as an MSU fan. Warning, this is VERY long.
Every MSU supporter goes through their own journey as a green-bleeding Spartan football fan. In 24 months I have hit both my all time low feeling as a Spartan fan and now can ride the crest of an incredible wave that very much looks to continue.
Words cannot describe how grateful I feel to currently be a the top of the mountain of my own 45+ year journey, thanks to Mark Dantonio, his staff, and also Mark Hollis, Lou Anna K. Simon, and Tom Izzo. Best of all, it is very possible the best is yet to come.
However, I must confess that exactly 2 years ago, September 21, 2013, at about 5:45pm I had personally lost hope that I would ever see a summit like we are experiencing today. I was never more despondent that MSU would never be a consistently elite level football team than I was that day, September 21, 2013.
In case that date does not hit you immediately, it was on that day that MSU lost to Notre Dame 17-13 thanks to a sputtering offense with a QB who often missed wide open receivers and B1G officials who either were on the take for Notre Dame or totally incompetent in understanding what constitutes pass interference, both offensive and defensive.
All the 40+ years of my support of MSU football came crashing down on that day. Not that I didn’t bleed green and totally support our teams, and not that I did not believe Mark Dantonio was an excellent coach and even better human being. But what crushed me that day was the likely “reality”(to me) that MSU was probably never going to be elite in my lifetime. I was going to die without seeing that day. Please let me explain why.
I started out with the latter years of Duffy, when MSU struggled to be a .500 team, in spite of some incredible individual talent on the team. Us older Spartans all went through the years with Denny Stoltz and the crippling NCAA sanctions, Daryl Rogers, with the meteoric 1978 season (incredible to watch), but then back to mediocrity, and much worse, under Muddy. George Perles led us to a Rose Bowl, but I never felt that the program was on its way to being elite as there was too much “noise” always going on with George and an MSU administration that was negative on the football program.
While I was very happy with the Saban hire, but figured he would not stay at MSU and proved to be right on that. I had hoped he would be able to raise the bar and that standard would be maintained and even raised further with the next coach hired. Instead of that happening, we got Bobby Williams. Then John L Smith. Enough said.
Staying in reality, I had lower expectations and I did not expect MSU to be an elite program under any of those coaches, so I really was not crushingly disappointed during those down years. Sure, they hurt, but they were not unexpected. Same old Spartans. Seems like decades of that. The school down the road had teams of character and all too often MSU fielded teams of characters (isn’t it great that we have totally, and I mean, totally, turned that around!!!).
Then Mark Dantonio arrived. And he was hired by a team of President LAKS, AD Mark Hollis and the incredible Tom Izzo, Superstars, all. I had high hopes.
I watched as MD slowly built his program. He did it differently than the norm, especially in recruiting, and I wasn’t certain if it would work, but I became a true believer in the incredible quality of the man and the fact (imo) that he is brilliant, and I mean brilliant, in virtually everything he does. His words are always so perfectly chosen and totally insightful. Often the depth of what he means takes some reflection to grasp the truth beneath his words. Mark Dantonio would be a brilliant success in virtually any leadership position. We are truly blessed to have him as Head Football Coach at MSU.
As I watched the team try to take steps toward becoming a factor in the B1G and beyond, I always believed that our “window of opportunity” to do so would be fleeting. While MSU has very good resources, other already elite programs could boast of equal or better. Also, we arguably receive 2nd class media treatment in the Michigan media and um has/had strong controls on the levers of perception in this state. Every achievement by MSU is downplayed while every minor win at um is glorified and praised. Whether we like it or not, the media is very powerful in creating perception and perception = reality.
The other factor in my own mind was the “Spartan Curse” that often seems to strike us Spartans at the worst time. Three possible Rose Bowl appearances equals zero because rules were changed the year prior where the old rules would have seen MSU in Pasadena.
