MEDIA BIAS GLARING AS MICHIGAN FOOTBALL FLOUNDERS

The Mainstream Michigan Media Machine (M-4) is working overtime in top gear to convince everybody that there are no problems with Michigan Football. This, despite two belly-flops in a row against low-end opposition.

Meanwhile, that same M-4 has Michigan State in the middle of the griddle, turning the heat up as high as possible in order to grill the Spartans for doing exactly what they were predicted to do.

Most people had MSU 3-1 after four games, and they are literally 3-1 after four games. How does this story draw so much attention? The Irish opened as seven-point favorites, and by game time, they were picked to win by four points. They won by four points. Where is the news angle? In Journalism, this is known as a "Dog Bites Man" story, and as such, is not particularly newsworthy.

But the Michigan Football team was a huge surprise to everyone the past two weeks, picked to win by three to five touchdowns in each game, yet struggling to mount fourth-quarter comebacks each time to win by a field-goal. One of those games featured a last-second goal-line-stand to preserve a hollow victory. In Journalism, this is known as a "Man Bites Dog" story, and generally would be the front-page story.

But the M-4 has issued numerous excuses for the Wolverines, complete with encouraging predictions for the rest of the season. They didn't play their game, they're young, the quarterback is inexperienced, the opponent was fired-up, everybody has an off-day, the ball bounces funny, and maybe sometimes chickens really do have lips. Whatever. Free pass for the yellow-pants.

Despite the details of how the Spartans got to 3-1, they remain on track for all but the most optimistic of pre-season predictions. Indeed, it may be more newsworthy that they took over with a chance to win at the end of the game than the fact that they lost.

But the Michigan Football fiasco goes largely unexamined. How could a Top 20 team with Top 10 recruiting classes make such a mess of themselves for two consecutive weeks? Why doesn't the M-4 invade Shempbuckler Hall demanding answers? Where is the ongoing series of critical reviews of the Wolverines? Why isn't Donut Boy on the "hot seat"? How come the assistants wearing blue aren't up for public evaluation and critique?

This is the same-old, same-old, same-old story. The M-4 works full-time to make Michigan look good while at the same time making Michigan State look bad. We urge you not to believe it, as there is no "Michigan Difference" beyond this consistently favorable treatment in the mainstream media.




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OUR PRE-GAME PREDICTIONS WERE MUCH BETTER THAN MAINSTREAM MEDIA FRENZY

Everybody who works on this web site believes in accountability. We believe that what people say do must be measured-up against a standard of Quality. That's why we created this web site in the first place, to hold the sports media accountable for all of the blather they propagate about their top-crush-of-all-time, the University of Michigan. We offer facts and viewpoints that counter, or even contradict, what we call the Michigan Mainstream Media Machine.

We don't make lots of game predictions here, just once in awhile, and usually only when it's about an MSU vs. UM game. So when we do so, we feel it's our responsibility to report back to you on how we did. And the truth is, this week we did quite well.

We published pre-game viewpoints from "MSUSpartan76", "ATownAndDown", "return2glory", and "SpartanMan82". Everybody, in their own way, called the game a "toss-up", despite the sports media tsunami predicting an overwhelming tidal-wave blowout by UM. Most would agree that a game literally decided on the last play, must have been a "tossup".

Here's a look back at what our authors said before the game was played:


ATownAndDown

• MSU wins by slowing UM ground game. 62 yards rushing and only one run longer than 8 yards.
• MSU wins by pressuring Rudock. Three sacks, two quarterback-hits, and multiple hurried throws by Rudock.
• MSU wins by letting Cook throw the ball. 39 attempts, 328 yards passing.
• Advised against getting into third-and-long situations against UM. 3-12 on third-down.
• CALLED THE GAME A TOSSUP

MSUSpartan76

• UM has a special-teams advantage. Three field-goals, an 80-yard punt, and multiple big kick returns.
• MSU Defense has advantage over UM Offense. Only 62 yards rushing, only 15 completed passes, 25% conversion-rate on 3rd/4th Downs, and only one run longer than 8 yards.
• MSU Offense even with UM Defense. Nearly 400 yards of Total Offense, three touchdowns scored from scrimmage.
• CALLED THE GAME A TOSSUP

SpartanMan82

• UM Defense is over-rated. Gave up 386 yards, 5.4 yards-per-play, and three touchdowns from scrimmage.
• UM Offense has been un-challenged. Only two scoring drives of over 38 yards.
• UM Offense statistically inflated due to running-up scores. 230 total yards, only 4.0 per play. "Good" but not "Great".
• Connor Cook is the key variable. Cook threw for more yards than UM has given up in multiple games combined.
• CALLED THE GAME A TOSSUP

return2glory

• Wondered whether MSU would make it seem to UM like they were going to win, only to rev-it-up at the last second to snatch victory away from them ("little-brother" style). Golly, gee, look what happened at the end!
• Said there was no way Dantonio would mock UM the way that Mike Hart mocked MSU, even if the same thing happened in favor of the Spartans. Dantonio complimented UM multiple times in post-game interviews and never claimed superiority over UM or "intent" to let game go down to the wire.

So while the Michigan Mainstream Media Machine was cranking out stories all week predicting the gloomy end of the Dantonio Era, we were keeping it real with our pre-game views. While crazy chUMps all over the Internet were spewing wild predictions of a vicious bloodbath, we sized up the game as a "toss-up", with either team about as likely to win as the other.

