typical fashion, Michigan came back and with 2 seconds on the clock, scored. My only thought: Please, no 2-point conversion. Can you imagine if they went for it and made it? There would be no Spartan Stadium standing today. Guaranteed.
Fate was on our side in the pouring cold rain as in the end, we proved to be the better team. And when two mediocre teams play for bragging rights, none of it truly matters except the W which we will remember for a long time.
Yes sir. the 42 year old curse is over. But a team that is 2-3 when it should be 5-0 still has a long ways to go to prove itself. Dantonio escaped this one and MSU knows it's fans endure to misery. At least once in a while they excite and Saturday they did just that.
Happy Monday!
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