A few more takes from the game this weekend:
– Manningham’s catch will be always remembered but he took some heat for a play earlier in the fourth quarter. Here’s Matt Zemek of CFN:
Michigan receiver Mario Manningham nearly cost his team a victory with a shameful lack of effort…With his team trailing in the final minutes of Saturday evening’s game against Michigan State, Manningham lazily trotted out of bounds one yard short of a first down.
I was on the opposite sideline during that play but to me, it just looked like Manningham wasn’t aware of where he was on the field. He caught the ball and went out of bounds. To characterize this as “shameful” seems to be a major stretch and a shameful characterization by Zemek.
– I don’t know if they showed this on TV but Zoltan Mesko laid out a ref pretty hard during the game. He inadvertently caught the man with his robust hips while heading out to punt. After the guy when down Mesko didn’t break stride and just continued to the huddle. Lloyd Carr (in his ‘Darth Sweatshirt’ gear) was one of the first guys on the field to check out his status; here’s a photo taken just after the incident:
– A day after the game I’ve thought about Hart’s “little brother” comments and they were not cool. There surely was some serious smack talk during the game and Hart probably started a lot of it. I don’t care about that, but to bring that little brother nonsense to the media after the game was poor taste. You could argue Hart has the right to say what he wants after beating MSU four straight but I think he should have left that on the field. Looks like Coach Dantonio didn’t think it was too cool either.
10 Comments
Tony
Fully disagree with you on Hart’s comment being uncalled for. You know as well as I do that had they won there would have been even more smack talking. All of a sudden they lose/choke and they get all teary-eyed about a comment a Heisman candidate said. Perhaps I am taking a different view on this because I am a student and know the kind of non-sense smack that MSU students give all the time. The comment was warranted from a student perspective-they got what they deserved.
mvictors
T – Believe me I understand the smack talk that goes on in this game. I grew up near EL and have attended the last 20 games in this series. I’m just saying as a player and a captain Hart should leave it on the field.
sean
no no no cuz msu coach was the same guy mocking michigan after the app st. loss talking about lets have a moment of silence for the wolverines….hart should have said worse comments!
mvictors
So Sean, it’s ok to fight an unclassy comment with another?
Tony
Sean brings up an even better point that I had forgotten. Dantonio enjoys talking smack but he can’t take it.
Lew
I thought Hart’s little bro comments were pretty darn funny and I do think Sparty is over-reacting (weren’t they meant more in jest in response to Hoyer, Ringer or Caulkrick who earlier in the season/week said that M thought of State as it’s little brother?). Pretty clever on Hart’s part. Having said that, I do think it would have been even rougher on Sparty (and much classier) if we had just acted like we’d been there and not engaged in any trash-talking. But these are 18-21 year old kids, excited after a big win over the in-state rival, and what he said was more funny than believable. Nobody in M gear on Saturday when M was down 10 and getting pushed 2 yards off the ball up and down the field actually thought we were just toying with them.
Dantonio’s response was more classless in my book – he’s the coach and should set the example for his kids. It looks to me like he’s just another John L. That’s the real problem for Sparty.
mvictors
Lew, you are correct there. Hart’s comments were obviously as a joke b/c everyone (including me, Hart ,Carr, the M sideline even Lew himself) were thinking bad thoughts down 10.
sean
I mean you can say its un classy but the fact of the matter is harts a player and Dantonio is a coach who shouldnt make comments if he can’t take what he dishes out …. to falt hart for speaking his mind and throwing back verbal jabs is a joke. It’s a rivalry!!! Thats what happens! Do you mean to tell me that in all sports the rivals dont trash talk no matter how it looks in the media. If that was the case there would be no reason to watch.
Lew
My point is just that – that everyone should take Hart’s little bro comments as a joke. They were clearly tongue-in-cheek. Yeah, they might have been a little inappropriate so soon after Sparty’s melt-down (and I too would prefer it if M’s captains were above that), but get over it Coach Dantonio. If you want to try to turn it into motivation for next year, then so be it and good luck. Obviously your little count-down clocks didn’t work. But for Coach Dantonio to mock Hart’s height over all of this is ridiculous and sets a pathetic example for his players.
At the end of the day, this is good for the rivalry and next year’s game should be a blast. Too bad Hart won’t be there to defend himself on the field….
mvictors
“Do you mean to tell me that in all sports the rivals don’t trash talk no matter how it looks in the media. If that was the case there would be no reason to watch.”
I’m not saying there’s no place for trash talk, but to do it after the game was won and by the way, by a senior who will never play them again, is over the line. And there’s plenty of reason to watch other than to see how teams respond to trash talk (otherwise, why we watch any game except for ND, MSU and OSU)?