Alumni Assn warns of media bias before Izzo suspension stories are written

Update: I talked with MSUAA chief Scott Westerman, who apologized for the line in question. It has been taken down from the MSUAA's website, and he said he'd be sharing the coverage we did get with Alumni Club leaders.

Westerman's reaction is entirely appropriate. I know Scott, and he's a good guy under whose leadership the MSUAA is growing in the right direction. Kudos to him for recognizing the error and moving quickly to fix it. -DW

Original post is below.

Here's the news you probably knew by this point: Tom Izzo has been suspended for one game for a secondary violation involving hiring a guy who was in some way connected to an unnamed prospect to coach middle schoolers at a basketball camp.

Honestly? Not a big damn deal. But suspending a coach is odd, and it hasn't really been done before for something like this, and certainly not at a program like MSU. Plus, MSU has a squeaky-clean image in basketball, and it's Izzo, so that makes this a bit more newsworthy.

But that's not what caught my eye. What caught my eye was this line from an e-mail sent by the MSU Alumni Association.

"Newspapers are sold by making the worst out of every situation, and I expect
some negativity from people who would love to throw mud at us."

That line was written, I can only guess, before a single line was written in the press. And as a member of the press, I guess I take a bit of umbrage at preemptive suggestions of bias.

Well let's see if it was justified, going one-by-one through media accounts. I'll link, then summarize.

Detroit Free Press: Bias? Not really, but if there is it tilts toward MSU. Tom Izzo's point of view is given in paragraph two, a quote toward that effect is in paragraph four. In paragraphs five, six and seven, Mark Hollis says the rule is BS. The NCAA did not respond to requests for comment, so no opposing point of view is presented.

Detroit News: Bias? Can't find any. This is a short, fact-only piece that states the allegations and MSU's response. A separate link goes to a DetNews file on Izzo's career, and another links directly to MSU's statement.

Lansing State Journal: Much like the DetNews, this is a short and straightforward. Joe Rexrode's blog is the only opinion so far, and it calls shenanigans on the NCAA.

Booth Newspapers: Written by the David Mayo of the Grand Rapids Press, this one is straightforward - allegations, then MSU's response. No bias here.

ESPN: Eamon Brennan has a column up saying the rule is complex, and likely means everyone's in violation somehow. Also takes time to say Izzo has a well-deserved sterling reputation, and at no time does he question MSU's company line.

AP: States the allegations, gives MSU's line, no one from the NCAA comments. MSU comes off looking as good as possible.

The point of this exercise? Well, I couldn't find an example of bias against MSU among outlets that cover the school, or on the wire services most will use outside of the local market.

Look, I get that bashing the media is en vogue. But just as people would ask that we not rush to judgement against MSU's athletes, let me ask that our own alumni association not rush to judgement against the graduates of its own School of Journalism (like Rexrode and many of the editors and reporters at papers throughout Michigan and the USA).

And at the very least, they're owed an apology.

1,000 Days since MSU lost to U-M in football or basketball

It has now been 1,000 days since the University of Michigan beat Michigan State in either football or men's basketball.

Enjoy it!

Inside the Izzo press conference

TOSSS sent special correspondent James Hensley to Tom Izzo's press conference to get a sense of the scene at arguably the biggest press conference in MSU history. Here is his report.

The scene at the press conference was more chaotic than the normally well organized events put on by the MSU Athletic Department. There were TV vans parked along the curb of Shaw Lane blocking traffic and at times pedestrian walkways and many camera guys running with cables - the last minute announcement caught them off guard.

In the back of the Clara Bell Smith Auditorium, off camera, over a 100 students (many of them Izzone members) and student athletes gathered to show support for their coach and team.

There are several ways to look at the last nine days that lead to the culmination with the press conference, for Tom Izzo and the MSU basketball team. The rest of the media has done great job speculating about if Izzo took too long in his decision, looking at the impact this decision will have on his recruiting and looking at the LeBron factor.

