At the last minute I scored a ticket to the game against Illinois from a friend. I was excited about the pregame festivities and always like to see a game. It turned out that the game was the more exciting of the two events.
Both teams looked like crap. It was ugly. The refs were yet again terrible both ways. Adding to the bad all around game were the fools behind us. Our normal seats are by old people; long time ticket holders that are pretty funny, pretty knowledgeable, and fairly low key*. My seats for the last game were directly in front of the smartest person ever to attend a game. If you have seen the commercial w/ the guy playing a pickup game and trying to call plays, charges, and 3 second violations you know the guy that was sitting behind me. Besides the retirement of Peterson's 42 the highlight of the game was likely the sign held up by a student: "Suton, get back on your Futon" complete with a drawing of Suton and the aforementioned futon. No word if the drawing was supposed to depict him with a suit on.
I will take credit for saying Suton would struggle. Though he lead the team on paper he was TERRIBLE. I will take my lumps for saying Roe would play well. He did not. He looked just as bad as Suton. Summers did manage to sneak in one foot out of bounds play in the EXACT same place as his last 3. That streak is alive. Suton avoided his ass pass maneuver as expected but should pick up the slack next game (NW is crafty). Travis Walton, with the game still very much in question, air balled two consecutive free throws. That was a new tactic.
Illinois has possibly the worst cheer ever. Some people yell "ILL" and others yell "INI". First it is bad because I could not think of (not for lack of trying) anything witty or vulgar to yell in response (prior to the "INI"). Second, you just chanted Ill. Ill as in your team is Ill. Ill as in your football team gets paid and you st-ill sucked. Sitting here now, seeing "INI" on the screen I finally came up with something. Its not great but its something. I should have chanted "NIT." Though, to be fair, they didn't make the NIT last year. Meanwhile we were in our 11th straight NCAA tournament. How do ya like them apples?
The biggest looming game on the schedule, besides every home game, is the January 25 game at OSU. Lighty is back and OSU is tough at home. With a two game cushion MSU controls its own destiny. Take care of home court, win all the game you should and don't lose more than 2 road games. A win at OSU would go a LONG way to winning the big ten outright, especially since (for the first time EVER) MSU's schedule has a break with no trip to Madison. If you can call 3 of your first 4 B10 games on the road and playing ummmm once, and on the road, a break.
Here is the schedule, color coded for wins, losses, and remaining. This should be much easier than linking.
November
Wed. 5 NORTHERN MICHIGAN (Exhib.) (BigTenNetwork.com) East Lansing, Mich. 7 p.m.
Mon. 10 LAKE SUPERIOR STATE (Exhib.) (BigTenNetwork.com) East Lansing, Mich. 7 p.m.
Sun. 16 IDAHO (Big Ten Network) East Lansing, Mich. 6 p.m.
Wed. 19 at IPFW Fort Wayne, Ind. 7 p.m.
Thur.-Sun. 27-30 Old Spice Classic Orlando, Fla.
Thur. 27 vs. Maryland (ESPN2) Orlando, Fla. 7 p.m.
Fri. 28 vs. Gonzaga/Oklahoma State (ESPN/ESPNU) Orlando, Fla. 5:30/8 p.m.
Sun. 30 vs. Siena/Tennessee/Wichita State/Georgetown (ESPN2/ESPNU) Orlando, Fla. TBA
December
Wed. 3 vs. North Carolina# (Big Ten/ACC Challenge) (ESPN) Detroit, Mich. 9 p.m.
Sun 7 BRADLEY (Big Ten Network) East Lansing, Mich. 4 p.m.
Sat. 13 ALCORN STATE (Big Ten Network) East Lansing, Mich. 6 p.m.
Wed. 17 THE CITADEL (Big Ten Network) East Lansing, Mich. 8 p.m.
Sat. 20 vs. Texas$ (CBS) Houston, Texas 2 p.m.
Sat. 27 vs. Oakland^ (FSN Detroit) Auburn Hills, Mich. 5 p.m.
Wed. 31 at Minnesota (Big Ten Network) Minneapolis, Minn. 12 p.m.
January
Sat. 3 at Northwestern (Big Ten Network) Evanston, Ill. 7 p.m.
Tues. 6 OHIO STATE (ESPN2) East Lansing, Mich. 7 p.m.
Sat. 10 KANSAS (CBS) East Lansing, Mich. 1 p.m.
Wed. 14 at Penn State (Big Ten Network) State College, Pa. 6:30 p.m.
Sat. 17 ILLINOIS (ESPN) East Lansing, Mich. 4 p.m.
Wed. 21 NORTHWESTERN (Big Ten Network) East Lansing, Mich. 6:30 p.m.
Sun. 25 at Ohio State (CBS) Columbus, Ohio 3:45 p.m.
Thur. 29 at Iowa (ESPN/ESPN2) Iowa City, Iowa 7 p.m.
February
Sun. 1 PENN STATE (Big Ten Network) East Lansing, Mich. 12 p.m.
Wed. 4 MINNESOTA (Big Ten Network) East Lansing, Mich. 8:30 p.m.
Sat. 7 INDIANA (ESPN) East Lansing, Mich. 4 p.m.
Tues. 10 at Michigan (ESPN) Ann Arbor, Mich. 7 p.m.
Tues. 17 at Purdue (ESPN) West Lafayette, Ind. 7 p.m.
Sun. 22 WISCONSIN (CBS, ESPN, Big Ten Network) East Lansing, Mich. TBA
Wed. 25 IOWA (Big Ten Network) East Lansing, Mich. 8:30 p.m.
Sat.-Sun. 28-1 at Illinois (CBS, ESPN, Big Ten Network) Champaign, Ill. TBA
March
T/W/T 3/4/5 at Indiana (ESPN, ESPN2, Big Ten Network) Bloomington, Ind. TBA
Sat.-Sun. 7/8 PURDUE (CBS, ESPN, Big Ten Network) East Lansing, Mich. TBA
Thur.-Sun. 12-15 Big Ten Tournament Indianapolis, Ind.
Thur.-Sun. 19-22 NCAA Tournament - First/Second Rounds
Thur.-Sun. 26-29 NCAA Tournament - Regionals
April
Sat./Mon. 4 & 6 NCAA Final Four Detroit, Mich.
* The exception to the "low key" knowledgeable ticket holders near our normal seats is the woman right next to us. She might be the dumbest person I've ever had the unfortunate experience of sitting near. She knows nothing at all, is loud, and honestly needs someone to let her know as much. For example: for the last 3 games she has called about 3 different people on OUR TEAM by the same name. Thorton, Dahlman, and Herzog all fall under the title Herzog. I can't wait for her brain to melt one day when Herzog comes in the game for Herzog. Also, in a game against the Citadel she was about to have an aneurism when, with about 12 minutes left in the second half, Izzo hadn't emptied the bench. Now I can understand that running up the score shows a lack of respect. Not letting subs get minutes is short sighted. However, chubby-frazzle-haired-non-athletic-loud-annoying woman, I'm fairly certain T. Izzo has an idea of what he is doing. In fact, to take the starters out and then put them back in 5 minutes later shows less respect. So...you expected Herzog, Herzog, and Herzog to play out the remaining 12 minutes? Can you even begin to imagine what they would look like after just 5 minutes? A lot like you trying to open a jar of peanut butter. Winded, frustrated, and in need of a towel.
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