Under a warm Lakeland sun at the Florida spring training home of the Detroit Tigers, I became 8 years old again. There I was, standing along the first baseline of Joker Marchant Stadium, collecting autographs from some of the team's biggest stars.
Women's basketball reporter Matt Bishop examines the Spartans' NCAA Tournament potential and reviews the Big Ten Tournament. Question: How angry should the team be after the loss to Purdue in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament? Answer: Losing a 12-point second-half lead is never a good thing, but I'll tell you what — I personally felt a lot better about it after turning on ESPN2 last Monday night and watching Purdue dismantle Ohio State.
Softball While many MSU students were basking in the Florida sun last week, the Spartans softball team was playing 13 games in eight days. After leaving East Lansing with a 3-6 record, the team returns home with a 12-10 record, which includes four consecutive wins at the Plant City Tournament and a four-game split at the USF-Adidas Invitational. Sandwiched between the two tournaments, the Spartans swept St.
LSU women's basketball coach Pokey Chatman resigned last week amid allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct with a former player.
Senior wrestler Nick Simmons has accomplished nearly everything in college wrestling during his four years as a Spartan. But while the Williamston native has piled up All-American acknowledgments and Big Ten titles, he has yet to reach the pinnacle of college wrestling — winning a national championship. Simmons moved one step closer to reaching that summit last weekend by winning his third individual title at the Big Ten Championships held at Breslin Center. Top-seeded Simmons defeated Indiana's No.
Chicago — Since MSU's loss to Wisconsin in Friday's quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament, Badgers star Alando Tucker has been lambasted in many MSU circles as a classless, heartless thug.
The MSU men's soccer team announced the signing of five new recruits for the fall 2007 season. "Our 2007 recruiting class is the strongest we have had in several years," Baum said in a statement.
MSU track and field athletes junior Jeremy Orr and senior Mark Langlois received All-Big Ten Indoor honors for their performances at the Big Ten Indoor Championships last weekend. Langlois won the pole vault, earning him first-team honors.
The preliminary seeds have been posted, and the MSU wrestlers are ready for the Big Ten Championships this weekend. MSU will host the championship meet, and all Big Ten teams will head to Breslin Center for the first time since 1996.
The No. 25 MSU gymnastics team will host No. 15 Michigan on Saturday at Jenison Field House. At the State of Michigan Classic on Feb.
MSU won't find out who its second-round CCHA playoff opponent is until Saturday at the earliest, but it's counting on playing Nebraska-Omaha anyway. The Mavericks host last-place Bowling Green this weekend.
Four players from the MSU women's basketball team earned All-Big Ten status as announced by the conference Tuesday. Freshman center Allyssa DeHaan led the way for MSU, earning Freshman of the Year honors and being named second-team All-Big Ten.
The 12-game 2007 MSU football schedule, which includes seven home games, was unveiled Tuesday. MSU opens the season with three consecutive home games.
Spartans hockey fans may be criticizing the team's recent play, and MSU head coach Rick Comley probably won't blame them. "I've known all along that we have some good points and that we have some deficiencies," Comley said.
MSU track and field team members Jeremy Orr and Erica Bailey stood out as leaders for the team during the Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships last weekend. The Spartans men earned a ninth-place finish for the event. Orr, a sprinter, extended his winning season with two second-place finishes for the team.
Profootballtalk.com's "The Rumor Mill" reported Sunday afternoon that several NFL teams are now considering former MSU quarterback Drew Stanton to have moved ahead of Notre Dame's Brady Quinn based on performances at the league's annual combine in Indianapolis. The Web site cites good team interviews and overall intangibles for Stanton's jump as well as Quinn's questionable ability to play on the big stage. In four years at MSU, Stanton built a career that includes back-to-back team MVP honors and the best completion percentage in Spartans history (.642).
By most accounts, MSU already has secured a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The Spartans put a "signature win" on their résumé by beating then-No.
MSU women's basketball head coach Joanne P. McCallie is glad there is now a sense of urgency with the Big Ten Tournament in sight. The Spartans struggled through the last two games of the season, losing to Illinois, then having trouble winning against Minnesota. "It's great to get results, but you really want to play your best basketball," McCallie said about the Minnesota game Monday in her weekly press conference.
The No. 13 Spartans knocked one thing off their to-do list by guaranteeing themselves a fourth-place conference finish and clinching a first-round playoff bye with Friday's 5-3 win at Bowling Green.
He's far too stubborn to admit it, but you could see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice — Drew Neitzel was sick as a dog.