People like to call us "biased" for what we do,

but look at the record in this case.

Who was the "biased media" this week:

DumpTheChumps or the mainstream sports media?

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NO MEDIA REPORTS ON WOLVERINE TERRORISTS

The mainstream media is ignoring the legal processing of those Michigan Wolverine Athletes who got caught blowing things up on Louisville Cardinal Night. Even a search of the Washtenaw County Trial Court web site for information on the case came up empty.

Rosario Bruno was to appear in court three weeks ago, and may have done so, but no reports are available on the Internet. We reported on the case in this article, then previewed the latest court action in this article. However, since that event was scheduled, no reports have been found regarding the case.

Bruno's accomplice, Justin Dozier, confessed to the neighborhood bombing scheme in May, and is scheduled to be sentenced this month. Keep your eyes open for news about his fate, but be forewarned that the Mainstream Michigan Media Machine (M4) may continue to keep a lid on this saucepan.

Both men are on scholarship with the Michigan Wrestling team, and each has competed dozens of times. They face felony charges and at least one of them is expected to be ordered into a Diversion Program. They were suspended from the team after the charges were made public.

If two MSU wrestlers threw Molotov Cocktails in Cedar Village, got arrested and charged with a felony, would we all not be hearing about it throughout the media? Would a story like that be kept as silent as this one?

We will continue to pursue updates about these Michigan Miscreants.




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MICHIGAN WOMEN HIT THE ROAD AND THE ROAD HITS BACK

The basketball season ended for the Kim Barnes-Arico as soon as she loaded her Michigan women's team on the bus. Once the Wolverines left Ann Arbor, their time in the National Invitational Tournament (N.I.T.) quickly ended.

You might remember the UM Women for their glorious appearance in the Breslin Center in February, when they trailed Michigan State by 27 points after three quarters of play. They went on to finish in eighth-place in the B1G, missing out on the Big Dance for the third consecutive year. All this after their "record start" of 7-0, compiled largely with home games against teams most people would not recognize.

But hey, they got their 20 wins, right? Thanks to their extra N.I.T. contests, Barnes-Arico hit the 20-win mark for the third year in a row. Without those easy games, the Lady Wolverines would have landed above 15 wins but below 20 in all but the first season under "Bare-Armed" Barnes-Arico.

Nothing against Michigan for racking up the victory totals, but get ready for the pre-season hype this fall when basketball season rolls around again. Those N.I.T. runs did nothing for program prestige and little for recruiting, but they gave the Michigan Mainstream Media Machine (M-4) everything they will need to get cranked-up for next year. The media will overlook HOW the UM Women got their 20 wins only to report that they have a series of 20-win seasons playing in the green shadows of MSU. Count on the M-4 to claim that it's a better recent streak than Suzy Merchant has put together, and to ignore the fact that Merchant actually turned-down an N.I.T. bid after the injury-plagued 2015 campaign.

Barnes-Arico has Miss Basketball coming in next season, along with a high-scoring junior, plus the 20-win seasons, bla-bla-bla, etc. The M-4 will do everything it can to pump up the excitement while Barnes-Arico takes a page from the John Beilein playbook and schedules a series of Bottom-100 teams to parade through Crisler Arena in November and December. It's possible they might help drive as many as three-thousand people to actually attend a Michigan Women's Basketball game on one of those nights. Especially if they give away free tickets.

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Tweet ****** The purpose of this web site is to expose the mainstream media bias that consistently portrays Michigan in a favorable light under any and all circumstances. We present current facts and review historical records to show that UM is not all they are cracked up to be. This process involves information that is negative by nature, offered as a counter-balance to the biased picture we all see on a regular basis in the mainstream media. These negative facts may involve Wolverine teams, players, coaches, administrators, and/or fans. We are here to prove that Michigan is NOT AS DIFFERENT as they want us all to believe.

MSU FOOTBALL FRONT BURNER: Go-fer the Undefeated Conference Season

Our weekly feature on MSU Football brings diverse responses to
a variety of questions related to the Spartans program. 

Panelists:

ATownAndDown (Follow him on M-Live)

SpartanMan82 (See SM82s Satire on the state of UM Football)

MSUSpartan76 (Follow him on M-Live)

This week's Questions:

1. The Spartan Offense looked shaky and took lots of hits in the public eyes in September, but let's face it, right now they look pretty good. How much of the progress is due to player performance, and how much is due to coaching?

2. There was some discussion of how MSU managed the clock at the end of the first half. The television commentary seemed to be stuck on the idea that goal of that possession was to score. What is your take on that possession?

3. We can all agree that winning on Senior Day is a major priority for many reasons, but at what point should some of the starters take a seat on the bench to keep them healthy for the league championship game? Specifically, under what circumstances should Connor Cook come out, and who should be the first one in to replace him?

4. What's up with that Mike Griffith of MLive? He seems to always take a very negative view on the MSU Football team, with articles that highlight problems instead of accomplishments, and possible risks instead of potential rewards. Is he the current leader of the "Michigan Mainstream Media Machine", ostensibly working as a beat-reporter, but functionally trying to turn public opinion against the Spartans on a regular basis?

Panel Responses:

1. The Spartan Offense looked shaky and took lots of hits in the public eyes in September, but let's face it, right now they look pretty good. How much of the progress is due to player performance, and how much is due to coaching?

