Mikey D

October 5th!

Here's a Wall Street Journal article on Guster and a preview of their entire upcoming album.

Enjoy.

~Mikey D

An excellent video that looks at last night's play clock on MSU's trick play.



~Mikey D

Great win by MSU last night. I've already heard some people knocking the play call, saying that we shouldn't have gone for it down by 3, or because we were at home, blah blah blah. I have ZERO problem with the call as a 46-yard FG is no gimme, especially for a young kicker in that type of pressure situation. No guts no glory, right? I can't imagine ripping Dantonio if it didn't work. Now if it were a 20-yard chippy? Ehhhh well that's a different story. Anyway, these are the type of plays that can make a season special and galvanize a team.

And as always, I'm going to look at the MSU basketball side of things. Tom Izzo hosted a TON of his recruiting targets yesterday. We're talking all of his recent commitments, his 2013 targets, and one 2012 target, Gary Harris. Harris (a SG out of Indiana) is a top-20 national player that is getting the full court press from Izzo's staff. He's a dynamic play maker and desired by many schools. Yesterday they were treated to an open gym game (old MSU alum versus current guys), a tour of the campus, and of course, the MSU-ND game.

Talk about a full and exciting day. Tom Izzo needs to send Dantonio a fruit basket. As for Harris, he later tweeted, "Just got back to the hotel...I can safely say tonight was a success!"

Come on, Gary, become Green.

What an awesome Week 1 of football.

As I mentioned before, my dad and I are in a pick em' pool with 66 other guys. We each had to pay $100 to get in, and our goal was to win just one of the 17 weeks to get our money back and have a little extra spending cash.

One week in, and we've got our money! About $600!!!

We won the week, going 13-3. We missed on the Lions, 49ers, and Cowboys, but we nailed some good ones, and a lot of toss-up games. Getting the Texans, Jaguars, Buccanneers, Patriots, Steelers, and Ravens was huge, but it was the pick that won the week for us that made me the most proud.

It came down to the last Monday night game, Chargers and Chiefs. We were tied with a couple other people, both of whom picked the Chargers. In fact, only 2 out of the 66 people in the pool picked the Chiefs to win Monday night. We were one of those two. And of all the games this week, this was one of the ones I hesitated the least when making the picks.

On paper, it's San Diego all the way. If this were Week 13, and the Chargers were fighting for playoff position and Kansas City was a measly 1-12, then San Diego would be the pick. But this is Week 1. Teams are motivated. Fans are pumped. And the good teams sometimes haven't quite found their groove yet.

More than that, Kansas City had a lot going in it's favor:
~Crennel and Weis, the old Patriots coordinators, were brought in. Proven winners, and respected.
~Playmakers. Charles and McCluster. Those guys are electrifying, and good for at least one game changing play.
~They were playing a Chargers team without Vincent Jackson and Marcus McNeil, both All-Pros. A team without its weapons is a team with question marks. See Vikings, Minnesota.
~The game was in Kansas City! Arrowhead Stadium is not like Ford Field. It's crazy there! And it was deafening most of the night.
~The Chargers are notorious slow starters. Last year they opened up with Oakland and fell flat on their faces. That's just the way they've been in the past.

It makes me happy that was the pick that won it for us. Now next week I will probably be picking against Kansas City as they go on the road against Cleveland. Maybe.

***
And it was a good week in fantasy (for all of us). I'm not going to jump to conclusions based on one week, but I was happy with my team (duh). I got production from my quarterbacks and running backs, which are the strengths of my team, but I was most happy with my WRs. If they can combine for about 200 yards and 2 TDs every week, I will be ecstatic. It's obviously my biggest weakness, so any production is great. Good start.

Oh, interesting idea I read about. A group of guys are playing in a "Losers" fantasy league. It's basically a reverse of the current fantasy rules and scoring, where INTs are more valuable than TDs, and the more yards a RB racks up, the more it hurts your team. Fumbles are gold, and porous defenses are treasured. Obviously the draft consists of a lot of Rams, Bills, Lions, and Raiders being taken in the first couple of rounds. Just an interesting twist on fantasy. I think that it would be kind of fun.

