Bleachers College Sports Michigan State in the Final Four
| 03 April 2009
We all know the teams in the Final Four now and have for a few days. The expected 1-seeds North Carolina and Connecticut, Big East power Villanova and the Spartans from Michigan State. When this tournament began, a lot was made of three #1 seeds coming out of the Big East and how strong and powerful the conference was top to bottom. The Big East was definitely a power conference and deserved two #1 seeds in my opinion, but three was a little bit too much, even for die hard college basketball fans. Other teams had opportunities during the final weeks to prove they were worthy, Michigan State and Memphis to name the most prominent two, but failed to get there. Therefore, I guess three was good, and getting two to the Final Four somewhat validates this selection.
Sports have a strange way of making an everyday game even more transcendant. The "Miracle on Ice" team from 1980 and the Yankees after 9-11 in 2001 had everyone in America have at least a small part of them rooting for those teams as they went for their respective championships. Now I'm not saying that this 
Michigan State team is on that level, by any stretch of the imagination, but the thing that this team does have, is an opportunity to transcend the state, if not country this year. Michigan has been struck hard, to put it mildly, but the fall/collapse of the "Big Three" car manufacturers and unemployment sky-rocketing. This Final Four though, in my opinion, may have even the most loyal of Go Blue fans will be rooting for the Spartans in the Final Four this year. They can hate us 360 days a year (the other three reserved for OSU-MSU football games and basketball games), but this Saturday and, hopefully, this Monday will be days that as Michiganders they will be quietly rooting for the Spartans. I'm not a true Michigander, as I did not grow up there, but during my four years in East Lansing, I learned quickly and a lot how important Michigan State was and is to a lot of people around that great state. Spartan loyalists bleed green and white and without hesitation know that if you hear a "Go Green," you'll hear a "Go White" in response. This team may not be a "great" team, but they do everything pretty good and bust their tails for Coach Izzo. I was extremely impressed last Sunday with their ability to "out-physical" a team from the overly-physical Big East. They get another chance Sunday to prove that the Big Ten may not always be fun to watch, but come March and April, they're still pretty darn effective.
So, this weekend, when you're trying to figure out who to root for (if you're an impartial observer), remember that Michigan State isn't just playing for their state and their fans, they're playing for every single person in the state of Michigan to feel better about themselves, even only if for a couple of hours or days, at least.
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Comments (2)
Subscribe to this comment's feedGO STATE!!! And by that I mean Go Travis Walton
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Izzo is a difference maker
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