SpartanMan82 (See SM82s Satire on the state of UM Football)

Players should always get their due for game-day performances. The catch by Fowler against Northwestern, the great games by Cook, and the whole season by Langford should be credited largely to those players.

But play-calling, pre-game preparation, and game-planning falls within the coaching domain. For as much as some people were calling out certain coaches by name at the beginning of the season for complaints, those same coaches should be credited with making this offense what it is today.

The Offensive Line is the real story of why the MSU Offense has become effective and exciting to watch, and the intricacies of line-play are so complex that it's virtually impossible to avoid crediting the coaching staff. Yes, those players are performing on the field, but they have little chance to be successful if the coaches don't put them in the right positions to do so.

ATownAndDown (Follow him on M-Live)

I think you have to give credit to both players and coaches for the offensive development. I am still not buying too much stock in either group quite yet but players have looked better (which I would attribute to coaching) and they have executed too. The reason I am not buying stock in either quite yet is just the mistakes we still see. Play calling has missed big at times and players have missed huge opportunities. The big difference between this year's offense and last year, is this year they are able to take advantage of the position the defense puts them in. While to offense isn't putting the team on its back and carry things (like you see with a team like OSU) they have gotten the job done and there is something to be said for that.

MSUSpartan76 (Follow him on M-Live)

Yes, Yes. It is illogical to assume all things remain unchanged. Likewise it is illogical to assume change can be instantaneous.

Those kids would not succeed if the coaches were not doing the job. What is the job? Conditioning, practice, fundamentals, film review, performance critiques, technique development, game planning, offensive schemes, game management, motivation, morale, conflict resolution (not much seen needing intervention, just FYI), media interaction, and a large bucket of other stuff that rarely gets mention but are just as critical to success as a completed pass or a made FG. It's all in the inches category.

The coaches can't succeed if the kids were not doing the jobs. What is the job? Strenght and speed conditioning, practice, fundamentals, film review, performance critiques, technique development, play book study, communications, learning the schemes, learning the nuances of their team mates, grades, social stability, leadership, morale, conflict avoidance and mitigation (not much seen needing intervention, just FYI), media performance, and a large bucket of other stuff that rarely gets mention but are just as critical to success as a well made block or a difficult catch.

The common denominator is time. It takes time to develop and mature. What we have witnessed this year is the envy of just about every college football team - constant improvement over the season and raising the bar and the competition stiffens.

We fans can take a lesson from this and can look to that program for quality role models:

Yes, we can take as a good role model an angry or upset Coach Dantonio deflecting an aggressive media question by saying not that question, ask something else.

Yes, we can take as a good role model Andrew Maxwell accepting the changes and diving in to make the new QB successful.

Yes, we can take as a good role model Isaiah Lewis walking off the field having been ejected for what was a questionable call that might have actually been wrong. His team mates gave him nothing but positive and encouraging words as he left, head held high.

Yes, we can take as a good role model each MSU player who handed the ball to the official and did not do some immature TD celebration. Walk away like it is no big deal, a common place occurrence, been there done that.

2. There was some discussion of how MSU managed the clock at the end of the first half. The television commentary seemed to be stuck on the idea that goal of that possession was to score. What is your take on that possession?

MSUSpartan76 (Follow him on M-Live)

To put things into perspective, it is the goal of every possession to score. The gross mismanagement of time is unacceptable whether it be a 5 yard penalty or a sequence of errors that keeps the team from moving down the field in a 2-minute drill. The Spartans seemed to be taken by surprise that they got the ball, which is also disquieting. We've seen miscues like this before, but it is more a surprise this last game because we actually have our expectations very high.

Now, on to the media. The media has seemingly gone out of its way over the past few months to paint MSU in the darkest possibly hues. We have seen back handed compliments. We have seen repetition of unsportsmanlike comments (the Hart insult). We have seen downplaying of successes and outright disparaging remarks at any and all shortcomings real or imagined. We heard ABC announce the game Michigan versus "Little Brother Michigan State."

During the game, at the end of the first half, a media person shoved a microphone into Dantonio's face and asked about the time mismanagement. The timing was mere moments after it happened and to my way of thinking all Dantonio was concentrating on was how best to address this to the team to get it locked down. No coach owes the media any time. No coach is required to smile and pretend it is hot stuff that this particular reporter or that one deigned to give the coach air time. From my point of view, the reporter was in the wrong and was rude. That question should not have been asked at that time. After the game would have been fine.

The shame in all of this is that we are obliged to talk about this in the first place. Coach Dantonio told the reporter to ask another question, which happened and it was answered. End of story.

SpartanMan82 (See SM82s Satire on the state of UM Football)

The primary objective on that series was to keep Northwestern from getting the ball back in the first half. The Spartans met that objective.

While it's nice to tack on a few points as the first half ends, Dantonio knew he would start the second half with the ball and the wind at his back. That's two possessions in a row, and the second one was the better scoring opportunity. There probably could have been a timeout or two used on the controversial series, but what if MSU fumbled or threw an interception after calling timeout? Wouldn't that circumstance also have drawn criticism?

Like it or not, Dantonio is a disciple of Jim Tressel, and he plays by the invisible rules of "Tressel Ball". He is defensive-minded, and he plays it safe most of the time. With a two score lead and the ball to start the second half, running out the clock does not represent a failure in that situation.

No team scores on every single possession, and for the reporter to jump on Dantonio with two negative questions seems like an attack on MSU to me. The boy-reporter and the kid-announcers were either too dense to understand "Tressel Ball", or they were doing their best to make Michigan State look bad.

