Thursday, March 28, 2024

Sparty Watch holds the line against U-M vandals for 60 years at MSU

October 27, 2016
during the game against Northwestern on Oct. 22, 2016 at DeMartin Stadium at Old College Field. The Spartans defeated the Wildcats, 2-1.
during the game against Northwestern on Oct. 22, 2016 at DeMartin Stadium at Old College Field. The Spartans defeated the Wildcats, 2-1. —
Photo by Nic Antaya | and Carly Geraci The State News

After a hail of eggs were thrown at The Spartan statue one cold night in October 1995, one would almost suspect the iconic statue to be covered in yolks, a symbolic stain on the image of MSU. But one Spartan fan, covered in green body paint, valued the statue more than his own body and threw himself in front of the onslaught.

"Not one of those eggs touched Sparty," John Sheldon, who goes by Johnny Spirit, told The State News in 1995. "I got hit a lot. I took bullets for Sparty, if you want to look at it that way." 

Sparty Watch is a longstanding tradition Spartan Marching Band, or SMB, members participate in every year before the MSU vs. U-M football game.

"Not one of those eggs touched Sparty. I got hit a lot. I took bullets for Sparty, if you want to look at it that way."

“Sparty Watch happens the week of the Michigan vs. Michigan State game,” supply chain management sophomore band member Riley Griffin said. “It doesn’t matter if the game is going to be at Michigan or Michigan State, we still do this because hecklers will still come and try to mess up the Sparty statue. It’s been a tradition with the band. We start the Monday morning of game week and we'll make sure we have someone there 24/7 up until kickoff.”

60 years of a tradition

When Leonard Jungwirth's The Spartan statue was dedicated in June 1945, there wasn't a dedicated guard to protect it from Wolverine fans during rivalry week. That would come about 20 years later.

“I was in the band from 1962 to 1966, and at that time there was no Sparty Watch,” said former band member Greg Pell.

While Pell attended MSU, Sparty Watch started in an informal way.

“With us it was just the very, very beginning, informal type of thing," Pell said. "It wasn’t even called Sparty Guard or Sparty Watch, it was just ‘we ought to get together and make sure they don’t get to paint him this year’ kind of informal thing."

Social media director for the MSU Alumni Band Melissa Mackey was a SMB member from 1983-88.

“Back then Sparty Watch was kind of an informal thing,” Mackey said. “It was just a few people who decided a day or two before the Michigan game to guard Sparty. It actually started when we started to see more and more vandalism of the statue.”

The informal members of Sparty Watch would gather to protect the statue on the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights before the game, when the chance of vandalism was higher, Mackey said.

“(We thought) 'Oh, you know last year they threw some paint on Sparty, so why don’t we hang around and see if we can spook the next maize and blue person that comes around,'” said SMB member from 1969-72 Jim Barry.

The MSU Army Reserve Officers Training Corps, or ROTC, helps the SMB on nights when they cannot guard the statue.

"The army would watch over it Friday night so the band could sleep for the next day, the game day," head chair of the Sparty Watch committee Peter Florian said. "It’s been something that the band has done with the Army ROTC for several decades."

Breaking through the guard

The Spartan statue has been attacked in a variety ways.

"The Michigan students said they were painting Sparty’s backside a maize color, but Department of Public Safety officers told them we call it corn and took them into custody."

Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.

In October 2013, during rivalry week, a group of 20 U-M fans attacked the statue with fists and, as perceived by some, one attacked the statue with a dildo until they were driven off by super fan Johnny Spirit with Sparty Watch's help. 

“Last year, there were actually some students that got paint thrown on them because there were people trying to vandalize the statue right while there were people watching, which is super gutsy and ridiculous, but it was nice to see that the band members just really stood up to that,” Mackey said.

The vandalism tends to occur during the week leading up to the game against U-M, but The Spartan has been vandalized at other times as well.

In January 2002 the statue was covered in nine cans of paint before the basketball game against U-M. 

On April 16, 1979, nine U-M students attempted to paint Sparty’s tail end yellow, according to an old article from The State News.

“The Michigan students said they were painting Sparty’s backside a maize color, but Department of Public Safety officers told them we call it corn and took them into custody,” the article said.

Sparty Watch is designed to stop the vandalism that occurs during the week of the MSU vs. U-M football game. 

“A lot of people have tried to vandalize the statue past midnight, that’s generally when it’s the opportune time,” co-chair of the Sparty Watch Committee Dominic Aldini said.

There were times when Sparty Watch stopped possible vandalism, Mackey said.

“We were the last line of defense before an awful thing would happen,” Barry said. “We were guardians.”

Eventually U-M caught on to the short, informal hours of the original Sparty Watch.

“(At first it was) for brief periods of time and then got later into the night as the vandals realized, ‘hey, if we come later then they’ll be gone' and we said, ‘well let’s not be gone, let’s just stay there,'" Mackey said. "Then it extended into a whole day and then a couple days and over the years, it seems like it’s just kind of gotten, every year, longer and longer and more of a formal thing that the band put together." 

More than just a guard

While Sparty Watch has evolved through the years from an informal gathering to an MSU tradition, some things have remained the same.

“I like it because I feel like we’re helping the university out as a bigger part than just the band,” Griffin said. “It’s a lot of fun to go and destress from classes for a couple of hours and hang out with a bunch of your friends and make sure the statue isn’t going to get paint on it.”

Pell echoed that sentiment.

“Well, it’s a social opportunity — when you’re not rehearsing music, you’re not marching, it’s just a chance to hang out and hang out at Sparty,” Pell said.

The MSU vs. U-M rivalry has been around longer than any current member of the SBM, dating at least to 1953 with the introduction of the Paul Bunyan Trophy and after the then-Michigan State College of Agriculture and Applied Science was allowed to play in the Big Ten Conference. 

“It’s great to know I’m part of something bigger than myself, just to be a Spartan and protect our honor and what we stand for,” Florian said.

There is something special about being a part of the longstanding tradition, SMB President Rachel Sze said.

“My first night at Sparty Watch (was) as a freshman and (I was) sort of in awe of being surrounded by so much tradition,” Sze said. “At midnight the band members will sing the 'Shadows' and the fight song, and that was just an unbelievably memorable moment for me.”

The night shift of Sparty Watch is divided into two parts, Aldini said.

“The first half which usually is after band practice or around 8 to midnight and it’s when you get most of the people to come out,” Aldini said. “The second half is at midnight we all sing the the 'Shadows' (then) the numbers, they die down, but there are a few that stay past midnight.”

Sparty Watch has evolved into a great bonding experience for the SMB, Mackey said.

“We’ll stand by Sparty all day, all night, protecting it and hopefully we have a great outcome this weekend,” Sze said.

Discussion

Share and discuss “Sparty Watch holds the line against U-M vandals for 60 years at MSU” on social media.