Some idiot football coach at North Carolina State runs off a 5th year senior elite QB, so Russell Wilson can transfer to Wisconsin. The Badgers would not have been within 14 points of MSU had that transfer not taken place and even then, they needed a somewhat controversial running into the kicker penalty to avoid MSU winning and going to the Rose Bowl.
But it was obvious we were getting better and better in measurable increments and 2012 was expected to be an excellent year in spite of breaking in a new QB and with an Offensive Coordinator that I felt (my opinion) was a liability, not an asset. As we all remember, 2012 became the year were we could not find the “inches” and often were victims of missed calls and questionable officiating that decided games such as Nebraska, Iowa and Northwestern. I watched our inept offense negate a truly special defense in 2012. At the end of the year, I felt that “window of opportunity” to become a truly elite program was slipping away. It always seemed when MSU was poised to rise to a new level, something, somehow, would slap us down, again, and again, and again.
After the season, MD parted ways with the OC and promoted from within to fill the position. Given the incredible loyalty that MD has, I was relieved that he was willing to make that change and hopefully improve the offensive direction of the team.
So I was again cautiously optimistic about 2013, then watched the first 3 games where our defense almost scored more than our offense in 2 of the 3 games. We were 3-0 heading down to South Bend but there were serious questions about whether we had an offense that could produce a winning team.
Frankly, I lost it watching the ND game. Those 2 incredibly bad PI calls that most likely cost us that game almost also cost me a new TV set. At the end of the game, I was afraid that we did not have a coaching staff capable of putting a top shelf offense on the field. We were going to waste another exceptional defense and then have a hard time selling MSU to the level of recruits we needed to become elite.
One week later, we travel to Iowa and the seeds of our rise to elite status started to blossom.
It has been an incredible run since then. One I never thought I would see as a Spartan fan. Truly Blessed.
And even better, it is with a true team of student athletes that are chosen by MD for not only their football skills but for their character. We have it all. Wow.
Today, we stand at #2 (or 3) in the country. Maybe we will win a Natty, this year or down the road. I hope for MD that it happens, but I wll never take for granted where we are now.
Every MSU supporter goes through their own journey as a green-bleeding Spartan football fan. In 24 months I have hit both my all time low feeling as a Spartan fan and now can ride the crest of an incredible wave that very much looks to continue.
Words cannot describe how grateful I feel to currently be a the top of the mountain of my own 45+ year journey, thanks to Mark Dantonio, his staff, and also Mark Hollis, Lou Anna K. Simon, and Tom Izzo. Best of all, it is very possible the best is yet to come.
However, I must confess that exactly 2 years ago, September 21, 2013, at about 5:45pm I had personally lost hope that I would ever see a summit like we are experiencing today. I was never more despondent that MSU would never be a consistently elite level football team than I was that day, September 21, 2013.
In case that date does not hit you immediately, it was on that day that MSU lost to Notre Dame 17-13 thanks to a sputtering offense with a QB who often missed wide open receivers and B1G officials who either were on the take for Notre Dame or totally incompetent in understanding what constitutes pass interference, both offensive and defensive.
All the 40+ years of my support of MSU football came crashing down on that day. Not that I didn’t bleed green and totally support our teams, and not that I did not believe Mark Dantonio was an excellent coach and even better human being. But what crushed me that day was the likely “reality”(to me) that MSU was probably never going to be elite in my lifetime. I was going to die without seeing that day. Please let me explain why.
I started out with the latter years of Duffy, when MSU struggled to be a .500 team, in spite of some incredible individual talent on the team. Us older Spartans all went through the years with Denny Stoltz and the crippling NCAA sanctions, Daryl Rogers, with the meteoric 1978 season (incredible to watch), but then back to mediocrity, and much worse, under Muddy. George Perles led us to a Rose Bowl, but I never felt that the program was on its way to being elite as there was too much “noise” always going on with George and an MSU administration that was negative on the football program.