ATownAndDown (Follow him on M-Live)
Hindsight is always 20/20. MSU took over with a lead with less than 2 minutes going into a strong head wind. They played it conservatively to open things up. Basically if you try and press and go 3 and out, you could be punting from your 15 into that head wind and give NW the ball around midfield with 60-90 seconds left. With the wind at their back, FG range was not that far away. It took 3 plays to get that first down and then we picked up 25 yards on the next two plays. So looking back, I am sure Coach D wishes he would have conserved some of that clock on those first 3 plays but that is knowing that you were able to move the ball effectively on the next 2 plays. You also have to remember that to that point in the game, Cook only had 2 passes go for over 10 yards (a 14 yarder in the first to Kings and the Fowler juggling catch and run). How confident could anyone have been that he could have popped off a 2 minute drive going into that wind?

3. We can all agree that winning on Senior Day is a major priority for many reasons, but at what point should some of the starters take a seat on the bench to keep them healthy for the league championship game? Specifically, under what circumstances should Connor Cook come out, and who should be the first one in to replace him?

ATownAndDown (Follow him on M-Live)

Starters should come out only when the outcome of the game is certain. Now that doesn't mean you can't give a guy here and there a break. But in college football, wins are what matters and not what could happen the following week. What happens if we have this plan to pull guys to stay healthy and it causes us to lose to Minnesota, and then we go into the B1G Championship Game and lose to OSU? Now you have lost twice in hopes of winning one. I guess it is my view that you can't take eggs out of one basket and hope that it fills another one. Win the game in front of you. As for Cook, I think you have to keep him in until you know the game is in hand or at least 2 scores up in the 4th. Then Maxwell is the obvious replacement. Senior Day gives him the nod and I wouldn't be surprised if there is something game planned to get him in the game. I mean if Coach D went out of his way to allow Maxwell to take the Victory Formation snaps against U of M, do you put it past him to not get Maxwell on the field for Senior Day?

MSUSpartan76 (Follow him on M-Live)

Every senior on the team has contributed in one fashion of another to the success of the program during their stay at MSU. If the game is well in hand, then substitutions should be liberal to give each senior a moment in the spotlight, if only for a series or 2. It should not be considered a preventative measure, but rather a just reward. Once the seniors have played, given adequate time and good game circumstances, the entire bench should be put in. If it is a hotly contested contest, then the seniors will understand. After all, they have bought in and want the win as much as anyone else on the team.

The first person going in should be at QB and should be a senior. 'nuff said.

SpartanMan82 (See SM82s Satire on the state of UM Football)

It's very important to win this game, and MSU will have their hands full with Minnesota. It's possible the starters will have to play the whole game.

But it still seems like a three-score lead in the fourth-quarter should bring a few guys in off the bench. I would not like to see Cook and Bullough (among others) still pounding it out if the score gets to 20-3, or 24-7, or 28-10 in the fourth.

The consensus seems to be that Maxwell would come in for Cook since it's Senior Day, but at some point I would like to know if there is any reason for O'Connor to stay with the program. If things go very well, it's an opportunity for Maxwell to both come in, and then come out as a graduating senior.

It's harder to feature every senior coming out on their last play in football than it is in basketball, but the team has been trying to match that equation in recent years. I hope to see all of the seniors get a chance at the equivalent of kissing the "S" in Breslin on their way out, but we will need a good lead on the scoreboard in order to do that.

4. What's up with that Mike Griffith of MLive? He seems to always take a very negative view on the MSU Football team, with articles that highlight problems instead of accomplishments, and possible risks instead of potential rewards. Is he the current leader of the "Michigan Mainstream Media Machine", ostensibly working as a beat-reporter, but functionally trying to turn public opinion against the Spartans on a regular basis?

SpartanMan82 (See SM82s Satire on the state of UM Football)

Griffith showed up last summer and played it pretty level for awhile, but the better the football team has played, the more his focus has turned negative. Consider the undertone and implications of these recent headlines:

• "Michigan State Defense Slipping"
• "Gophers Looking to Knock Off Michigan State"
• "Michigan State Basketball Hasn't Made Believers out of Everyone"
• "Michigan State Safety Kurtis Drummond Was Dinged by Northwestern Last Year"
• "Northwestern Quarterback Kain Colter Could Present Some Problems for Michigan State Football"
• "Michigan State Defense Humbled, Hungry to Atone for Miscues"

All of these headlines appeared while the football team was winning every game by double-digits, rising in the polls, wrapping up the division title, and topping almost every defensive category tracked by the NCAA. Griffith is the beat-reporter for the Spartans, meaning he is assigned to write stories for the people who follow Michigan State. He has been using his position to knock MSU around in subtle ways right up until this week, when he seems to have settled down just a bit.

ATownAndDown (Follow him on M-Live)

Mike Griffith? Public enemy #1? No way. I will be the first to admit that I do not agree with the articles that Mike writes or the opinions he puts out there. And his headlines often leave you wondering what he is up to. But Mike is a fine writer that generally has some sound reasoning for his opinion. I do think he tries to compare the MSU program to "past programs he has covered" too much and is caught up in the media machine of having to produce to clicks by any means necessary. But I have never thought he was a fan or an enemy of the program. The other thing is that when you talk to Mike or interact with him online, he seems to have a different tone than his articles often take.

