Monday, December 9, 2013

Spartan(s) Will....Overcome


After the Spartan Football team took the Big Ten Championship this Saturday evening, earning them a spot in the 100th Rose Bowl, it is difficult to remember which of the MSU teams (as they are BOTH at this moment ranked in the top 5) I am suppose to be blogging about. But Spartans Stand Together, (as we saw by the basketball team plus Izzo attending the game in Indy), so therefore they can most definitely learn from one another. 

So what does this football team have to teach the basketball team? 

To overcome. 

Overcome challenges, defeat, criticism, shattered expectations. 

And please, for the love, to overcome injury!

sniff, to both the body and the fans’ hearts.
.....................

It makes me gag a bit to write this, but losing to UNC is not a horrible loss. It may make you want to bang your head repeatedly against a table and cry out “why oh why can’t we just beat the state of North Carolina!!??”, but at the end of the day, ranked or unranked, it’s still UNC. So the check mark in the loss column against a team such as UNC is not horrible. 

The way the team performed? 

No comment.

But how they come back...persevere....overcome....that’s where the real win or loss will come in to play. 

So back to our beloved “Spartan Dawgs”. They came off a season of painful losses and started....well....a wee sluggish may be the kindest word that comes to mind. The games of “Rock, Paper, Scissors” to decide which quarterback was playing at any given MINUTE of the game was ridiculous and confusing to both players and fans, and the offense and its receivers.....well you remember. Yet throughout it, the defense exhibited nothing but respect and encouragement for its teammates, and earned its spot as the #1 Defense in the nation. And a Big Ten Championship MVP quarterback emerged and was gracefully supported by his fellow contenders. In face of criticism and doubt, they overcame it all to make history to the “smell of roses”. 

“Spartan Will” I guess.

“Being a spartan to me means operating with a high standard of excellence regardless of the challenges you face.”-Kirk cousins

So now the basketball team has the opportunity to achieve something one cannot do without challenge...overcome. 

And isn’t that one of the many things that make sports so beautiful, specifically at this point in the season? Knowing that your team can struggle and fall one game, only to overcome and operate with a higher standard of excellence than previously achieved? All due to challenge. The beauty of adversity and perseverance. 

I think back to the level of excellence exemplified by Costello playing with the flu (or is it mono.....let’s hope not) and putting forth one of his best performances, or of Appling gritting his teach and returning to play out his role as leader following an injury that had the audience and sportscasters cringing, and I am not concerned about the team’s ability to persevere. Especially if led and supported by the likes of Payne and Trice, two young men who have already shown their inspiring ability to overcome the true challenges of life with the highest level of excellence. 

Go Green!



Big Ten Championship Football
http://collegefootball.ap.org/photo-gallery/big-ten-championship


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