This is Not Michigan, Spartan Addition

Take a look at the past decade of Michigan football and compare it to our bitter rivals to the north and south, the Michigan State Spartans and Ohio State Buckeyes respectively, so that we may draw some distinctions between why we are Michigan and why they simply are not. Although there are many aspects of the University of Michigan which are praiseworthy, I am aware of the many flaws Michigan has too. Being a student at this university, I live them every day. I have a unique perspective in that regard and it undoubtedly affects my judgment. I hold no aversion towards admitting this so I won’t be discussing Michigan in this article. I won’t discuss the Lloyd Carr era, the fractured inner circle that was induced by the Rich Rodriguez hiring, the events leading to his dismissal, and the Brady Hoke revolution. You can read all about that in John Bacon’s book, “Three and Out”. Instead, my focus will be on how I, an outsider, see the official actions of these other universities with regards to their football programs.

Michigan State

We, the Michigan family, refer to the Spartans as “Little Brother” from time to time. More often though, Michigan State fans complain about how Michigan fans refer to them as “Little Brother” every waking moment of their lives. In fact, sometimes it’s hard to tell whether Michigan State fans are actually attending a sporting event to support their team, or if they are just there to root against Michigan. When the unlikely event of a Spartan victory over Michigan occurs, facebook pages and twitter accounts spring up with anti-wolverine jabs like lights on a Christmas tree. This bothers me for about five minutes until I realize that it’s what supports a healthy rivalry. It’s why I follow sports and love them so much. What is really distasteful is when the same attitude is espoused from the highest levels of the organization. So how did this “Little Brother” meme start in the first place?

It started with an arrogant comment made by the biggest trash talker in the history of Michigan football, Mike Hart. This 20-year-old said in a press conference that he thought of Michigan State as his little brother. When questioned further he said, “That’s what they think. What can I say? If they think we think that, then yeah… we think that.” So I fibbed a little. It didn’t necessarily start with Mike Hart, but with the Spartans themselves. After digging a little deeper, you come to find that Mike Hart was right. Michigan State players did claim that Michigan thought of them as little brother before any player on Michigan’s team ever said that. So what happened? My theory is that the coaching staff at Michigan State used a false premise as motivation for the game. I believe they enticed the Spartan players by saying that is how Michigan felt in order to illicit a response. Mike Hart, being the arrogant kid he was, decided he would brag about his recent come-from-behind victory over the Spartans with the same rhetoric he undoubtedly heard on the field.

Mark Dantonio, the most arrogant and unprofessional coach in the history of Spartan football, decided he would respond to this 20-year-old’s comments in an official press conference of his own. He asked, “Does Hart have a little brother, or is he the little brother?” Then, gesturing with his hand, “I don’t know… he’s only this tall.” In case you don’t know, Mike Hart is 5’8”. He proceeded to say, “I didn’t really see [Hart’s] comment. Let’s just say I won’t comment on that.” Firstly, he didn’t hear Hart’s comment, but decided it was a good idea to go ahead and insult the young man on a personal level regardless? Not only that, but Dantonio went on to insult the intelligence of every person listening by saying that he wont comment on it as if we all didn’t just hear him comment on it. That’s how arrogant and out of touch with reality this man truly is. This is not Michigan.

Last season, Michigan lost to Michigan State for the fourth straight year. I’m sure I didn’t need to remind most of you. Spartan fans won’t let any of us forget. I don’t really want to talk about that. What I want to talk about is the extracurricular activities that happened on the field and what Mark Dantonio and his players had to say about it after the game had ended. As you may suspect, referees are more likely to call personal fouls against the away team, especially in rivalry games. Michigan State was at home against the Wolverines. That didn’t stop them from amassing six personal fouls in that game… to Michigan’s one. There was roughing the passer, Taylor Lewan got punched in the throat, Martavious Odams was dragged to the ground by his hair, Denard’s head was twisted sideways by his facemask after the play was over, just to name a few. When Jerel Worthy was asked if the game was “dirty” he responded, “Definitely!” The goal here was clearly to get inside Robinson’s head. It was to rattle him and Michigan State was going to do that by any means necessary. "The little brother comments and things like that kinda get to you," Worthy said. "So, you have to go out there and make a statement." There it is again. What little brother comments? No current Michigan player every once said anything about Michigan State being little brother and no player before or after Mike Hart ever said that. I can guarantee you that. So where is this coming from four years after the fact? I’ll give you one guess. When Mark Dantonio was questioned about the “dirtiness” of the game he said, “I'm proud of how our team plays. We're just playing the game hard. The lack of composure is frustrating, but we're not coaching that." Mark Dantonio again makes contradictory statements. He tells his team publicly that he is proud of the six personal fouls they had while at the same time he doesn’t coach it? Do you feel insulted, because you should? This is not Michigan.

So Dantonio’s latest embarrassment shouldn’t surprise anyone either, when Mlive.com reported that Groucho Mark, as Sam Web of WTKA calls him, interrupted Michigan recruiting coordinator Jeff Hecklinski in the middle of an introduction speech he was giving at a three-day event regarding issues facing high school football and recruiting. Hecklinski was designated 15 minutes to discuss recruiting practices at Michigan.  Mark Dantonio personally thought this was a waste of time so he took it upon himself to stand up in the middle of the presentation, interrupting Hecklinski, and invite couches of other schools to take the stage with him to field questions from the audience. If these seams absurd to you, just wait. Later when questioned, Dantonio offered this response, “I really didn’t know how this would work in this forum; it was the first time we’ve ever done this and I just didn’t know how this would work,” Dantonio said. “I didn’t want it to be a recruiting (speech for only Michigan).” So mark Dantonio didn’t understand the format of the event and didn’t know how it was supposed to proceed so he thought, based on that amount of foreknowledge, that it was a good idea to interrupt a presentation in front of everyone and storm the stage? Are you sensing a trend? I know one thing. This is not Michigan.

Stay tuned for the Ohio State version.