It was quite a spectacle today when the commitment went down. I'm writing an article about it now, but I figured I might as well relate some of it here tonight while people are tuning in.
Right after the 7-on-7 portion of the camp ended in Spartan Stadium, I saw Hunter Rison walking down the home-side sideline and overheard him say, "Where's my pops? Has anyone seen my pops?"
And then I saw Hunter meet up with Andre, and Andre put his arm around him and they continued back in the other direction on the sideline, where Mark Dantonio was talking with Drew Stanton.
Then Dantonio and the Risons did some talking. Then there were poses for pictures. There weren't any hugs or fist pumps. There was just continuous smiling.
I was watching from the Stadium Club seats when this was going down. A few minutes later, all those guys made their way up the steps to the seating area, to go through the tunnel and exit the stadium. Andre came up to me and said, "Hunter just committed." (I had renewed acquaintances with Andre earlier in the day, talking about my days at The State News when he was a senior in 1988. I showed him video of our interview with Hunter from RCS Cleveland. Andre got a little kick out of watching his son get interviewed. He hadn't seen that before. "He didn't tell me about that!" Andre said).
So anyway, Andre was exiting Spartan Stadium as the proudest papa in lower Michigan. So he was eager to tell anyone within shouting distance that his son had just committed.
"Another Victory for MSU," said a coach, who often cryptically tweets that phrase.
Hunter left the stadium ahead of Andre. Andre stayed behind and spoke with the father of a player who attended the camp. The camp participants aren't always sure who Andre Rison is. But their dads treat Andre like royalty.
As we left the stadium, I was interviewing Andre about what had just transpired while he walked with the fathers of these other recruits when some random MSU fan who was passing by the stadium while pushing a baby buggy stopped and looked at Andre. Then the guy looked at me and mouthed, "Is that Andre Rison?"
I said, "Yes."
This guy didn't know who I was, but he wanted some other confirmation from a perfect stranger.
Then the guy in the baby buggy shook Andre's hand. Andre commented about the guy's baby. He was like someone running for president.
Then the guy in the baby buggy asked if I would take a picture of all of them.
That's what kind of day it was at Spartan Stadium.
**
Then we walked into the football building and I continued to talk with Andre. We were interrupted when a big guy bounded out of the double doors from the indoor facility, and Andre left his conversation with me and went and bear-hugged this big guy.
"Sargent! Sargent!" Rison said while hugging him. "I used to hate you, man!"
"I used to hate you too!" Sargent said.
And they continued to hug.
They used to hate each other in high school. Mike Sargent went to Flint Powers and starred at tight end for MSU from 1984-87. Rison went to Flint Northwestern.
"I used to undercut you all the time in basketball!" Sargent said.
"Every time!" Rison said. "You were dirty! Admit you were dirty."
"I wasn't dirty," Sargent said. "I was tough. There's a difference."
"You guys always cheated!" Rison said. "All that Catholic school money."
Sargent laughed hard.
"We cheated?!" Sargent protested.
"But this guy was tough as nails," Andre said to Hunter. "I love this guy."
They were still hugging.
About that time, Shilique Calhoun walked by.
"Hey, my boy committed today," Rison said to Calhoun.
"Sounds good!" Shilique said. "Dad was a Spartan Dawg. Son's gonna be a Spartan Dawg!"
**
Now I'm using all of my feature story material. But I got a little carried away and thought you guys like to hear about all that stuff.
Right after the 7-on-7 portion of the camp ended in Spartan Stadium, I saw Hunter Rison walking down the home-side sideline and overheard him say, "Where's my pops? Has anyone seen my pops?"
And then I saw Hunter meet up with Andre, and Andre put his arm around him and they continued back in the other direction on the sideline, where Mark Dantonio was talking with Drew Stanton.
Then Dantonio and the Risons did some talking. Then there were poses for pictures. There weren't any hugs or fist pumps. There was just continuous smiling.
I was watching from the Stadium Club seats when this was going down. A few minutes later, all those guys made their way up the steps to the seating area, to go through the tunnel and exit the stadium. Andre came up to me and said, "Hunter just committed." (I had renewed acquaintances with Andre earlier in the day, talking about my days at The State News when he was a senior in 1988. I showed him video of our interview with Hunter from RCS Cleveland. Andre got a little kick out of watching his son get interviewed. He hadn't seen that before. "He didn't tell me about that!" Andre said).
So anyway, Andre was exiting Spartan Stadium as the proudest papa in lower Michigan. So he was eager to tell anyone within shouting distance that his son had just committed.
"Another Victory for MSU," said a coach, who often cryptically tweets that phrase.
Hunter left the stadium ahead of Andre. Andre stayed behind and spoke with the father of a player who attended the camp. The camp participants aren't always sure who Andre Rison is. But their dads treat Andre like royalty.
As we left the stadium, I was interviewing Andre about what had just transpired while he walked with the fathers of these other recruits when some random MSU fan who was passing by the stadium while pushing a baby buggy stopped and looked at Andre. Then the guy looked at me and mouthed, "Is that Andre Rison?"
I said, "Yes."
This guy didn't know who I was, but he wanted some other confirmation from a perfect stranger.
Then the guy in the baby buggy shook Andre's hand. Andre commented about the guy's baby. He was like someone running for president.
Then the guy in the baby buggy asked if I would take a picture of all of them.
That's what kind of day it was at Spartan Stadium.
**
Then we walked into the football building and I continued to talk with Andre. We were interrupted when a big guy bounded out of the double doors from the indoor facility, and Andre left his conversation with me and went and bear-hugged this big guy.
"Sargent! Sargent!" Rison said while hugging him. "I used to hate you, man!"
"I used to hate you too!" Sargent said.
And they continued to hug.
They used to hate each other in high school. Mike Sargent went to Flint Powers and starred at tight end for MSU from 1984-87. Rison went to Flint Northwestern.
"I used to undercut you all the time in basketball!" Sargent said.
"Every time!" Rison said. "You were dirty! Admit you were dirty."
"I wasn't dirty," Sargent said. "I was tough. There's a difference."
"You guys always cheated!" Rison said. "All that Catholic school money."
Sargent laughed hard.
"We cheated?!" Sargent protested.
"But this guy was tough as nails," Andre said to Hunter. "I love this guy."
They were still hugging.
About that time, Shilique Calhoun walked by.
"Hey, my boy committed today," Rison said to Calhoun.
"Sounds good!" Shilique said. "Dad was a Spartan Dawg. Son's gonna be a Spartan Dawg!"
**
Now I'm using all of my feature story material. But I got a little carried away and thought you guys like to hear about all that stuff.
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