The 2011 Favorite Spartan Bracket -- The Mason Region
by Pete Rossman on May 19, 2011 7:00 PM CDT
in Michigan State Spartans News Roundup
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PrintHere comes the second of the four regions for the 2011 Favorite Spartan Bracket! Before its debut, a couple notes:
- You're not voting in these threads for who you want to advance (although you're more than free to pontificate away). Each matchup will have a separate thread with a poll, including information on each athlete.
- Remember, you're voting for your favorite Spartan, not the most accomplished one.
That said, without further ado:
Thoughts on this side:
- If this were a Spartan blog independent of NHL biases, Duncan Keith might have had a shot. Instead, I've got a feeling he goes down, and not just because he's up against one of the best-ever running backs in Spartan history.
- It's another back-up against All-American, as Isaiah Dahlman takes on one of the greats from the 60s, George Webster.
- The next matchup is about moments: Anthony "Pig" Miller delivering a double-fingered salute at Crisler arena vs. Justin Abdelkader delivering quite possibly the moment of the last decade with his NCAA winning goal. This could come down to your feelings about SpaceJam -- Miller was in it, while I can only assume Abdelkader watched it.
- I didn't completely keep track, but I have a feeling Alyssa DeHaan got the most nominations if we're including replies and what not. Her opponent is an MLB hall-of-famer, pitcher Robin Roberts.
After the jump, the second half of the Mason Region.
More thoughts!
- I think Shawn Respert only had one nomination, but I have a rule -- if I can remember you beat cancer, you're pretty much getting into this thing. He'll face one of the key members of the Flintstones, Antonio Smith.
- Fresh off a training stint with the U-23 National Team, soccer star Laura Heyboer will face Shannon Brown, one of the most dynamic dunkers to wear Green and White. Geez, I miss the days where him and Maurice Ager were good for 2-3 dunks per game.
- This is a loaded bracket in some parts, and here's one of the doozies. T.J. Duckett and Morris Peterson? I don't envy y'all one bit trying to decide that one.
- To round off the bracket, we've got Avery Steinlage (goalie who set the NCAA record for consecutive shutout minutes) going against Plaxico Burress. I know Plaxico pulled one of the all-time boneheaded moves and might not deserve inclusion. Multiple posters nominated him however, and if you feel like he should be out, let your vote be heard.
That's half the bracket so far, and the other half will be out soon. What do y'all think?
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Tougher choices this round...
Ringer, Webster, Abs, DeHaan
Tone, Shannon, Morris and Plax.
Toughest to send home: Respert and Pig. Those are the guys I watched in the Spirits/Izzone and the guys whose team left me drunkenly screaming “What the *&^% is a Weber” in the streets of East Lansing one terrible night in March 1995.
this one is a lot tougher.
Javon ringer and duncan keith right off the bat. sheesh
Keith
Dahlman
Kader
DeHaan
Respert
Brown
Duckett
Burgess
Antonio Smith vs. Shawn Respert
Why would you do this to us? This is probably a harder pick than TJ Ducket vs Mo Pete. Smith is the founding member of what became the Flintstones and arguably on of the best post-defenders Izzo ever had. Respert was my favorite player growing up, I remember bawling my eyes out at 8 years old during the loss in 1995 ending his career at MSU. He is probably the best 3 point shooter and one of the most prolific scorers Jud ever had. These guys are too close to pick.
I think the younger players will beat out the older ones because not all of us are as old as me.
Ringer
Dahlman (I always wished he got more playing time)
Abdelkader
DeHaan
Respert
Brown (Mostly because if minute to win it)
Duckett (First tough choice, but gotta go with Duckett for the 1 second to go catch)
Plaxico
votes - Mason region
Keith
Webster
Abdelkader
DeHaan
Smith
Brown
MoPete
Steinlage
duckett and mo pete
might be the best matchup to date. both in school at arouond the same time. both highly decorated. it almost comes down to what you follow more. which is why i went tj. also, you see him on campus a lot giving autographs and taking pictures. seems like a nice dude.
votes
Javon Ringer gets through, he was solid as can be. Easy pick.
I’ll vote Webster here, but will admit I had to wiki his accomplishments. Two national titles in a weird, un-unified time in college football? Good enough to get passed a career bench contributer on the bball team.
I’ll take Abdelkader over Miller. Though these two guys should be facing TJ Ducket and MoPete as sacrificial lambs, instead of having to lose one of those guys early.
Robin Roberts for contributions to ESPN on behalf of Sparty.
Respert, without a doubt advances. He was THE MAN circa 1995. People forget how much of the man he was. Better than Eric Snow was in college, though Snow had the better NBA career. Even though he recently ingnored my LinkedIn request, he still gets my vote.
Shannon Brown advances, wished he’d stayed 4 years.
