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Friday, February 28, 2014

MSU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM WINS 20 GAMES FOR THE ELEVENTH CONSECUTIVE SEASON

The Michigan State Women's Basketball team reached the 20-win mark for the 11th season in a row by beating Northwestern Thursday night. That's the longest such streak in the B1G conference, and the ninth-longest 20-win streak in the nation.

As we reported yesterday, the Spartan Women can win the league title by closing out the regular season with a victory at home on Sunday against Indiana. That game has a 6:00 p.m. tipoff time at the Breslin Center, and will be televised on the Big Ten Network.

The 31-point win over the Wildcats was the biggest margin of victory for Coach Suzy Merchant at MSU, and it marked the largest win in program history since beating Michigan by 43 points in 2005. That's the year Michigan State won the conference title and ran to the NCAA Championship game (losing to Baylor).

The Spartans won seven of their eight road games in the conference the past two months, the best traveling mark in program history. They have two tournaments coming up in March, with all games after Sunday on the road.

MSU continues to get great work out of a three-member Freshman class, featuring Aerial Powers, Tori Jankoska, and Brandy Agee:

  • Powers had her seventh double-double of the season, tying for the second most ever by a Spartan freshman.
  • Powers also broke the Spartan freshman free throws made record with 91. 
  • Jankoska broke into the top-10 on the MSU freshman assist list with 63.
  • Jankoska also moved into 19th on the MSU career three-point field goal made list with 59.
  • Branndais Agee had six rebounds, her most-ever in a Big Ten game.


The Spartans finished February with a 6-1 record, and are 39-12 under Coach Merchant in the month.  MSU is 17-0 this season when shooting more free throws than its opponent.




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Thursday, February 27, 2014

SPARTAN WOMEN BACK IN FIRST PLACE WITH ONE GAME TO PLAY

The Michigan State Women's Basketball team moved back into a three-way tie for First Place in the conference, with a 75-44 win at Northwestern on Thursday night. The Spartans fell behind early before taking a nine-point half-time lead, then breaking it open in the second half.

MSU will host Indiana for Senior Night at the Breslin Center on Sunday night. The Hoosiers are in eighth-place in the B1G.

The Spartans still control their own destiny, so a win this weekend gives them a conference title.




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YOUNG JAYRU CAMPBELL IS AN "ALABAMA RECRUIT" - - - AND NOTRE DAME, WISCONSIN, TOO

Are you tired of hearing Jayru Campbell described as a "Michigan State Recruit" as his legal case winds its way through the juvenile justice system? That term makes it sound like MSU has some connection to this high school football player more than any other school. But it's actually not the case.

Campbell is actually a "Prospect" until he signs his official letter-of-intent (along with his guardian, of course). On signing day, the prospect becomes a "Recruit" of one particular school. But not until that moment.

Jayru Campbell may as well be called a "Notre Dame Recruit", a "Wisconsin Recruit", or even an "Alabama Recruit", since those are the three schools to actually offer him a scholarship along with Mark Dantonio. The only difference is that Campbell made some public statement to the effect that he was going to sign with MSU. That declaration, as we are well aware, does not necessarily mean it will happen.

So when the mainstream media continually use the incorrect term to describe this young miscreant, they are staining Michigan State with his misbehavior, even though our coaches have not had him in their program and under their authority for a single minute. To put it quite bluntly, "We didn't do anything wrong here." The offer was made before the juvenile delinquency surfaced, and there is no reason to do or un-do anything with regard to him at this stage, since there is no binding commitment of any kind in either direction.

Sorry about what the kid did, but his actions and status have nothing whatsoever to do with Michigan State University. This is another example of the undercurrent of media bias against MSU that filters subliminally into the subconscious of us all as we consume the mainstream media.




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Wednesday, February 26, 2014

IN MY OPINION: THIS IS THE "MICHIGAN DIFFERENCE"

There really is a "Michigan Difference."

Michigan chUMps, skunkbears, trolls, Walverines, and the like think that Michigan reached the top a long time ago and there is nothing more to do; that what was achieved 50 or 100 years ago is the be all and end all and, now, just keeping the name clean is all that is needed to prove greatness.

How Michigan State University and many, many other schools approach things highlights the "Michigan Difference."

We are NOT trying to be better than Michigan or even the equals of Michigan. We let that school down the road follow its own path. The Michigan standard is NOT what we Spartans are striving to achieve.

Our goal is not to close the "gap" between MSU and any other school. Instead, we are trying to be the best WE can be and then striving to be even better. We are reaching for the ever higher SPARTAN goals by setting ever higher SPARTAN standards of excellence in academics, social awareness, and athletics.

We Spartans do not view the job as done - then, now, or ever. We do not perceive ourselves as immune from error or flawless or superior. We do not claim to be better than everyone else or even better than most or many or even a few. Let others make those claims - we don't care about such things.

What we care about is constantly striving for excellence and constantly raising the bar, setting new standards for excellence and striving to reach those ever loftier goals. We recognize this as a journey, as a job that will never be finished. We will ever be satisfied with the status quo. Our only claim is that we are better today than we were yesterday and we will again strive to improve today and tomorrow.

Nothing less will do. Not for we Spartans.

Spartans Will!



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HEY MICHIGAN: WHAT WAS THAT BIG "DIFFERENCE" AGAIN?

The main purpose of our work on this web site is to balance the media playing field when it comes to coverage of Michigan State and Michigan, particularly, though not exclusively, regarding sports. Most of our stories are about men's sports, but hey, when Suzy Merchant's teams out-perform their counterparts down south on such a regular basis, we'd like to help more people hear about their success.