One final point to this. Mike will often point out things that we do not want to face as fans. Pointing to those facts or opinions that are embedded with truth can be tough to stomach when you don't want to hear them. I remember getting chewed on this past off season when I said that MSU's running game would be better post LeVeon Bell. It was my opinion that Bell was a consistent runner and you had to give him the ball but he lack of ability to break longer runs limited the teams running game. I didn't say Bell wasn't a great RB or that he hurt are running game. Just that he put a ceiling on it. This season we already have more yards and more TD's on the ground than last. A lot of fans didn't want to hear that Bell could possibly hold us back when he was so important to the offense last year but how many fans are changing their tune now. If you want to point at anyone that is part of the "Michigan Mainstream Media Machine" look no further than Josh Slagter. He is supposed to be MLive's statewide sports guy and was one of the former beat writers for MSU sports (in fact I think his profile pick on MLive is him on press row at the Breslin Center). I can't tell you the last time he said a kind word about MSU let alone posted an article about the team. But U of M articles and praise though...

MSUSpartan76 (Follow him on M-Live)

I am not totally convinced M.Griffith has a negative view but rather puts a negative spin on everything. His recent AP vote put MSU at No. 8, for example. Part of this has to do with the business model to which MLive operates. Get controversy, get hits, get advertisement revenue. MLive writes the paychecks, so guess what happens...

I have seen other MLive writers present a much less biased view of MSU football on the UolM side, which surprised me. What I mean is the premise in the question could be accurate.

Of late, and we can thank dUMp the chUMps for this at least in part, a move towards center by Mr. Griffith, a shift more or less in the right direction. We have also seen concepts, vocabulary, phraseology, and data/statistics being incorporated by the MLive writers, too, including Mr. Griffith.

So, while I can agree that there is a negative spin, the conjecture that it is intended to influence public opinion is less likely that it is merely to stir the pot for the financial benefit of MLive.

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21st CENTURY FOOTBALL RIVALRY: MSU vs UM

One reason this web site exists is to counter and dispel the popular mythology that the University of Michigan is "so much better than" Michigan State (in many things, not just major sports). As long as the Michigan Mainstream Media Machine insists on perpetuating pro-UM story-lines over pro-MSU story-lines and/or the TRUTH, we will present alternative viewpoints of reality. We will always be "fact-based" in our process.

The football series between MSU and UM is 

TIED DURING THIS CENTURY.

By beating Michigan in 2015, Michigan State Football has now pulled EVEN with UM since the turn of the new millennium. As you can see below, the series is tied, 8-8 beginning with the year 2000:

The football series between Michigan State and
Michigan is tied, 8-8, since the year 2000
(courtesy Wikipedia)

(We extended the definition of "century" to include the year 2000, even though some would claim that year belongs to the previous century. We refuse to "fudge the facts" just to make our side look a little better.)

We are also pleased to report that the MSU Football Team has out-scored the UM Football team in games played since the year 2000:

The overall football score this century is

MSU 378, UM 376

That's pretty close, right? So we don't need to have Spartan fans everywhere woofing it up on the Bluebloods, especially after they almost beat our team on the field last year. Let's keep it real, okay?

But we also don't need to take a lot of crap from fake-fans and bandwagon-jumpers, and especially, the sports media. We don't need to sit quietly while our team is pushed into the ditch, just because vested interests favor the rich kids in Ann Arbor. Yes, they have a lot of money, and yes, they spend it wildly to promote their interests, but NO, THEY ARE NOT SUPERIOR because of their wallets.

It shouldn't matter how much they spend to buy their coaching staff, nor how many planes they send up in the sky to write snarky messages, nor the size of their crampy stadium, nor the extent to which they will throw wheelbarrows full of cash into their "non-revenue sports". None of that makes them "better than" everybody else.

This is the essence of the primary message that Mark Dantonio has brought to the table in this public debate between public institutions. Enough with the "little brother" crap. Enough with looking down on the color green compared to the color blue. Let's keep it real, okay?

People can look at numbers in different ways. Most people who want to identify a trend-line in any aspect of life will take a snapshot of the present moment, then look backwards in time until they see a pattern emerging. The result is considered the "current trend".

Others, like Michigan Football fans, will establish their trend-line by starting at an arbitrary date two centuries earlier, then add-in whatever just happened in order to make only a microscopic revision to their "pattern". The UM "All-Time Wins Record" is a trick, designed to keep everything looking just the same as it did in 1935 or thereabouts, no matter what happens in the present-day reality.

The series is actually tied since 1998 (9-9). This is a much more relevant measurement than starting in the 1800s before rugby had developed into modern football, with forward passing and scoring systems that resemble what we see today.

So the new "water-mark" in the rivalry series, including the most recent game, shows that the game record between MSU and UM is TIED going back nearly two decades. Wolverine dominance was largely a feature of the 1970s-1980s, not including the pre-war era when all games were played in Ann Arbor. Let's keep it real, okay?

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Tweet ****** The purpose of this web site is to expose the mainstream media bias that consistently portrays Michigan in a favorable light under any and all circumstances. We present current facts and review historical records to show that UM is not all they are cracked up to be. This process involves information that is negative by nature, offered as a counter-balance to the biased picture we all see on a regular basis in the mainstream media. These negative facts may involve Wolverine teams, players, coaches, administrators, and/or fans. We are here to prove that Michigan is NOT AS DIFFERENT as they want us all to believe.

