Once upon a time, national championships were derived from luck, independence and soft scheduling. As such, this championship often alluded teams in major conferences. Within certain circles, winning the conference carried more prestige than winning the national title. Select schools' out of conference schedules, during this Gilded age, included the likes of Notre Dame, Florida State and USC. No, not spaced out over three years. Yes, all in one season.
In this Arcadian Utopia, you hung up your car phone immediately when then Ohio Valley commissioner Jim Delaney called to convince you to put Murray State on your schedule. You laughed when Toledo called to ask you out, and you let Miami(oh) down nicely by reminding them they're charming and prestigous, but Jimmy Johnson and Miami(FL) already asked you to the dance. Actually, this fairy tale was no tale at all.
WELCOME TO MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL circa 1987.
Michigan State's 1987 campaign began on Labor Day night with a 27-13 pounding of USC in East Lansing.
The Spartan's season immediately went south with a week two 31-8 drubbing at the Hands of Notre Dame and their Heisman trophy winner, Tim Brown.
Upstart Florida State came calling during week 3; they also ran through the Spartans en route to a 31-3 blowout. Then, the real season began --Big Ten Conference play.
In a season of the unpredictable, Michigan State beat Michigan in Lansing...
...but a Halloween win over Ohio State in Columbus forced the nation to take notice--Michigan State was not fooling around in 1987. Late in the season, Indiana and Michigan State squared off for the right to go to Pasadena. That's right, Indiana, who happen to beat Michigan and Ohio State that season, was one game away from the Rose Bowl. Nonetheless, led by Andre Rison and Lorenzo White, the Sparty machine rolled through Indiana landing a Rose Bowl rematch against big bad USC. This time, the game would take place in SC's back yard.
...but a Halloween win over Ohio State in Columbus forced the nation to take notice--Michigan State was not fooling around in 1987. Late in the season, Indiana and Michigan State squared off for the right to go to Pasadena. That's right, Indiana, who happen to beat Michigan and Ohio State that season, was one game away from the Rose Bowl. Nonetheless, led by Andre Rison and Lorenzo White, the Sparty machine rolled through Indiana landing a Rose Bowl rematch against big bad USC. This time, the game would take place in SC's back yard.
(In case readers don't pick up on this, former Indiana coach Bill Mallory congratulates MSU after the Spartans 1987 rose bowl clinching victory. He even gives them a pep talk about "going to the [west] coast" to win one for the Big Ten. As blasphemous as his speech might sounds to some of you, I think the time has come for my fellow Rashaad Salon blog contributors to acknowledge the following: 1. that conference rivals root for each other, 2. that they've done so for a long time and 3. that it's ok to root for your conference rival in a bowl game. Also, as illustrated in this video, rooting for a team within your conference cannot be solely attributed to the SEC. This is and has been a Big Ten epidemic as well.)
On Friday January 1, 1988, the Spartans did what only one Big Ten member(Michigan 1981) had done since 1974--win the Rose Bowl. Led by two early Lorenzo White touchdowns, the Spartans jumped out to a 14-3 lead. Rodney Peete helped USC pull even at 17-17 in the 4th. But, a long run by White on MSU's next drive led to a FG giving Sparty a late 20-17 lead. A Peete fumble deep in Spartan territory with 90 seconds left sealed the Spartans fate.
Dream season? I would say so. Reason for George Perles to SPARTY? Hell yeah.
2 comments:
Percy Snow, Blake Ezor, Bill Mallory (who led Colorado to the 1977 Orange Bowl) and Pete and my freshman year of college. I distinctly remember a guy in my dorm saying "dude, Indiana might go to the Rose Bowl" (I think it was Than who said it). Lo White looked like he was going to be the next Sweetness. You're right about Big 10 conference loyalty. Heck, the Big 10 even has academic conference loyalty (see Ohio State fan talking about Northwestern's fine academics and how U of C is actually a "Big 10 research partner"). I still don't like it. We'll see how I feel after a couple of years of Buffs in the Pac 10. Maybe I will be rooting for Washington to beat Oklahoma State in the Holiday Bowl, who knows?
To be fair Timo, I don't have a problem with conference loyalty 98% of the time. I like watching MSU perform well against non-con opponents. Seeing Penn State out-ugly Auburn in a mud pit on New Years Day is strangely satisfying. But I cannot...CANNOT...root for Ohio State. Just can't do it. You could match the Buckeyes against an all star squad of East German swimmers, the Soviet hockey team, the SS and have them coached by Pol Pot and I am still going to be genuinely pained if OSU wins.
Its not that I don't respect them. I do. In fact, it is just the opposite. They are the counterpoint in my universe. My intercollegiate Yang. I require them to survive but I loathe their very existence. This is classic Celtics-Lakers, Leafs-Habs, Yankees-Red Sox, Coke-Pepsi, Rome-Carthage, hate filled dependency.
Indiana can't exactly say the same about MSU and so video clips like the one shown are possible. "You beat us, now go win one for all of us." It is a noble sentiment for the vanquished to wish the conqueror well in the next endeavor. It is perhaps even more noble for related foes to encourage the other well against an opponent who does not share the same common bond. Unless that related foe is your diametric opposite; the embodiment of everything you are not. Then you must root for anything and anyone else. Because to root for that foe is to root against yourself.
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