Michigan State, Notre Dame, Little Giants, And The Controversy That Really Should Not Be One

A "what the fuck are you thinking you fucking imbecile?" play if it does not work and the "CALL OF THE YEAR!" if it does work. And this play, known as Little Giants to Michigan State, worked to perfection, giving Michigan State a 34-31 OT victory over Notre Dame.

Now I am sure you are wondering, what on earth did I post 2 pictures showing ABC's play clock at 0 with Michigan State having not snapped the ball? To prove a point. ABC's play clock is not in sync with the play clock on the scoreboard. Look at the play clock on MSU's scoreboard. It still says 1 on it. Look at it on the 2nd screenshot. It says 0. Now watch the play. Per someone who can count tenths of a second better than I can, Michigan State got the snap off with .2 of a second expired after the ABC play clock expired. Now, the referees obviously cannot see that computerized play clock. They can only see the stadium one. Based on the screenshots, it can be reasonably assumed that the out of syncness is by .1 second. That leaves .1 second for the referees, who have to look for other things than just delays of game (i.e. false starts, offsides, illegal motion, etc.), to look up, notice the play clock has expired, recognize it is delay of game, and blow the whistle all in .1 of a second. Is it humanly feasible to blow that whistle in time? Probably, yes. A trained individual looking at the play clock could blow a whistle between the instant the clock expires and .1 seconds after said expiration. But given the nature of the referee's other responsibilities, is it reasonable to assume that we will get a delay of game whistle .1 seconds after the play clock expires? No, it is not.

And even if the estimation of tenths of a second is off here, blowing a whistle for delay of game is not a science. The next time you are watching a football game, watch how long it takes for a referee to blow a delay of game whistle. Often times it can take 1 to 2 whole seconds after the expiration of a play clock, though a referee who spots it at the just right instant probably has the play dead in .5 seconds. Notre Dame fans are going to get pissy about it. Heck, they already are, but until the age of robot referees hits us, you are not going to see delay of game penalties called that quickly in any level of football. It is just not reasonable to expect a referee who is watching for other infractions not clock related in addition to delay of game to blow a whistle for delay of game less than two-tenths of a second after the play clock expires.

(Note: If you are having problems reading the stadium scoreboard play clock, click on the pictures to enlarge. The difference between the 1 and the 0 is clear as day once enlarged, though unfortunately this is the largest Blogger will allow you to make them without pixelation.)

Update:  Here is a tremendous breakdown of the clock, the graphics, and the situation.



The Big East issued the following explanation that I agree 100% with.

"After review, the conference believes that the game officials correctly applied the proper mechanics and guidelines that are in place to determine, in a consistent manner, when a flag should be thrown for delay of game. The responsibility is assigned to the back judge, who in this situation was standing beneath the upright. Proper mechanics dictate that his focus be directed to the play clock as it approaches zero. When the play clock display reads zero, he must re-direct his attention to the ball. At that time, if the snap has not started, a flag will be thrown for delay of game. If the snap has begun, no flag will be thrown.

Under these procedures, there will always be a small amount of lag time between the time the clock reads zero and the time the back judge is able to see the football. On the play in question, this lag time created the situation where it appears the play clock expired just before the snap. We believe the snap occurred well within the normal lag time for the back judge to make this determination. This play is not reviewable under current NCAA rules."

That's a clean, fair and square win for Michigan State. I don't think I have ever seen a delay of game called 1/5 of a second after the play clock expires. If you are an upset Irish fan or just someone who is unhappy with the call, this video says it best. Deal with it.

(Hat tip to The Only Colors.)

The Mistake Of The Tournament: 11.2 Seconds

Frankly, I am surprised that this mistake has not gotten more coverage in the press today, as after all, this dumb mistake is the reason why the Tennessee Volunteers lost to the Michigan State Spartans. Tennessee made one grave and avoidable mistake in their elite 8 game against the Spartans, and yet, it cost them the whole game. Check out the video below, and before you get intimidated by the 9-minute length, I have set it up so that it begins at the relevant part of the video.



Seeing as CBS and/or the NCAA will likely take it down in a few hours, here is what happened. With the shot clock off and Tennessee with the ball and 28 seconds left, they had the perfect opportunity to win the game. But then Scotty Hopson made one mistake that ensured that his team would not go to the Final Four.....