While I was very happy with the Saban hire, but figured he would not stay at MSU and proved to be right on that. I had hoped he would be able to raise the bar and that standard would be maintained and even raised further with the next coach hired. Instead of that happening, we got Bobby Williams. Then John L Smith. Enough said.
Staying in reality, I had lower expectations and I did not expect MSU to be an elite program under any of those coaches, so I really was not crushingly disappointed during those down years. Sure, they hurt, but they were not unexpected. Same old Spartans. Seems like decades of that. The school down the road had teams of character and all too often MSU fielded teams of characters (isn’t it great that we have totally, and I mean, totally, turned that around!!!).
Then Mark Dantonio arrived. And he was hired by a team of President LAKS, AD Mark Hollis and the incredible Tom Izzo, Superstars, all. I had high hopes.
I watched as MD slowly built his program. He did it differently than the norm, especially in recruiting, and I wasn’t certain if it would work, but I became a true believer in the incredible quality of the man and the fact (imo) that he is brilliant, and I mean brilliant, in virtually everything he does. His words are always so perfectly chosen and totally insightful. Often the depth of what he means takes some reflection to grasp the truth beneath his words. Mark Dantonio would be a brilliant success in virtually any leadership position. We are truly blessed to have him as Head Football Coach at MSU.
As I watched the team try to take steps toward becoming a factor in the B1G and beyond, I always believed that our “window of opportunity” to do so would be fleeting. While MSU has very good resources, other already elite programs could boast of equal or better. Also, we arguably receive 2nd class media treatment in the Michigan media and um has/had strong controls on the levers of perception in this state. Every achievement by MSU is downplayed while every minor win at um is glorified and praised. Whether we like it or not, the media is very powerful in creating perception and perception = reality.
The other factor in my own mind was the “Spartan Curse” that often seems to strike us Spartans at the worst time. Three possible Rose Bowl appearances equals zero because rules were changed the year prior where the old rules would have seen MSU in Pasadena.
Some idiot football coach at North Carolina State runs off a 5th year senior elite QB, so Russell Wilson can transfer to Wisconsin. The Badgers would not have been within 14 points of MSU had that transfer not taken place and even then, they needed a somewhat controversial running into the kicker penalty to avoid MSU winning and going to the Rose Bowl.
But it was obvious we were getting better and better in measurable increments and 2012 was expected to be an excellent year in spite of breaking in a new QB and with an Offensive Coordinator that I felt (my opinion) was a liability, not an asset. As we all remember, 2012 became the year were we could not find the “inches” and often were victims of missed calls and questionable officiating that decided games such as Nebraska, Iowa and Northwestern. I watched our inept offense negate a truly special defense in 2012. At the end of the year, I felt that “window of opportunity” to become a truly elite program was slipping away. It always seemed when MSU was poised to rise to a new level, something, somehow, would slap us down, again, and again, and again.
After the season, MD parted ways with the OC and promoted from within to fill the position. Given the incredible loyalty that MD has, I was relieved that he was willing to make that change and hopefully improve the offensive direction of the team.
So I was again cautiously optimistic about 2013, then watched the first 3 games where our defense almost scored more than our offense in 2 of the 3 games. We were 3-0 heading down to South Bend but there were serious questions about whether we had an offense that could produce a winning team.
Frankly, I lost it watching the ND game. Those 2 incredibly bad PI calls that most likely cost us that game almost also cost me a new TV set. At the end of the game, I was afraid that we did not have a coaching staff capable of putting a top shelf offense on the field. We were going to waste another exceptional defense and then have a hard time selling MSU to the level of recruits we needed to become elite.
One week later, we travel to Iowa and the seeds of our rise to elite status started to blossom.
It has been an incredible run since then. One I never thought I would see as a Spartan fan. Truly Blessed.
And even better, it is with a true team of student athletes that are chosen by MD for not only their football skills but for their character. We have it all. Wow.
Today, we stand at #2 (or 3) in the country. Maybe we will win a Natty, this year or down the road. I hope for MD that it happens, but I wll never take for granted where we are now.
