Wednesday, January 31, 2018

More Sparty & Dynasty Feedback

The More You Read, The Worse It Gets:
Probe asks for ALL E-MAIL and Texts from Nassar, AD Hollis and Dean of Medicine (And you KNOW that’s bound to turn up more dirt on other people): 
Women’s Rowing Team PISSED that they asked for Chaperones on Medical examinations/treatments and MSU has STILL NOT MADE THAT SIMPLE CHANGE to policy!!!
Walton Defends Himself in Letter and Claims He Will Continue to Defend Himself as Far As The Law Will Let Him
There’s probably 2-3 new articles or opinions a day about the Sparty Scandal as more and more people come out to either accuse someone within the Sparty Hierarchy or offer an unsolicited opinion regarding the “culture” within Sparty. 
The most damning interview is the first link above and that was with former Sparty AD Baker who was the Acting AD from ‘92-‘95, right before Hollis.  Full disclosure:  Baker was hired by President DiBiaggio who left MSU on her first day in 1992.  After that, Baker claimed she was at odds with pretty much everyone that included the new Prez McPherson, Perles and of course, everyone’s favorite regent Furgeson.  In what could be considered a “Final Shot”, she claims that had she stayed and not bowed out and left MSU two years before her contract expired due to Prez McPherson pressure, she would have caught Nassar after his first victim came forward.   
Again – She claims she would have caught him after the first victim came forward in 1997.  Because she was paying attention.  And she claims that there was a very dismissive culture in place at MSU.     
It’s statements and things like this that are going to continue to snowball for Sparty and make life very difficult on anyone who stays or was even remotely involved in any of the incidents. 
Latest News:   Former Gov John Engler has been tapped to take over as the interim MSU Prez.  Probably not a terrible choice (but he is an MSU grad so there’s still some nepotism going on) and he can clean house and not be questioned or critiqued too harshly.
Of course, This Happened:

Millenials – I’m Not Getting What I Want So I’m Gonna Cry!!!:   
Sparty Faculty Board to Issue a Vote Of “No Confidence” Based On Engler Appointment
And the hits just keep on coming! 
What can only be described as a “politically” motivated move (Engler is a Republican), the MSU Faculty Board is moving forward with a “No Confidence” vote that will be submitted to the Academic Congress.  Assuming that vote passes (it probably will) the Faculty Board will ask the MSU Board of Trustees to resign immediately.  All of them.  I’m not sure why the Board thinks that a former two term governor can’t come in and be an effective interim Prez.  It’s not going to be a long term gig.  Let him clean house and be on his way.  Makes sense to me…But the Faculty Board is undoubtedly liberal and they probably feel Engler will stick his nose in where it doesn’t belong?  I dunno…
I’m not sure what weight the ‘ole Faculty Board carries with the trustees and I have no idea what “power” the Academic Congress has, but I guess we’re all going to find out relatively quickly….
Green Finally Admits Brady The GOAT
Not that I’ve ever cared much for Jerry Green, but at least he finally gets it right. 
The Dynasties – FEEDBACK
A couple of you e-mailed me with your own thoughts on the Dynasties.  And while I appreciate the feedback, I think we can respectfully disagree and still hold our own opinions about which is the best and why we think they are the best.  I’m still sticking with the Patriots based on Player Turnover Ratio and the length of the Dynasty being a slightly more impressive feat. 
One reader (obviously a Bulls Fan) stood behind this assertion:
“What the Chicago Bulls did and the “relatively” short time they accomplished it in can’t be considered the “4th Best Dynasty” in a 5-team dynasty debate.  It’s probably a lot closer to being the first or best dynasty (But if Brady wins Ring #6, I’ll concede the Bulls to 2nd place).  Evidence:  In 1991, the Bulls went 15-2 in the play-offs to win the NBA Title, and that stood as a record (fewest number of games to win the NBA Title) until the 2001 Lakers (15-1) and the 2017 GSW (16-1) subsequently broke the Lakers Record.  In 1996, the Bulls went 72-10 (that was impressive – ed.) and won the NBA Title and lost only 3 play-off games that season, too.  That’s almost equivalent to a 19-0 perfect NFL Season.   Can’t ignore how they do it.  Winning the Title in fewer games means you’re that much more of a dynasty. 
While I get all that, again, I think your argument makes MY Argument even more clear:  Once you have a dynasty in place, and NBA Title is a HELLUVA lot easier to win than all the other Championship Trophies.  Again, with the NBA, you only need between 5-7 guys.  It should be EASY to build an NBA Dynasty….
And when you have the Bulls sweeping everyone, well, again, you kind of make my point for me.  There just wasn’t anyone else playing at the Bulls level in the 1990’s.  Hence, they were a great dynasty, but they weren’t the “Best” dynasty. 
The Pats have been playing the NFL’s Best Teams for 18 seasons, winning the Lombardy 5 times.    
Someone else pointed out that the Yankees should be “penalized” and that I should factor in payrolls in baseball.  I understand.  The higher the payroll the less impressive the dynasty.   I just don’t have any idea how to do that, or how to equalize a roster based on team salary. 
Games – Dates – Time – Result - Record
Illinois(H)                  January 6th               Noon                          WON  79-69              14-3
Purdue (H)                January 9th               9:00 PM                     Lost    70-69              14-4
Sparty (A)                   January 13th              Noon                          WON  82-72              15-4
Maryland (H)            January 15th            6:30 PM                     WON 68-67               16-4
Nebraska (A)             January 18th              8:00 PM                     LOST 72-52              16-5
Rutgers (H)              January 21st             Noon                          WON  62-47              17-5
Purdue (A)                 January 25th              7:00 PM                     LOST  92-88             17-6
Northwestern (H)    January 29th            7:00 PM                     WON  58-47              18-6
Minnesota (H)          February 3rd             2:30 PM
Northwestern (A)      February 6th              6:00PM
Wiscy (A)                   February 11th            Noon
Iowa   (H)                   February 14th           6:30 PM
Suckeyes (H)           February 18th           1:00 PM
PSU (A)                      February 21st            7:00 PM
Maryland (A)             February 24th            Noon
Northwestern Was Feisty
Until they weren’t, but Michigan was back up to its old tricks of not scoring in the 1st half and there was some frustration on Wolverines part due to the Purple Kitties smothering defensive play on the opposite end of the floor.  Northwestern is not a terrible team and beating them in Evanston next week won’t be easy...
Next Up - Minnesota!!!!
Michigan gets the Golden Gophers in the only meeting this season between the two teams at Crisler.  The Gophers have been stumbling through this season after the loss of their center to a checkered sexual past.  Pitino’s Gophers can probably still make some sort of run and the mentality of playing with House Money has settled in.  They’ve got nothing to lose…
Meanwhile, the next 4 games (including Minnesota) all look relatively winnable, assuming Michigan just continues playing the way they are.  That will leave a final 3-game stretch that could put a highlight on the regular season heading into the B1G Tourney or it could be a stutter step into New York.

We’ll see....  

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