Five in a row in South Bend? Envy A half time you knew this was going to be a classic. Congratulations to the Spartans for an impressive 44-41 win over ND, and now five straight wins against the Irish on the road? Wow. Five thoughts on the game: 1. Five straight in South Bend? My god, what a feat. From the perspective of the Michigan fan, there are few things going on with MSU Football that bring on feelings of envy for those in Ann Arbor. This is certainly one. The Spartan’s dominance over the past decade over the Irish is amazing. It is comparable with Michigan’s dominance over John Cooper’s Ohio State teams. 2. No TD for Irish. For Irish fans grumbling about the play where MSU knocked the ball away on the goal line. It was close, but couldn’t be overturned. Chad Henne was probably in the end zone on first down last week (before fumbling on second down), and that wasn’t even reviewed. My advice: take your beatings like men. 3. Planting the Spartan Flag. For Irish fans concerned that excited Spartan players (see above – #14 should’ve had a V8) took a flag out of the stands and planted in on their field, as if to indicate this was Sparty’s House. The Domers are lucky they…
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Michigan Pulls Stunner over MSU 10/30/2004
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN OCTOBER 30, 2004 The shocked masses exiting Michigan Stadium late Saturday evening knew they just witnessed history. The men in Maize & Blue capped off a ridiculous 17 point comeback with a nail-biting triple-overtime win against the underrated Spartans. This group from Michigan suddenly is a team that is characterized by furious comebacks. The stunning comeback over the Spartans is the third this year, with the Wolverines also making fourth-quarter comebacks against Minnesota and Purdue. Forget where this ‘ranks’ in Michigan history. Bottom line – it is one of the greatest ever in the 125 wonderful years of M football. Notes and Takes:– For those concerned about the cold, good news is coming next year. The big game will move back to the early part of the Big Ten schedule, to October 1, 2005. Those who don’t think 3-4 weeks makes a difference must be from out of town. – Hats off to Michigan State. Losing this game must really sting but the Spartans were a couple of bad breaks away from blowing Michigan away. – Many fans left after the Spartans scored in the fourth quarter to go up 17. A few came back into the stadium after Michigan started to mount a comeback. – My brother spotted super-lawyer David Boies walking up the aisle in…
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Michigan Flex Muscle, Down Spartans in 2003
Wolverines, Chris Perry own scrimmage line EAST LANSING, MI NOVEMBER 2, 2003 Nothing comes easy for the Wolverines when they visit East Lansing. Despite a complete domination of basically every statistical category, the Spartans still had the ball at the end of the game and a chance to tie. Jeff Smoker’s final pass was picked off in the endzone, and the entire Michigan bench sprinted for toward the tunnel as if to say, “Get me the hell out of here!”. With the win, the Wolverines move to the top of the Big Ten standings and will win the championship with wins over Northwestern and Ohio State. Meanwhile, the Eleventh Annual Dooley Brothers tailgate took place in the shadow of the stadium starting, in darkness, at around 6 a.m. We moved a few spots down from our traditional location in the A lot to take advantage of more real estate. The extra space was needed as a large crowd showed up to enjoy the cold brews, brats, and especially the incredible jambalaya and gumbo compliments of chef James Soniga. A few takes on the game:– Jeff Smoker played an outstanding game, although his numbers may not show it. He threw nice, on-target spirals to the MSU receivers all day long. Although Michigan didn’t get their hands on him very much during…
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Northwest Airlines Plane buzzes Spartan Stadium
Memo to the pilot: Thanks very much, you Jackass EAST LANSING, MI NOVEMBER 3, 2001 Many fans at Saturday’s Michigan/Michigan State football game had a bone-chilling scare as a large Northwest airlines jet decided to fly above and turn directly over the stadium. Sometime in the first half of the game, fans sitting on the East side of Spartan Stadium stands watched as the jet came from the West, made a slight turn, and headed toward Lansing’s Capital City Airport. Some witnesses believe the plane was a DC9. No Sunday morning papers made mention of this incident (the press box is in the West stands…the press probably missed it), but it was widely discussed after the game. The frightening experience was not limited to the fans in the stadium, as many tailgaters hanging in the parking lots around the stadium also saw and heard the plane. No planes of any kind have been seen above major sporting events since Sept. 11. Obviously, nothing happened with the plane other than scaring people. But here is the problem: Events like football games are a chance to get away from the issues in our day-to-day lives. This could not be more true today, as we all were recently warned of impending terrorist actions. Thanks to the jackass flying that jet (or the people…