The central problem with the University of Michigan is that they systematically brain-wash young people into thinking (and then actually believing) that they are superior to others. The main tool used by UM to do this is embodied in a marketing slogan designed to make money; "The Michigan Difference".

Those of us who didn't go there are constantly offended by the arrogant attitudes of those who did, and worse, those who didn't. The infection permeates our local cultures here in the State of Michigan. We fight the disease here on a regular basis, providing information that is overlooked and/or underreported, pointing out how "average" the U-of-M and its students actually are (in real life, not on Madison Avenue and Walmart clothing racks).

So the Brendan Gibbons rape scandal is a great case in point. (Not a great case in general, as it is sad, lurid, and so very disappointing.) According to an official process run by the University of Michigan, Gibbons committed sexual misconduct that may be legally proven to be "rape", if there is ever any legal process that plays out in this case. We're not saying that makes UM "bad", we're saying it makes them "normal", i.e., NOT DIFFERENT.

To those who have been pointing out that the Department of Education is also investigating Michigan State regarding Title IX processes related to sexual misconduct, we say, fine, that's more evidence that UM is NOT SO DIFFERENT. They're mostly the same as a lot of big universities.

Michigan is just another school to us, one of fifteen state-supported institutions, and they are increasingly known for their arrogance and hubris, not their educational programs. If the mainstream media ever adapts to this reality, and starts reporting on it accordingly, we may have no further reason to operate this communications platform.

Until then, however, we have some more information for you. It's about that so-called "Michigan Difference" claim. Here's an excerpt from a web site run by actual students at the University of Michigan:

"All these cases come down to one thing: this university does not care about you. The claims of diversity in the pamphlets it hands out to potential students is just that: empty words in a brochure that is quickly thrown into the trash and forgotten. The speeches with hollow phrases such as “Leaders and the Best” and “the Michigan Difference” are just that: self-congratulatory pomp that inflates our ego to perpetuate the illusion that we are significant, that we matter, and to cover up the reality that the university does not care about us."

Some of these same students marched in protest this week, complaining about the soft treatment given to confirmed rapist Brendan Gibbons:

"We are fed up with the violence that is being committed at the University of Michigan by those with power. Fed up with our bodies being used for the benefit of those at the top.
"Fed up with a university administration and athletic department that has violently acted for 4 years to cover up and suppress the details surrounding football player Brendan Gibbons’s rape of an 18-year old UM female student in November 2009.
"Fed up with the top administrators’ silence on Brendan Gibbons’s violent use of this woman’s body for his pleasure in order that they could continue using the body of one of UM’s athletes to bring in large profits that feed into their exorbitant salaries.
"Fed up with how the university’s promotion of a culture of immunity for those high in its hierarchy of power fosters the perpetuation of rape across campus."

You can follow the "Student Union of Michigan" on Facebook.




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Tuesday, February 25, 2014

FEDERAL INVESTIGATION INTO MICHIGAN FOOTBALL PROGRAM IS NOW UNDERWAY

A federal agency is now investigating the University of Michigan regarding its handling of the Brendan Gibbons rape scandal. The Detroit News reports today that the Office for Civil Rights, a division of the United States Department of Education, has taken up the case.

Many have alleged that UM covered-up the sexual assault incident in order to protect one of its own football players. The rape victim was also a scholarship-athlete. Gibbons was arrested in 2009, only hours after the attack took place, but was not expelled from the university until the end of 2013. He played in at least one football game after the school found him guilty based on the "preponderance of evidence" brought against him. Gibbons has not appealed his penalty.

Several student groups are joining together today to march in the streets as a protest against the handling of this case by the UM administration. The protest march is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. at the Rackham Auditorium. Here is a link to the Facebook Page for this event.

We have been reporting this story for the last month on this web site, and you can find a number of articles archived here for your review. Another informational resource just came to our attention, part of a web site called "WN.com". Here is the link to their web site.

Many Michigan apologists have been denying the relevance of this story for the past month, some of them accusing us of making mountains out of molehills. But the events of today prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is a real problem going on with UM Football. This story has been reported by Sports Illustrated, Bleacher Report, and all of the Detroit-based sports media, among many others.

To paraphrase one of the "anonymous" commenters to our site, you'd have to be an ostrich to keep denying this story any longer.






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ANN ARBOR STREET MARCH THE RESULT OF TENSION BOILING OVER AT UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

If you keep a lid on a boiling pot of water, it will eventually explode. That appears to be what's happening at the Ann Arbor campus of the University of Michigan.

The UM Student Union has announced a protest march today beginning at 2:00 p.m. to publicly object to the school administration for they way the Brendan Gibbons Rape Scandal was processed. Everybody seems to want answers on how such a travesty could have transpired.

Tensions have been on the rise over this case since it was first reported by the Michigan Daily that football player Brendan Gibbons was allowed to stay in school and play for the UM football team after raping a fellow student-athlete in 2009. Gibbons was arrested on suspicion of rape, but never publicly identified or charged with the crime. When his football career was almost over, he was expelled.

This is the sort of story that's long-on-looks and short-on-facts, and students are demanding answers to a range of questions. The Michigan administration has generally stonewalled the public on this case, even banning the student newspaper from attending formal media events during the last month.

But just like the pot of boiling water, you can't keep a lid on things indefinitely without creating a blow-up. People just aren't as stupid as the power-brokers want them to be.

Take at look at this article, and especially the photo*, to get a taste of what the climate has been around the UM campus recently.

