TODAY IN chUMp HISTORY: NOVEMBER 5, 2007

To paraphrase the Beatles: "It was eight years ago today, Mark Dantonio turned the tide our way..."

That's right, it was on this date in history, eight years ago, on November 5, 2007, that Michigan State Football Coach Mark Dantonio drew his line-in-the-sand by uttering the now famous admonition, "Pride comes before the fall." We all know what has happened since that time.

The Spartans have defeated the Wolverines seven times in the eight games since then, losing only once by two points on a last-second field-goal in Ann Arbor. MSU has outscored UM by 100 points (224-to-124), winning two league titles and four bowl games along the way.

So while this event may be associated with a date in Michigan State football history, by implication it is also one of the milestone events in Michigan football history. And it has nothing to do with khakis, gatorade on cereal, or worms with machine guns.

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MICHIGAN'S KARMA PAYBACK

What is Karma?

A person's actions deciding their fate in the future. Cause and effect. A fate that ultimately balances success and failure.

UM's Karmic Debt

Even prior to the founding of the State Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the UM arrogance was in full force. When the Michigan Legislature moved UM (then Catholepistemiad, a Jesuit college) to Ann Arbor in the year Michigan became a state, the Legislature gave UM a charter that included agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, mechanics, and a host of other educational programs that would benefit the people of Michigan. UM ignored those common pursuits and, instead, robed itself in an arrogant, elitist attitude that it would be the "Harvard of the West." The reneging of the charter led to the founding of what is now Michigan State University. UM endeavored to keep MSU from being founded.

Ever since its founding in 1855, MSU has suffered the arrogance and nefarious actions by UM, including attempts to steal its Land Grant money, its forestry program, its engineering program, and repeated moves to keep MSU out of the B1G Ten Conference.

There is a lot more, but that will be an article for another day. This is about football.

Flashback to November 3, 2007, East Lansing. It's Coach Dantonio's first game versus UM. It's midway through the 4th period. Michigan State had rallied from a 0-14 halftime deficit to take a 24-14 lead. Chad Henne went down with a twisted ankle. Ryan Mallet came in, botched the snap which bounced once right into the hands of Mike Hart who eeked out an 18 yard 1st down.

Michigan came back to win 28-24. A lucky bounce put the ball into a Wolverine's hands. It could have gone differently, but it counts all the same.

On national TV, post game, Mark Hart (the beneficiary of the bounce) inferred that Michigan had just been playing with the Spartans like an older sibling might do.

“I thought it was funny. They got excited. It’s good. Sometimes you get your little brother excited when you’re playing basketball and you let him get the lead. Then you come back and take it from him.”

Watch Hart's shifty eyes. He knew at the time it was wrong, classless, unsportsmanlike, and arrogant.

• The school, the athletic department and the coaching staff all did and said nothing about it.
• Current and former players, some in the NFL, use it frequently with glee.
• The media embraced it.
• Going into the 2013 UM-MSU game, ABC announced the upcoming program as "Michigan versus Little Brother Michigan State."
• The expression popped up during the B1G Ten Championship game and again in the Rose Bowl by the commentators.

For 2911 days and counting, Spartans have daily suffered the Mike Hart Insult.

UM's Karmic Payback

• Coaching carousel.
• Lloyd Carr was ushered out.
• Rich Rodriguez was brought in and brought NCAA sanctions down on Michigan.
• Brady Hoke led the Ann Arbor squad to ever lower levels of success each year.
• During the first 6 years, UM scoring has dropped, reaching a 46 year low of 6 points in 2013.
• Lots of individual, team, and program records set -- all negative. -48 yards rushing is a UM school record.

2007: Coach Dantonio's response to Mike Hart's insult:

"It's not over. It'll never be over here. It's just starting."

