tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35971090.post6973797981590200692..comments2023-12-21T10:20:43.344-05:00Comments on The Hoover Street Rag: Mr. JonesGeoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461267960136260783noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35971090.post-4994300800407500672018-10-22T17:11:45.487-04:002018-10-22T17:11:45.487-04:00Thanks, @Craig. Elie Wiesel once said the opposite...Thanks, @Craig. Elie Wiesel once said the opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference. So personally, I opposite-of-love MSU. I'm glad my school's football program isn't run the way theirs is, but in the end that's their problem and I've only got brain space for them one week a year. Now, I live out of state in Tampa Bay, so maybe it's easier to say that from a distance — but it's not like we don't have all the Spartans (and Buckeyes) we need down here, either. <br /><br />But even if people do want to go even beyond a "these slights shall not stand" attitude and muster up some OSU-like hate for MSU, I still get it. I feel like the rivalry has been pushed that way for a while now, so it doesn't surprise me. It's not where I'd go, but I'm not going to gasp and clutch my pearls when Chase Winovich embraces that hate in his postgame interview. I have two teenagers of my own, and I know how it goes when you tell them to take the high road. This wind wasn't sown by Michigan, but it was sown anyway. Time to reap the whirlwind.<br /><br />What I do worry about is whether there's a difference between emotion and blinding emotion. I'm fine if we decide we want to match MSU's hate with the passion of a thousand suns — just don't let it make us <i>become</i> MSU.<br /><br />Michigan's probably got more big boosters now than in the past (or at least their profile is higher), but it still feels to me like their influence is outweighed by students, fans and alumni like us. Stephen Ross backed Dave Brandon, at least publicly, long after it was clear he needed to go. It was the convention called on Mark Schlissel's lawn that carried the day.<br /><br />So, as students, fans and alumni, it matters what we want. And we need to maintain our willingness to burn a winning program down to the ground (like we did with basketball post-Ed Martin — if it shows signs of rot, even if those rivals we hate revel in it. A lot of Michigan fans already get that. The way things are headed, more of us need to. <br /><br />Anyway, thanks for the kind words and for tolerating my lllooonnng rant. I love your blog, and Go Blue.Mgrad92https://www.blogger.com/profile/03628713254118779325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35971090.post-3659373029723502522018-10-22T16:12:46.798-04:002018-10-22T16:12:46.798-04:00@mgrad92
I thank you for this because it is an ex...@mgrad92<br /><br />I thank you for this because it is an excellent point. Perhaps it's not so much loathing, even though the emotionality of Saturday would have made me get there, as much as "accept no slights" which is admittedly, reactive and potentially still problematic, but this is a great great point.Craig Barkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17397826983297392993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35971090.post-12267603900311661282018-10-22T14:32:20.748-04:002018-10-22T14:32:20.748-04:00I scrupulously avoid worrying about things I can&#...I scrupulously avoid worrying about things I can't do anything about — but I know Michigan State has ached for this rivalry to be bitter, hate-soaked and classless since at least 2007. I can't make people start or stop hating MSU, so I'm not going to worry about whether they do — but I'll certainly lose zero sleep over Spartan tears about finally getting what they've wanted. <br /><br />However.<br /><br />I have a lingering sense MSU has used their hate for Michigan to justify overlooking a multitude of sins in their athletic programs over the years, whether it's PED abuse, slaps on the wrists for arrests, more serious accusations swept over the rug, etc. As long as you're getting over on Michigan, they'll overlook that stuff — and I feel like that's a problem. <br /><br />If you say you want to match MSU fans loathing for loathing, I'll say ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. But the trick is going to be keeping that hate from ever blinding you to the corrosion of your program's values.Mgrad92https://www.blogger.com/profile/03628713254118779325noreply@blogger.com