This banner hangs outside a campus building at the Ann
Arbor campus of the University of Michigan last week.




*This news item was submitted by a contributor
who lives in the Chicago-Land area.
You can follow him on Twitter
@Chicago60614.



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WOLVERINES TAKING IT TO THE STREETS TODAY IN PROTEST MARCH AGAINST GIBBONS RAPE SCANDAL

The street protests scheduled for this afternoon by students at the Ann Arbor campus of the University of Michigan are designed to call attention to the failures of their own administration. It was the student-run newspaper, the Michigan Daily, that broke the news of the expulsion of Michigan football player Brendan Gibbons. Today's campus march will take place exactly four weeks after that story broke into the public eye.

The news of what looks to be a "cover-up" in the eyes of most observers was immediately taken seriously by some of the young people at UM. Here's an excerpt of a letter to the student newspaper that appeared the very next day after the story appeared in print:

"I have never been more ashamed of the University I have so long proudly called my own.
"Why did it take four years to investigate the accusation? Why was he allowed to continue playing and representing the University while such serious charges were leveled against him? It is simply unacceptable that the investigation took as long as it did, considering the absolute seriousness of the charges against Gibbons. We absolutely cannot let this story die quietly.
"I, for one, do not accept the University’s slow response and find the way the situation was handled appalling. All signs point to the University looking to cover up potentially bad publicity.
"Is this the Michigan Difference?"

The student-led protest march is scheduled to begin at 2:00 this afternoon on the Ann Arbor campus. This web site will follow the story and report updates as they become available.




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UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN STUDENTS TO STAGE STREET PROTEST AGAINST BRENDAN GIBBONS CASE TODAY

The University of Michigan Student Union has announced plans to protest publicly against the UM administration over its handling of the Brendan Gibbons Rape Scandal. A street march on campus is scheduled to begin today at 2:00 p.m.

This news comes to us from the Michigan Daily, the student newspaper that broke the Gibbons expulsion story using copies of official documents as proof. The newspaper has since been denied access to formal university proceedings, apparently as retribution to publicizing the bad news about Michigan.

The UM Student Union sent a letter describing its intentions and reasoning to the Michigan Daily that was published on Sunday. The group is explicitly outraged what appears to have been a massive four-year-long cover-up designed to protect the eligibility of a varsity football player:

"The administration owes us some answers regarding its response to student outrage over the revelation of Gibbons expulsion. All of us deserve to feel safe on this campus, and the response of top-level administrators to this situation has left many in our community convinced there is no institutional justice. This makes our campus feel unsafe and prone to abuse. This has to be addressed.
"At the very least, it looks like Hoke created an alibi to cover up the expulsion rather than simply decline to comment. It looks to the public like Gibbons was receiving special treatment because of his status as a football player. It looks like Hoke does not have to follow policy. These implications are chilling. They suggest we are on a campus where it is acceptable for certain people to commit acts of violence with impunity and protection. How could anyone feel safe knowing that? The University has made great strides in addressing cases of sexual assault and we do not want to move backward. We don’t want lies like this to have a chilling effect."


You can read the full letter from the student group right here. We will provide updates and background to this story all day on this web site.




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Monday, February 24, 2014

SPARTAN WOMEN CONTROL THEIR OWN DESTINY IN CONFERENCE RACE

The Michigan State Women's Basketball team took another step closer to the finish line Monday night with a 75-61 victory over Minnesota in the Breslin Center. It was their seventh win in the past eight games, and it leaves them one-half game out of First Place, with two games left to play. If the Spartans win both games, they will finish at the top (possibly in a two-way or three-way tie).

Michigan State was ahead with five minutes to play and held the lead, making them 99-1 when leading with 5:00 on the clock. It was their 50th consecutive win after leading with five minutes left.

The teams MSU has yet to play are in 8th-place and 10th-place in the B1G. They will travel to Northwestern on Thursday, then close out the regular season at home against Indiana Sunday night.




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TWO GAMES THAT "WENT MISSING" IN THE RECENT BASKETBALL SERIES BETWEEN MSU AND UM

Much of the excitement felt by Michigan Basketball fans right now is based on a very short viewpoint of the series between MSU and UM. As long as they define the world by increments of eight-games or three-games (or less), they wind up looking good and feeling good. We summed it up pretty good in this article right here.

But what about the two games NOT PLAYED between these two teams only a few years ago? Who remembers that the league office gave the Wolverines a little helpful protection against their arch-rival by scheduling only one league game in 2008 and 2009? One could call it a "quirk" in scheduling, or perhaps less politely, an example of the "Delany Doctrine", under which Michigan and Ohio STATE get special favors on a regular basis from the B1G.

Either way, those games weren't played, and there wasn't much of a good way to bring it up until now. What were we going to say back then, when MSU was winning more than 75% of the games played between the teams? (If we brought it up when it was happening, we would have looked like greedy bullies.)

But I was aware of the missing games at the time they weren't played, much as I was aware the the UM football team had a rapist member ever since the assault was first reported.

Let's give a round of applause to the Wolverines for winning the last three games, but since the battle-cry now is "6 of the last 8", let's take a look at what may have been plausible had the teams played the normal two-game set in those two recent seasons.

  • In those single-game seasons, the Spartans won both games by double-digits, 27 points total. At face-value, it's reasonable to assume that a second game in each season would have gone green. If those rematches had been played both years, with similar results, the "6 of the last 8" would have to give way to "6 of the last 14", focusing the spotlight on very recent success by UM.