He shot the ball. With 11.2 seconds left. Thus I ask the rather obvious question, WHY ON EARTH ARE YOU SHOOTING THE BALL WITH 11.2 SECONDS LEFT???? What sense does that make? In this game? Against this team? How dumb can you get?

All you have to do is ask a Maryland fan what happens when you attempt a game winning shot with too much time left on the clock. And the Terps only left Sparty with 6.6 seconds in that ill-fated 2nd round game of 8 days ago. Why are you giving Michigan State 11.2 seconds to work with? Again I ask, how dumb can you get?

I don't care if it was the best look in the world, you wait until at least the clock says 5 seconds before shooting that ball, that way if you miss on the initial shot, you have a chance for a rebound or a tip in. It's a 1-point lead, Sparty is not going to foul you in that situation, you hold to ensure that either you have the last shot or you force them to outdo Christian Laettner on the 18th anniversary of his game-winning shot at the Spectrum. But under no circumstances do you give Michigan State a whole 11.2 seconds to work with. If they buried a team in 6.6 seconds, what on earth made Scotty Hopson think their defense could hold Michigan State for 11.2 seconds?

But Hopson is not the only one to blame for this grave mistake. Tennessee had timeouts left (emphasis on the plural), why on earth did Bruce Pearl not call a timeout there? Make sure everyone on the team is 100% aware of the situation. You have to make sure there are room for no errors there. You can't just trust that all your players know the situation. Let them know, no matter what, you have to hold the ball for the final shot of the game. And if it's not the final shot of the game, ensure that the last shot of the game is nothing but at least a half court heave or an attempt at a miracle catch and shoot. Under no circumstances do you give a tournament tested team with the best tournament coach of our time 11.2 seconds with which to work and get his team to the Final Four. And for all those people claiming that this is just hindsight, let me ask you this, after Hopson let that ball go with 11.2 left, was there anyone in the country that felt like Tennessee was going to win that game? Or was it a foregone conclusion that Michigan State would drain the last shot of the game, even if it had to be from the free throw line like it turned out to be? I knew instantly Sparty was winning at that point.

And lastly, as evil as it would seem for me to be to call out one of my favorite analysts in any sports, I have to call out Bill Raftery for this one. Maybe he was in NBA mindset for a minute where he was thinking that common strategy would be each team trying to score as quickly as possible and did not say anything because Sparty would make the same mistake that Hopson made and leave Tennesse with more than 1.7 seconds to score again, but how did he not mention that error at all? And even if was the strategy of each team wanting to score as quickly as possible, why wait a whole 17 seconds before shooting with 11.2 seconds left? Here's the link to the MMOD video of the game. Fast forward to the end and this moment and see if there is ever a moment where Raft talks about Hopson's grave error. I can save you the time and tell you there is no mention of it. But if you think I am stupid, you can click on the link, jump it to the end, and see for yourself that in the near 10 minutes from the time of Hopson's mistake to the end of the broadcast, there is no talk of Verne or Raft of that mistake. You are one of the best analysts in the game.....how do you not bring that up????

And it's not just Raft. Hardly anyone mainstream is talking about that mistake, and yet, it is something that everyone should be talking about. If not for Hopson shooting too soon, the refs never have a chance to call a questionable foul on Prince sending Sparty to the line and the win. You never give Michigan State another chance to do what they did to Maryland. You control your own fate and destiny in this crazy mixed up world. The Vols had that chance. Scotty Hopson and Bruce Pearl choked. Majorly. Tennessee fans can cry foul to the refs all day long for calling that questionable foul, but it's like I said, why even give that chance? Better yet, why are you giving a team skilled in buzzer beaters a whole 11.2 seconds to score one???? Tennessee did it. Question that foul all day long, it does not matter, Hold the ball longer. Take that last shot with less than 5 seconds left. Hope it's a buzzer beater or Evan Turner did not transfer to Michigan State overnight. If it's a miss, fight for the rebound or the tip in. You have timeouts, use them! Bottom line: Tennessee deserved to lose that game. They made the fatal mistake, the biggest mistake thus far in the tournament. They gave Michigan State too much time. You never do that. Never. Just ask Greivis Vasquez about what they can do in 6.6 seconds. And you can now add Scotty Hopson to that list. Only he will tell you about 11.2 seconds.

