Putting health questions aside for the moment, in terms of just talking football, we are now entering issues of inequality when it comes to Michigan State’s preparation for a proposed 2020 football season.
MSU’s football building is completely shut down, and it’s been that way for a solid week.
Meanwhile, Northwestern has footballs on a practice field and is working out today, and has been doing so since last Friday, and will continue to do so through Aug. 7. Northwestern also completed EIGHT spring practices prior to the shutdown on March 12.
Michigan State has a new coach, new coordinators, a new system and still has not had an actual football on a field for a workout or a practice since Mel Tucker was hired. Northwestern is more than three weeks ahead of Michigan State in terms of on-field workouts with footballs, and now the Spartans can’t even get into the weight room.
I realize that health concerns come first. I realize that there’s a strong chance that the Michigan State-Northwestern game doesn’t get played, and there’s a strong chance that there is no season.
I realize that the Big Ten has not released the revised schedule, and I realize that there is talk of beginning the season in late September, which could allow Michigan State some “make-up” time.
But still, in a sport that puts huge emphasis on every minute of every practice and every workout session, Michigan State has fallen thousands of man hours behind Northwestern, and every other team in the Big Ten for that matter, outside of Rutgers.
If Michigan State were to open the season against Northwestern in early-, mid-, or late-September, the Spartans would be at a stark disadvantage in comparison to Northwestern, based on missed practice time, even if the Spartans didn’t have a new coaching staff. Add the fact that Michigan State has yet to install any of its offensive of defensive schemes in a real, three-dimensional environment, it’s time for Spartan fans to start realizing that hoping for a season to be played is one thing, but hoping to be able to compete in 2020 at a level that became the expectation for Mark Dantonio is another.
MSU’s football building is completely shut down, and it’s been that way for a solid week.
Meanwhile, Northwestern has footballs on a practice field and is working out today, and has been doing so since last Friday, and will continue to do so through Aug. 7. Northwestern also completed EIGHT spring practices prior to the shutdown on March 12.
Michigan State has a new coach, new coordinators, a new system and still has not had an actual football on a field for a workout or a practice since Mel Tucker was hired. Northwestern is more than three weeks ahead of Michigan State in terms of on-field workouts with footballs, and now the Spartans can’t even get into the weight room.
I realize that health concerns come first. I realize that there’s a strong chance that the Michigan State-Northwestern game doesn’t get played, and there’s a strong chance that there is no season.
I realize that the Big Ten has not released the revised schedule, and I realize that there is talk of beginning the season in late September, which could allow Michigan State some “make-up” time.
But still, in a sport that puts huge emphasis on every minute of every practice and every workout session, Michigan State has fallen thousands of man hours behind Northwestern, and every other team in the Big Ten for that matter, outside of Rutgers.
If Michigan State were to open the season against Northwestern in early-, mid-, or late-September, the Spartans would be at a stark disadvantage in comparison to Northwestern, based on missed practice time, even if the Spartans didn’t have a new coaching staff. Add the fact that Michigan State has yet to install any of its offensive of defensive schemes in a real, three-dimensional environment, it’s time for Spartan fans to start realizing that hoping for a season to be played is one thing, but hoping to be able to compete in 2020 at a level that became the expectation for Mark Dantonio is another.