  • Or what if the two single-game seasons had been scheduled for 2011 or 2014, when Michigan won both games. With only one rivalry win in each of those two seasons, the mantra would change from "6 of the last 8" to "4 of the last 6" which would also added up to "4 of the last 10".

Whether it was a scheduling-quirk or protection from the league office, the recent irregularity with games-played in the series contributes to the current viewpoints. This decision has nothing to do with on-court performances or even off-court issues; it's just an administrative arrangement that served to make UM look a little bit more dominant than they have actually been in real life.

But hey, the Bluebloods won fair-and-square, and that certainly makes it three in a row by an average of five points per game. Awesome, baby. Now UM fans need to decide whether they can really get pumped about rugby wins in the 1800s when jaw-jacking about their football program.


If you can't look back 10 years in
basketball, you definitely can't look back
100 years in football.




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Sunday, February 23, 2014

MICHIGAN PULLS EVEN WITH MICHIGAN STATE IN MEN'S BASKETBALL RIVALRY SERIES

The lopsided nature of basketball between Michigan State and Michigan has evened out somewhat based on the recent performance of the men's basketball teams. While the Spartan women still have a commanding lead over UM by every measurement, the Wolverine men have now pulled even with the Spartan men. It's possible that Michigan will finish ahead of MSU in the men's basketball conference standings for the first time since the 1990s.

We offered a five-year comparison before the first meeting this year, and a ten-year comparison along with a 25-game summary before the game just played. The short-run trend is clear, with UM winning six of the last eight games, despite being outscored by MSU in that same time span. It's this most recent short stretch, featuring a pair of one-point wins by Michigan, that is leading many wolverine boosters to claim dominance in the series.

However, as much as they have won 6 of the last 8, they have also won only 6 of the last 12. So how you view the series clearly depends on what time-frame used for comparison. We offer three frameworks for review, each covering a different length of time.


The Short View (5-8 games)
Michigan has come out on top more times in the last few meetings, winning three-of-the-last-five and/or six-of-the-last-eight games. By any recent comparison, UM has the lead in games won, despite giving up two double-digit wins to MSU without any of their own. Most short-term game-counts that favor Michigan include two victories by one-point each that have the effect of counter-balancing the big Spartan wins in the same time period.

Advantage:  UM

The Intermediate View (The Beilein Era)
The series is now tied at 7-7 since John Beilein was named coach at Michigan. Michigan State has outscored UM by 54 points over the last 14 games, and leads 6-5 in games decided by more than one point, all double-digit victories. The Wolverines have only one win by more than ten points, and it was in the second game Beilein coached against Izzo.

Advantage:  EVEN

The Long View (21st Century)
There have been 26 games since New Year's Eve 2000, and the Spartans lead 17-9, outscoring the Wolverines by 248 points. 15 of the MSU wins have been by double-digits, while four of the UM wins have been by two points or less.
Advantage:  MSU


You could go back further in time and still find a few more Spartan wins in a row, then the series would "even out again" in the 1990s, though many of those illegal Wolverine wins have been revoked by the NCAA, leaving their true status as games-played somewhat ambiguous. But there is no reason to track back in time to the days of the covered wagon, as UM fanatics like to do with their so-called "All-Time Wins" record in football. There is really no reason to go back to the days when our predecessors were called the "Aggies" and when MSU didn't actually exist.

(If someone wants to count up the series record from the time Michigan State joined the Big Ten, please go ahead and share with us. Otherwise, we'll use the 21st Century as the long-view measuring stick.)

So the Spartans failed to stem the tide of single-digit wins by UM as they lost the regular season series for the second time this century. We will update the series comparisons when both tournaments are finished.




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TOM IZZO LEADS JOHN BEILEIN HEADING INTO TODAY'S GAME

Seems like everybody agrees today's game is basically a "toss-up", with Dawson out, Appling ailing, and the home-court advantage to Michigan. Some people have said this is what they wanted, an even-steven close-as-can-be series, where either team can win at any time, and the stakes are high either way. Sort of like North Carolina and Duke.

Not me, I prefer the game played on March 4, 2000 to serve as the template for all future games.

But anyway, in the run-up to this one, we've shown you the decade-long comparison of the two programs, and we've summed up the results of the past 25 games in the series. We'll leave you with one more note, the record of Tom Izzo against John Beilein prior to this match-up.

  1. Izzo leads in games won by a 7-6 margin
  2. Izzo's teams lead in points scored by a 63-point margin


So, if UM beats MSU by 63 points today, the series will be "even", at least since
Beilein took over at Michigan.

Let's see what happens.



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Friday, February 21, 2014

SPARTAN WOMEN CLINCH 12th CONSECUTIVE 10-WIN CONFERENCE SEASON

The Michigan State Women's Basketball team won their 10th B1G game of the season last night, beating Wisconsin 76-66. This marks the 12th season in a row that the Spartans have won at least 10 league games, the longest active streak in the conference. They have had 13 consecutive winning seasons.

MSU remains in second place, tied with Nebraska, but they can finish the season atop the league standings if the following events happen:

  1. Michigan State must win its final three games, two of which are at home, and all three of which are against teams ranked 7-8-9 in the conference right now.
  2. Nebraska must beat Penn State on Monday, or the Nittany Lions must lose their season finale to Michigan. Nebraska was the pre-season favorite to win the league, and the Cornhuskers are ranked #17 in the nation with a 20-5 record. That game will be played in Lincoln.

The Spartans are led by Seniors and Freshmen, with a collection of key contributors in the Junior class. Six players scored in double-digits against the Badgers.

