I'll be at the Motor City Pizza Pizza Bowl, and I hope MSU is too...

If you want to find me on Dec. 26th, my friends know to just look somewhere in downtown Detroit. I've enjoyed the Motor City Bowl almost every year, and not for the stellar matchup on the field. It has just been an event, a gathering of my friends, and often the last live football game I see each year. Plus it's cheap.

On years where there is a chance that a Big Ten team will be in it, I often buy my tickets several weeks before the end of the season, forking over the higher ticket money for some pretty good seats. This season you'll see me sitting on the 40 yard line. And hopefully, I'll be cheering on Michigan State.

Why would I want MSU to go to this game this year? First and foremost, my personal selfish reasons: It would save me a lot of money, and I already have great seats! It's hard to argue with that, right? If I have tickets either way, I would be pretty weird to be rooting for Middle Tennessee Atlantic Gulf Academy against Central Michigan. But my rational makes sense for a lot of people: It's close and it would save money.

First, lets look at the general fan perspective. There is no possible bowl location this year where more MSU fans could cheer on their team. Look at the Final Four as an example. Detroit turned green that weekend, and there were three other teams supposedly playing too. Sure, the importance of the Motor City Bowl isn't on par with the Final Four, but if MSU can sell fans 74,000 tickets to see them play Montana State in East Lansing, they should be able to sell 50,000 tickets to play someone better in Detroit. Where travel, hotel, tickets, food, other attractions and souvenirs for either the Alamo Bowl or the Insight Bowl would place a trip out of price range for many Michigan families, a day trip to Detroit with dinner at the Coney Island after the game is not much more than going to the movies on a Friday night.

Plus, if you are a hard core State of Michigan sports fan, you could decide to catch MSU in the noon game, and then either the home Pistons or home Red Wings game that night. You'll probably not even see those on TV if you traveled down to Texas or Arizona. The City of Detroit could use the extra tax dollars, and if we want a Motor City Bowl to be around much longer, at some point it would be nice if it actually sold out, or even came close. And the only way that is likely to happen is with Michigan State, Michigan, or perhaps Notre Dame in attendance. Weren't all of those feel good stories on TV about how great it was for Detroit that MSU was in the Final Four nice? You could get your DVR ready for a whole bunch more of those!

Now, lets look at a school perspective. Even before this week's embarrassing "excuse me for a minute Mom while I run across the street and kick the crap out of some short guy" episode, Detroit was not a bad option. Financially speaking, MSU spends a lot of money to play in a bowl. Sure, I'll buy your argument that MSU makes a lot more money, and the bowls pay a lot of expenses. Plus money goes to the Big Ten and is then split between the teams to help everyone. But even with a smaller overall payout to MSU coming from the Detroit game than another possible game, MSU could choose to dramatically save money on their expenses. Just look at all of the people we travel: Football team and staff, athletic department staff, administrators and Board of Trustees, University Relations, SAF (Sparty), Spartan Marching Band, cheerleaders, Spartan Radio, high level donors, Alumni Association staff. We could treat a trip to Detroit like any other bowl game, where many of them get sent days early and put up in hotels, many receiving per diem for every meal. But if MSU plays in Detroit, we wouldn't HAVE to. Many of these people wouldn't need a hotel at all, and if they did it may only be for one night, not three or more. You can forget the cost of the chartered airline plus the additional airfare for all of the people who are not on the chartered flight, plus the cost of the semi trucks of equipment driving across the country (Yeah, we truck the helmets and pads and tubas).

There is a fair argument for the element of prestige. Playing in Detroit is simply not as cool as playing in Texas or Arizona. It may not look as appealing to recruits, to fans hoping for that trip to warm weather, or to the high school student whose looking for a school to apply for college (and is not as interested in how great the Math department is). But I'll make this argument for prestige: It is more prestigious to sell out your ticket allotment and then another 30,000 tickets than to leave half your section empty. It is more prestigious to compete and win a game than to get blown out by 50 against Oklahoma or Texas Tech. It is more prestigious to have your team take the field to thunderous cheers than the boos from the sea of Orange or Red that would far out-number those wearing green. And it is more prestigious to look at this team's goals from the beginning of the season, and be able to say "accomplished." A big goal this season was to WIN a bowl game, not just go. No matter where MSU goes, they will have gone to three straight bowl games, something that has not been done in a long time. That's pretty prestigious too.

So even though I have been hoping for their destination to be Detroit for a while, my mind was firmly made up this week after "the incident." The effect on fan enthusiasm for traveling to a bowl could simply be devastating. If this had happened a few weeks earlier, or a week later, it may not have mattered as much. But the site is announced Sunday, and it came out this week. The timing simply could not be worse for trying to excite fans and trying to sell tickets.

