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6 - The Michigan Daily- FOOTBALL SATURDAY - October 21, 2000

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October 21, 2000 -


t eatdhigan tatg
A Green and White
confession ...
n the banks of the Red Cedar,
there's a school that's known to
)allOr at least most-
I disregard my out-of-state friends
who, until they went off to school,
n "only thought there was one college in
Michigan."
Because to me, those banks -- and
DAVID that school were always very well
DEN HERDER known.
DEN__HERDER_ Perhaps this is confession therapy,
but it's time for me to come clean. I
was born into, and raised in, Spartan fandom.
I cannot claim to have been a Spartan through and through
(of course, not even the Spartans can claim to have been
Spartans through and through they were actually the
"Michigan Staters" until a baseball beat writer pulled another
nickname out of his head).
But lily family ties to the Green and White go back almost
longer than I can remember. Weekends at the grandparents' in
East Lansing never came without a Michigan State football
game on the tube. The earliest household names I can recall
are George Perles and Lorenzo White. If only I could remem-
ber which design the Spartans decided on for helmets that
year.
An inquisitive kid, I'd ask my mother why Michigan State
cheerleaders had the letter "S" on their chests.
"The 'S' stands for State," she would say.
The "M," I realized later, was already taken.
Trips to the wooded campus on the Red Cedar continued
into iy adolescence. The first college football game I ever
saw was from the cheap seats of Spartan Stadium - although
I was more concerned with throwing ice cream sandwiches on
the cars below.
The home team lost - but nobody seemed too disappoint-
ed. After all, asking for more than one Rose Bowl in a decade
was a little greedy. They'd get back to Pasadena in the '90s.
Besides - these Spartans had all the land they could want,
thanks to all those hard-earned farming grants, and what more
could you ask for?
But just like the Aggies of Michigan Agricultural College,
as I grew older I sought diferent things. I didn't want a new
name, necessarily, but different experiences.
For years I hadlistened to the propaganda, and tried to justi-
fy it my own hcad. Michigan State, I told myself, was just as
good a school as Michigan. The Spartans were just as likely to
beat the Wolverines as the other way around. And when it
came to academics, what I'd been told from day one kept
repeating in my head.
"They're both good 1niv ersities."
So when the time came to make the call for myself. honest-
lv, it wasn't easy. State was appealing.
Sure, I enjoyed all the trees, I enjoyed the smell farmland
I even enjoyed paying $5 for "a cup" at a friend's party.
But something was tugging. Perhaps it was the idea of
change. Perhaps it was iiy ACT score. Perhaps it was the fact
that I'd heard hundreds of Michigan punchlines about arrogant
pricks and Rose Bowl losses - but never one about delivering
pizzas.
I remember telling an older acquaintance before making my
decision that I was planning on either Michigan or Michigan
State.
"Either?" she said, and smiled walking away.
Until recently. I never knew what that meant. As a freshman
in Ann Arbor, old friends and family would always ask if I still
rooted for Michigan State.
"I'll always have a little green in my blood," I would say 4
I'm an honest man, but some things become untrue with4 11
time. And laying on the cool grass of Michigan's central cam-
pus this fall, I finally realized what "lither?" really means.'
It means I never have to answer the question "Oh, now
which one is that?"
It means I never have to have add . because I wanted to
study this and they have a really good program..."
It means that, for the rest of my life, I can just say
"Michigan," and there will be no questions asked.
David Den Herder can be reached
at dde~mi),niceh.edii

WHEN MICHIGAN
HAS THE FOOTBALL


32 Thomas TBg
23 Perry

FB 35Askew

1 Terrell
5 Whitley
SE
54 Williams
77 Pape
RT

LC
L37 Henry
19 Suggs

43W
45 W
MIl
PAN
Drelr }

The State News
Criticizin 101: A lesson
for Enn? cun
sometimes laugh at how many times I tried
toFdo things just to be "cool" in grade school.
Whether it was sporting a red vest like Marty
McFly in "Back to the Future,' wearing my first
pair of Adidas without shoelaces like Run DMC,
or trying to mimic the breakdancing I saw on
"Soul Train," I tried to do it all.
It looks like the Michigan Daily
ERIC Michigan's quasi-student newspaper, riding the
LACY coattails of columnist Erin McQuinn tried to
do the same thing October 10, adding fuel to the
fire of a heated rivalry.
Now I know the "other" university is lacking a nationally renowned,
accredited school of journalism, but a column referring to a "sketchy"
visit to East Lansing, with reference to K-mart and Prada bags (whatever
those are) just seemed to be a waste of space.
Well, I think the National Enquirer and Mad Magazine are hiring.
Here's a primer on happenings at Michigan: When athletics aren't
going well, athletes are getting in trouble and the athletic department is
recovering from bad investments, so-called "fans" get mouths as big as
former basketball center Robert Trayor's waistline.
They attack the city of East Lansing and Michigan State's history full
of rich tradition. It's a common practice, we as Spartans do the exact
same thing in our times of despair, and we sure have had many.
In my lifetime we have lost to the Wolverweenies in football I5 times.
That's 15 times too many.
Ilopefully, the majority of individuals representing Michigan State
criticize a little more intelligently.
Here's some insight from our friend at the self-proclaimed "I larvard
of the Midwest."
Scholarly criticism No. 1.
"Our parties are about 500 times better than theirs."
That might be true of Michigan State if'the columnist's definition of a
party is rounding up three of your basketball players in a booster-spon-
sored sports utility vehicle to play drunken tag on the freeway.
Scholarly criticism No. 2.
All the MSU girls at a certain party seemed "terribly plain" and "wenit
to K-mart together to buy some ofi-the-shelf-box shade of blonde."
'This actually might be an accurate of the opinion of the columnist,
depending.on what she saw. At least they didn't steal the hair colorinl
from the discount store, like some Michigan football players last year
gunning for maize and blue light specials.
One f'at party is not representative of MSU, nor would one v isit to
I lash Bash or the rtnnliil ol' the Naked Mile be representative of
Michigan.
In all fairness though. lcQuinn's columtln shouldn't be taken too seri-
ously.
I low credible is a paper that has multiple editors for each specific
department and blatantly prints swear words anyway? It's the MichiginI
Daily [he N chigan IDelay, but obviousl.y the column still anlers
people.