The game was close until the final minute, as Wisconsin stayed within 10 points all game long. But MSU took a lead into the final five minutes and won, making them 98-1 finishing games successfully while defending a lead. The Spartans have won 49 games in a row when leading with five minutes to play.

Some other notes about Suzy Merchant's ballclub:

  • MSU is 72-5 under Merchant when scoring at least 70 points.
  • MSU's six road Big Ten wins this season ties for the most in Merchant's seven seasons. MSU is now 37-21 in her tenure in road conference games.
  • The Spartans improved to 37-12 in February in Merchant's seven seasons.
  • MSU is 16-0 this season when shooting more free throws than its opponent. They are also 14-0 when attempting at least 18 free throws.

Michigan State returns to action on Monday night when they host Minnesota at the Breslin Center.





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Thursday, February 20, 2014

RACIAL TENSION PREVAILS AT UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

Race relations in this country have been a hot-topic touchstone for more than a century. It's difficult to find a "good way" to discuss the problem. Some people even believe that it's not a "problem" anymore.

Well it seems to be a pretty big problem at the University of Michigan, even these days. We know this from UM students who are protesting the situation in Ann Arbor this week. In a nutshell, these students feel like it's quite a problem nowadays, and I suppose it's fair to say "they should know". After all, the student protesters are African-American.

Maybe this doesn't have anything to do with sports, but then again, maybe it does. Take a look at the picture that's part of the first article linked above (here it is again). Look at the sign being held by the woman on the right. Read the hand-written statement that says "I'm more than just a wide receiver", and notice that signed initials, "D.N." We can't be sure who wrote that statement on that sign, but there is a wide-receiver on the Michigan football team named Dennis Norfleet.

Many of us recall the affirmative-action challenge lawsuit that went all the way up to the United States Supreme Court. The University of Michigan won that case, meaning they were not illegally applying admission benefits to racially-defined minorities. (Another version of the dispute is back on the SCOTUS docket.) But that was a way of helping those groups, not hurting them. So why are black folks at UM feeling under-appreciated these days?

Well maybe it's because of events like this one, where an on-campus fraternity hosted a special party to basically make fun of black culture. Most of us would have to admit that we'd more likely expect such a racist carnival to be held in Mississippi or Alabama, but not "up north" in Michigan. But there you have it.

The UM student body is about 4% African-American, compared to about 8% of the MSU student body. Due to the larger number of students at Michigan State, there are about three times as many black Spartans as there are black Wolverines. For whatever that's worth.

Anyway, some people will call this "pot-shotting" or picking on Michigan, but let's remember how much they sanctify themselves and glorify one another on a regular basis. They truly think they are special, yet this is another example of how they actually have plenty of warts and blemishes and problems, and really, they aren't so much different from the rest of us.






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Wednesday, February 19, 2014

WILL JOHN BEILEIN COMPLAIN ABOUT HIS GAME SCHEDULE AGAIN THIS WEEK?

Michigan Basketball Coach John Beilein is becoming a bit of a whiner these days. Have you noticed?

First he was complaining about his team schedule, the one made up by the B1G conference, just because he didn't like the way all of the games were laid out. He seemed to think it made things too tough for his team, even though every team gets the same ups and downs from the league office each year.

The he complained that the Ohio STATE folks were too...well, they were too...wait a minute, what's that word again......ARROGANT? Beilein didn't like the pre-game video produced and played for the arena spectators. (Even though he didn't see it himself.) He seemed to think the Buckeyes were, in some way, unsportsmanlike, or something like that. Then he proclaimed that nothing of that sort would ever happen while he was at Michigan.

But it's okay with Big Bee if Nick Stauskas flips-off the opposing crowd with a goodbye kiss, right?

Then he started complaining about the TIPOFF TIMES for his games, suggesting that they were having difficulty with certain starting times, even though both teams start at the same time. Never heard this one before from anybody.

Now that Beilein's team has a full week off, resting at home for an extended break from the road, before playing their number-one rival, Michigan State. That's right, the Spartans have to travel for a game on Thursday night before a two-day-turnaround to play in Ann Arbor. Using the "Beilein Doctrine", Tom Izzo should apply for relief from the United Nations due to the bad schedule draw.

By comparison, UM had 11 days off from the road before playing MSU in East Lansing.

Will John Beilein be complaining about the "tough schedule" now that he has been resting comfortably in his office, getting his team ready for the big game with nothing else to do for the week beforehand? Or is the schedule just fine-and-dandy with him right now?









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THE LAST 25 GAMES OF MSU vs UM MEN'S BASKETBALL

Looking ahead to the next game between Michigan State and Michigan in men's basketball this weekend, and we continue our comparison of the teams in this long rivalry. Let's review the last 25 games between these teams.

Our 25-game span covers 13 years, a time-frame that offers a good-sized medium-range view of the series. It also represents every game played between these teams in the 21st Century.

Some would like a shorter viewpoint, so we've broken those 25 games into five sequential five-game sets. You can get a good sense of the series by viewing it in five-game intervals.

