When Mark Dantonio was introduced as MSU's newest head coach, he stressed that players play their best when they play the fastest, and they play the fastest when they know exactly what to do. Knowing "exactly what to do" wasn't a common theme in the previous coaching regime.
State News sports reporter and hockey fanatic Matt Bishop talks about the NHL's Stanley Cup Playoffs, which kicked off Wednesday with four games. Question: So, opening thoughts on this year's playoffs? Answer: I am like a kid in a candy store right now.
If anything is going to bring the MSU gymnastics team to victory, it will be its teamwork. Team-oriented workouts, spirited group cheers and a solid support system have been regular parts of the team's vigorous preparation for the NCAA Central Regional Championship meet Saturday. "It helps us bond and learn how to perform as a team," freshman Nicole Curler said of the cooperative approach. "We are much more of a full pack.
Jacquie Joseph has never seen weather like this in her time as MSU softball head coach. The snow storm that hit East Lansing on Wednesday canceled the Spartans' game against Central Michigan, marking the fifth game MSU has lost in the last week due to weather. "I can tell you in my 14 years here that this has never happened," Joseph said.
For most players on the MSU football team, a new coaching regime brought new schemes and faces to learn.
Lansing — Some people have to wait years to get redemption for their mistakes. Brandon Doherty only needed a few pitches. Moments after making a throwing error in the ninth inning that brought the go-ahead run to the plate, Doherty made a lunging grab on a line drive to preserve the MSU baseball team's 6-5 win against Western Michigan on Tuesday at Oldsmobile Park. "If that error cost us the game," a smiling Doherty said afterward, "I'm not going to be happy the rest of the night, that's for sure." The Broncos (8-16), who entered their final at-bat down two, had a runner on second with two outs when Chris Lewis grounded weakly to Doherty, a junior shortstop. "I kind of looked away right there because I thought it was an automatic," MSU head coach David Grewe said. But Doherty's throw was wild, allowing the runner from second to score and Lewis, the tying run, to move into scoring position. The next hitter roped one to Doherty's right, and for a moment, it appeared his error on the previous play would prove extremely costly.
Following the Spartans' 3-1 national championship-clinching win Saturday night over Boston College, junior defenseman Daniel Vukovic's voice mail in-box was completely full. The most important message was from his brother Nick who was watching the game on DirecTV from his home in Australia with friends. "He moved over there, I think two years ago, and I haven't seen my brother for the two years," Vukovic said Monday.
Two runs. That's all that separates the MSU baseball team from a perfect start to conference play. The Spartans dropped the opener of Monday's doubleheader against Purdue, 1-0 — their second one-run loss in the conference — then blanked the Boilermakers, 3-0, in the back end to take the series at Kobs Field and improve to 13-10 overall, 5-2 in the Big Ten. Only once in the last decade have the Spartans gotten off to a better conference start — 2004, when they won their first six games. "The crazy thing is we're that close to being undefeated in the Big Ten," head coach David Grewe said, holding his fingers an inch apart.
How cold was it on Sunday at Kobs Field? So cold that junior second baseman Steve Gerstenberger wore four layers of Under Armour under his jersey to fight the game-time wind chill of 23 degrees. "I can hardly move," he said, "but at least I'm warm." So cold that despite the grounds crew's attempts to clear the field before the game with leaf blowers, snow was still piled along the fences — something home-plate umpire Bruce Doane said he has never seen in 35 years. So cold that Purdue rented a microwave from the hotel it was staying at and used it to heat chicken soup in its dugout. But not cold enough to cool down senior pitcher Craig Brookes, who threw seven innings and allowed two runs — one earned — to lead the MSU baseball team to a 3-2 win against the Boilermakers. "Good old Brookesy," MSU head coach David Grewe said of his ace, who kept his conference-leading ERA at 1.29 on an afternoon that felt more like Christmas Eve than Easter Sunday. What was supposed to be the finale of a four-game weekend set ended up being the series opener because of the weather.
St. Louis — Justin Abdelkader wasn't even born when Mike Donnelly scored the game-winning goal in the 1986 NCAA championship game to earn the crown for the Spartans, but the sophomore forward will take his place in the hockey history books alongside him. Abdelkader, like Donnelly, scored the game-winning goal to give MSU the national title.
St. Louis — MSU head coach Rick Comley has been picked apart by the media, fans and the public ever since he was named Ron Mason's successor in 2002. He has dealt with two seasons in which the team failed to meet lofty preseason expectations, ultimately falling short of an NCAA Tournament bid. But with Saturday's 3-1 victory over Boston College to give MSU its third national championship in program history, Comley has met those lofty expectations, silencing the critics in the process. "I want to publicly thank Ron Mason," Comley said of MSU's athletic director.
State News sports editor Eric Fish kept a running blog of his journey this past weekend with hockey reporter Zack Colman and photographer Mike Itchue at the Frozen Four in St.
St. Louis — Boston College registered 13 shots in the first period in Saturday night's national championship game.
St. Louis — Still in his hockey gear, senior captain Chris Lawrence leaned his right hand against a locker room wall.
St. Louis — Ralph and Joanne Gentile weren't able to travel to the Czech Republic when their son Brandon, now a sophomore defenseman on the MSU hockey team, was playing in the biggest event of his pre-college career. As a member of the United States National Team Development Program out of Ann Arbor, Gentile and Team USA won a gold medal at the 2005 International Ice Hockey Federation's World Under-18 Championships in the Czech Republic. Mom and Dad were unable to attend. "I had been overseas, and they unfortunately couldn't make it," Brandon Gentile said. But that just made his parents' trip to St.
Other than "What the #$&% is up with this weather?" the question I've been hearing most often lately is, "Would Tom Izzo really leave MSU for Kentucky?" As hypotheticals go, that's a pretty heavy one — it's as unsettling a thought to MSU fans as "Would the pope convert to Judaism?" is to Catholics.
Craig Brookes' statistical profile is the kind of thing that keeps opposing hitters awake at night. He leads the Big Ten with a paper-thin 1.29 ERA.
The MSU softball team hosts Ohio State at 4 p.m. today in hopes of earning its first conference win.
Head coach Mark Dantonio didn't have a real hands-on experience with his team during the squad's first scrimmage Saturday. Instead of coaching like it was a practice, the coaching staff stepped back and ran the scrimmage like a real game, with coaches manning the press box and plays being sent in via hand signals. "We got some good work in," Dantonio said Tuesday.
Twenty-eight sacks. Think about that for a second. Twenty-eight sacks. In 11 games. The MSU football team had a long list of problems in 2006, but no group was more disappointing than the offensive line.