Your NCAA Final Four Schedule And My Thoughts On Each Team

In case you missed it, forget it, or want to see it again, here is the schedule and tip times for the 2010 Final Four to take place on Saturday, April 3, 2010 in Indianapolis.

Butler vs. Michigan State 6:07 (CBS - Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg, SR: Tracy Wolfson)
Duke vs. West Virginia Approx. 8:47 (CBS - Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg, SR: Tracy Wolfson)

We've got six days now until another meaningful college basketball game is played. My thoughts on the teams are this, one very likable team, 2 meh teams, and 1 utterly detestable team.

Butler is the underdog and frankly, how can you not like them. Sure their games are not the best, but you can't deny that Mack and Hayward and the rest of the Butler Bulldogs are fun to watch. Plus, their college is 8 miles away from Lucas Oil Stadium (if you are wondering about Sparty and last year, East Lansing is some 80 miles from Detroit and Ford Field). If ever a team had home court advantage on a supposed neutral court, it is Butler in the 2010 Final Four. Chance of a championship per the mind of JFein: 10%

Then there is their opponent, Michigan State. Sure they are not the most exciting basketball team on earth either, but you can't help but to respect the job that Tom Izzo does year in and year out on getting his teams through the regionals and into the Final Four. This is Sparty's 6th final four in the last 12 years and it is by no coincidence that that is so. They may be injured, but if there is one coach and one team you can bank on giving it their all in the NCAA Tournament, it is Michigan State. They are always counted out in the beginning of the tournament, and every year they prove all their haters wrong with no silencing being more powerful then the one this year. With all their injuries, no one gave them a chance in hell of making the Final Four, but here they are. Chance of a championship per the mind of JFein: 20%

West Fucking Virginia. At this point, how are they not the odds on favorite to win this whole thing? They won the Big East Tournament and frankly, they have been the most solid team of the bunch in this tournament. Again, another team that may not be the most exciting to watch (that's a recurring theme in this year's Final Four), but they are a good basketball team. We may all hate on Bob Huggins, but at this stage, my favorite player remaining in the tournament has to be Da'Sean Butler. You gotta respect a god clutch player and Da'Sean Butler is exactly that. The only downside of things if West Virginia wins (aside from the whole Bob Huggins is a champion bit) is several couches will be burned in the Mountain State. Chance of a championship per the mind of JFein: 40%

Duke. Oh boy. What is a Final Four if not for Duke? Every year Duke is always detestable and yet this year, it seems like they are even more detestable than normal. What is it about Scheyer, Singler, the Plumlees and the rest of the Dookies that we don't like this year. I guess their overall snobbiness for a start but even though they are probably the last team remaining most willing to open things up, they are still not a fun team to watch. Now does anyone actually believe that Duke can win this? Well look at who they have beaten thus far in the tournament. Arkansas Pine Bluff, California, a Robbie Hummel-less Purdue team, and Baylor. The only real overall solid team on that list is Baylor and they underperformed in today's game. Their biggest test of the tournament will be West Virginia and even though it is my philosophy that you never should go against Tom Izzo in a basketball game, the winner of the West Virginia-Duke Final Four game will be the national champion. Even if that winner somehow just happens to be Duke. Chance of a championship per the mind of JFein: 30%

4 teams.
3 games.
2 days.
1 champion.

The 2010 Final Four is upon us. Are you ready?

And You Thought Ali Farokhmanesh Had The Shot Of The Tourney

Sadly, I don't think that honor is his anymore. What he did took a lot of balls, but I don't think there can be anything more dramatic than what Kore Lucious did to Maryland earlier today. It appeared that Greivis Vasquez had given Maryland the win and the win by hitting a basket with 6.6 left to make it a 1-point game, but thanks to some shotty Twerps defense, Michigan State was able to get the ball to a wide open Kore Lucious and who had an open look from beyond the arc. The rest is history that can be seen in this video.



Wow. What a shot by Lucious and what a win for Sparty.

