I'm a little melancholy this morning. Part of it is the inevitable passage of time, the feeling that we are all on a slow march toward old age and death (can't you tell it's my birthday?), but most of the melancholy stems from today's game with Michigan State. I'm no Sparty apologist, to be sure, but this game doesn't have the same feel without that cute little ball of incompetence, John L. Smith, patrolling the other sideline. You may remember JLS from such meltdowns as this:
Or this:
Or causing his team's fans to start talking like this.
Now we get Mark Dantonio, who by all initial appearances seems to be competent. Fuck that.
Michigan State hasn't won at Kinnick since 1989. That's 4 consecutive Sparty coaches who haven't gotten a W in Iowa City (including the $4 million man, Nick Saban). In 2000, they lost in Kinnick despite the fact they were in the top 25 and Iowa hadn't won a game in 13 months. They never play well in Iowa City. Throw in the Annual Michigan State Mid-October Death Spiral (MSUMODS, for short), and I'm guardedly optimistic this morning.
Open thread. You know the rules. Let's talk some football. I'll be here with you through the early afternoon, drinking away.