Last Year's Bowl Loss Doesn't Hurt So Bad

Well, last night's "mauling", as Brent put it, by Alabama in the BCS Championship Game was most impressive. It made me think about the last bowl game Alabama played against the Spartans a year ago. I knew Sparty had a tough match up with the Crimson Tide but I held out hope. As I saw how dominant their defense was and how their offense sliced up our defense my hope turned to despair and I couldn't even bring myself to watch the second half.

After viewing last night's game against formerly unbeaten LSU I feel that the Spartan team that played New Year's Day in 2010 was better than they appeared. Had Alabama not lost a 21-0 lead against eventually 2010 BCS Champion Auburn, it is highly likely that last night's win would have been Bama's third championship in a row. I felt that when Sparty played them last year the Tide were the best team in the nation but they had that one second half failure that cost them that chance.

Now let's look at the the student/athletes of Alabama. I don't know the names of the players on defense but I believe that last night's effort was better than last year's team. And you can imagine that most who played last night also played a year ago. Now to the offense. Do y'all remember last year's #6 pick in the NFL draft? Julio Jones helped the Atlanta Falcons to the playoffs this year as their #1 wide receiver. His final college game was against Sparty. And then there was a guy named Mark Ingram. His Dad played for MSU but this Ingram won the Heisman Trophy and is currently leading the New Orleans Saints on a road to the Super Bowl. The two leading rushers last night were the leading and third best ground gainers against Sparty last year with Ingram in the middle. The QB last night played a mop up roll last year but still went 6 for 6 against the Green and White.

All this said, I just feel like Sparty played a bowl game last year against one of the best college football dynasties in recent years. MSU was the icing in between two BCS Championship oreo cookies. And let's not forget the coach. Like him or not, Coach Saban did put MSU football on the path to the success we have been achieving in recent years. And possibly the best part of this dynasty is the fact that Alabama's opening game of the 2012 season will be at Cowboy Stadium in Texas against the chUMps handing the puke and blue their first beat down of what will be a long disappointing season for their fans. I can't wait.

C Mann 1979