At the end of the day, Coach Izzo said that the process of consideration took longer because his kids were in finals and he was not going to make a family decision without their input and he waited until the end of finals to consult them.

At this point, how the decision was reached is inconsequential. The announcement by Izzo at this press conference was the end to flirtation with NBA coaching. Coach Izzo proclaimed the end the job process with Cleveland by stating “I’m a lifer.” Whatever thought process that he went through to arrive at that moment are part of the past.

Spotlight on the Athletic Department

The most important thing announced, besides that Izzo will stay at MSU, was that both AD Mark Hollis and Izzo signaled that, in Hollis' words, it's “time to move forward…to make the athletic department the best, not just the best we can be, the best."

Izzo followed up on Hollis rallying call by stating his admiration for football coach Mark Dantonio and reiterating that the goal now is to make the MSU Athletic Department one of the best in the country.

The repeated use and focus on the success of the Athletic Department, not just the basketball program, led me to wonder if there were some larger-picture discussions during this process. Will Coach Izzo play a more active advisory role in other sports than his own? Was there an Ron Mason-style informal nod that Izzo could become the AD if he were to ever retire from MSU basketball? Lastly, what were the common strategies that Hollis and Izzo have discussed that will propel MSU to be a leader in collegiate sports?

To me, those questions are much more important than questions lobbed at Tom Izzo during the press conference. Many of them (and most of those from a single Detroit News columnist) involved why Tom shut out the media during this process and claims that his silence lead to the numerous erroneous reports. Others centered on the role of LeBron James, whether he'd stay or not, which doesn't really affect MSU any more now that Izzo turned down the job in Cleveland.

A moment that brought a hush over the crowd was when most of the basketball team (Chris Allen the notable exception), without prompting, joined their coach on stage before he started his speech. Each player hugged or shook his hand before taking a stance behind Izzo on stage. It was a clear act of devotion, support and honor for their coach and a sign that maybe nobody is happier than them that his decision was to call MSU “home”.

When asked if there was an “Ah Ha” moment to solidify his decision to say, Izzo said that one thing that meant a lot to him was when he talked to his daughter. When asked why his daughter wanted to stay her. She replied that if she made new friends in Cleveland they would only be her friends because of who her dad was and the friends that she had made here they had made together while building the program.

Several people teared up at that response.

Lastly, Coach Izzo acknowledged the fans, stating “I appreciate all the support…emails, letters…it was embarrassing, but deeply appreciated.

Rally to keep Tom Izzo tonight at Breslin

The Constitution guarantees Americans the right to peaceably assemble and petition for the redress of grievances.

Tonight, Spartan fans will peaceably assemble and petition Tom Izzo to stay in East Lansing with an impromptu rally at the Magic Johnson statue in front of the Breslin Center in an effort to keep Izzo from signing with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The rally starts at 9 p.m.

If you're within driving distance of East Lansing, I highly suggest you go. It might be your last, best chance at keeping him.

Spartan Tailgate is directing traffic on this one, so follow along here for more info.

MSU unveils new uniforms, Nike-inspired branding

By James Hensley, Special to The Other Side of Spartan Sports

The unveiling of the new Spartan uniforms started in much the same manner that the public first learned about the branding campaign—with a leak on the internet. The Facebook group “The Old Spartan Logo” released a link approximately an hour and half before the beginning of the official press conference. The link was taken down within minutes of being posted, but the commentary on the new age of Spartan jerseys had begun.

By the time the press conference started there were already many different opinions about the jerseys posted on Facebook.

The opening presentation of the press conference had MSU Athletic Director Mark Hollis stating that “MSU is a sleeping giant and we’re waking up the sleeping giant” to create a uniform identity for MSU Sports. Mark Vanhorn from Nike said his mission was to “respect the past, represent the future.”

Hopefully, you agree with his vision of MSU’s future.

Hollis commented that a driver of this mission was that at one point there were nine different greens in the uniforms of MSU’s 25 teams.

