First off -- expect posting to be a bit slow this week. Many of us here are putting together drafts of our pieces for Spartan Tip-Off 2011-2012, and our energies might be devoted elsewhere the next few days. Don't fret, as I'll try to have something up each day, be it FanPost or FanShot or otherwise.
Second, the Favorite Spartan Athlete Bracket soldiers on. We're going to complete this thing one way or another, and today's match-up pits Morris Peterson against T.J. Duckett. I don't envy your decision one bit here, and as always, vote or die y'all.
Onto the links:
Michigan State Spartans | MSU's Kalin Lucas signs with Greek team | The Detroit News The Greek team would be Olympiacos, one of Europe's most well-known teams and most notable for being the team that signed Josh Childress away from the Atlanta Hawks a couple years ago. Olympiacos's Wikipedia page currently has Lucas as the back-up to Vassilis Spanoulis a point guard who spent some time with the Rockets during the '06-'07 season. It's a very good career move for Kalin, especially with the NBA's current state of labor unrest.
College sports: Playing by the rules | Lansing State Journal | lansingstatejournal.com It looks like Rexrode spent a lot of time researching this series in the Lansing State Journal, and it looks like it is going to be very, very well done. Even though the link only goes to the opening story, poke around for more -- there's going to be 19 stories over five days, and hopefully Joe gets rewarded for it.
Michigan State AD Mark Hollis to chair NCAA cabinet | Detroit Free Press | freep.com Hollis will chair the NCAA Division I Amateurism cabinet, which shouldn't be a big deal. I mean, it's not like there's been discussions over adding a "true cost of attendance" to scholarships, and there haven't been any scandals due to players selling memorabilia. Nope, it looks like smooth sailing </sarcasm>.
Cowal, Canada Win Gold at World U23 Championships - MICHIGAN STATE OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE
Lastly, congratulations to two Spartans on their medals last weekend. Cowal's women's eight beat New Zealand and the United States to win the gold, and Stacey's jump of 20 feet and 1 1/2 inches was second to a jump of 20 feet, 11 and 3/4 inches.