State Week

The guys over at UMGoBlue were chatting about this piece of objective journalism from the Lansing State Journal which appears to depict a Michigan much more skewed toward embracing Sparty than the Maize and Blue.

Naturally, it sparked a lively discussion that concluded with user M FTFL setting up his own rhetorical homerun and knocking it out of the park:

"Why is the state mostly green?

Because the map is based on where the alumni live. A large number of Michigan alumni move to other parts of the world to pursue bigger and better oppotunities. Most MSU grads stay in Michigan - there's no point in relocating out of state to a different McDonalds."

Ouch. But he brings up a good point (if you can ignore the vitriolic frosting). While the packaging of the graphic (and remember, the Lansing paper is probably the best place to get unbiased information about Michigan State) is meant to fool you into thinking the state of Michigan prefers Michigan State, its only a county by county tally of the concentration of Michigan State versus Michigan alumni. This may, of course, have a high correlation with preference, but it's not the same thing.

Also, Switters points out, there are only about 15 people who live in the rest of the state outside of Detroit/Ann Arbor. The other 45,000 go to State.

Meanwhile, the line for this game is falling from 17 to 15.5 as of today. 17 is a big spread, especially in a rivalry game, and against a potent offense like State's. And in the past this game has been all over the place: 49-3 four years ago, an amazing Braylon Edwards-led 4th quarter comeback in 2004, and another close OT win last year. All this yields uncertainty. I do not doubt that Michigan will win for one second, but beating the spread seems a little dicier.

They've beaten everyone by at least two touchdowns (which the bookies in Vegas are well aware of) and last week, just when they seemed on the verge of winning 35-7, they failed to score from inside the 5 and then settled into a little soft prevent allowing Minnesota to make up one and almost two touchdowns. Jesus. At -10 that was scary. Now at -15.5?

On the positive side of things to consider, Drew Stanton (#2 on the Universal QB list) is nursing sore ribs and is listed as probably. Remeber, Statnton was taken out of the '04 game by none other than Lamar Woodley, so there's that vulnerability and fear to consider. Can Stanton beat the demons in his head long enough to scamper away from the demons on the field while tossing off touchdown passes? I don't think so.

Also, State's starting running back, Javon Ringer, is out for the season with a severely sprained knee. Some squat mofo named Jehuu Caulcrick will be taking over rushing duties.

Still, I'm deferring until later this week.