MSU has now trademarked green, silver, bronze colors, as well as typography, that cannot be used by any other school or organization.

Implementation and Olympic sports

The Athletic Department unveiled the uniforms that will start being used in Fall 2010 with models from the Football, Basketball, Hockey and Volleyball teams. When questioned about the implementation schedule for the teams, he responded that only the five teams shown today will be sporting the new uniforms next year.

MSU and Nike will continue to design and roll out the same template designs to other non-revenue teams as the teams need new uniforms. This will limit the implementation cost of the uniform changes to regular asset purchases already budgeted for by the departments.

Football

The basic rundown on the football jersey is that the jersey has been updated with the new green and the font has been standardized.

The rear pant legs for the uniform now feature a splash of green. Already, the football jerseys have sparked a bit of a backlash on Facebook, with a majority (but not all) comparing the design to a toned-down version of the over-the-top Nike uniforms of the University of Oregon.

Hockey

Considering that this branding mission was designed to present a unified Spartan Image with national recognition, it is hard to miss the white elephant in the room: The two home and away jerseys do not have similar base designs.

The home jersey features the traditional Spartan head logo, but lacks the traditional hockey lettering of “Spartans” or “Michigan State.” The return of the Spartan head to the home uniform marks an end to a 40-year-old absence from the hockey uniform. The away jersey may be the first in the ice hockey world to include the players number on the front and lacks conformity with its home jersey mate by using the traditional “Michigan State” across the top.

When asked what he thought about the new bronze in the hockey uniforms, goalie Drew Palmisano responded that he really liked the accent color and was looking forward to repainting part of his goalie helmet to match. Torey Krug said he felt that the two different jersey styles for hockey would not detract from the team’s image when playing road games.

Men's and Women's Basketball

The uniforms for the basketball teams drop the last Nike branding attempt of “State” in italics and replace it with “Spartans” in the new font with the new trademark colors. Given that MSU basketball seems to change uniforms every three years, these changes will likely be well received by the Spartan basketball community.

MSU basketball stars Durrell Summers and Kalin Lucas modeled the basketball jerseys, with Lucas sporting a foot brace as he recovers from recent surgery.

How the decisions were made

Both Nike’s Vanhorn and MSU’s Hollis said that community values and focus groups had consisted of MSU administrators, the Athletic Advisory board and student athletes. This effectively means that no alumni and only one non-student athlete was allowed input during the design phase of the project.

This lack of community involvement was one of the causes of the logo scandal that led to over 80,000 Spartan fans to protest changes to the logo.

Since the Athletic Department and Nike kept much of the design process under wraps, the change could provoke some initial resistance about the addition of the bronze color and the changes to some of the jerseys, especially football and hockey.

Finances

The department has continued to say this was not a financially motivated project, but the hockey uniforms not having a base design seems to contradict the consistence attempt. Nike’s fingerprints of “over the top” design are hard to miss on all but the Volleyball team’s uniforms.

According to Hollis, the design process has not cost the university any revenues or money, but an interesting fact to consider is that Nike will be the only authorized replica jersey vendor. Since the colors and front are trademarked with MSU and Nike, there will be no cheap replicas for fans looking to save money and show team spirit during these economic hard times.

Something to look forward to is that Mark Hollis commented that sales of old used team jerseys could go on sale to the public as early as this fall, but would not rule out a garage sale before the 2011 Spring Football game, as has been done in the past.

First peek at MSU's new uniforms comes and goes

MSU posted a photo gallery of the new uniforms for football, basketball, hockey and volleyball, but quickly pulled it after it was linked to on a number of MSU sites.

We'll let MSU unveil things for itself, and we'll have a full report from the press conference later today.

NCAA to expand tourney to 68 teams

There was talk of a bracket-busting expansion to 96, a little March Madness madness so to speak, but thankfully the NCAA has seen sense and tossed that idea in the trash.