HERE'S A RUNDOWN OF CRAZY BEHAVIOR BY STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

There they go again. The media wants everybody in Spartan Nation to feel ashamed of their students (and themselves) because a few future-former-students lit several bonfires on the Saturday night before Finals Week. The latest Cedar Village shindig was just another unregistered block party (the credentials for which would have included a burning permit). But it had no connection with MSU sports, as this event has been taking place sporadically for the past 30 years.

The media wants you to think that students at the University of Michigan are better than students at Michigan State University because "they wouldn't do a thing like that". That is patently absurd. We have numerous examples of UM students going a lot farther off the edge than the Michigan Mainstream Media Machine (M4) would have you believe.

Let's start with the riots of June 1969, known as the "Battle of Ann Arbor". The students actually had sexual relations in broad daylight on Main Street at that event, even amidst the tear gas. Four days long with hundreds of police officers in action and more than 70 arrests.

Back in 1989, when "Cedarfest" was in its infancy, the University of Michigan community offered a blueprint for how to party down after a major sports event. The overtime game against Seton Hall, the phantom foul with two seconds left to send Remedial Robinson to the line, and then the real games began around Ann Arbor town. Flipped cars, broken windows, and arrests capped off a weekend of rioting. Those crazy UM students even attacked an ambulance during the party. Here are some newspaper articles from the Ann Arbor Police Department, with lots of fun pictures.

The did it again in 1992, during the Final Four that was erased from their record books. When Ed Martin's team fell short of the national championship, all hell broke loose on the Michigan campus. Tear gas, mounted police, thousands of students in the streets throwing rocks at the cops. Sounds like it was a riot. (More police records here.)

Have you heard of these happenings? Many of you probably have not heard all about these incidents. That's because you-know-who (the M4) don't want you to think about them, so they don't dwell on them. We wrote about some of this a few days ago, including details on the recent student invasion into the football stadium, resulting in more than a dozen arrests. Any reasonable preview of the 2013 Final Four would have included warnings to business-owners and residents around the UM campus based on what happened in the past.

But the UM students don't need a Final Four to destroy public property in a drunken frenzy, not even a Final Four that was taken away by the NCAA. They're happy to use Saint Patrick's Day as an excuse to get rowdy over their defeat the night before at the hands of the OHIO Bobcats. That's what happened just last year, in 2012.

And last season, those same library-rats lit the town up after the national semi-final against Syracuse. When you read this story, notice how the couches were burned in the street. When it says "in the street", that means a residential neighborhood, unlike Cedar Village (which includes zero full-time resident homeowners).

That brings us to the last game of the 2013 college basketball season, when students at the University of Michigan attempted to burn the town up after Louisville won the game. At least two of those students were on athletic scholarship, varsity wrestlers Justin Dozier and Rosario Bruno. Both were arrested, charged, prosecuted, and processed through the criminal justice system. Bruno remains on the UM wrestling team.

Those two were hardly the ringleaders, as the general student body at Michigan did plenty of damage on their own. The rioting was significant enough that the mass media might have referenced it when Cedarfest caught their attention last weekend, but they somehow all missed that "related story" reference in their coverage. Almost like the UM stuff never happened. But it most certainly did.

When you review all of the historical facts, it's hard to overlook one question about students at the University of Michigan: What's wrong with these kids? Why do they do all of these things? What motivates their behavior? And remember, it's not just post-game brawls that get these young people excited.

Don't forget about the annual assaults against the Sparty statue by Michigan students intending to vandalize public property. The most notorious incident was in 1998, when an obviously organized squad of UM students was repelled by members of the MSU Marching Band. Police arrested 14 students from the University of Michigan, and all were prosecuted and convicted.

And what about the "Naked Mile", an annual rite-of-spring during which hundreds of UM students, both male and female, strip off all of their clothes and run right through downtown Ann Arbor in front of cheering crowds? How would this event be reported if it was happening in East Lansing on Grand River Avenue?

And let's recall the annual "Hash Bash", a University of Michigan student tradition since just after the arrival of Bo Shembechler as coach. Thousands congregate on the sacred UM Diag to light up and be happy, all day long, in broad daylight. What would happen if this event was held at Beaumont Tower each year?

Enough sanctimony about students at the University of Michigan. They are, ironically, even wilder and crazier than they claim MSU to be. Their strange behaviors and unusual traditions - - - even destructive - - - are glossed over by the M4 on a regular basis. When it comes to social disorder and student misbehavior, they are most definitely the "leaders and the best".




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MSU FOOTBALL FRONT-BURNER: Spartans Nearing Spotlight on National Stage

Our weekly feature on MSU Football brings diverse responses to
a variety of questions related to the Spartans program. 

Panelists:

ATownAndDown (Follow him on M-Live)

SpartanMan82 (See SM82s True Lies About MythAgain Football post)

MSUSpartan76 (Follow him on M-Live)

This week's Questions:

1. The football team has nine wins now, the consensus-predicted win total for the season before it began. If MSU loses the next two games, will you consider the season to be a success?

2. Jeremy Langford came to the Spartans as a three-star "Athlete" with a 5.6 Rivals rating. Now he's on the verge of becoming a 1000-yard rusher as the starting tailback on a 9-1 team. How do you explain it?