The scenario I fear is that MSU will draw the Alamo Bowl and have to play Oklahoma. For the third straight year, MSU would play the top QB prospect going into the NFL Draft. Winning that game would be difficult at best, and with 6+ starters possibly out for the bowl, it would take darn near a miracle. Knowing this, a large number of fans that may have attended the game now stay home, and our reputation as a school that travels well is hurt badly. That hurts our future bowl selections. And losing the game badly doesn't impress recruits or anyone else. So we would spend a lot more money to go and hurt our recruiting, our future bowl selection chances, and our pride.

Now picture what I've been picturing for the last month: 65,000 screaming fans in green, a bowl victory, family and friends all around, tailgating with hot chocolate and snow football, and an athletic department that can save enough money on the trip to avoid having to make cuts to Volleyball and Wrestling. Recruits with smiles on their faces, and TV stories about how this MSU team has adopted the City of Detroit, lifting it from the ashes one more time, instead of TV stories about our how we didn't travel half our team cause they are thugs.

Either way, I'll be at the Motor City Bowl on December 26th. I just hope MSU is too.

Your Team Sucked, Here's Your Money Back

Ever been to a game that was so terrible you wish you could just get your money back? I can think of a few: The 2003 loss to Louisiana Tech was brutal. That come-from-ahead loss against Notre Dame in 2006. Central Michigan a week ago.

Well, the Oregon-Boise State game a few weeks ago was just such a game for Tony Seminary, a 1996 Oregon grad who e-mailed Coach Chip Kelly and asked for his money back - not just for the tickets but for the entire cost of his trip to Boise - some $439 in all.

And guess what? Kelly cut him a check. Seminary didn't cash the check, but wow, what a display from the coach.

Perhaps I should invoice Bobby Williams...

Sparty's Humiliation

My fears have come true, as the lack of a true Victory Burrito in Spartan Stadium is the only possible reason I can imagine for this weekend's unfortunate events. We'll leave the rest of the game discussion to other blogs...

But, to add insult to injury this weekend, there was an unfortunate incident involving Sparty.

During the game, Sparty was "engaged" with Central's mascot, as often happens when an opposing mascot is in Spartan Stadium. During this engagement, Sparty's head was unfortunately... removed from his body. In other words, it sort of fell off.

While this is incredibly traumatic for me, I cannot even begin to imagine the nightmares children had on Saturday night. I know that images of Dan LeFevour throwing touchdowns and then wearing the head during his "EA Sports NCAA '09 style celebration dance" were running through my head all night...

Joking aside, this has got to be disappointing for the Student Alumni Foundation, the Sparty Escorts, and Sparty himself. They all go to great lengths to keep Sparty's identity a secret until graduation, and for a Sparty to be "outed" in this way is sad.

Image courtesy of the Student Alumni Foundation.

Gameday Forecast: Central Michigan

If you're in East Lansing for today's game, you'd better send a little thank you note skyward because you're never going to see a more pristine day in your life.

The weather at kickoff is forecast to be 70 degrees and sunny, rising to 74 throughout the game with winds less than five miles per hour all game.

It's a beautiful day for football!

A Lesson in How Not to Schedule Road Construction

Today's lesson in not checking one's calendar before scheduling road construction is provided by the fine folks at the Michigan Department of Transportation.

Here's the story. Interstate 496 needs concrete resurfacing work. No surprise there. It's about five days of work, and it needs to get done before the weather turns too cold for the pavement to fully stick. The work doesn't beget anything else, meaning that this project is independent from any other project - it can basically get done whenever it's most convenient for MDOT to do it.

So, after what I'm sure was a careful consultation with its calendar, the non-sports fans at MDOT decided to close lanes on Lansing's central artery between Waverly Road and Cedar Street this weekend (Thursday through Monday), cutting off the prime driving route from Grand Rapids and West Michigan to Spartan Stadium this weekend, including before, during and after the Central Michigan game.

The odd thing about this is that MDOT could have just as easily picked next weekend or the week after, when Michigan State plays at Notre Dame and at Wisconsin, respectively, and the construction wouldn't disrupt game day traffic.

It's not just a little traffic either, MSU officials estimate that home football games bring in an extra 100,000 people to the East Lansing area, including spectators and folks who just want to tailgate and hang out.

It stands to reason that if one is trying to avoid inconveniencing drivers, one would want to do construction without those extra 100,000 people on the roads. And given how far in advance MSU publishes its football schedule, it wouldn't kill the good folks at MDOT to log onto a computer and check it once in a while so they could avoid just that situation.

