That’s the vote floated by SI writer Lee Jenkins, who recalls Michigan State’s run to the NCAA title game and the way Tom Izzo tied his team to the plight of downtrodden Detroit on their way there:
Michigan State: Sportsmen Of The Year?
↵↵The national media tried to turn the storyline into something greater than it was, implying that Michigan State was assisting in Detroit’s economic recovery, but the Spartans always knew that was impossible. Sure, they might have helped the local bars sell more drinks and the vendors hawk more T-shirts, but Michigan’s State’s cause had more to do with boosting spirits than real estate values. “Everybody talked about us lifting Detroit,” Summers said. “It was really more about Detroit lifting us.”
↵↵I was ready to cringe at all this -- it is a little cringe-worthy, the notion that sports can save a city. Just ask the Saints, who have been saving New Orleans for four years now. Still, Jenkins’s point is valid. Michigan State was a big deal this past spring, and somewhere, as we were all turning in away out of fatigue at hearing the same storyline over and over, there was some truth in there. That truth might be worthy of a Sportsman award, but it is worth remembering.
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