Here are the outcomes of the last 25 games between MSU and UM in Men's Basketball, listed in chronological order with the winner and final margin (bottom = most recent):


(2-01-00) MSU by 20
(3-04-00) MSU by 51
(1-30-01) MSU by 27
(3-03-01) MSU by 21
(1-30-02) MSU by 27
  • MSU 5-0 in games
  • MSU +146 points

(1-26-03) UM by 2
(1-17-04) MSU by 17
(2-24-04) MSU by 3
(1-27-05) MSU by 11
(2-12-05) MSU by 15
  • MSU 4-1 in games
  • MSU +34 points

(1-25-06) UM by 5
(2-18-06) MSU by 19
(2-13-07) MSU by 15
(2-27-07) UM by 11
(1-27-08) MSU by 15
  • MSU 3-2 in games
  • MSU +33 points

(2-10-09) MSU by 12
(1-26-10) MSU by 1
(3-07-10) MSU by 16
(1-27-11) UM by 4
(3-05-11) UM by 7
  • MSU 3-2 in games
  • MSU +18 points

(1-17-12) UM by 1
(2-05-12) MSU by 10
(2-12-13) MSU by 23
(3-03-13) UM by 1
(1-25-14) UM by 5

  • UM 3-2 in games
  • MSU +26 points


Here are a few things we can conclude from reviewing the list of actual games played:

  • Over the last 10 games, MSU and UM are tied at 5-5 in games (but the Spartans have outscored the Wolverines by 44 points).
  • Over the last 15 games, MSU leads UM 8-7 (outscoring them by 77 points).
  • Over the last 20 games, MSU leads UM 12-8 (outscoring them by 111 points).
  • Over the last 25 games, MSU leads UM 17-8 (outscoring them by 257 points in 25 games). The Spartans have had at least one double-digit victory during all but two calendar years since that time (2003, 2011).
  • It's only the last five-game set that Michigan leads, and then it's only 3-2, and Michigan State has scored 26 more points in those games.
  • The Wolverines have won by double-digits over the Spartans only one time since Monica Lewinsky became a household name, and that one game was seven years ago.
  • 15 of the MSU wins have been by double-digits, while four of the UM wins have been by two points or less.

Here is a comparison of the two basketball programs over the past 10 seasons:






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Tuesday, February 18, 2014

U-of-M RAPE SCANDAL MAKES THE PAGES OF SPORTS ILLUSTRATED

Hard to believe its only been a few weeks since the Brendan Gibbons rape scandal hit the news. Many people are still in "reaction mode", as the Michigan Daily report was the first they heard about it at the end of last month. Quite a few of those folks are also "in denial" about the sordid affair.

Well, any claims that this is "not a real story" are officially moot points, as Sports Illustrated has taken up the coverage. Here is the Sports Illustrated article about the Michigan football player rape cover-up.

We have more coverage coming up on this web site as well, including a conclusive essay proving beyond a reasonable doubt that both David Brandon and Brady Hoke knew about the charges against Gibbons long before any penalties were imposed on him. In the meantime, here are a few other articles about this subject:

How the University of Michigan Violated Federal Law
Brendan Gibbons Could Be Formally Charged With Rape At Any Time
Doctor Smith is Banned by the Ann Arbor News
How a "Crime" Could be Committed Without a "Conviction"
Key Point in Brendan Gibbons Scandal: His Victim Can Still Press Charges
Brendan Gibbons Appears to be About as Guilty as O.J.




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THE LAST TEN SEASONS OF BASKETBALL AT MICHIGAN STATE AND MICHIGAN

The regular season men's basketball re-match is coming up this weekend between the Spartans and the Wolverines, so we'll help set the stage by framing up each program and measuring its overall success on a season-by-season basis. We reviewed the rivalry on a five-year basis last month, you can find that article by clicking here. Today we look at the last decade.

Here is a review of the past 10 seasons of men's basketball at Michigan State University and University of Michigan. The following summarizes the success of each season from 2003-2004 to 2012-2013. (Results of the current season are not included below.)


MICHIGAN STATE
  • 2004:  18-12 second place / first round
  • 2005:  26-7 second place / final four
  • 2006:  22-12 sixth place / first round
  • 2007:  23-12 seventh place / second round
  • 2008:  27-9 fourth place / sweet sixteen
  • 2009:  31-7 first place / final four
  • 2010:  29-9 first place / final four
  • 2011:  19-15 fourth place / first round
  • 2012:   29-8 first place / sweet sixteen
  • 2013:   27-9 second place / sweet sixteen

MSU TEN YEAR TOTAL = 251-100 (.715)
Ten Winning Seasons, Ten NCAA Tournaments
Three Conference Titles
Three Sweet Sixteens
Three Final Fours


MICHIGAN
  • 2004:  23-11 fifth place / nit 
  • 2005:  13-18 ninth place 
  • 2006:  22-11 sixth place / nit
  • 2007:  22-13 seventh place / nit
  • 2008:  10-22 ninth place
  • 2009:  20-13 seventh place / second round
  • 2010:  15-17 seventh place / no tournament
  • 2011:  20-13 fourth place / second round
  • 2012:  24-9 first place / first round
  • 2013:  26-7 fourth place / final four

UM TEN YEAR TOTAL = 195-134 (.593)
Seven Winning Seasons, Four NCAA Tournaments
One Conference Title
One Final Four




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Sunday, February 16, 2014

THE STATE OF MICHIGAN IS TURNING GREEN (part two)

The world continues to turn a little bit more Green every day. Have you noticed? Seems like quite a forward surge since that big game last November 2. We talked about how the football team really took everything a step forward. Well, there's more to report! Everybody has their eyes on Michigan State, from Urban Meyer to Barack Obama.

