"COMPLETION" / OFF-SEASON FAN EXPERIENCE: ATownAndDown Responds with Optimism

Original Post:
AFTER "COMPLETION", ARE YOU REALLY READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?
Wow. What a strange college football off-season. In the past, there was a sense of unfinished business, the need to right the wrongs of the past season and even decades of MSU football (or chUMp mythology), the need to scratch and claw for progress - for that seat at the table, for respect. In the past, I eagerly awaited each ... Read More

Reaction:

MSUspartan76 Responds HERE

ATownAndDown Responds Below

In my honest opinion, that feeling you have sounds a lot like complacency. That feeling that everything is complete and perfect can quickly turn to "remember the good ole days?" because the world keeps moving around you and if you are not moving forward you are moving backward.

MSU is on a whole new level. While Coach D and company are looking at one game at a time, we know there is more in the Spartans sights than a B1G Championship. I wrote about it last year with the whole perception thing. If you want to get a seat at the big boys table you have to go out and win big games. We beat OSU. We beat Stanford. All we can do is keep winning.

But its different. MSU is not the underdog team with the scrappy defense. Now MSU is the team with the target on their back. Oregon would love to notch that win onto their playoff resume. Every team in the B1G has MSU circled. That is what happens as you move up the ranks. Other teams want to beat you for more than just addition to their win column.

Of course there is room for a huge let down for MSU this year but don't you have to have big time potential to be let down? At the same time this is not your dad's Michigan State Spartans. The defense is trying to replace 6 starters and some great leaders. At the same time the offense was really grooving by the end of the season and looks like its going to take a few steps forward with some added weapons and a QB that has free reign to audible at the line. So is what the defense give up from last year made up for by the offense? Have to keep in mind that last year MSU didn't win on a couple of lucky bounces. Most of those wins once the B1G season started were games MSU controlled.

The real test is taking the next step. Is MSU ready for the big time? Coach D and his staff are keeping these guys hungry for more. There is new blood that is pushing the vets to play better. Cook said that the Mannie workouts this off-season were the hardest he has had to endure. Complacency is not in the minds of the team. They want more. Fans should enjoy the spoils of a victorious season in 2013 but we should want more too.

~ATownAndDown

See ATown's Posts on M-Live HERE

See ATown's Posts on this site HERE

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"COMPLETION" / OFF-SEASON FAN EXPERIENCE: MSUspartan76 Responds with Passion

Original Post:
AFTER "COMPLETION", ARE YOU REALLY READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?
Wow. What a strange college football off-season. In the past, there was a sense of unfinished business, the need to right the wrongs of the past season and even decades of MSU football (or chUMp mythology), the need to scratch and claw for progress - for that seat at the table, for respect. In the past, I eagerly awaited each ... Read More

Reaction:
ATownAndDown Responds HERE

MSUspartan76 Responds Below

It was not a strange off-season for me. The same old insults, derogatory comments, lack of respect for the program, and media flame fanning continued unabated. Almost everything I read had this team or that losing starters, but since they had high star count recruiting classes all would be well. MSU lost starters from a deep rotation and it was foredoomed they would become mediocre again. Same old disparagement towards the Spartans.

I was in E. Lansing for the Game of the Century. I was at MSU for Duffy's last season. I have been the loyal Spartan fan for all these decades, never once turning off a game or walking out on one. Regardless of how it went. I watched the Spartans play, watched the game dramas unfold, and when it was over, got ready for the next. What is different this year is the level of uncertainty is way down. The team is healthy, well rounded, and experienced. It will be a better team than last year. We can and should expect more success.

In the off season, I became more in tune with the nuances of recruiting, not less. I watched the spring game with great interest to see if I could spot an Achilles' heel. I watched and read all I could about the team and each time confidence grew.

When Coach Dantonio said, "Completion. Completion." he did not mean the job was done. He meant the goals set had been achieved. From there he has set new, loftier goals. "Why not us?" Why not, indeed. Completion of PHASE I. Yes. Now on to Phase II.

You left out part of the quote: "It's not over. It will never be over here." is always followed by "It's just starting." It's true. It's just starting. What is starting? Simple. The Phoenix of the lost Spartan dynasty. We need not go over history to see how the dynasty of the "Nation's Football Factory" crashed and burned. What we have now is ALL of the pieces in place to continue where it was left off 50 years ago. How can I state that so strongly? The culture has changed. 60 MINUTES OF NECESSARY TOUGHNESS. Sorry Coach Narduzzi, you had the right idea but you said it wrong.

That idea there could be a problem handling success is just another media attempt to fan the flames. The players have no problem handling success. Look at what those kids did during the off season. They raised the bar on strengh and conditioning. They went out and practice on their own more than any prior year. The Spartans know the way to handle success is with more success. And with that, continued success. It's not just 2013 that counts. Since Mark Dantonio arrived, MSU has broken and set dozens of records. There are more ahead of us, too.