3. The Michigan State Defense leads the nation in Rushing Defense and Total Defense, and is ranked in the top five in Scoring Defense, Pass Efficiency Defense, Passing Yards Allowed, Third-Down Conversion Percentage Defense, and First Downs Defense. Yet the mainstream sports media continue to put the Spartan Dawgs under the microscope each week only to announce that it's not a "legitimate" defensive unit. Why is this happening?

4. Did you observe any interesting developments, plays or story-lines from Saturday's game that may have gone largely unnoticed or lacked meaningful media focus?

(We encourage reader comments. Click the link at the bottom of the post.)

Our Panel Responds:


1. The football team has nine wins now, the consensus-predicted win total for the season before it began. If MSU loses the next two games, will you consider the season to be a success?

ATownAndDown (Follow him on M-Live)
At this point... no it would not be a success. A 9-3 prediction was under the premise that U of M, Nebraska and NW were top-25 teams. Include Notre Dame as a top-25 team that MSU was supposed to face, most prognosticators would assume MSU would win at least one of those games and thus go 9-3. Well here we sit half-way through November and have gone 2-1 against those 4. NW is on the precipice of missing bowl eligibility. So losing the fourth contest would be a disappointment. While Minnesota has had a nice season, their only quality win was against Nebraska at home. You would like to think that this team could close it out strong too. These are winnable games, and at this point, losing them would be a poor showing.

MSUSpartan76 (Follow him on M-Live)
I am unclear where the "consensus" came from. The general opinion I saw in the pre-season was that MSU would be "lucky" to have 7 wins, including disparaging remarks about the Spartans not even getting to a bowl. Regardless, the season is a success already. 6-0 B1G Ten start is something that has not happened in a long time. The current crop of seniors hold the school record for most wins by a senior class through their journey. The squashing of the Ann Arbor Charm School ball club was a record setting event, too. All that aside, MSU is not going to lose the next 2 and might win them both.

SpartanMan82 (See SM82s True Lies About MythAgain Football post)
Yes I will, especially with a bowl victory, but I realize I'm the only person in the Milky Way Galaxy that would do so.

People have to be realistic about sports competition. If MSU finished 10-3, it would make three double-digit win seasons in four years. How can that not be "successful"?

The great thing about our situation is that we probably won't lose the next two games, but if we win the next two, then lose in the B1G Championship, ask me again, and I'll still say it was successful.

Success in this league means putting together a win-streak, beating your main rival, avoiding player misconduct, and finishing with a high win total. At this point, we've got check-marks next to all of those points. Everything from here on out is "gravy".
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2. Jeremy Langford came to the Spartans as a three-star "Athlete" with a 5.6 Rivals rating. Now he's on the verge of becoming a 1000-yard rusher as the starting tailback on a 9-1 team. How do you explain it?

SpartanMan82 (See SM82s True Lies About MythAgain Football post)
It continues to amaze me to see the Mark Dantonio administration find players that nobody else thought was very good and/or take guys with unrealized potential and make them great. So many cases like this already, now we have Langford.

The four other schools to offer Langford were Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan, Illinois State, and Colorado.

It looks like Langford "bought into the system", "worked hard and kept his mouth shut", and "didn't take no for an answer". He had one thing going for him to start, and that was his 4.4 speed. The rest of the credit goes to him and his coaches.

ATownAndDown (Follow him on M-Live)
The kid can run. Look Langford has always been talented. The question was always could he perform on a consistent enough basis to be a starter. If you remember the fumble return he had a couple years ago against Florida Atlantic you will remember the raw talent he showed as a runner. It was a matter of controlling that talent and getting at least 3-4 yards on a consistent basis. It would appear that something has clicked because even to begin the season, it didn't appear that it was coming together for him. The way he as been getting his yards has been as a workhorse. He plugs away and gets better as the game progresses. Against both Nebraska and U of M, their defense just couldn't hold the flood gates closed and Langford was able to break big TD runs late. Very nice development by the staff. And hey, lets give some credit to that OLine in front of him too. They are definitely providing him with some opportunities.

MSUSpartan76 (Follow him on M-Live)
The offensive ecosystem is thriving. Passing has become something defenses have to respect. The offensive line is healthy and deep. Tight ends and receivers are making plays. Special teams are giving the team good field position and making the FGs.The defense is, and yes this includes Nebraska, smothering opponents, and the result is that a kid that can run with the rock in his hand is piling up yards.

Stars or Rivals ratings do not give any idea of how the kid fits into the team's system, how quickly he can learn the playbook, how quickly he can learn how to play as a team with the other players on the field with him, including on-field communications, or even how his off the field situation affects his performance.

What we have with Jeremy is a kid with good athletic ability, good potential, and a great desire to be the best he can be. Put a kid like that in with great coaches and he will always exceed his recruiting rating. Always.

About those stupid recruiting sites. Maybe 1/3 of the 15,000 potential recruits are ever assessed and those that are get their rankings posted within the first 3 months after the prior signing day and the evaluations are made by 20 "recruiting experts." Right. Ever try to read one of the in-depth stories on a HS player? Pay site. Those recruiting sites are not about assessments, they are about making money.
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3. The Michigan State Defense leads the nation in Rushing Defense and Total Defense, and is ranked in the top five in Scoring Defense, Pass Efficiency Defense, Passing Yards Allowed, Third-Down Conversion Percentage Defense, and First Downs Defense. Yet the mainstream sports media continue to put the Spartan Dawgs under the microscope each week only to announce that it's not a "legitimate" defensive unit. Why is this happening?