Scouting Report: Central Michigan

As we do every week, The Other Side of Spartan Sports takes a closer look at MSU's upcoming football opponent. This week's school in focus is Central Michigan.

Central Michigan University

Location: Mount Pleasant, Mich. Officially, the city is chartered as Mount Pleasant, though it uses the name Mt. Pleasant interchangeably (such as on its own website). Google Maps lists the distance between MSU and Mount Pleasant as 68.9 miles, the shortest distance any opponent will have to travel to get to Spartan Stadium. Google Maps also says it takes 1 hour 16 minutes, though I bet most folks reading this who have done the drive have done it quicker. My best time is about 50 minutes.

Founded: 1892. It was originally known as the Central Michigan Normal School and Business Institute.

Enrollment: Its 2008 enrollment was 20,246 at the Mount Pleasant location, with an additional 7,108 taking online classes or at a separate location.

Academics: U.S. News and World Report ranked the school as a Tier 4 national university in 2009, similar to many so-called directional and site-specific state schools like Southern Mississippi, Alaska-Fairbanks, UNC-Charlotte and Wayne State.

Like many regional Michigan schools, it carries a few outstanding programs - it's the only school in the state where one can major specifically in meteorology or public relations.

Tuition: CMU cost $10,048 in 2008, definitely on the cheaper end for Michigan universities.

Nickname: Central has been known by several names during its history, including the Normalites, Dragons, Wildcats, Bearcats and now, Chippewas. Though the name has been in use since 1941, it has faced significant opposition throughout its history.

The Michigan Civil Rights Commission in the late 1980s recommended the university drop the Chippewa moniker completely. The university declined, though CMU did change its logos from Indian imagery to a block C in 1989 out of sensitivity. It adopted the motion C in 1996, and that logo remains in use today.

In 2005 the NCAA required member schools with Indian-themed nicknames like Central to either change their nicknames or get formal approval by the local tribes to keep using it. They received that support from the Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Council.

Notable Alumni: Central has produced several famous faces, including actor Jeff Daniels, sports broadcaster Dick Enberg, journalist and Marley and Me author John Grogan and former pro wrestler George "The Animal" Steele.

Fun Facts: The biggest tourist attraction in the Mount Pleasant area isn't the university, it's Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort. The biggest metro area that contributes said tourists, outside the locals of course, is Lansing/East Lansing.

Central has not one but two fight songs, The Fighting Chippewas and Hail (to the) Chippewa!. The first one is a bold declaration of inevitable victory, with lyrics including "Fight! Fellows never yield" and "Central is going to win this game!" The second is somewhat more equipped for a parent to use for their kids at a youth league soccer match - it ends with the rousing lyric: "Win or lose we're proud of you!"

Why Michigan State is the Real State University of Michigan

Michigan State University knows what it means to live up to its title as the state university of Michigan. Never has that been more clear than the past few weeks.

The most recent example was classic in its simplicity and effectiveness. This year, MSU added a "silver lining" decal - literally a silver-colored outline of the state of Michigan - to the back of its football helmets.

The move was suggested by Coach Mark Dantonio as a way to show solidarity with a state that is ailing economically. The idea started with MSU trying to support the auto industry, but evolved into what you see in the picture (at left).

It was a nice gesture, sure, but it would be just a symbol unless MSU backed it up with actions.

Like, for example, how MSU officials waived General Motors' sponsorship fees for the 2009/10 season and allowed the ailing automaker to sponsor the Spartans for free.

"GM has been a tremendous partner over the years and has provided millions of dollars in sponsorship revenue that helped to support MSU's 750-plus student-athletes, who annually participate in 25 intercollegiate sports," Athletic Director Mark Hollis said in a statement. "We wanted to show our appreciation and loyalty by assisting GM through this critical juncture."

The move is a similar gesture to one made earlier this year by the Detroit Tigers, which waived its fees for GM, Ford and Chrysler to sponsor the center field fountains at Comerica Park through the 2009 season.

But perhaps the biggest recent gift to the state of Michigan was when MSU signed a deal to play a total of 12 games over the next ten years against Central, Western and Eastern Michigan. The move will save all four universities a ton of money in travel fees and keep all monies from those early-season games in the state of Michigan. The deal represents millions of dollars to Michigan hotels, restaurants, gas stations, retail stores selling fan gear, etc.

And let's not forget how MSU's basketball team embraced the city of Detroit - while Detroit embraced Tom Izzo's boys right back - on their magical run to the national championship game.

Now, Michigan fans might find the title of this post a bit inflammatory. I don't think so, and I'll tell you why not.

