Pete's World » Sports

Being a Spartan fan is too much work.

Pete — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 19:32:22 +0000

So MSU won. Good. But that was ugly. We’re still honestly a crappy team that managed to beat a worse, HIGHLY OVERRATED, Michigan team. Our defense actually seemed to play hard throughout the game, and then showed their true colors at the end. As much as I think Dantonio is a great coach, I have to question the calls. WTF is with going for it on 4th and 3(4?)?. A field goal there and it would never come down to overtime. Why did they stop rushing the QB and putting pressure? They went back to letting the QB have all day, and giving up big passing plays. WTF?! Every other loss this year, MSU has been the worse team who managed to come back into it and somehow have a chance to win it. Honestly, they didn’t deserve to win any of those losses. Today they were the obviously better team, and somehow managed to almost blow it in the last two minutes. I can’t take this. I’ll still bleed green, I’ll enjoy the win, but I don’t see much changing for the rest of the season :-/.

Football and beer, a weekend wrapup

Pete — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 22:52:54 +0000

So other than the release of the latest iPhone (which has been tearing up tech sites and blogs this week….more on that later, maybe), big news this weekend involves Bret Favre coming back to the Green Bay Packers. I’ve always thought of Favre as a reasonably “classy” player, a franchise player from an earlier era of “old school” football. When he retired at the end of last season, I felt that it was appropriate. Favre isn’t at the peak of his career, in fact I’d say he’s slightly beyond that peak – fighting a losing battle with time as he ages and becomes more injury-prone. He had a good season, and it seemed like a good time to exit gracefully.

Now, though, “retiring” at the end of the season apparently means “taking the summer off”. That’s not a damn retirement, it’s a summer vacation. Am I retiring from my job when I take two weeks off for a trip? What the hell is the world coming to? The whole situation is a mess – Favre, did you see what happened when Michael Jordan “retired”?

The End of American Beer?
The other big news lately is further proceedings in international brewing giant InBev’s desire to take over Anheuser-Busch. Today’s report basically makes it sound like it’s as good as done. I’m normally all for the free market and unfettered capitalism; hell, the whole globalization thing is currently biting me in the ass, that’s how it goes. But come on – an arguable American icon is going to become yet another cog in the European machine? How did this happen? There should be some things that are off limits. What has A-B been doing to allow something like this to happen?

What will the NASCAR fans think when they’re beloved Budweiser might as well be a Becks, St. Pauli Girl, or Labatt’s?

Remembering the Old Stadiums

Pete — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 23:34:02 +0000

In a little under a century, do you think they’ll speak of Comerica Park in the same way Mitch Albom looks back fondly on Tiger Stadium?

Crossing my fingers for BTN

Pete — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:07:08 +0000

With the Big Ten Network finally reaching a deal with Comcast, here’s hoping local crappy cable operator Broadstripe jumps on board, too. Does this sound promising?

The latest information we have for the Central Region is that we are working to have a proposal in early July. We are hoping to offer the Big Ten to our Michigan customers soon.

More details as we have them.

Thank you for contacting Broad Stripe, if you should have any other questions, do not hesitate to contact us at 1-800-444-6997 our office hours are 8:30am – 10:00pm Mon – Fri and Sat from 9:00am – 8:00pm. Eastern Standard Time.

Honestly, I think I’d much rather have the DSL/DirecTV combo at this point. Unfortunately, that means rewiring coax in the house to pretty much every room. Plus running a phone line to the “office” for the DSL. Plus making the whole thing cost less than or equal to our current cable service.

Final Four 2009

Pete — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 17:55:40 +0000

So the other day I was thinking about what it would take to go to the Final Four in Detroit next year. One, it’s relatively close to home, and two, think about the possibilities of Michigan State playing in the Final Four, in Detroit. That would be most excellent. My search lead my to the NCAA Online store, where there were details on how one might actually purchase tickets to such an event.

The basics are that you have until May 31 to enter a lottery for the chance for tickets. You can opt for one or two “books”, each containing tickets to the games in Detroit. The books are $150 or $170 each. You can enter up to 10 times for the random drawing. You have to front the money first, and if you don’t get selected you get a refund (minus $6 per entry for fees). Soooooo…..for two ticket books, entered once, I’d have to put up $346 for the chance to get seats somewhere in Ford Field. I could put in more entries, but that’s another $346 for each entry! Buuuut, how much is the chance to see the Spartans (if they make it) almost at home in the Final Four!

Luckily, one reporter tells his experience of watching this year’s Sweet Sixteen at Ford Field, and how it essentially was crap. Which makes sense, if I think about it. I remember watching the Basketbowl at Ford Field, and really I think I watched most of it on the jumbotron. So maybe I should just save my money and watch things in the comfort of my own home? The beer’s cheapers, no line for the bathrooms, and the couch is comfortable. Heck, we could always go to a bar in E.L., too.

It also makes me wonder…is there any way to petition the NCAA to bring tournament games back to actual basketball arenas? You know, for the better experience for the fans and all?

Ouch

Pete — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 04:12:05 +0000

We’re one of those teams. You know, the ones you see on the ticker at the bottom, hopelessly down and you’re like “Man, sucks to be that team. They don’t have a chance.”

How different would things have been if they didn’t have to start the second half with a 30 point deficit?

I want to be able to revise my bracket after the first round – there’s a whole tons of teams that I underestimated, as well as ones that I overestimated. Even the sure things aren’t sure!

Sigh….maybe next year? Was it too optimistic to think of making the Elite 8?

Izzo’s Big Ten Network comments

Pete — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 20:42:47 +0000

Hubbub over Izzo’s Big Ten Network comments, transcript – MSU Spartans Insider – MLive.com
Here’s a nice commentary on Izzo’s comments regarding the Big Ten Network, plus a transcript of what he actually said. Check it out – it’s a good read.

I’m off the bandwagon

Pete — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 06:34:19 +0000

I’m out. Michigan State basketball this season is officially overrated, sloppy, ugly, and any other number of horrible adjectives. High hopes in the beginning of the season have turned to reveal a young-playing scared team that for some reason just can’t get it together. Izzo keeps talking about playing for the tournament rather than the conference, but f-…March is gonna kick their ass unless something drastically changes.

It doesn’t help that my interest level is barely there anyway, what with being able to see only a fraction (not even half!) of the games – thank you, Big Ten Network. Good luck everyone…I’d like to eat my words, but at this point I’ll see you in 2009.

Yo momma (2) (2)

Pete — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 01:52:00 +0000

Holy cow, where have I been? Anyone else notice Ryan Miller in some recent Amp Energy Drink commercials?

Cold War 2?

Pete — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 01:55:59 +0000

So there’s news going around about a Michigan State – Michigan hockey game at Ford Field next year, gearing up for hosting the Frozen Four in 2010.

Hockey at Ford Field with 70-80,000 fans? Awesome.

Double header with MSU-UM and the Redwings? Even better!

The only thing that gets me, and maybe it’s nostalgia talking….part of the allure of the original Cold War was us freezing our butts off at Spartan Stadium in October. What’s the fun of having it in a comfortable controlled-temperature environment?

Speaking of, when are we going to see the Super Bowl at Lambeau Field?