But Michigan State still has problems. Kalin Lucas injured his Achilles and his unlikely to play on Friday against Ali Farokhmanesh and Northern Iowa. But if there is one thing I can tell you about Tom Izzo and Michigan State it is this: they are never an easy out. Even when half of their starters are out they are still tough to beat and UNI will face quite the challenge in the Sweet 16. I can't wait for March Madness to resume again as this weekend was just an incredible week of hoops.

When Sparty Wins They Riot And When Sparty Loses They Riot

As Keith's Sports Journal pointed out the other day, the Michigan State Spartans rioted in East Lansing following their big win over UConn. Well, it seems like that they have decided to take up the ole' Philly motto. You know, that one that says, "when we win we riot, when we lose we riot", yeah, that one. They have channeled thier inner-Philadelphians and they rioted after the national championship game. A national championship game that saw their only lead as 3-2 and a national championship game where the closest they got in the 2nd half was pulling within 13! From the Yahoo! News

Authorities have reported 12 fires and 21 arrests in the city that's home to Michigan State University after its basketball team lost the national championship.

The East Lansing Police Department said Tuesday that about 1,700 people gathered Monday night at the Cedar Village apartment complex near campus. The crowd dwindled and dispersed early Tuesday amid cold temperatures and light snow.

Police say 230 officers from several area departments assisted to deal with crowds. They arrested people on various charges, including four for attempted arson. Fires included a mattress and couch that were set ablaze.

Good times going down in East Lansing! Gooooood times. And FYI, compared to what happens in Philly, all I can say is WHIM-PY!!!

An Exclusive Look At The Final Four

Here we come, Detroit! Tomorrow is one of the most dramatic days in sports and as we all know, that day is Final Four Saturday. And this year, we have two very different match-ups, but yet, I feel that they are both just as compelling and should be both be fun, despite the potential of 2 very different looking scoreboards by the end of the game.

Game 1: Michigan State vs. UConn

This will be our low-scoring game of the day. Michigan State will try for the slower tempo and UConn is not the team that can knock down 3s back to back to create a quicker tempo. Expect a Big 10 affair and I see this one being a close one down to the wire with the possibility of either pulling away. And even though it is UConn who will be sporting the home jersies, Michigan State will have the clear home-court advantage and that will be enough to put them over the top in this one. Yes, I just did say that. Michigan State will be going to the national championshii game.

Final Score: Michigan State 63, UConn 58.

Game 2: Villanova vs. North Carolina

Villanova has proven thus far in the tournament that they are not intimidated by the names on the front of the jersies (just ask UCLA, Duke, and to a lesser extent, Pitt). However, as a Nova fan, this is the team that scares me the most. And by scares me the most, I mean that, in my opinion, this is the de facto national championship game. I think both of these teams will be able to handle Michigan State or UConn. But back to this game, I see this as everything Villanova has, North Carolina has more and better of. Scottie Reynolds is a beast but he'll only be able to do so much. As much as I don't want to see it, the magical ride for the Wildcats will end in heartbreak in Detroit.

Final Score: North Carolina 88, Villanova 80.

Enjoy the Final Four everyone!

Michigan State Spartan Fans Are Not Exactly Fans Of GuJo

Frankly, I'm shocked that AA has not picked this story up yet. Then again, I do not think I have found any blog to pick this one up, just Facebook and forums, which leads me to greatly doubt the veracity of the claim, but nonetheless, a lot of Spartans are certainly outraged by what Gus Johnson allegedly said during the Friday Sweet 16 game between Michigan State and Kansas. In fact, there is an "official Facebook group" dedicated to this that already has over 13,00 members. GuJo's fan page has pretty much been trashed by angry Spartan fans (that's how I came about this story). And now, I bring you the best source on this story I can give you.....the description from the official Facebook group and what angry posters said on his Facebook fan page!

Gus Johnson seems to think that Izzo would be better off at Arizona because he's "not appreciated" in East Lansing. We beg to differ.

Well then! That certainly tells you everything you need to know about this story! No links, no articles, no videos (or none on GuJo at least; just on how much they <3 Tom Izzo), just that. And this group has over 13,000 members and they developed 10,000 during the first 24 hours of it's creation! But, because it is always hilarious, let's delve more into this group and into Gus Johnson's fan page to see what everyone has to say to our good friend, Gus. (to protect privacy and humiliation, I am withdrawing people's names. For more, here's the link to the FB group and the GuJo fan page; and yes you need an FB account to see these). My commentary comes after the quotes.

