Leach's List: It's OK For Wolverine Fans To Cheer For Spartans This Weekend
By Dan Leach
@dtmleach
Many just reading the title of this blog will gasp "How dare you! That must be unconstitutional!" or "That is just plain un-American!" I am sure there are a few refrains.
Hear me out though, as I am as big as a Wolverine fan as you can be and, as too many sadly know, there is visual evidence.
These are the top three reasons why it is OK for you Michigan fans to not want both of these teams to die in a fiery plane crash or Lucas Oil Field to spontaneously disappear into a giant sinkhole during the B1G Title game Saturday Night; and why you actually can cheer for the Spartans to win without ruining the Holiday season and sending the universe into chaos at the same time.
3-- The Spartans Have Earned This Opportunity-- This was a team that was "Grinch Stole X-mas" bad on offense in the early part of the year, but with Connor "Kiss The" Cook stabilizing the quarterback position and Jeremy Langford chewing up yards, they have worked their way into a legitimate offense that can hurt you. The defense is simply one of the best in the nation.
The Spartan schedule is not even close to ones that teams like Auburn, Bama, FSU, etc. have played, but since the Notre Dame game they have completely shut opposing offenses down, aside from Nebraska and Indiana. Even with the conference not what it was even a couple years ago, going 11-1 is impressive and to do it in three of the last four years makes it even more so impressive.
It is one thing to always stand by your team and that is how it should be. But showing respect for a program that has had so few opportunities over the years is the definition of class, something so sorely lacking these days in sports from fans and teams alike.
2-- The "Light The Fire Under Your Ass" Effect-- If Michigan State wins and goes to their first Rose Bowl since January of 1988, you know that is not going to sit well at all in Ann Arbor and will only get the Michigan program even more razor focused.
This is the first time in my lifetime that the Michigan State program is in my opinion in a better place. They will never be the bigger program, but they have beaten their biggest rival five of the least six years and have had two chances at Rose Bowl appearances in the last three years while Michigan hasn't really come close to that.
If Michigan is going to truly and honestly reclaim the title of best program in the state and beyond, then they will have to at least match what the Spartans have done in the past 5 years which is three 11-1 years and two berths in the B1G Title game. If MSU is celebrating when the final gun sounds on Saturday night, believe you me: there will be a lot of added activity all over Schembechler Hall.
1-- O-H-I-O-- Now this is the one place that Spartans, Wolverines, and most of the general human population can agree on... The Buckeyes are disgusting; as a team, a fan base, their coach, and even the colors Scarlett and Grey, they are disgusting. One of those colors not ironically had a fever named after it. When you look at how to build a program the wrong way through impropriety and arrogance, look no further than that school to the South.
You know how the old saying goes, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend?" Well when it comes to the two combatants on Saturday night, no words have ever been truer.
OFFICIAL DTM PREDICTION MACHINE SELECTION FOR 2013 B1G TITLE GAME:
MICHIGAN STATE 28 OHIO STATE 25 IN OVERTIME