MSU had the best fall sports season ever, placing 2nd in the so-called "Director's Cup" standings. This award compiles all college team performances in 20 sports, and ranks schools based on the results. The Spartans have never finished in the Top 10 of this competition, but they currently trail only Stanford (the perennial champion at this) heading into basketball season.
United States President Barack Obama has plenty to keep his attention these days, but there was something he wanted to do more than get ready for his State of the Union speech: WATCH SPARTAN BASKETBALL. Our guys were playing Iowa, so we figure it was MSU that caught his attention.
Ohio State Football Coach Urban Meyer may have forgotten about "that team up north" after beating them in Ann Arbor, as his mind seems to be more focused on Michigan State. Meyer was quoted on National Letter of Intent "Signing Day" as being arguably more worried about Spartans than Wolverines.
Drew Sharp is nobody's favorite, as he is an equal-opportunity giant-slayer. He's also a graduate of the University of Michigan. But that didn't stop him from body-slamming his old school in a weekly chat on Freep.com recently. According to Sharp, "Michigan football is morphing into the old Michigan State before our very eyes." Whoa, dude, that's harsh. In both directions. But mostly towards UM.
And another former Michigan student drove the stake home last month, trashing his old school for their basketball disloyalties. Jalen Rose said MSU is better than Michigan because they treat their former players and coaches much better over time. Rose is correct on this one, of course, as Tom Izzo is responsible for creating the true "family atmosphere" that so many folks claim to want in a college sports program. Up here, it's for real. Down there, not so much.

So let's all take a deep breath and relax as we watch the rest of the B1G Basketball race play out. Don't forget, our guys are in First Place, and they control their own destiny. With a glance back at football, let's all remember to "smell the roses" along the way to our ultimate destiny.




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Saturday, February 15, 2014

SPARTAN BASKETBALL TEAMS BOTH IN POSITION FOR HOME STRETCH

As the college basketball season moves into the clubhouse turn, Michigan State has both basketball teams in good shape for the stretch-run into March Madness. The men and the women are each in position for a title-chase with only a handful of games remaining.

The men's team is in First Place and controls its own destiny with a 10-2 record heading into a home game tomorrow against Nebraska. Six games remain, including one against UM next weekend.

The women's team defeated Ohio State today, 70-49, for their first home-win over the Buckeyes in four years. MSU is now in Second Place, a game behind Penn State, with four games to play. MSU's four remaining opponents are ranked #6, #8, #9, and #11 in the conference standings. Meanwhile, the Nittany Lionesses play #3 Nebraska next weekend, so the Spartans have a chance to move back into First Place if they keep on winning.

The two Spartan Basketball teams together form the best Men's/Women's combination in the B1G conference at this point at 1st/2nd with Iowa the closest contender at 4th/4th.




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Thursday, February 13, 2014

HEY BEILEIN: WHAT'S THE NAME OF THE TEAM YOU JUST PLAYED?

Seems like John Beilein is still getting his feet wet in Ann Arbor. There are some things he's still struggling to figure out. Maybe he thinks he's still back at West Virginia. (Or Richmond?)

Like his comments about the pre-game video that appeared on the big screens before Beilein's team played the Buckeyes. Guessing from his remarks that he didn't like it. Maybe he thought it lacked class, or was unsportsmanlike, or even childish. He did pontificate a bit, vowing that things like that would "never happen" as long as he was wearing yellow-and-blue.

(And let's face it, OSU has a way of going a bit overboard. Personally, I think taking the letter "m" out of their pre-game program is pushing the rivalry towards the lunatic fringe.)

But for Beilein to ride his high horse out of Ohio, talking like he's a British diplomat working in Calcutta is, frankly, comical. He needs to remember the name and true identity of his employer. As the Hokester likes to say, "This is Michigan for gosh sakes!" And we all know at UM, the people are crazy if not crooked.

Time to get real with Beilein, and ask him a key question. He's claiming that he won't be "stooping" or "lowering himself" or "whatever" in the big rivalry, presumably because he's just too classy to do such things.

OKAY, JOHN, IS IT "OHIO" OR
"OHIO STATE" THAT YOU
JUST PLAYED? ALL OF YOUR
PEOPLE ARE CALLING THE
BUCKEYES "OHIO", RIGHT?

And while we're on the topic of sportsmanship, what about your sophomore gunner who flipped-off the Breslin crowd by blowing a kiss at the end of the game on January 25? Is that AOK with you?

Is it okay if a player formally tags their next opponent with the label "little brother" through the media during game week, as one of your employer's football players did only a few months ago?

Who does this Beilein guy think he is, and where does he think he's working? Does he realize that his program is the descendant of the dirtiest program in college basketball history? If one of his players rapes a coed, will he cover it up as long as there are no nasty pre-game videos?

This guy is pretty arrogant for someone who "coached" for more than two decades before reaching Division One college basketball. Hey, maybe he really is a "Michigan Man" after all.




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Wednesday, February 12, 2014

THE BRENDAN GIBBONS CASE: HOW THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN VIOLATED FEDERAL LAW

Most Michigan fans want the Brendan Gibbons rape scandal to "just go away" so they can be done with it. Too bad, they say, it could've been handled better, let's move on. Whenever we try to talk about it, they accuse us of "not caring about the girl" in the case.

Actually, it was the University of Michigan that didn't "care about the girl", even though she was one of their own student-athletes. The public records and event timelines that have been made available through several online sources clearly show that UM tried to cover-up the problem, or at least brushed it aside for several years.

These actions are in violation of "Title IX", a federal law that governs many aspects of public institutions. Dozens of lawyers will eventually handle this case from all sides, and judges (and perhaps juries) will adjudicate it. We're not lawyers here, but we'll do the best we can to explain it for you.