TJ Duckett advances – no sound reasoning here other than that I like MoPete as a pro more than I did at State. That was Mateen’s squad.
And Plax advances here. Such a beast…
I dont get
why Roberts is getting so much love here. I frankly think this should be a landslide. I dont mean to rip on you specifically Adam, I just wonder. Are people confusing him with the Good Morning America lady?
Because he’s a HOF baseball player who didnt do much for MSU baseball and while he was good, he is kind of the Phillies version of Jack Morris. We in Detroit love him but noone else cares, and why should they.
DeHaan on the other hand was defensive force, worked hard, blocked like crazy (Big Ten record holder!), continued to keep MSU Women’s basketball in the spotlight after that FF run and the departure of McCallie. And of course it doesnt hurt that shes pretty, but that honestly not why i cast my vote. Id frankly put her above 10 others in the bracket any day of the week.
votes
ringer, webster, Abdelkader, dehaan
Respert, Brown, TJ, Plax
I can’t believe you put Tone vs Respert in the first round. Completely unfair for those guys. TJ and Mo Pete was almost too close to call. If I wouldn’t have been at the last second game vs. UM, I probably would have went a different route.
Winners
Ringer, Webster, Andelkater, DeHaan
Respert, Brown, Duckett, Burress
I can’t believe I just killed MoP and Smith in the first round. Take me now God….
Also
Before everyone goes out and Picks ’Tone for starting the new generation of MSU basketball, I just want to remind everyone that Respert, is the all-time leading scorer at state, is the all-time leading scorer in big ten conference play, and is the all-time leading 3pt shooter in b10 play. Plus he was a stone cold killer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYdmBKhfGsw
I love ‘tone. He was as tough as they come, and he started this awesome run. But look Respert epitomizes Spartans Will. He beats cancer, doesn’t tell anyone, takes the abuse from everyone calling him a flop and finishes a nice career in europe before putting his knowledge to work. Guy is guts.
by hawks22gk on May 20, 2011 10:18 AM CDT reply actions 2 recs
Javon Ringer
George Webster
Justin Abdelkader
Robin Roberts
Shawn Respert
Shannon Brown
TJ Duckett
Plaxico Burress
by Rocketship Richardson on May 20, 2011 10:30 AM CDT reply actions
Votes
Ringer
Dahlman
Abdelkader
Roberts
Smith
Brown
Duckett
Burress
I have a feeling
That Abdelkater is going to wins his matchup, hands-down, Even despite taking those stupid late-game penalties against the Sharks
Ringer (simply for the fact that A. I didnt even know Keith was a Spartan. Oops. Also who doesnt love that play where Ringer slingshot around the whole field when he saw no hole against UM and still gained like 40?)
Webster (Sorry Isaiah, character’s nice but you just weren’t very good.)
Abdelkader! (That GOAL. And reppin’ da Wingz)
Dehaan (Ok. We’ve established shes hot as hell. She also is perhaps our best ever female basketball player, and the all time Big Ten blocks leader I believe. I also dont care about Roberts at all.)
Respert (‘Tone was tough. Respert was a game changer who carried his team to a number one seed)
Brown (My favorite player ever, tough D, great dunks and for palming Patrick Spark’s head)
Peterson (THE alley oop)
Burress (Ok hes an idiot. He also was amazing and we all loved him and still should)
my vote
Ringer
Webster
Abdelkader
Roberts
An. Smith
Brown
Petersen
Steinlage
Votes
Ringer
Ringer
Webster
Abdelkader
Roberts
Smith
Brown
Petersen
Steinlage
Respert
I agree with a lot of the others, brutal matchup putting him up against ‘Tone. I think a lot of it comes down to how long you’ve been really following Spartan hoops. If you were a fan and followed closely while Respert was playing, it would be tough to pick someone over him. Getting to watch someone for 4 years who was so sublimely good at what he did (shooting the basketball) was a joy. For me, I was in middle/high school during his career, which is a great age for having a “favorite” something. He was absolutely, without question, my favorite Spartan of the first 18 years of my life. Hope he gets some love from the others out there, but this whole thing is about personal favorites, not resumes or stats.
"You can look at the dinosaur that weighs you down or you can look at the big pot of gold (and) try to say, 'You know what? I'm going to try to live up to expectations.' " -Tom Izzo, Iron Mountain Philosopher
Note on Plax
Since Pig Miller got a nomination for his nonverbal communication skills with Michigan fans, how about recognizing Plax’s domination of Michigan in the 1999 game, in particular this play against David Terrell. He’ll get my vote based on this game alone (10 catches, 255 yards).
"You can look at the dinosaur that weighs you down or you can look at the big pot of gold (and) try to say, 'You know what? I'm going to try to live up to expectations.' " -Tom Izzo, Iron Mountain Philosopher
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