Instead, the annual basketball competition will expand to 68, allowing three more bubble teams to make the big dance. This year, based solely on NIT seeding, that means Illinois, Mississippi State and either Arizona State and Virginia Tech would have taken up those last three new spots.

In recent years, the last bubble teams have typically fallen 12 seed line, which is part of why you see so many 5-12 upsets, but far fewer 4-13 upsets. Instead, the last seeds will now fall on the 13 line, which should lead to a few more competitive 4-13 games (Murray State-Vanderbilt notwithstanding).

The other big news out of this is the TV deal. The Turner networks (TNT, TBS and TruTV) will pick up additional games, so you can watch the whole tourney on network and basic cable. Turner is quite good at basketball, having had an NBA deal for the last few years, so the tournament is in pretty good shape.

But mostly, this ends the problem of CBS not flipping to a more exciting finish because it wants to stay with its national game. Now, I can solve that issue with my remote.

Oh, and by the way, the NCAA makes out like a bandit on the cash end. The deal is for 14 years, and CNBC's Darren Rovell reports that the NCAA will take in an average of $771 million a year, up from $545 million a year.

That's a lot of scholarships for people who will go pro in something other than sports.

Watch the Final Four in 3-D

For those in the Lansing area, NCG Eastwood will be showing the Final Four game between MSU and Butler in 3-D.

Yes, 3-D.

Tickets are $15, and can be ordered through NCG Eastwood's website (click on the date, April 3, then the event).

If you've got other plans on Saturday, they'll also be showing the championship game in 3-D on Monday evening.

Equipment Manager Gets Game Ball for Making Nike Uniforms Look Good

It had to happen, just like a stuck clock happens to be right once a day, but someone has finally figured out how to make a new Nike uniform look good.

The person who did was Texas Christian's equipment manager, who came up with this look. The front of the jersey says "Horned Frogs", inside the collar says "Don't Back Down". There are two red lines on the helmet, representing the twin streams of blood a horned frog shoots from its eyes as a defense mechanism. And, of course, there's the incredible charcoal gray pants - a highly underutilized color in uniforms, I think. For comparison, compare the new uniform at left to TCU's old uniform. It's not even close.

In fact, the change was so good that TCU's coach gave a game ball to the equipment manager who designed the new unis.

I'm not usually a fan of changing MSU's traditional home uniform (green shirt, white pants, green helmet with the Spartan logo) too much, but I am one of those Spartan fans that doesn't mind a third color in the black/gray scheme - and wouldn't mind us trying those charcoal gray pants.

MSU's men's basketball squad occasionally rocks the newest Nike designs - those tight-hugging shirts for example - and while sometimes they'll have a few nice features, you'll never look at the jersey and go "whoa."

Perhaps that kid from TCU would be free to lend a hand on a new design.

Steps to Becoming Duke

The Lansing State Journal ran a great package this week comparing MSU basketball to Duke, noting that the last great hurdle to clear in MSU's rise is to get it into the conversation of the absolute top-tier basketball programs in America.

North Carolina, Kansas, Kentucky, Duke. That tier.

Tom Izzo told the LSJ's Joe Rexrode that his goal was to take care of every notch between now and that level before he retires. Filling up Midnight Madness was one such notch, but there are more. Izzo's remaining notches are unknown, but here are my thoughts.

• Sell out every home game. There are still tickets left for our opener against Florida Gulf Coast, for example.
• Move the Izzone so the TV cameras see it. It boggles my mind that the head-on section the main TV camera sees is the only one in the lower bowl without the Izzone in it. At Duke you see the Cameron Crazies in all their glory. Should be the same at Breslin.
  
• Get big games on big TV every year. We're doing that already, with games against Texas, UNC, Gonzaga and Illinois getting the big TV treatment. That has to continue
• Win those games. The two big losses against UNC hurt, and can't become a trend. You don't want to become the Ohio State football of the college basketball world. With all our injuries, that game against Gonzaga actually scares me.
• Second round or better every year. Getting to the tournament is key for any school. This year we should go a bit further, but in a bad year we should get to the second round of the tournament.