Here is a brief description of the relevant clause of this federal law, as it applies to the Brendan Gibbons rape scandal:
Under Title IX, discrimination on the basis of sex can include sexual harassment, rape, and sexual assault. A college or university that receives federal funds may be held legally responsible when it knows about and ignores sexual harassment or assault in its programs or activities. The school can be held responsible in court whether the harassment is committed by a faculty member, staff, or a student. In some cases, the school must pay the victim money damages.
Here is the link to the source for this summary of the legal obligations of schools that receive federal funding. The key phrase is "knows about and ignores". Let's break that statement down to its two constituent parts and review their application to this case.


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"KNOWS ABOUT":  Did the University of Michigan "know about" this case?

There is literally no question that UM "knew about" this case within several hours of its occurrence:

  • The local police arrested Gibbons before sunrise and held him in jail for questioning. The arrest was reported in local newspapers with the suspect described as "a Michigan football player".
  • Extensive police records were made about the case, so many that it is inconceivable that nobody mentioned anything to anybody on campus about it. Here are the reports.
  • The victim was a scholarship-athlete at UM, and it defies all reasonable belief to think that she did not tell her coach(es) about the incident. She also must have told some friends, many of whom were also students and/or athletes, and story naturally would have spread to many people in the campus community.
  • The local police conducted at least one "wellness check" on the victim, with records of the interviews on public file.
  • According to this source, the victim met personally with as many as two dozen university officials to report the case and pursue justice. She was told there was nothing that could be done about it. Both Gibbons and his victim were reportedly re-located to different dormitories at least once each, moves that could not have happened without Michigan knowing about the case.
  • If university officials hadn't heard about this case by November 2011 (two years afterwards), they certainly heard about it at the UM Board of Regents meeting held on November 17, 2011. It was at this meeting that Douglas Smith openly exposed the case to the President of the University, identifying Gibbons by name. Here is the source. (You will have to scroll way down the screen to find the remarks by Smith.)

There are numerous other "proofs" to establish that officials at the University of Michigan knew about the case against Brendan Gibbons. The next question is whether they "ignored it".


"IGNORED IT":  Did the University of Michigan "ignore" this case?

We must remember how hard it is to "prove a negative" or to show that something is "not there". In order to do so, one must look for evidence that something "is there". The events reported in this case show UM essentially did nothing about this case.

This online source describes how UM proactively worked to protect a different student from various assaults, and asks why the university didn't work so hard to protect the victim of Brendan Gibbons.

A short-cut answer to this question is to say that Michigan ignored the case up until they stopped ignoring it and expelled Gibbons from school after his playing days were just about over. The legal question is whether the four-year delay is long enough to constitute "ignoring". Most people would describe the 200-week lag-time as "ignoring", but this is where the lawyers and judges and/or juries will play their legal role.


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Many UM apologists will claim that this whole story is just the result of an independent muckraker with an axe-to-grind and therefore has no credibility. Not according to The Bleacher Report and many other national media outlets. And more independent groups are reporting the case as well.

The smart people with their ears-to-the-ground are in position to know about this case and are trying to do something about it. I'm talking about the STUDENTS at the University of Michigan who work for the "Michigan Daily", the same group that showed the world how many UM athletes major in "General Studies" a few years ago. The official UM student group is now chasing after the adults in charge of the university who seemed to have covered-up the entire scandal. Hard to believe they will stopped short in their pursuit of justice.

And let's not forget that the case can be re-opened at any time. A recent M-Live report quotes a local police detective as telling the victim four years ago that she need only make a request to have the case re-opened. And if the charges are First Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct, there is no statute-of-limitations at all, meaning she has the rest of her life to make her choice to move forward with prosecution.




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Monday, February 10, 2014

THE STATE OF MICHIGAN IS TURNING GREEN (Part One)

Have you noticed the world turning a little more Green recently? At least it is in the State of Michigan.

First came the football beat-down of Michigan in November 2013. Then the B1G Conference Championship over Ohio STATE in December 2013. Then the Rose Bowl victory over Stanford last month. Those things were apparent to even casual sports fans.

But there are many other signs that the "greening of Michigan" continues.
Readers of the Detroit Free Press voted the MSU Fight Song as the best sports tune in the State, right at the end of November to kick off the Holiday Season.
Miss America attended the Super Bowl and was asked about her alma mater, the University of Michigan, but declined comment, apparently out of a sense of embarrassment.
Only last Wednesday, a high school football player spurned a scholarship offer from Grand Valley State University to be a walk-on at Michigan State instead.
The next day, the National Football League announced invitations for the so-called "NFL Combine", and the list included three players from UM and FOUR FROM MSU.
Then on Friday, President Barack Obama visited MSU for some political event and made a point to hang out with Mark Dantonio and Tom Izzo, apparently to talk about the Rose Bowl and March Madness.

None of these things were likely to have happened in the 70's, 80's, and 90's. The tide started turning for real with the men's basketball National Championship in 2000, with the stage finally reset by the hiring of Mark Dantonio in 2007.

Things are different now than they were before. These changes were not accidental, coincidental, or circumstantial. They come as a result of organized and cohesive efforts by hundreds of staff and students at Michigan State who were determined to see such progress happen.

We should all be taking note of the new landscape and asking ourselves how we want to be in the new world that has grown up all around us. Do we want to be "Spartans", for all of the things that stands for? If so, we have a great counter-example in Ann Arbor. It's time we grow up to be who we are, rather than trying to be "like them".


WE ARE SPARTANS!!




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