The University of Michigan hasn't made any similar gestures. They certainly haven't given any ailing Michigan company a free sponsorship package. And given the chance, Michigan decided they didn't want any part of the Celebrate the State football series with the Directional Michigan schools. That's their decision, of course, just as it's their call as to how to run their own athletic department.

Michigan State, however, has taken the lead in standing up for the state of Michigan, which has had more than its fair share of problems of late. That's what a state university should do, and that's why MSU is the real state university of Michigan.

Football Schedule is Pure Michigan

Cue Tim Allen, because Mark Hollis has scripted a Pure Michigan commercial and saved a ton of cash in one deft football scheduling move.

Michigan State today announced plans for a trio of 3-1 series (three home games, one away) with Western, Central and Eastern Michigan. The visit to Mt. Pleasant in 2012 will be MSU's first visit to what is now a MAC school since 1899, when Eastern Michigan was still known as Michigan State Normal.

Now, I know Hollis and MSU President Lou Anna Simon are loyal to the state, but this was about money as much as anything. Here's what Hollis said of the reasons for making it:

Financially, the series provides a positive for each university with regards to game guarantees, regionalized travel expenses, and keeps revenues within the boundaries of the state of Michigan. The games will also provide a positive economic impact on the state of Michigan from teams and fans that spend dollars in our state with travel, housing, dining, and other activities on game days.

Let me translate that for you: It's a helluvalot cheaper to bus a football team to East Lansing from Kalamazoo than fly them in from Montana. It's so much cheaper, in fact, that MSU will still make money off this deal even though they'll lose three home games over the next 10 years. Although, to be fair, one can't deny that on an altruistic level that Hollis knows most Spartan fans would rather see MSU-Eastern Michigan than MSU-Eastern Washington.

Some fans I've talked to wonder why we're giving Directional Michigan a return match. The answer to that, simply, is that FBS teams now just aren't signing one-off tilts like they used to. You saw this with Michigan, which tried to get a BCS-caliber team to open its 2010 season without a return date, but eventually had to settle for a home-and-home with UConn because no one would agree to a match in Ann Arbor without the Wolverines returning the favor.

On a more personal note, I love this move. Unequivocally love it. I've always thought MSU should have a constant, formulaic schedule that goes as follows:

vs. Directional Michigan
vs. FBS team of some quality or lower-level BCS team (Baylor, Vandy, Syracuse, Washington State, etc.)
vs. good BCS team (Alabama, Cal, WVa, etc.)
vs. Notre Dame
Big Ten Schedule

This move brings us one step closer to that ideal.

I've got one question that hasn't been answered, however, and it involves television. MSU has a streak of televised games stretching years back, but the Big Ten Network doesn't have guaranteed rights to away games. It won't be an issue if both teams are good, but what if Eastern's as terrible in 2018 or 2020 as they are now? My guess is that the Big Ten Network will sort out a one-off deal with the host MAC school to be able to show the game, particularly if one of the schools is as good as Western or Central are now.

Overall, this is a deal that makes total sense for all involved. It's a patriotic one, if one can be patriotic toward a state. Most importantly, it will save Michigan State's athletics department a ton of cash - and that's crucial given how bad the Michigan economy has been recently.

Construction Update: Football Traffic Update

Some more detailed information has been shared regarding the football parking situation out at the commuter lot, adding to the last update we gave you a few weeks ago.

First, for the Farm Lane project, a firm open to traffic date has still not been set. However, we do know that contractually, they have only until September 22nd to finish all work. If all available time is used, that would have it opening after the first two home games (Sept. 5th, Sept. 12th) but before the Michigan game on Oct. 3rd.

We also have been told that Farm Lane will most likely open to both vehicles and pedestrians at the same time. One thought floated by fans was to open the sidewalks to pedestrians early if possible, so that there would at least be a walkable route to the commuter lot from Spartan Stadium, even if the buses still had to take the detour. It looks like this will not happen.

Second, the Mt. Hope resurfacing project time line is becoming clearer, thanks to the City of East Lansing's Project Clause. While a more detailed schedule will be set once a project bid is accepted, a general timetable is available now. According to the document, the project is divided into several phases. Phase I would begin on July 27th or within ten days of the contract being awarded. Once lane closures began, they would have fourteen days to reopen those lanes, with August 29th being the end point for this phase. Phase II would start immediately following Phase I, and this phase will include lane resurfacing and closures as well. Once that starts, the contractors will have thirty days to complete the work, with a contractual completion date of Oct. 2nd.