This is the biggest one though: Don't change how we recruit.

MSU has never recruited a one-and-done player. We never should. Let the Greg Odens and John Walls and Kevin Durants of the world go to Ohio State, Kentucky and Texas, respectively. MSU cannot try and out-sexy these folks. We need to keep that blue collar attitude and the four and five-year players that make MSU what it is.

There are a lot of shady characters in prep basketball and on college basketball coaching staffs (ahemJohnCalipariahem) and thankfully MSU hasn't been mentioned in connection with any of them. Tom Izzo is the biggest reason why it hasn't been.

Actually, not changing how we recruit isn't the biggest thing. Keep Tom Izzo - that's the biggest thing. If Tom Izzo becomes our version of John Wooden or Joe Paterno, that's more than OK by me.

Any Chance of a Capacity Crowd Tonight?

Tom Izzo wants a capacity crowd for Midnight Madness and he's got a good argument for getting it this year. The men's basketball team is ranked by almost everyone in the top two or three heading into the 2009/10 year, while the women are a consensus preseason top ten.

Tonight is your the first chance to see a bulked-up Tom Herzog and a slimmed-down Derrick Nix in action. It's also your chance to see what crazy costume Izzo will don this year (my favorite remains his Leonidas from 300 getup a few years back).

But despite capacity crowds being a near certainty at most big-time basketball schools tonight (Kentucky and Kansas, for example), MSU has never had a sellout for midnight madness. Its a streak that shouldn't exist, given the rich basketball tradition at Michigan State.

This year, there's even more to do. In addition to Izzo's usual theatrics, the 2009 Final Four banner will be raised to the rafters before the event begins. If you're planning to get to East Lansing earlier, women's swimming takes on Illinois at 5 p.m., the homecoming parade begins at 6 and women's volleyball takes on the always dangerous Ohio State at 6:30.

For Midnight Madness, doors open at 9:30 p.m. to an autograph and picture session in the Breslin Center concourse. The program begins at 10:30 p.m. and the men's team takes the floor around midnight.

If you're in or around East Lansing tonight, be sure to be there. You'd make Tom Izzo very happy.

The Value of Integrity

It's a simple word, integrity, but it means so much. If a coach has it, players can feel comfortable taking their advice both on and off the field, and the fans can cheer for the team without worrying that, someday later, they'll regret it.

Tom Izzo has that integrity. And once again, today, I was reminded of why that sets him apart from so many of his so-called contemporaries.

Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino had been fighting off rape allegations, made by someone who is now being charged with blackmailing the coach. However, in the course of proving her case false, it came out that Pitino (who is married with five kids) had an affair with her and then gave her $3,000 to have an abortion.

That got me thinking about something that, pardon the term, really grinds my gears.

Every year, we have to deal with a crap ton of mindless sportswriters hemming and hawing about who has the best college basketball coach. Is it Pitino, despite this indiscretion? John Calipari of Kentucky, despite the persistent rumors of recruiting improprieties? Bill Self, who has flipped off opposing student sections that annoyed him - including the Izzone?

The next ESPN or Sports Illustrated writer who pens one of these, I hope he or she takes a second to consider integrity. Consider the fact that Tom Izzo doesn't have that persistent cloud of scandal hanging over himself or his program. Consider that the biggest character flaw the guy has is either riding lazy players (Marquis Gray, Kelvin Torbert) or tiring himself out by giving too much time to too many charities.

Most of all, consider how much better it is to be a State fan, knowing you can tell your kids about what a great coach - and a great man - the old basketball coach is. I don't know about you, but I don't want a tainted coach, never mind how many wins they bring you.

They say one can't put a price on things like integrity. They're right, you can't. But perhaps one of these days, one of those big-shot journalists could lend it a bit more value.