MSUSpartan76 (Follow him on M-Live)
Well, the Spartans have played nobody. Right? And never does Michigan State win a game, it is always a gift or they got lucky or their opponent just up and lost. So how can the team get credit for anything? Take a hard look at the Nebraska game.

• Nebraska rush offense (No. 16) 240.3 yd/gm. They gained 182 yds vs MSU, or 76% of their average.
• Nebraska pass offense (No. 89) 200.3. They blew the Spartan Dawgs off the field gaining 210 yards. 67 of those yards came in the final drive when the game was already over.
• Nebraska scoring offense (No. 33) 35.1 pts/gm. The Cornhuskers got 28 points versus MSU, which includes that end of game TD.
• The Nebraska offense was held to their 7th worst performance in 10 games and that does not discount the 75 yards in the final drive.

SpartanMan82 (See SM82s True Lies About MythAgain Football post)
The Michigan Mainstream Media Machine (M-4) was working up a lather all summer, getting ready for more bedroom romps with U-of-M Football this year...then reality hit with Akron and UConn. As they've been "jilted" by Brady Hoke, they're mad and they want to take it out on someone. And that would be MSU.

There is no such thing as the "Nation's Top Defense". The NCAA stats can help identify the group of teams at the top, but there is no way with open scheduling to determine a true #1 team, much less a true #1 defensive unit.

It is blatantly obvious that MSU has as good a defense as any other team in the country, but somehow the professional sports reporters can't let it go at that. Since there are no more glaring weaknesses on the Spartan team, they choose to attack its strengths.

In other words, the answer is: Media Bias (against MSU).

ATownAndDown (Follow him on M-Live)
I think it has to do with the whole premonition that "Its too good to be true." Bama puts up the numbers like MSU and they would have one of the greatest defenses of all time but that is because Bama is supposed to have the guys to put up video game numbers. That upstart school from Michigan that doesn't wear maize and blue isn't supposed to do that. So it has to be a mirage, right? I say let them call it flawed. Let them poke holes. Let them question who we have played. Narduzzi will use it and have the Spartan Dawgs ready for the next opponent, who won't find comfort in some mainstream media member's claims of MSU's defense not being legit. All you have to look at is the comments from Brian Kelly after the ND game. Kelly was scared of what the Spartan defense could do. And some of the mainstream media guys proclaimed that Kelly was supposed to have found the holes in the defense. I am sure if MSU makes it to the B1G Championship Game, the first thing (and possibly the only thing) on the OSU game plan will be how to get around the defense because the Spartan Dawgs are good... real good.

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4. Did you observe any interesting developments, plays or story-lines from Saturday's game that may have gone largely unnoticed or lacked meaningful media focus?

ATownAndDown (Follow him on M-Live)
Besides the actual smile that Coach D gave when Langford ran in for that last TD? I have been on it all season. I am still not a fan of the play calling at times. 1st and 10: Williams rushes for 2; 2nd and 8: Williams carries two guys for 6; 3rd and 2: Williams in the Wildcat. Even if Williams makes that play its a bad call.

How about 3rd and goal from the 8... lets have a play where Cook wonders around like he is confused, direct snap to the RB to hand it to Lippett to pass to Gleichert. So that close to the goal line, you are going to take the ball out of your QB's hands, not allow him to make any presnap adjustments, take your best WR out of the play as a receiver, make your RB irrelevant for pass protection or as a receiver, in order to pass to a blocking TE or your QB? Why not run the statue of liberty play or is Treadwell's 40 time not fast enough?

We were picking up yards in chunks on the ground when we ran power football. You look at the big plays we have had, mostly come from running our base offense. Its not spreading things out. Its not trickeration. Its not goofy looks. So why are we so quick to get away from that? Nebraska's DC is the latest opponent to make a comment that was telling of the play-calling: "We need to stay patient because they will try and press." Basically, they went with the let them pick up chunks doing that because Warner will get impatient and call something cute and that's when we stop them. Are 13 play 75 yard TD drives sexy? Nope but they are TD drives just the same.

When I look at that missed play on our first drive with Lippett wide open in the endzone, I see a great play call. Play-action boot. Defense is crashing to stop the run and Cook is outside of the pocket away from the pressure (where he has been very good). When the DB realizes that Cook can run he had to decide to come up on the run or leave Lippett. We didn't capitalize but it was there for the taking. How many wildcat plays this year has there been anything there? How many WR passes have been super impressive? That play call wasn't fancy or deceiving. It just created an opportunity. Our players need to execute but the play callers have to create more situations like that through those kinds of calls. Not running the Oopty Opp offense.

MSUSpartan76 (Follow him on M-Live)
Start with Mike Sadler did not get B1G Ten Special Teams Player of the Week. 4 of 7 punts inside the 20. Nebraska managed 2 punt returns for a total of -4 yards and some of that is because of Sadler.

SpartanMan82 (See SM82s True Lies About MythAgain Football post)
I just think the coaches did a good job of showing "new looks" on offense, with formations we hadn't seen before, and some new plays. They didn't always work, but those guys are earning their money during the week.

One bone to pick, though. When we scored to take a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter, we needed to try a two-point conversion to make it a 14-point lead. The only value of a 13-point lead at that stage of the game (34-21) was to protect against Nebraska scoring a touchdown and two field-goals. But at that time, it was very unlikely they would get three more chances to score. Nice to see that we got away clean with that coaching judgment error.




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