Flash forward to October 17, 2015, Ann Arbor. It's Coach Harbaugh's first game versus MSU. There are 10 seconds on the clock. The score is 23-21. Michigan ball, 4th and 2 at the MSU 47. The punter fumbles the snap, gets it back and is hit. Jalen Watts-Jackson snags the airborne ball and rumbles 38 yards in for the score.

MSU came back to win 27-23. A lucky hit put the ball into a Spartan's hands. It could have gone differently, but it counts all the same. Jim Harbaugh, the "Messiah of Michigan Football," became the 7th UM coach (67 years) to lose his first game against MSU. Coach Dantonio went to 7-2 versus UM.

The day before the 2015 game, Mike Hart stated that making his comments was a mistake. Even with that, he tries to put the blame on MSU.

"There was something that week he had read several Michigan State players say — he can’t specifically recall what it was — but it stuck in his head."

Karma

2007 Michigan comeback win 28-24.

"Sometimes you get your little brother excited when you're playing basketball and you let him get the lead. Then you come back and take it from him."

2015 Michigan State comeback win 27-23.

"Sometimes you get your little brother excited when you're playing basketball and you let him get the lead. Then you come back and take it from him."

After the game, I copied a post written by a UM fan, "East Arbor," on the M-Live message boards (10/21/15).

"This is the Mike Hart curse at work. You would think that after years of annual bluster, unfounded arrogance, planting spikes, and repeated losses stretching over the better part of a decade, that the program and fan base would reflect on how foolish these sophomoric pregame antics are perceived by the prevailing opponent. But that's not likely to change - perhaps the theory is to keep it up and by the law of averages, at some point there will be a victory for the Champs of the World, at which point a decade's worth of blueballs bravado can finally be spurted into Sparty's face. But by that time, it will be nothing more than an aberration rather than some sort of kingly proclamation of elite status."

There are a few Wolverines that get it. Maybe when a tens of thousands get it Karma will get back in balance. Until then...

It's just starting.

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The Dantonio Prophesies

Flashback to November 3, 2007, East Lansing.
It's midway through the 4th period. Michigan State had rallied from a 0-14 halftime deficit to take a 24-14 lead. Chad Henne went down with a twisted ankle. Ryan Mallet came in, botched the snap which bounced once right into the hands of Mike Hart who eeked out a 1st down. Momentum shifted. Michigan took the ball down the field and scored. Michigan State punted on the next possession, a 3 and out. Michigan drove down the field and scored to take a 28-24 lead. Michigan State drove to the Michigan 42 and turned the ball over on downs. All in all a good game with lots of on the field drama. A lucky bounce of the ball, which could have gone either way, decided the game.

After the game, Mark Hart on national TV, inferred that Michigan had just been playing with the Spartans like an older sibling might do.

“I thought it was funny. They got excited. It’s good. Sometimes you get your little brother excited when you’re playing basketball and you let him get the lead. Then you come back and take it from him.”

Watch the video. Watch his shifty eyes. He knew exactly what he was doing and knew it was wrong. It was classless. It was unsportsman like. Rivalry or not, one does not embarass or humiliate the team or person you just beat. His comments reek of arrogance.

What were the reactions to insult? The school? Crickets. Lloyd Carr and the UM coaching staff? More crickets. If there was anything said to Hart about it, it was kept quiet. The UM fans? They embraced it. Why, now, they had a new, creative insult! The media? They had a field day with it. Some prime examples: Going into the UM-MSU game last season, ABC announced it as "Michigan versus Little Brother Michigan State." The expression popped up during the B1G Ten Championship game and again in the Rose Bowl by the commentators. The UM players? Over the past 7 years there have been numerous uses by them.

On the Spartan side, when asked about it, Coach Dantonio responded with 2 memorable quotes.

"The pride comes before the fall."
"It's not over. It will never be over here. It's just starting."

Pride:
People often do not understand that pride in the context of that paraphrased scripture quote is not a good thing. It is conceit, hubris, arrogance, or a lofty and arrogant assumption of superiority. The full verse from Proverbs 16:18: "Pride comes before destruction, and arrogance before the fall."