In a rivalry defined by single plays,
Daily Football Writers rank the collective memory of ti,

1

F

Desmond Howard
tripped on two-point conver-
sion, 1990: With no overtime
in college football at the time,
No. 1 Michigan was forced to
go for the victory after pulling
within 28-27 on a touchdown
with 0:06 left in the game. The
Wolverines lined up for two,
and Howard ran an in-seam
route into the middle of the
endzone. Howard went flying
to the ground - replays
showed he was tripped - and
the pass went sailing by. No
call was made, and the
Spartans took the victory.

I4

rf J

FILE PHOTO

A

4:
7

Burke-to-Irvin
fake field goal, 1997: Trailing
3-0, Michigan State appeared
to be settling for a mid-range
field goal and a tie score early.
But running back Sedrick Irvin
didn't join the Spartans' hud-
dle, instead camouflaging him-
self near the Michigan State
sideline. The Spartans snapped
the ball, the holder, Burke,
stood up and lobbed an easy
pass to Irvin for a touchdown.
That gave Michigan State a 7-3
lead, which it held for most of
the first half until Michigan
scored to take a 10-7 lead at
the break. The Wolverines did-
n't look back after that.

2,

Charles Woodson interception, 1997: It was the play that put Woods
Michigan clinging to a 13-7 lead in the third quarter, Michigan State quarterb
attempted to avoid a sack by throwing the ball out of bounds. Burke didn't thi
leaped to make a one-handed grab, then somehow got a foot down inbounds tc
in great field position. Michigan went on to a 23-7 victory and the national char

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I grew up approximateK 7.4 miles from East I ansingi. and alter read-
E ing her referec e to a visit toIast .ansintg as "sketchy." I took it pBr-
sonally.
It was pretty "sketchy" when your men's basketball team came to the
Breslin Center last March and displayed "el matador" defense en route
to a 51 point barrage of whoop-ass trom the future national champions.
It was also pretty sketchy when wideout Plaxico Burress had a career
high 10 receptions for 255 yards en route to a 34-31 triumph over "gold-
en boy" Drew I henson and the Wolverweenies.
aygood My loyalty to the green and white runs deep and as I'm sure you can
2 Foster
FL tell by now, Ms. McQuinn, my fellow Spartans are not happy.
My parents went to MSU, they lived on Spartan Avenue and I learned
Oak e y what a college actually was after I got my first pair of green Spartan
5A Mcoy
jammies.
SEE[ven ihou-1h the Spartans are considered to be 16 Point underdogs


Aric Morris drops pooch kick, 1996: After scoring two touchdowns in the
final two minutes of the second quarter, Michigan kicked off with less than a minute
to play in the half. The Wolverines tried a pooch kickoff to force up-man Aric Morris
to field the ball. Morris fumbled, got nailed by a few Michigan special-teamers, and
the Wolverines recover. Shortly thereafter, Michigan struck again to take an insur-
mountable 28-7 lead into the lockerroom en route to a 45-29 decision.

Charles Woodsor
1995: Rarely was it ever said
sion, he did. With Michigan 1
intercept Tony Banks on M
tipped the ball, and receiver I
taking the Spartans to the
Nigea Carter with 1:24 left fi
John Miller's fourth i
afternoon helped Michigan {
Stadium. Michigan quarterbi
tions that day, and Miller, a
with four of them.


SCB 9
5 WhineymOLB-
12 B. Wiiiams m .L
6 Hobson
42 Spytek

CB
3 Howard
21 LeSueur

RLB
"39 Coleman
~95 Kashaina

against the Wolverines Saturday, I believe in miracles.
A Michigan State student hiked the Great Wall of China recently.
spatining over 1,800 miles, becoming one of'the first foreigners ever to
complete the entire length accurately.
Anything can happen Saturday.
I get disgusted when I remember one of'the worst things I did to try to
be cool with my little friends in grade school.
Luckily that Michigan hat I once wore to impress them only cost me
75 cents at a garage sale. How fitting.
State News sports editor Eric LeacV thinksfoi'mer' Aichigan hus-
kethallp/air iJa/eu Rose looks like E. , and can e reached at
latver siflSd. kil.

8

Plaxico Burress sideline
route kills clock, 1999: Michigan's
inability to stop Burress all after-
noon was the difference in the
game. Knowing this, Michigan
State coach Nick Saban went to
the well one more time, leading 34-
31 and needing a first down to kill
the clock. Burress got free on a
risky sideline route and quarter-
back Bill Burke was on the money,
giving the Spartans the first down
they needed to close out the game.

9

Derrick Alexander
punt return, 1992: Keying a
35-10 Michigan victory,
Alexander received a Chris
Salani punt at his own 20-yard
line and busted down the left
sideline for the touchdown.

17 Fo
45 P

ss
26 curry
24 Drake

FS
15 Patmon
34 Fargas