That Damned Carolina Shirt

RALEIGH, N.C. - It might have been the nine-hour flight from London, complete with terrible airline food and a lady behind me who kept tugging on my seat back. It might have been that the only movies on the flight were kids films featuring Brendan Fraser, or that it took 30 minutes to clear customs from just one plane. It might have been that my rolling suitcase came out of baggage claim bent like a banana, sopping wet and with just one wheel intact.

Whatever it was, I just wasn't in the mood to see what I saw as I walked into the airport convenience store near the gate for my connecting flight back home to Baltimore. All I wanted was some peace, quiet and a Diet Dr. Pepper.

Despite the fact that Raleigh/Durham is home to N.C. State and Duke, it's close enough to Chapel Hill that this particular shop also had a ton of UNC merchandise. OK, I can deal with that - heck, even Lansing's airport has some U-M apparel. (Side note: I don't like that it does, but I understand their desire to make money selling it to the Wal-Mart Wolverine fans who pass through.)

And it makes sense that they'd have National Championship gear on sale as well. Again, no problem there.

But this shirt just set me off. Well, not this one exactly, but one very much like it. It featured very prominently a certain lopsided score from a certain championship match this past April that shall go unmentioned. And it made me want to puke.

Now understand, there's nothing TECHNICALLY wrong with the shirt. It's not out of bounds to have or wear. And all the Carolina fans that noticed my Steve Smith charity golf outing carry-on with the MSU bag tags were really sympathetic - saying we had a great young team and a great coach and that we'd "win it again soon". Carolina fans are polite like that (they were in after they won in the 2005 Final Four as well).

But, cranky as I was, I didn't care. I still don't.

All I can think of when I think back on that accursed shirt in that accursed store in that accursed state is that MSU gets to play UNC again next year. One more chance to right the wrongs of last season. But not in Detroit - this one's in Chapel Hill.

I hope we win. I hope we win huge - and make a t-shirt to remember it by.

Finals Glory for State Fans

I'm going to come right out and admit it: I'm not a Detroit Red Wings fan. In fact, I'm about the exact opposite - as far away as one can be. It's not the Blackhawks, not the Maple Leafs or any other O-6 team. Not even, though I grew up in South Florida, the perennially-terrible Panthers.

Nope, through a weird quirk of fortune, I'm a Colorado Avalanche fan. So naturally, given that our most hated rivals are in the Stanley Cup finals, you'd think I'd be rooting for Pittsburgh, right?

Not a chance. And the reason for that is not because I've forgotten the overreaction to Claude Lemieux's hit or because I've flaked on my childhood hockey heroes.

Instead, I'm cheering for Justin Abdelkader, a Spartan hockey alumnus who was part of the great 2007 national championship team.

Same story in the NBA finals, where Shannon Brown, he of the thunder dunks back in his Spartan days, helped his LA Lakers squad reach the NBA finals.

So, in honor of Brown and Abdelkader, go Lakers and (as much as this pains me to say) go Wings. Most of all, Go State!

Spirit Of Detroit

First off, sorry about no Final Four Friday. It should return next week.

This week the Wayne County Commission suggested that a $25,000 fee to dress the Spirit of Detroit statue in a jersey to celebrate the success of local sports teams be dropped after everyone was balking at paying such a high price for showing a little bit of team pride. The outrage was brought on by the success of both the Detroit Pistons and Red Wings, and the fact that the statue couldn't join in the fun. Fans of Detroit teams have grown accustomed to seeing the statue wearing their favorite colors come playoff time, and suddenly ending that tradition pissed many people off.

Thing is, I could honestly care less. It's not that I don't want the statue dressed up, cause I do. It's more that my outrage came and went back around the 1st of April.

It was back then that the question of putting a Spartan jersey on the statue was considered because of their success getting to the Final Four, also in Detroit. MSU was told "Sure, that will be $25,000 please" and they rightfully said "eh... no thanks."

Some of us were outraged. More people were not. And so the statue didn't dress up, and on went life. Now, just a month later, Detroit citizens are up in arms over the issue. What does this say about MSU's relationship with Detroit?

