Drew Ellis writes for & copy editor for the Oakland Press newspaper. His twitter account is @ellisdrew
He wrote this on his blog, actually makes sense of the rivalry between M & sparty.
SPARTAN FANS: "Can we admit that the last 12 months have been prety good for John Beilein and the Wolverines. Michigan struggled its way into the post season last yr. However it found the right formula & took off in the NCAA tournament, doing something State hasn't done since 2009, and that is play for the national championship. Combine that with a Big Ten regular season championship this season & I can understand why it would be frustrating for Spartan fans, However, you have to give credit where it is due"
DON'T PLAY THE INJURY CARD: "Yes, MSU has been dealing with injuries all season, but try to look me in the eye and say you expected Michigan to flourish without Trey Burke & Tim Hardaway Jr. Then try & tell me the same thing when you found out Mitch McGary was basically not going to play all season. You can't" He adds a few more sentences
18 GAMES MEAN MORE THAN 3: "MSU looked great this weekend, but a Big Ten tournament title doesn't trump a regular season title. Don't even try to make that argument, because if the roles where reversed, you would laugh at Michigan fans for trying to claim that. Accept that Michigan swept the regular season & won the regular season title. It happened & it is a big accomplishment for that program."
Michigan fans: "Can we admit that MSU looks like the better team today than Michigan? I know the Wolverines won the season series 2-1, but you can't deny that Sunday's MSU team is the one many were expecting all season. The Spartans look to be peaking at the right time & they are probably putting the fear in all other teams rigth now. It doesn't diminish all that M has done this season. MSU should be the better team on paper, which should make your Big Ten regulare season title that much much sweeter"
MARCH IS KING: "Just like a regular season title means more rthan a conf. tourn. title, a run in March means more than anything else. The Final Four banner holds supremacy over a league title. If MSU makes a run to the final four, or evenwins the national title, that will be the trump card this season. It was your trump card last season when you reached the title game & MSU lost in the sweet 16"
YOU NEED BANNERS; he wrote a lengthy paragraph the importance of hanging banners. Basically at one time M FB made fun of sparty, M had BIG titles, Rose Bowl appearances, a national program, sparty was a regional program. Well in BB, Sparty has had more success nationally over the yrs than M. M needs to string together solid post season runs to catch up to sparty.
"So can we all agree? Who knows, maybe there will be a fourth meeting with everthing at stake. That would be something"
Agree/Disagree? Comments?