~Mikey D

Travis Trice is point guard from Ohio that has verbally committed to MSU as part of their 2011 class. He's part of a class that includes highly touted Branden Dawson and local studs Brandon Kearney and Dwaun Anderson. According to recruiting websites he is three-star player and ranks as the #36 overall point guard in the 2011 class. Despite his size (only six foot and a buck sixty-five), he's a lights-out shooter and natural born leader (son of a coach and former Big Ten player). In a lot of respects his game is similar to that of Drew Neitzel.

I mentioned him back in August when I posted, ecstatically, about the Branden Dawson commitment. The thing with Trice is that NOBODY even knew Izzo was recruiting the kid. Heck, nobody even knew who he was.

A month or so later, Trice's recruitment and how he became a Spartan is becoming a little more clear. This article, from the Princeton Daily Clarion, gives the back story of Trice and insight on his recruitment. It's a great read, heartwarming, and makes Trice pretty darn likeable. It's nice to have players that want to bleed green.

Here are the cliff notes from the article if you don't feel like reading:
~Trice had picked up early offers from a lot of small schools, like Richmond and Bradley, earlier in the year, but lacked any major attention from big-time programs. Trice was "dejected" at the lack of interest, and leaned heavily on his family for support.
~After an outstanding summer on the AAU circuit, playing against some of the top guards in the country, Trice began to make a name for himself. Despite not hearing anything from MSU before the summer, Trice found himself on the phone with Izzo. “’I’m recruiting you. I’ll do the homework and I’ll see you in Atlanta.’”
~Izzo ended up seeing Trice play 22 times over the summer.
~Izzo felt comfortable enough in Trice's abilities to invite him to East Lansing for a visit and to watch the Spartans practice.
~During the car ride up to E.L., Tubby Smith from Minnesota called Trice, offering him a scholarship and asking him to turn the car around and head up to Minnesota. Trice didn't.
~Izzo offered Trice a scholarship during his visit, but Trice's family decided to sit down and think about the decision before making any commitment. They made it as far as the parking garage. “’Dad, this is where I want to be. I love Coach Izzo and the winning'" said Trice.
~Trice called Izzo from the garage and gave his verbal. He told Izzo, "'You talked way too long. You had me in the first two words. You didn’t have to do all that talking. You had me.'"

Trice seems like a really great kid. I know it's football season, and these recruits that Izzo has been landing aren't stepping foot on campus for another year or two, but these are really exciting times. Izzo is grabbing kids that are fitting his system perfectly, and while they may not be rated as high on some recruiting sites, they are Spartan material. In Izzo we trust.

Welcome aboard, Travis.



~Mikey D

Moe Ager has his own company, "Moe Ager Productions", and he comes up with songs for this year's MSU football season. He's had a couple songs up on the MSU website, and now he's got this song pumping on the crowd on gamedays in the stadium.

Make fun of it if you will, but I love it because it's Ager, and I love it because it's 100% Michigan State. "Throw our adversaries in the Red Cedar..."

FOREVER I'M A SPARTAN!!!!

~Mikey D

~I've been listening to a lot of "Third Eye Blind" lately. I tell you what, their stuff just never gets old. I can totally picture myself singing along to 'Motorcycle Drive By' when I'm eighty. Sadly, you mention 3EB to kids today and they have no idea what you're talking about. Yeah, it makes you feel old. My class roster this year is full of kids born in 1999. Justin Beiber is all they know. Anyway, 'Blinded' is the song I'm loving the most right now (with 'Crystal Baller' second). Kind of underrated.

~I'm excited about Guster's new album, but Joe will no longer be touring with Guster. He will be touring with k.d. lang from here on out. There is another multi-instrument specialist joining the group, and his name is Luke. Apparently Luke and Guster go wayyyyyy back and when Joe decided to leave he was the only one they wanted to join. Kevin, I'm not sure if you remember, but there was a group called "Blue Merle" that opened for Guster that night in Clutch Cargos way back when. Luke played for them, which even if you remembered the group, I'm sure you don't remember him. In any case, can't way for the new Guster!