During the Final Four, MSU proudly adopted Detroit as it's second home, and they seemed embraced by a city that has fallen on hard times. Kalin Lucas went as far as lying to the NCAA (Just a little white lie) and had his hometown announced as Detroit, to show solidarity with the city (and perhaps to get a loud cheer during pregame).

MSU has also made Detroit area recruiting a top priority, scheduling basketball games at the Palace of Auburn Hills and Ford Field and scheduling (and then canceling) a football game for Ford Field.

In recruiting, there have been commitments recently that suggest this strategy is paying off. But, what is MSU's standing and status with the average Detroit sports fan? If measuring the fan outrage over the statue incident is any indicator, then the Spartans still have a long way to go to truly capture the hearts of those in Detroit.

Photo Courtesy of detroitbadboys.com

Spartan Sports Network Website

So I was browsing the other day, and came across the new Spartan Sports Network website. If you have not yet checked it out, take 10 minutes now (and set aside about 2 hours this weekend) to do so.

This site is absolutely a one stop shop for fans of the Spartan Radio Network and related media. And it now goes above and beyond what you would expect from the typical sports radio broadcasters.

They have the radio broadcasts up for you to listen to. Not just highlights, but the entire game. You want to listen to the pregame coverage of the Wisconsin football game? No problem! Plus they have all of the other sound clips you would expect, from the coaches shows to the player interviews and web only content for Football, Basketball, Hockey and more.

They go a step further with having blogs that are actually quite interesting, dealing with several of the sports they broadcast. They also have a good coverage map and biographies of some of the familiar on-air personalities. Did you know that Will Tieman was once the voice of Grambling State University Football? I didn't...

Now as I do with any website, as soon as I get a taste for the possible, I am left always wanting more. I would love to see more bios of some of the other personalities, such as the behind the scenes workers or the on-air personalities who are only on the internet broadcasts. I would love it if the coverage map linked to each affiliate stations' website (they have started this, but only have a couple linked so far). I would like to see all of the podcasts available on iTunes (more are up now than the last time I checked, so this is happening). I would also like to see RSS feeds available for the blogs.

That said, this is a great website that helps the spartan fan survive the doldrums of summer. There is nothing like a lazy 4th of July gathering of friends and family, all listening to George Blaha call the final seconds of the MSU Football victory over Michigan.

Bring Your Binoculars

Izzo is still going to Broadway! And now maybe you can afford to join him!

Evidently, someone at Wharton Center noticed the issue we pointed out over a week ago: Tickets aren't selling!

So, to fix this, Wharton Center announced yesterday that some tickets will be reduced to $25, or as we call it, "the bad seats at a Big Ten Tournament game" level, as opposed to the earlier (and still available!) tickets which we call "the bad seats at a NCAA Tournament game" level.

Now, it should be noted that these seats are pretty bad. They are called the "Spartan Faithful" seats, which is similar to Spartan Stadium renaming the "End Zone" seats the "Family Section." These $25 seats are in the back of the Grand Tier. "Grand Tier" is to theater goers what "upper deck" is to sports fans. It wouldn't surprise me if Magic Johnson's retired jersey blocks some of your view (I can only assume they would bring those over from Breslin). But, with 840 tickets still available (as of Wednesday morning), something needed to be done to start getting people in the seats, and this is probably second best thing to actually shaving Izzo's head on stage.

Photo courtesy of whartoncenter.com

The Prowess of Athletics

Oh how great it would have been as a fly on the wall of this pitch meeting...

"Sir, I had an idea last night, and I think you are going to love it," said Greg.

"Alright, try me," responded the Wharton Center guy.

"I want to produce a show about a guy with a winning spirit who puts it all on the line to make his dream come true," Greg continued.

"Go on..." said the Wharton Center guy.

"It will be an evening of song and dance!" Greg said, even more enthusiastically.

"I'm liking it so far..." mused the Wharton Center guy.

