SPORTS
What to make of this bipolar team?
How quickly the tables have turned. MSU has earned significant negative attention in the national spotlight the last couple of weeks.
SPORTS
Monday Musings
Starting next season, several Major League Baseball teams will sell caskets marked with their team colors and insignia. Among the early buyers: The Kansas City Royals, who will use the caskets to house their playoff hopes once the season is a month old. Almost half of baseball fans want Barry Bonds to fall short of Hank Aaron's home run record, according to an Associated Press-America Online poll released last week. Worse for Bonds, almost 98 percent of fans hope he doesn't break Placido Polanco's record for biggest head in the league. In other baseball news, MLB players and owners reportedly have reached a tentative agreement for a new labor contract.
ICE HOCKEY
Exhibition game gives brothers taste of what's to come at MSU
A.J. Sturges will have bragging rights at this year's holiday dinners. Sturges, a 6-foot-4, 185-pound defenseman and the brother of MSU sophomore forward Dan Sturges, helped the U.S.
FOOTBALL
For once, breaks go Spartans' way
Evanston, Ill. — It takes a lot to overcome a 35-point deficit in less than 22 minutes.
SOCCER
MSU gets 1st conference win in 2OT
After 90 grueling minutes of regulation play, the MSU men's soccer team entered overtime against Northwestern, needing a clutch goal to capture its first Big Ten win of the season. With less than three minutes remaining in double overtime, MSU junior midfielder Ben Pirmann lifted an impressive pass into the box.
SPORTS
No postgame praise for Smith
• The players are usually the first to credit the coaching staff after a big win, but there was hardly any mention of coaching moves in the post-game press conference.
BASEBALL
It'll be tough to stop the unstoppable
Offense Bishop: The Tigers have been nearly unstoppable lately. They have lit up some great pitchers during the playoffs.
SPORTS
Word on the street
"I've been a Tigers fan since I can remember — I'd do whatever it takes, as long as it isn't life threatening.
SPORTS
MSU's task: Replace Shimek, Bowen
The MSU women's basketball program established itself as an organization of national superiority two seasons ago when it reached the national championship game. Last year, the team made it to the Sweet 16, further cementing the success of the program. But gone are the days of Kristin Haynie, Kelli Roehrig, Lindsay Bowen and Liz Shimek, and now it's time for senior captains Victoria Lucas-Perry, Rene Haynes and Katrina Grantham to lead the team into a new era of basketball as the upcoming season looms. Five letterwinners from last year — including Shimek and Bowen, MSU's all-time No.
ICE HOCKEY
Under-18 team always a threat to pull upset
Three seasons ago, Brandon Gentile donned a red, white and blue jersey while playing for the U.S. National Team Development Program Under-18 Team.
SOCCER
MSU blanks Valparaiso, 2-0
With a Big Ten showdown against Northwestern looming on the horizon, the MSU men's soccer team could easily have looked past its Wednesday opponent, Valparaiso. Instead, the Spartans came out and played suffocating defense from the first whistle to the last, crushing the Crusaders, 2-0, at Old College Field. "Today was what we call a Spartan effort," MSU head coach Joe Baum said.
SPORTS
Spartans learning from Tigers' success
The last time the Detroit Tigers won a World Series title, most MSU athletes were in diapers or had not even been born. "None of the players on our team have experienced the Tigers win," MSU baseball head coach David Grewe said.
FOOTBALL
Fall from grace
Drew Stanton entered this season with a career completion rate of 65.7 percent — the highest all-time for an MSU quarterback.
SOCCER
Men's soccer team to host Valparaiso today
The MSU men's soccer team will play Valparaiso in its second-to-last home game of the season at 4 p.m.
SPORTS
Come together, right now, over sports?
Grown men were brought to tears. Homeless people and residents from places like Farmington Hills united with fist pumps and chanted cheers. More than 40,000 people decked out in navy and orange flooded the streets.
ICE HOCKEY
As Comley predicted, 3rd, 4th lines struggle
In the No. 8 MSU hockey team's 3-2 loss Sunday at Western Michigan, head coach Rick Comley's fears about the depth of his team proved to be accurate. "It's thin right now, "Comley said.
BASKETBALL
Walton's offensive role could increase
It was a long, hard offseason for Travis Walton. Last season, the then-freshman guard was known primarily as a defensive stopper.
FOOTBALL
Adams, Warrick swap positions as part of defensive shuffle
After surrendering 772 yards and 69 points combined in its last two losses, MSU's defense will get shaken up for Saturday's game against Northwestern. Most glaring are the position changes for two Spartans who have started every game in 2006.
VOLLEYBALL
Schatzle named Big Ten Player of Week
Junior outside hitter Ashley Schatzle was named the Big Ten Volleyball Player of the Week after leading the Spartans to wins against Michigan and Iowa. The honor is the first for an MSU volleyball player since the 2003 season. Schatzle averaged 6.5 kills per game and hit .423 for the week.
FOOTBALL
Spartans secure Ohio offensive line recruit
The MSU football team has received another verbal commitment from the class of 2007, this one from Mark Wetterer, an offensive lineman from Anderson High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. Prior to the season, Wetterer had offers from 12 Division-1 schools, including West Virginia and Maryland, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. He is ranked 28th in the state of Ohio by recruiting service Rivals.com. The Web site also ranks him as a three-star recruit out of five.