It's interesting how some things in sports -- and politics -- have a way of drastically changing over the years. What used to be good is now bad -- and vice versa. Remember how "red" used to be a bad word, as in communist sympathizers? Now the conservatives, of all people, are proud of their "red" states. How did that happen?
Back in days of yore in women's college hoops, Louisiana Tech and Old Dominion were the powerhouses. We seldom hear anything about either any more. Pat Summit came along at UTenn to usher in an era of dominance, and was then eclipsed by Geno Auriemma at UConn.
The Dallas Cowboys have been great -- then the pits -- then great again, and are now mediocre at best.
Tons of such examples exist across the spectrum of sports. Less than a decade ago, who ever thought the Golden State Warriors would amount to anything?
But the rivalry between Michigan and Michigan State has a few twists of its own.
For decades, the Wolverines owned the Spartans on the football field. It wasn't even a close call most years. But in recent times, the Green has been spanking the Blue. Few would have seen that coming.
On the basketball court, they've both had ups and downs over the years, but generally speaking, Tom Izzo's Spartans have been superior to anything the Wolverines could offer. (Though it should be noted that while MSU brags about their Final Four appearances, and even an NCAA championship back around the turn of the century, this is nothing UM didn't accomplish a few years prior. They won a title too, and made it to the Finals with Fab Five a couple times before falling just short.
Just a couple weeks ago, Michigan State's male basketball team was ranked #1 in the nation. Very impressive. Yet it also appears to have been smoke, mirrors, and hype.
They got absolutely blistered at unranked Ohio State.
Well, OK, after playing their usual patsy non-conference schedule, the Spartans got a serious wake-up call by a fellow conference school. Perhaps an anomaly.
But that doesn't begin to explain how lowly Rutgers took Izzo's supposedly vastly superior boys to the limit before the Spartans barely -- BARELY squeaked out a win at home.
And then, in a quirk of the conference schedule -- the only meeting of the schools this year -- the same unranked Michigan went into East Lansing and took the same Spartans to the woodshed in their own house. A double digit victory, which would have been much worse had the Wolverines done a bit better job of shooting the usual late game foul-a-thon free throws they were continually given.
Last time yours truly looked, MSU had fallen from #1 to #4 or #5. After the lop-sided loss to their cross-state rival -- which they used to own -- and seemingly in disarray, the Spartans will likely tumble far down the rankings.
And well they should.
I continue to get a kick out of a local columnist that claims to play no favorites between Michigan and Michigan State. What he never admits is that he is a Michigan State alumnus. Dude still bleeds green, but tries to hide it. Hey, it's not working. Never did. Just own it -- not so tough. It's not like most of his objective readers, what few are left of them, don't already know this. Can't hide from internet searches. Hello?
Still, not that long ago, who woulda thunk Michigan State would dominate Michigan in football, and the Wolverines would go into Spartanville and spank them on the hardcourt?
There seems to be very few things a sports fan can count on these days, but perhaps there are old standbys to fall back on.
The USA's lady national soccer team will be really good. The men will suck.
The Cleveland Browns will be terrible every year.
The New England Patriots will continue to be excellent.
The Yankees and Red Sox will spent bazillions of dollars trying to buy championships, as will the LA Dodgers, and it feels good when a team like the Houston Astros walks away as World Series champs.
The Sacramento Kings? See the Cleveland Browns above.
As sure as there used to be tea in the harbor, the Boston Celtics will return to glory again, likely some year quite soon.
The dysfunctional Bell family, especially dad, will do yet something else incredibly stupid.
If Tiger Woods so much as shows up at a PGA tournament, his groupies and the media will go wild with speculation as to how he just might -- MIGHT -- return to his former dominance. Right.
And of course, the Detroit Lions and their ever-faithful snake-oil peddling local media will sell the suckers in 2018, for the 50th or 60th year in a row, that THIS will be the year -- the YEAR, dammit -- that they will finally make it to the Super Bowl.
Sigh. P.T Barnum was right. There's one born every minute. Yet there seem to be an awfully lot of them in the Detroit area for whatever reason.
Go figure.
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