From the group: "good example of how the media is a big pile of bullshit!" You stay classy, now!

Also from the group: "Gus Johnson you are an idiot if you think that Izzo is not appreciated here. . .even though i am a Michigan fan Izzo is an amazing coach and has resurrected MSU since he has been there. . .he will get signed to a huge deal after this year because of what he has done for that program. . .Gus Johnson, you should see an MSU basketball game and there fans before saying things like that. . ." I am almost ashamed to admit that we have the same first name...

Now we'll delve into the real fun. Here are some of the gems from the GuJo fan page.

"I am not a fan of yours and never will be. I hope you are at Detroit so you can see first hand how much Tom Izzo is appreciated in East Lansing. Go State! and thank you Tom Izzo!!" Because he won't be able to tell from watching the games on TV??? And besides, there are going to be over 70,000 fans there from 4 different schools. It will be hard to decipher who is screaming what.

"You are a piece of shit- We spartans appreciate Izzo more than anything, why the hell would our student section be named after him if we didn't appreciate him and why would we have a billboard up saying "Thank you, Tom" ? Really? Yeah you suck and the 47,000 spartans you insulted deserve an apology, asshole. " Well then! I'm sure Gus has learned his lesson from reading that. If he even said anything. I still have not found an article or a link or a video or anything that has proof that he actually said "Izzo is not appreciated".

"I'd have to say unless you publicly cleanse your mouth of the blasphemies you have spoken of Tom Izzo and his loyalty to Michigan State, this is never going to end. I suggest something involving fire. Fire always works." And may I suggest some therapy for you!

Good times going on now over at MSU........good times. On a more serious note, though, if anyone can find me a link or an article or something of credibility that backs up that Gus said this, I would much appreciate it.


These have nothing to do with these posts, but here are 2 other posts from his fan page that I found particularlly interesting....

"Hey Gus! I'm the kid in the Red Sox sweatshirt who shook your hand before the game today!" And hello to you! Somehow I doubt that Gus remembers that altercation

And lastly....

"Gus, is it true you're going to be calling Canadian Football this year? The CFL on CBS! This week's sign of the apocalypse. " Not quite sure it would be on CBS, but if FSN or someone picks him up......I may actually watch a few CFL games.

(FYI, the CONMEBOL standings have been updated. Click on the link at the side to see the updated standings).

Update: Many, many thanks to RJBO for pointing this out in the comments section. Thanks to him, I was able to look like the exact quote, and while I can't post the video from CBS (without an embed feature; I don't know how to take a video from the internet and save it and edit it so that only these few seconds play). And it appears that Gus was in part taking out of context. During the stoppage with 8:12 to go in the first half, this is exactly what Gus said. "A lot of rumors swirling around that Arizona is looking for a head coach; Tom Izzo, a possible successor. Rumor has it that he does not feel as appreciated in East Lansing as he should be." Not that the fans don't appreciate him, just that Tom Izzo feels he should be appreciated more. Big difference. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to school 14,000 Spartan fans.....

Update 2: This is what I wrote in a group discussion thread (due to space constraints, I posted a slightly shorter version of it on the wall).

"Let me just say, you guys did a great job of not citing any sources or any articles or even telling us where we should go to hear what Gus said. So, I'll do it for you.

If you go to ncaa.com and the MMOD video of the MSU-Kansas game (or assuming it works, click on this link: http://mmod.ncaa.com/video/player?ts=1238608537&t=000106b2fe8c4e8f3d2834ddb354e9e2&w=90), at the 8:12 mark in the first half, during the stoppage at that point, this is exactly what Gus Johnson said.

"A lot of rumors swirling around that Arizona is looking for a head coach; Tom Izzo, a possible successor. Rumor has it that he does not feel as appreciated in East Lansing as he should be."

First of all, Gus is citing a rumor he heard, not a definite fact. Second of all, the rumor is about how Tom Izzo feels, not how he perceived Spartan fans to feel. So nice one, not only do you not cite anyone or anything, but you took what he said out of context and changed the meaning of it so that you could get a bunch of people to join your group on Facebook. Well done!

Stay classy, Spartan fans, and next time, do your research!"

I love schooling the ill-informed like that!