The Rivalry- I want to move on

So I thought about writing this post before the game last week, but was busy with work.  And too wrapped up in the Tigers playoffs.

In a way I'm glad because the conversation following the game just confirmed what I was feeling. That I'm sort of sick of all of it.

Mike Valenti  covered this in a blog post last week. Here's the link  And here is an excerpt:

Now? I’m done. Don’t get it twisted, I dislike Michigan and always want to win. It’s simply the stress surrounding the game, the fans, and people in general that have soured me on the entire process. There really isn’t much joy. You win and there are a myriad of excuses or rationalizations as to why. You lose? Forget it. Shut the program down and you are the worst school on earth. This bipolar nature of fandom that surrounds almost all rivalries is something I cannot identify with. It’s at the core of my disdain.

So I might as well put the Journalism degree that I don't put to a lot of use at the day job to use and share my thoughts with the TOC community. Lengthy rambling likely to follow after the jump.

Valenti couldn't be more right about the reaction of Michigan fans after we win.  The first win was because of the transition to a new offense.  The second, we were lucky to escape in OT and our run was soon to be over.  The third, Denard was a first year starter.  Now, it's another transition, and oh wait it's because MSU plays dirty, and Coach Dantonio is morally bankrupt, and the program is an embarrassment.  It's predictable and it's annoying.  We could win every game for the next decade and they woudn't stop talking about their overall record, and the prestige of Michigan, and Michigan Men, and winning "the Michigan way" and blah blah blah.

Enough. I don't care anymore. I don't necessarily even blame Michigan fans.  Why wouldn't they  defend their team? That's what fans do. I blame myself for caring what they have to say. And I continue to blame myself since I couldn't help myself from getting into it with one of them on a previous post. And honestly I wish I hadn't bothered, because while it might have made me feel good for standing up for MSU on a message board, it didn't change anyones mind and probably wasn't really worth the effort.

I thought coach Dantonio's response following the 07 loss was absolutely needed. The fanbase and team were beaten down by Michigan. The were waiting for disaster at every turn. He met that head on.  Is it "classy" for a coach to get into it with a kid on another team. Probably not. But it was necessary at the time.  It escalated the stakes of that game for MSU beyone where they had been, which is saying something. 

It's not necessary anymore. This team and program can set its sights higher than the Michigan game. It's still an important game and our biggest rival. But it's not our biggest game of the year this year, and it wasn't last year.  And let's face it, while I hope we win every year, we will lose to them eventually.  But when that happens it won't mean that Michigan is back on top. It will mean that we lost a game.

I don't want to worry about whether Michigan fans approve of our coach or players.  And I hate to say it, but when it comes to discipline, does my own opinion really matter? Let alone a Michigan fan's?

Really who are we to judge? To paraphrase Dantonio's jab at Brandstatter, we don't have relationships with these kids.  We see them for a few hours on Saturdays. And for the record, I for one have disagreed with how Dantonio has handled discipline situations, but really what do I base it off of? Whether I feel embarrassed about my school?  In a lot of ways it would be easier for Dantonio to take a hard line approach to discipline.  He wouldn't have taken heat for never letting Winston, Rucker, or Sims take another snap at MSU.  He took a bunch of heat for letting them stick around.

 And really were those guys the difference between wins and losses? We lost the first game Rucker came back last year.  Sims has done some great things this year, but would our record be any different without him? I don't see him as that kind of difference maker.  Dantonio could have saved himself a lot of grief by just kicking them all out.  But would that have actually been in the best interest of the kids involved? Would Rucker have gotten a chance to play in the NFL after missing half his senior season? What would Sims' future look like if he had been tossed out of school?

I get that this is looking at these situations through the rosiest of glasses.  They could just as easily be for these type of benevolent reasons as they could be become he is some evil genius football coach figuring out how to win regardless of any consequences.  But judging by everything that is said about the guy away from the field I think the first option is more likely than the second.  But really that's not even what I am trying to argue. My point is I don't have any way of knowing.  And certainly neither do Michigan fans. We want to believe the best, they want to believe the worst, and neither side is likely to change.

How does this relate to the topic of the week? In my opinion Gholston should be suspended. But if he's not, I don't really care if Michigan people want to attack our integrity as an institution.  Because while I might not agree with every decision Dantonio makes, I'm pretty confident he is much more qualified to make them than anyone else is. 

So, let them think what they want from their perceived moral high ground.  And they can win recruiting championships every year too. Sure it would be better to beat them for recruits than it is too lose to them.  But they "outrecruited" us a lot under Rich Rod too, and look how that has turned out.  I'll stick with Dantonio's track record with the players he gets, and the way he develops them.

 I don't want to worry about Michigan. This program is 16-3 in the last two seasons. We have ONE senior starter on what looks like it could be the best defense in the conference.  We have a coach who is committed to being here. A forward thinking athletic director. World class facilities. The future is bright, and what happens in Ann Arbor , good or bad, can't change that.

I hope we beat the pants off of them every year, but win or lose I'm gonna worry about who we play next, and spend my time arguing about the things that fans should argue about. Like whether our running plays are too predictable, or if Narduzzi blitzes too much, or not enough.  Because they are Michigan fans, we can argue till we are blue in the face and it will never change their minds. So what's the point?  It's a lot less stressful, and a lot more fun to cheer for MSU and spend a lot less time thinking about Michigan.  So from now on I'm going to try and ignore all the BS (I might not always succeed) and spend my time thinking about MSU winning lots of football games.