One interesting point from the document specifically concerns football game days. From the document:

"No work shall occur that impacts traffic outside of the approved lane/road closures on the following dates:

MSU Student Move-in: August 30, 2009, August 31, 2009 and September 1, 2009
MSU Home Football Game (Montana State): September 5, 2009
MSU Home Football Game (Central Michigan): September 12, 2009
MSU Home Football Game (University of Michigan): October 3, 2009

Any hauling, loading, grading, paving or any other activity that involves any impact on the remaining travel ways on any street shall be prohibited on the above dates."

It is nice to see this requirement specifically laid out early on in the bidding process. It recognizes the issues the project may place on football traffic and shows that there is a conscious attempt to minimize them. It also inadvertently recognizes the potential for project delays by listing a "no work day" on Oct. 3rd, a day after the project's completion date of Oct. 2nd.

Looking at what we know now about the project completion dates for both Farm Lane and Mt. Hope, the "fun" scenario outlined a few weeks ago looks like a strong possibility. This is where Farm Lane opens before Mt. Hope is complete, causing a large increase in traffic to the area, and therefore backups. While the completion dates on the projects suggest this may occur, both completion dates are currently scheduled for after the second home football game but before the third. So, if both can open before their contractual end dates, there will be no issues for the first big home game, against Michigan on Oct. 3rd.

Final Four Friday: Non-Conference Games

The big topic on ESPN.com this week is college football non-conference scheduling. Specifically, that certain schools (Penn State, Wisconsin) don't do squat in terms of actually trying to put tough teams on the schedule.

Michigan State wasn't listed among the wimpy schools, nor was it among the giant killers. So given that State has scheduled four non-conference games, we'll take a look at one fan's view of the most anticipated non-conference games.

Montana State - Quite frankly, I'm not excited about this game at all. It's patently offensive that we're even playing them. MSU, to this point, is one of just four FBS schools to have NEVER played an FCS school - and the Grizzlies will end that streak the first game of the season. So what if we win by five touchdowns? I don't care if we win 100-0. It's blood money we're giving them, and I absolutely hate it. No guaranteed money is worth killing our streak.

Central Michigan - On paper, this is a great matchup for MSU. Dan "Catch the" LeFevour returns to quarterback an explosive Chippewa offense, and a lack of Chips defense should make this a very high scoring game. You don't want to sit there in the early part of the season and watch a defensive struggle, do you? No, you don't. And this won't be one.

Notre Dame - Touchdown Jesus, Charlie Weis and Jimmy Claussen. In South Bend. Very few things could be better than this. I mean, this is what Spartan football is all about. The annual rivalry is a huge game for MSU, and is arguably one of the biggest games each year. Oddly enough, this is the start of the biggest three-game stretch for State this year - @ ND, @ Wisconsin, home to Michigan. Win those three, and it may be hello to a New Years Day bowl game yet again.

Western Michigan - This game was meant to be played at Ford Field, except the troublesome Michigan economy forced Western to abandon the "home" game in favor of a road trip to Spartan Stadium. I can't say much about the Spartans-Broncos game, except that it's the second Directional Michigan game this year, and it comes late in the season between visits to Minnesota and Purdue.

And the winner is... Notre Dame.

If I've got to see just one game, based on how good the game will be, it's probably Central. But I'd rather see Charlie "We'll never lose to State again" Weis have to eat his words one more time - and in front of his home fans - than almost anything else this football season. Bring on the Irish!

Farm Lane May Not Be Ready For Football

Get ready for another season of parking and traffic headaches, MSU football fans. Or at least be ready for issues the first few games. The Farm Lane project, which closed the road all of last football season to create two underpasses at the railroad crossings, is behind schedule and may not be open in time for the start of the 2009 football season. Thousands of season ticket holders generally park in the MSU commuter lot each game, and ride buses or walk to Spartan Stadium. With Farm Lane closed last season, the bus ride became longer, and walking was almost impossible.

At this month's Construction Junction on April 9th, an update was given on the status of the project, where it was announced that the project was behind schedule because of "challenges this winter."

"It appears the Farm Lane project may not open now to traffic until late summer/early fall which would put it after fall semester begins," said Karen Zelt, of the MSU Physical Plant. "We are still hoping that the roads will reopen before school begins in August, but the project currently is slightly behind schedule."

Fall semester is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, September 2nd. The first MSU football game is that following Saturday, September 5th against Montana St. The Spartans play again the next Saturday, September 12th, against Central Michigan.

MSU's football schedule may actually end up looking pretty lucky with regards to parking and traffic. Playing the first two home games against smaller schools means that there should not be the enormous crowds coming to campus that some Big Ten games generate. And after those two opening games, officials will have a little more time to open the road. MSU is away for two weeks until they return October 3rd against Michigan.

Photo courtesy of MSU