General

Michigan State Can’t Beat Penn State, But Can Beat Engineers

Nov 24, 2009, 10:00 PM UTC

â†µProbably obvious disclosure: I am a Michigan fan and blogger. â†µ

â†µâ†µMichigan State has a new tradition under Mark Dantonio, but it’s notâ†µone in line with his gruff, no-nonsense personality:â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥Witnesses and students involved in the incident said a group of 15 toâ†µâ‡¥20 men, who some described as MSU football players, stormed into theâ†µâ‡¥dormitory and hit and injured about seven students, some of themâ†µâ‡¥women.â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥Brent Mitchell, a communication junior who said he was sent toâ†µâ‡¥Lansing’s Sparrow Hospital after being punched in the face, said some ofâ†µâ‡¥the men wore ski masks, but others were recognized as football teamâ†µâ‡¥members.â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥“I walked up and said, ‘It isn’t worth it.’ A guy with dreadlocks hitâ†µâ‡¥me and in the scuffle slapped, hit females to get them out of the way,”â†µâ‡¥Mitchell said.â†µâ†µâ†µFifteen to 20 football players wreaking havoc on mechanicalâ†µengineers -- seriously, poor mechanical engineers -- is crazy enough. Butâ†µwould you believe almost the exact same thing happened last year?â†µ

â†µ

â†µâ†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥[Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart] Dunnings said the incident took place at a party at a house that wasâ†µâ‡¥“principally occupied by hockey players.” Two men wereâ†µâ‡¥“having a discussion about a female,” Dunnings said, and thatâ†µâ‡¥led to an altercation between some of their friends.â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥That fight ended and one of the people involved in it left andâ†µâ‡¥brought back some friends, Dunnings said. Heavy fighting ensued.â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥“And there were serious injuries to two people who reallyâ†µâ‡¥weren’t fighting,” Dunnings said of Sturges and another allegedâ†µâ‡¥victim. “I don’t know how else to put it. They were just kind ofâ†µâ‡¥there.”â†µâ†µMichigan State hockey defenseman A.J. Sturges ended up in the hospitalâ†µafter getting sucker-punched by enraged freshman running back Glenâ†µWinston. Winston spent the summer in jail. When Winston got out of jail,â†µhe immediately walked onto a Michigan State practice field andâ†µeventually ascended to the starting running back spot. Karma tore hisâ†µACL midseason, but he remains a member of the team in good standing. Notâ†µone member of Michigan State’s team got anything more than a slap on theâ†µwrist for descending on a party en masse and beating up anyone theyâ†µcould find, innocent or not.â†µâ†µ â†µ

â†µâ†µSturges was disgusted: â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥“This decision has established weak precedent for futureâ†µâ‡¥athletes involved in violent crimes.â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥“Last October, I was assaulted by Glenn Winston. This was not aâ†µâ‡¥fight, or a disagreement. I was in bed in my room and came downstairsâ†µâ‡¥after hearing the commotion caused by three cars pulling up filled withâ†µâ‡¥screaming and violent people.â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥“I was standing in my front yard trying to figure out what wasâ†µâ‡¥going on when Glenn Winston punched me in the head from the side. Iâ†µâ‡¥never saw him. I did not have any chance to protect myself at all.â†µâ‡¥Neither did his other victims.”â†µâ†µâ†µIt’s extremely easy to draw a line from Point A -- Mark Dantonio doesâ†µvirtually nothing in the aftermath of scary beatdown delivered byâ†µvarious members of the football team -- to Point B -- football team decidesâ†µScary Beatdown II: You’re Going To Get It, MechE is a goodâ†µidea. They even kept the same vibe they did last year: the target ofâ†µtheir anger wasn’t even there, so they just ran around hitting peopleâ†µwith graphing calculators.â†µ

â†µâ†µBut it’s extremely hard to see anyone making that connection in andâ†µaround Detroit. This fall, when Michigan sophomore wide receiver Justinâ†µFeagin was kicked off the team for a crazy caper that started withâ†µFeagin promising to get a local ne’er do well cocaine and ended withâ†µsaid ne’er do well attempting to burn down Feagin’s dorm room, unbiasedâ†µlocal columnist Michael Rosenberg jumped all over Rodriguez with aâ†µhalf-reported story originally titled “Win at all costs a poorâ†µformula for Rodriguez”; Winston walked out of jail and into theâ†µtwo-deep the same week and no one in Detroit bothered to notice.â†µ

â†µâ†µIf you don’t live in Michigan, this might not be that interesting perâ†µse, but look at it as a story about the media: thanks to a southernâ†µaccent and two guys in the NFL, one who got kicked off the team and oneâ†µwho didn’t get in trouble in college, the line on Rich Rodriguez is thatâ†µhe skates around the edges of propriety. Thanks to a big jaw and aâ†µtendency to squint in manly fashion, Mark Dantonio is regarded as a paragonâ†µof virtue. Meanwhile, Rodriguez boots guys who get in trouble theâ†µinstant serious allegations are leveled; Dantonio allows a convictedâ†µfelon back on the team and on the depth chart. LeGarrette Blountâ†µsuffered far more for a far less heinous act.â†µ

â†µâ†µBut these media images congeal and virtually no information willâ†µdislodge them. At least media that wears a bias on its sleeve, likeâ†µyours truly, isn’t pretending to be objective. You can read this andâ†µdecide based on the links and primary sources, or you can read somethingâ†µthat never links to a primary source and hides behind a falseâ†µobjectivity. In Detroit, this is a story about the decline ofâ†µnewspapers.â†µ

â†µ

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

See More: