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.

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.

NOW FOR THE "GAME AFTER MICHIGAN"

Ancient legends tell us of a time when Michigan State Football was likely to lose the next game they played after a big upset victory, especially after defeating Michigan. Does anybody remember those days?

UM fans can enjoy those faded images of days-gone-by along with their love for leather-helmets and the Wing-T formation. Because they are no longer to be found in modern football.

We addressed the end of this mythology two years ago, when MSU was actually undefeated in games played after playing the Wolverines under Mark Dantonio. Then, last year, the Spartans joined 14 other teams on the losing end of a game with eventual National Champion, Ohio State.

Below is a reprint of the original article, with game scores updated from last year.

++++++++++

The Michigan Mainstream Media Machine (M-4) would have us believe that Michigan State "can't handle success", and after winning a big game, the green-and-white revert to the "Same Old Spartans" and take a beating the next game. They never say that about UM.

Turns out this is another example of how the tables have already turned under MSU Head Coach Mark Dantonio. Instead of the SOS fairy tale, it's actually the S.O.W. ("Same Old Wolverines") who can't handle playing against MSU, regardless of whether they win or lose.

Here are the game results for the MSU Football team in the game following their match-up against UM:

• 2014 game after playing UM: Lost to Ohio State, 49-37
• 2013 game after playing UM: Beat Nebraska, 41-28
• 2012 game after playing UM: Beat Wisconsin, 16-13
• 2011 game after playing UM: Beat Wisconsin, 37-31
• 2010 game after playing UM: Beat Illinois, 26-6
• 2009 game after playing UM: Beat Illinois, 24-14
• 2008 game after playing UM: Beat Wisconsin, 25-24
• 2007 game after playing UM: Beat Purdue, 48-31

The FACT is that MSU has won their next game after playing UM for seven of the last eight years. Seems like our Spartans have handled success under Coach Mark Dantonio.

What about those wonderful weasels? Again, here are the numbers:

• 2014 game after playing MSU: Beat Indiana, 34-10
• 2013 game after playing MSU: Lost to Nebraska, 17-13
• 2012 game after playing MSU: Lost at Nebraska, 23-9
• 2011 game after playing MSU: Beat Purdue, 36-14
• 2010 game after playing MSU: Lost to Iowa, 38-28
• 2009 game after playing MSU: Lost at Iowa, 30-28
• 2008 game after playing MSU: Lost at Purdue, 48-42
• 2007 game after playing MSU: Lost at Wisconsin, 37-21

Upon review, it's the SOWs who can't handle the letdown after playing Michigan State, as they are now 2-6 after playing the Dantonio-led Spartans.

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THE SPARTANS HAVE OUTSCORED THE WOLVERINES IN FOOTBALL THIS CENTURY

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 MSU and/or the TRUTH, we will present the alternative viewpoints of reality. We will always be "fact-based" in our process.

We reported yesterday that the football series between the two school, since the beginning of the millennium, is TIED, "even-steven", at eight wins apiece. Neither team has a lead over the other during this century. We even extended the definition of "millennium" to include the year 2000, even though some would claim that year belongs to the previous century. We refuse to "fudge the facts" even if it makes our side look a little better.

We are now pleased to report that the MSU Football Team has out-scored the UM Football team in games played since the year 2000 (inclusive).

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. 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?

Dantonio said after the game that he and his staff are trying to coach their players to win with dignity and sportsmanship. I think that's more than just a line for the press conference. I think he really is trying to do that. It remains unclear whether that motivation is on the agenda in Wolverine Country.

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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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SPORTS MEDIA DECLARES BIG MICHIGAN BASKETBALL VICTORY AFTER RIVALRY GAME

(July is "Beilein Month" - - - originally published on 2-2-15)

Well, I've heard about enough, how about you? All of the commentary and analysis after the VICTORY BY MICHIGAN STATE at the Breslin on Sunday seems to be declaring the Michigan Wolverines as the "actual winner" of the game. Huh?

I was there, and I saw a very close game won by the home team in an overtime period during which the visitor did not even score a single point. How often does a team get literally shut-out in OT? How much credit are the Spartans getting for the win? Obviously, not much.

The Michigan Mainstream Media Machine (M-4) is at it again, working in full gear to convince folks that UM is still the straw that stirs the drink. Here's the way it apparently works:

If UM wins, they are the winner, and

if UM loses, they are still "the winner".

The pre-game coronation ceremony began with an article by Drew Sharp, in which he declared that John Beilein was a better coach than Tom Izzo (at least "right now", whatever that means). So, despite the fact that Izzo has multiple career accomplishments that exceed or even dwarf those of Beilein, the M-4 wants you to believe that the UM guy is better than the MSU guy.

Then MSU wins the game, running their rivals literally off the court in OT, and the enthronement continues throughout the sports media, as they marvel at the wondrous achievements of the Michigan Basketball program. Even as most observers are expecting UM to miss out on the Big Dance for the 15th time in 20 seasons.

Beilein's Boys did a good job on Sunday, putting up a credible fight against their rivals during their "down season", so why isn't that story-line good enough? Why must the losers be crowned as the winners in the arena of public opinion?

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BEILEIN CRAPS OUT ON RECRUITING TRAIL

(originally published on 11-14-14)

"National Signing Day" for college basketball was on Wednesday, November 12, as a thousand or more players across the country signed their binding letters-of-intent at hundreds of different schools. But the University of Michigan did not sign a single player for their 2015 recruiting class.

I was surprised to find out that John Beilein has an empty recruiting class. We have quite honestly been more focused recently on football recruiting. Beilein still has the rest of this week to find some warm bodies, plus the late-signing period comes up next April. But the vast majority of players who will play basketball at the vast number of schools who offer it sent in their LOI's on Wednesday.

UM has not registered a zero on the recruiting trail for as long as rankings are listed on the Rivals web sites. Those rankings go back to 2002, and the Wolverines have never had a blank list during that time. They signed only one player in only one year (2004 - Ron Coleman).

Michigan State during that same time period also never had a zero-sum recruiting class. The Spartans had three years in which they had only two players since 2002, but never only one or none.

That John Beilein is crazy like a fox. He must know what he's doing, right? After all, this is Michigan for gosh sakes. He must figure that taking six players last year, then red-shirting none of them, then letting one recruiting class go by the wayside, is the way to go.

Where did you first hear this story?

Probably right here, as we haven't seen

any coverage of this in any sports media

during the past few days.

This is an actual STORY, it's "news".

It's something that has never happened before. Why doesn't the Michigan

Mainstream Media Machine report on it?

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SPORTS MEDIA LOVE AFFAIR WITH JIM HARBAUGH KNOWS NO BOUNDARIES

(originally published on 5-21-15)

We talk a lot about the discrepancy between REALITY and ILLUSION that is propagated daily by the local sports media in favor of the University of Michigan. In fact, that's the main reason why this web site exists, to bridge the information gap that serves to prop-up the image of UM. If the sports media were fair and balanced and impartial when covering their beloved Wolverines, we would have little reason to contribute our material for your review.

The National Sports Media often climbs right on the Michigan Bandwagon and starts blowing the horn for yellow-and-blue. This week, the Michigan Mainstream Media Machine (M-4) took to the Internet once again, proudly proclaiming that Jim Harbaugh is the #6 Coach in college football.

Hold on, now, Harbaugh hasn't coached a college game in more than four years. He's never had more than three winning seasons in a row as a college coach, and only one winning season in his last four years as a college coach. How does he make it on such a list?

The only explanation is that his "credentials" include professional coaching in the NFL. Yet there are no other NFL coaches on this recently published list. No Belichick, no Carroll, not even a Harbaugh named "John". So it must be that NFL credentials can't get great coaches on this list, unless......unless......unless their name is Jim Harbaugh and they proudly wear Khakis while tweeting love letters to the girlfriends of high school athletes.

What's next, a list showing Tom Brady 

as the #6 "college quarterback"?

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SOME MORE STUFF ABOUT JIM HARBAUGH

(originally published on 1-7-15)

Part Seven

Jim Harbaugh returns to Michigan with a reputation as a "winner", and by now, every true-blue UM fan has his team records memorized. They can tell you all about San Diego and San Francisco and Stanford. But what about Harbaugh's record at the University of Michigan?

His four years in Ann Arbor yielded an overall winning record, as did anybody who played under Bo Shembechler. After all, Coach Glenn only had one non-winning year, with a 6-6 finish in 1984. That year was unusual, with a lot of injuries, and a starting quarterback named Jim Harbaugh.

Wait, what's that you say? Harbaugh was QB for Shembechler's worst team at Michigan? That's absolutely correct. The Wolverines were 6-6 in 1984 with a come-from-ahead bowl game loss.

Hold on, did you just say that "Captain Comeback" lost a game in which his team held a half-time lead? That's absolutely correct. Michigan led Brigham Young 15-13 at the half, only to lose, 22-15.

Harbaugh's record as a player at UM also included three bowl-game losses in four tries. And yes, he lost to Michigan State.

So there still seems to be "more to the story" about Harbaugh than what UM officials are talking about, and perhaps much more than the Michigan Mainstream Media Machine is letting on.

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KYLE AUSTIN JOINS "BLUE WALL GROUP"

We like the M-Live web site, we read the articles, we survey the comment threads, and many of us chip in with a few choice words now and then. We appreciate the multitude of articles on Spartan sports, the numbers of which are gradually gaining on the non-stop avalanche of coverage they provide for that school down in Ann Arbor. I remember in the month of May 2011, there were only five MSU sports articles - - - for the entire month - - - while UM coverage that same month comprised more than 30 articles. I would say the "gap is closing" on M-Live.

But Kyle Austin has now established M-Live as part of the Sports Media "Blue Wall". Sad to see, he described Michigan State as "Michigan" in a recent article. Some would call this a "typo", but that's total bunk. If the New York Times described the commander-in-chief as "President Biden", would that be a typo? If CBS News reported on ISIS by calling them NATO, would that be a "typo"?

Here is a look at the article:

M-LIVE ARTICLE FROM MARCH 30, 2015

Here is a closer look at the problem:

MICHIGAN STATE REFERRED TO AS "MICHIGAN"

This is bad, but what makes it worse is that at least two readers left comments on the article pointing out the "typo", yet Austin has not corrected the copy. So far, it stands as written, as if M-Live was "standing behind" the reference.

TWO READERS POINT OUT THE "TYPO"

A THIRD READER ASKS FOR THE "TYPO" TO BE CORRECTED

We've seen reader comments on other M-Live articles that point out "typos" or incorrect stats, and generally the author of the article makes the correction and thanks the reader. But not in this case. We don't like to think that M-Live is just another arm of the Michigan Mainstream Media Machine, despite the obvious clue offered by its name.

We call on Kyle Austin to make the correction.

It's the only thing he can do at this point to support

the claim that it was, after all, only a "typo".

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