Thursday, May 31, 2012

MSU Football schedules cupcakes in 2013, 2014

Spartan Nation:  let's grade the football non-conference schedules for the next three years. The ES gives a high grade of a B- for 2012.  Then, 2013 and 2014 are pathetically uninteresting and uncompetitive.  Jacksonville State in 2014? Come on.  Which team would you schedule for MSU to play in the open date of September 6, 2014?  Hopefully another major BCS-caliber football program like the Oregon Ducks.  The ES hates scheduling revenue-generating bottom-feeders.

2012: Grade = B-.
Aug. 31 BOISE STATE
Sept. 8 at Central Michigan
Sept. 15 NOTRE DAME
Sept. 22 EASTERN MICHIGAN

2013: Grade = C-.
Aug. 31 WESTERN MICHIGAN
Sept. 7 SOUTH FLORIDA
Sept. 14 YOUNGSTOWN STATE
Sept. 21 at Notre Dame

2014: Grade = C.
Aug. 30 JACKSONVILLE STATE
Sept. 6 TBD
Sept. 13 at Oregon
Sept. 20 EASTERN MICHIGAN

Spartans in the NCAA baseball tourney? ???

For the first time since Kirk Gibson roamed the Spartan Stadium sidelines and the dugouts at Kobs Field, the Michigan State Spartans have advanced to the NCAA championship baseball tourney!

The first game in the Stanford Regional is tomorrow, Friday, June 1, at 4 pm ET (1 pm PDT), where #3 seed MSU (37-21) will play #2 seed Pepperdine Waves (34-21) at Stanford Stadium. Will ES roving reporter Chock, or the ES' pal Smig, make it from their homestead around San Francisco down to Silicon Valley to make the game? Although baseball is boring to watch, it would be great if in the area to go down the road to catch the Spartans making the rare appearance (more rare than a football Rose Bowl appearance) in the NCAA tourney.

According to MSUSpartans.com, on Saturday and Sunday, game times are also scheduled for 1 p.m. and 6 p.m., and if necessary, Monday at 6 p.m. All of the games will be broadcast on ESPN3.com, while audio of Michigan State's games will be available on SpartanSportsNetwork.com and the Spartan Sports Network mobile app. The ES will tune into ESPN3 at home, fer sure... Stanford is the No. 1 seed in the regional with a 38-16 record and will play No. 4 Fresno State (30-26) at 9 p.m. EDT (6 p.m. PDT). Throughout its 128-year program history, Michigan State has never played either school.  The only other Big Ten team to make the Field is Purdue, which is No. 1 in the Gary Regional.  Check out the Bracket here.

Interesting note on Spartan baseball -- "Former Spartan Kirk Gibson launched the longest ball ever hit out of Kobs Field in 1978 when he smacked a 550-foot blast that cleared the trees in right-center and landed on Adams Field".