~My dad and I are entering a huge NFL pick em' pool through his work this year. It's a $200 entry fee and we're splitting the cost (and any potential profits). The rules are pretty simple: you pick the winners for the week (no point spreads or any of that jazz), and the guy with the most winners at the end of each week takes home about $700. There's also a cash prize at the end of the year for the guy who picks the most winners. I love picking games and putting a little money down them, so this should be a good time. I figure it all averages out to six or seven bucks a week, which isn't too bad. Unfortunately my track record is less than stellar when it comes to picking games. Total gambling profits: $0.

~For Grace's birthday we went to a casino that's about an hour away from us in West Virginia. The nice thing about Columbia is that it's close to everything, including West Virginia. Anyway, we played the slots and I hit a nice $100 pot on one. Definitely the first time I'd ever won jack at a casino. After that Grace and I spent a lot of time picking numbers together on one of the Keno machines. We ended up plus $2, so it was a success. I do, however, want to learn to play roulette and craps. I have the general idea of roulette, but I'm sure there's some sort of strategy that I'm missing. With craps...it looks pretty fun with all the people gathered around the table. I'd like to be a part of that fun.

~School has been exhausting thus far. Planning is sucking the life out of me. I feel like I'm in school busting ass, which is all fine and good because I really don't mind working hard (I don't prefer it, but hey, I do it), but it's all the planning that is making my days longer. I get home from school and it's out with the curriculum guides, teacher guides, notebooks, and supplementary resources and activities. I sit at my desk and plan. And plan. And plan. And before I know it, it's bedtime, and I've put together just a couple of days worth of plans. I know I tell Grace that I would love a 9-5 job, but seriously, I really do crave that 9-5 sometimes. At least the lessons I've planned are pretty good.

~I'm upset with this assigned parking we've got in our place now. It's unnecessary, and the reasoning, "well now you don't have to worry about a spot because you have one" is dumb because I've never had a problem finding a spot! All they needed to do was paint the lines to define the parking spots and leave well enough alone. Now we have people given two parking spots who only have one car, so there are all these up-close spaces that are not going used. And the people that have more than two cars? Well their extra cars go into the five visitor spots we have. But now where do the visitors park!? Exactly, in the reserved spots! We've already come home and had that happen to us. Luckily we found it was our next door neighbor's friend's car, so they were able to move it quickly, but what if we weren't able to find out who it was? We'd need to call a tow truck! Ridiculous because there were other open spots! And the other reason behind the assigned parking is that in the winter we "can shovel out our space and not have to put something in it to "save it" when we leave". That, again, is bullshit! If I don't put something in my spot to save it, guess who's parking there? The visitors who don't have spots!!! Ugggh...

~Grace's office mate, Ashley, is part of the allocation team at Grace's work, but she's also in charge of the soundtrack that gets played at all the stores. How awesome is that? We were in the mall on Saturday, in the UA store, and all I was thinking about was how cool it was that this girl got to decide what music was going to be played. I am BEGGING Grace to beg her to let me pick the songs for the next month. I think that would be so much fun. "Everyone thinks a good mix should rise and fall. I think it should start high, and get higher!" ~Barney Stinson

~Did anybody see that trick play by Presbyterian against Wake Forest last week? Wake Forest smoked Presbyterian, but Presbyterian had one hell of a trick play. The QB threw a lateral behind the line of scrimmage to the WR on one hop, and on purpose. The WR grabbed the ball and pretended as if the ball was dead. The defenders who were zeroing in on him eased up and began to stop, thinking the pass was incomplete. All of a sudden the WR looks downfield and hits a streaking WR for a TD pass. Beautiful. One of the coolest trick plays I have ever seen.



~Korie Lucious pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of driving recklessly during MSU's welcome week, but it could have been a lot worse considering he was underage and drunk while behind the wheel. Seriously, when did the basketball team become so much like the football team with so much drama off the field(court)? I'm guessing at least a two game suspension for Lucious. Seems reasonable. Anyway, 67 days until tip off against Eastern Michigan at the Bres. That's Friday night, November 12th, @8:30 on the Big Ten Network, for those of you wanting to mark your calendars.

~Mikey D