If they lose, it will not be because of anything other than the other team beat them. Their psyche is fine. Excellent in fact.

My expectations, or more to the question of how the Spartans could exceed my expectations? My expectations are simple. The team will go into every game, be the best they can be, and give the 60 full minutes of necessary toughness.

What could get us into real bummer territory? The only bummer is if, for whatever reason, MSU no longer fields a team and that will never happen.

Yes. I most definitely am ready for some football.

Huzzah! It's just starting.

~ MSUspartan76

See '76's past posts on this site HERE

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AFTER "COMPLETION", ARE YOU REALLY READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?

Wow. What a strange college football off-season. In the past, there was a sense of unfinished business, the need to right the wrongs of the past season and even decades of MSU football (or chUMp mythology), the need to scratch and claw for progress - for that seat at the table, for respect.

In the past, I eagerly awaited each verbal commitment from a recruit and kicked the dirt when programs from out of state or Ann Arbor scored on a kid "we" wanted. I would follow the National Signing Day (why is that capitalized nowadays?) as if it were a crystal ball into the future of the Spartan program. Every transfer, surgery, rehab, off-field transgression, or news of a kid being "a beast" meant something to me. Every negative or positive article about Spartans football or spring practice, and every reader comment, every inaccurate perception, every lie or painful truth increased or decreased the chances of getting more/better recruits - at least in my mind. It was dramatic, fun and maddening all at once. Then summer would arrive and I would long for fall to rush in, introducing a new Spartans football team and a new hope that all would righted "this year" with a magical season (which to me meant more/better recruits again). It was a vicious, seemingly never ending annual cycle.

Then, on January 1, 2014, at the culmination of 2013 football season, our coach, Mark Dantonio, uttered the words that crushed the head of that crazy, ongoing, MSU football fan grind - that grind which almost became my identity and was the very soul for thousands of Spartans fans. Coach D was asked what the Rose Bowl victory (and by default, the whole magical season) meant. His answer? "Completion. Completion." He said it twice as if to stomp on the head of the snake and then to grind it into the ground, leaving no doubt - that the evil annual ritual was dead.

Or does it only seem like that? 

This off season was different for me. I was not attached to every move, every development, verbal commitment, NSD, spring practice, the manufactured drama of summer news posts about "my" team or that other team. For the first time, I'm not really sure I'm ready for it to all start again. It has been so peaceful, so... complete. No longer does success at MSU seem like a temporary experience. No longer do Spartans need to put chUMps in their place when they rear their arrogant heads and say something stupid. They are already in their place. Even most chUMps are asking fellow chUMps to dUMp the Little Brother references (although we all know it will be quick to re-appear at the first opportunity). No longer does the perception of off-field issues plague the program like it does most every other program including the problems hitting the team down the road. Even if  there is headline tomorrow about a stupid thing an MSU player did, it is undeniable that Coach Dantonio runs a tight ship. No longer do we squabble about where or IF the Spartans deserve to be ranked in the pre-season top 25. It's a "just win baby" world now. No longer do I have this drive to post my opinions on-line or even on my own blog. The team's success did all the talking that was necessary. We have experienced "completion". Or at least it feels like that in so many ways. 

Was it just me or is this puzzling calm something others experienced too?

We all know the truth. MD prophesied, "It's not over. It will never be over here."

So, my personal psychoanalysis makes me wonder. How many other fans experienced what I have this off season? Is there a part of that "completion" feeling deep in the psyche of players and/or coaches? How will it effect performance? While the media builds it up, something about it seems conspired. There are a lot of teams with high expectations. They all can't get "there". How many times have we seen teams tabbed as one of the best teams ever - or best in the last decade lose a game or two - or three? How will the Spartans players and fans handle the first let down (if there is one) and the second or third? No one is tabbing MSU football as the best college football team in the past decade, yet it seems fans and media alike are forgetting that a two or three loss season may be just as likely - or even more likely - than a one loss or undefeated season. Is it totally outrageous to think that MSU could lose at Oregon and at Penn State in the last game of the year PLUS a game in between (Nebraska, UM, tOSU or a less likely suspect)? Some of the media are catching on to the potential big let down as described HERE, but they are a voice in the wilderness.

• So how has last year's success and the general health of the program affected your off-season psyche?
• What would the Spartans need to accomplish to EXCEED your expectations?
• What results would get us into real bummer territory?
• Are you really ready for some football?
• Check back with SpartanResource.com to read the reactions from M-Live frequent comment contributors ATownAndDown, MSUspartan76 and others.

See MSUspartan76's response HERE
See ATownAndDown's response HERE


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The Most Hated CFB Programs in the Country: chUMp Nation Wins

Which college football programs are hated in each state? According to this survey taken from a sample size of 7,865 responses from around the country, the results look like this... 



For the hard data, click HERE.


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