"We'll bring in performers direct from Broadway!" Greg continued, almost yelling and waiving his arms.

"Yes, this is good," the Wharton Center guy thought out loud, leaning back in his chair.

Greg leaned in close and spoke faster, saying "And our star will be Tom Izzo! It will be called 'Izzo goes to Broadway' and there will be all sorts of special guests, and..."

"STOP!" yelled the Wharton Center guy, jumping up from his chair. "You had me at 'Izzo goes to Broadway!'"

And from there, the rest is history. "Izzo goes to Broadway" debuts for one night only on May 6th. Tickets range from $55 - 150, with a sizable amount from each ticket going to one of Tom and Lupe Izzo's favorite charities, the Coaches vs. Cancer program run through the American Cancer Society.

So, this is a can't miss idea, right? Well, evidently it can miss. Tickets have been on sale since February 13th, and yet there are still 1,133 tickets available as of this posting. The Great Hall, at its best, can seat about 2,400 people, meaning that if something doesn't happen quick, this show is looking to be about half empty.

I can't imagine why the locals haven't keyed into this marketing tagline: "Izzo goes to Broadway blends the prowess of athletics with the passion of the arts."

Perhaps everyone is just afraid of showing up to find Izzo singing and dancing with a big bald head.

Photo courtesy of Wharton Center

A Tough Decision

It had to be a tough decision for Mike Kebler of Okemos. Before the Final Four, he had to make a choice to either dress for the game against UConn, or to dress for a possible National Championship and hope MSU made it there. This is because MSU has 16 players on the team, but can only dress 15 of those players for any game. Kebler chose to dress for the UConn game, letting fellow walk-on Jon Crandell wait for the National Championship.

Kebler told the Detroit Free Press,

"Once the tournament started, I simply picked the first one of each weekend. The first one was Robert Morris. I picked that one so I could get in. I figured we'd blow them out. I got, like, a minute of playing time.

"The next time, I picked Kansas. One of the main reasons was that I wanted to be a part of everything that went on.

"Then I picked (the Connecticut game). I didn't play, but I wanted to be a part of the Final Four. It's definitely a dream. So when I had that choice of taking the first game or the second game, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to make sure I was on the court for the Final Four."

Because Kebler didn't play in the game, he is not included in the official box score. Crandell, however, made it into the box score of the championship game because of his 1 minute of playing time at the end.

So, Kebler got to dress for a MSU win in the Final Four, but not play. He does not get to be immortalized as officially playing, but he, his family, friends, and other Spartans remember an experience that cannot be taken away. Crandell lucked out and not only got to dress for a National Championship game, but play. Kebler made the "safe" choice, but was it the better one? What would you have done?

Last Night's One Shining Moment

One of the annual highlights of the NCAA Basketball Tournament is CBS's presentation of "One Shining Moment" at the conclusion of the National Championship game broadcast. Because of MSU's deep run in this year's tournament, they are featured multiple times in the montage, including:

A closeup of Travis Walton with the ball (2:25)
Isaiah Dahlman celebrating by jumping on Goron Suton's back (3:04)
Kalin Lucas hitting a shot and getting fouled against Kansas, then slapping hands with Chris Allen (3:34)
Korie Lucious yelling victoriously (3:47)
Durrell Summers' "Dunk of the Tournament" over UConn (3:49)
Kalin Lucas fired up running down court (3:52)
Tom Izzo hugging Marquise Gray (3:55)
Travis Walton's jump ball against Tyler Hansbrough (4:09)
Multiple shots of North Carolina scoring on MSU in the Championship (4:11)
Tom Izzo sighing (4:18)

*Timestamps are unique to the video linked above.

It's always a great montage, and this year is no different, highlighting some of MSU's best moments in the tournament. One other positive: Unlike some years, there are hardly any clips from the championship game, only about 10 seconds of highlights with another 12 seconds of the celebration. Most of the highlights are from earlier games, when MSU looked awesome.