Dantonio's quoting that passage has proven to be a prophesy of Biblical proportions.

Lloyd Carr ended his coaching career. Rich Rodriguez was brought in and brought NCAA sanctions down on Michigan. Brady Hoke was brought in and with initial success using the Rodriguez team and playbook has led the Ann Arbor squad to lower levels of success each year. Lots of individual, team, and program records set -- all negative. Players have been arrested and convicted. Recruits are turning away. The current coach and athletic director are under fire. The students and fans are in revolt.

In fact, the Michigan football team record looks like Hart's little brother, "...you let him get the lead. Then you come back and take it from him."

3-8
5-7
7-6
11-2
8-5
7-6
3-4 (season in progress)

We have seen the UM arrogance for decades. In 1978, Darryl Rogers refered to UM as:

"Those arrogant asses in Ann Arbor."

Now we are seeing the fall. Starting after the Hart Insult, MSU has racked up a 5-1 record versus UM. The sole loss came as hundreds of thousands of UM fans held their breath for 2 minutes while their team made a last second field goal to win 12-10.

A digression:
Funny thing about the UM arrogance. I was at a sports bar watching the game. There were some 20 UM fans and me. When the field goal was made, they cried out, "Little Brother." So relieved were they that the Spartans hand not won a 5th in a row that they totally forgot it was the 900th program win. Think about that. It was more important to them to beat MSU than it was to set an all-time NCAA record.

During those 6 years, UM scoring has steadily dropped, reaching a 10 year low of 6 points (-48 yards rushing) last year.

Since Coach Dantonio arrived, it has started.
7-6
9-4
6-7
11-2
11-3
7-6
13-1
6-1 (season in progress)

7 consecutive bowls. 3-4 record.
Currently on a 3-game bowl winning streak
2 Division Championships
2 Conference Championships
1 Rose Bowl win
13-game conference winning streak

There's a lot more: Individual, team, and program records; vastly improved recruiting; ever increasing numbers of players starting in the NFL; and near-zero off-the field issues.

And...
This will be the 7th year since the infamous Hart made his disparaging remarks.

And 7 is a number of Biblical significance.

The pride comes before the fall.
It isn't over.
It's just starting.

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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 FALL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LITTLE MISSYGAN

I was mulling over the Hart Insult and thought there was a correlation with the current season. There is, but I also found it more appropriate to view this as Coach Dantonio did back then.

Proverbs 16:18 - Pride comes before destruction, and arrogance before the fall.

08/31/13 vs Central Michigan _ 59-9 led to arrogance
09/07/13 vs Notre Dame _____  41-30 led to arrogance
09/14/13 vs Akron __________ 28-24 led to self-delusion & arrogance
09/21/13 at Connecticut ______ 24-21 led to self-delusion & arrogance
10/05/13 vs Minnesota _______ 42-13 led to arrogance
10/12/13 at Penn State _______  40-43 stumbling, a foreshadowing of THE FALL
10/19/13 vs Indiana  _________ 63-47 led to greater arrogance
11/02/13 at Michigan State ____  6-29 THE FALL - totally dominated
11/09/13 vs Nebraska ________ 13-17 again, THE FALL - again dominated

It seems Nebraska watched the film. Do you suppose others have, too?

What happens now?

11/16/13 at Northwestern - projected loss
11/23/13 at Iowa - projected loss
11/30/13 vs Ohio State - no need to guess - loss

So, this season U. of Little Missygan (UolM) was allowed to get all excited with wins over lackluster opponents, then was totally dominated when the real competition started. Instead of improving as the competition grew more intense, the UolM ball club has gone into a retrograde mode and there is no end to THE FALL in sight.

Projected season results:
5-0 arrogance
1-1 stumbling
0-5 THE FALL

It isn't over. It's just starting.

2014 will not be any better:  Requiem for the chUMps

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