Four months ago, and less than 100 yards away from Crisler Arena, two bitter rivals made national news for an incident that was embarrassing, and they wish wouldn’t have happened.
The two rivals more than made up for it Saturday night as Michigan showered their rivals from MSU with love, empathy, and respect. For those who were in attendance and for those who watched on TV, it is a moment that will not be forgotten any time soon. Tom Izzo, the coach who wears his emotions on his sleeve, was brought to tears for a national audience to see. It was the finest moment in the history of this rivalry.
Rather than focusing on their differences and their rivalry, we saw a community, a family, come together and do what was needed, which was to be there for each other, when everyone was hurting, but one member of the rivalry was hurting even more. It is what happens when rivals see other as human beings and focus on what they have in common and not their differences.
I am not sure how the pre-game ceremony game about, however it happened, it was clearly done out of love and caring. It was the U of M community being there in a time of need for the family members of the MSU community. The student section wearing t-shirts supporting MSU, the incredibly moving green-out during the moment of silence and the playing of MSU’s alma mater, and the M student-section displaying a huge “Spartan Strong” banner were all done out of love for their rivals.
It was all topped off by the players putting together one of the best M/MSU basketball games I have ever seen in the more than 100 games I have watched. It was players putting it all on the line, playing their butts off and executing at a very high level as shown by the low turnovers and high shooting percentages. Michigan won the game because they had a little more left in the tank than MSU with two minutes left in the game, which is understandable considering what the MSU players went through during the week. See my Quote of the Day.
After the game the players and coaches talked more about their emotions during the pregame ceremony and throughout the week than they did about the game. The Spartan Nation knew it was loved and it was saying thank you.
There were no losers in this game. Everyone there, everyone who participated, and everyone who watched the game on TV were winners Saturday night. Their love buckets were filled up by two rivals coming together, being there for each other and focusing on their common ground and not their differences.
I hope they were watching in Lansing and D.C because this is how rivals are supposed to act toward each other.
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Prior to watching the basketball game, Fox Sports showed the one-hour documentary titled “Back to School”, which was a documentary about the game’s lead announcer, Gus Johnson, experience of balancing his day job while attending Harvard’s yearlong advance leadership training course. Johnson, who grew up in a poor section of Detroit, attended U of D Jesuit High School and Howard University, is an inspiration for everyone. I look forward to watching it again.
Saturday evening was a night to remember.
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Quote of the Day: “All in all, we played the game for two hours to try to make …to try to make many people back in East Lansing and around the world that are Michigan State alums escape for two hours and try to enjoy the moment. … I asked for 40 minutes of focus, I got 38. I feel pretty honored about that. I’m proud of the guys because I don’t know how they felt.” MSU coach Tom Izzo following the game on Saturday.
Orchid of the Day: The pre-game ceremony was one of U of M’s finest moments.
A second Orchid of the Day: Fox Sports for their documentary “Back to School”. See above story.
Question of the Day: What were your emotions when you first saw the green-out during the pregame ceremony?
Image of the Day:
Nice Tom.
Kate,
Thanx for the kind words. I appreciate hearing from you.
I sadly missed the game but your thoughts here helped me understand both the great game and the caring shared by both rival communities during this sad time. Thanks for sharing Tom
Bob,
It was unforgettable. I think you can see the pregame ceremony on YOUTube.