Apparently, beating the Wolverines in overtime last season wasn’t enough for some Michigan State Spartan fans. This week at the Big Ten meetings in Chicago much was made of the fact the Lloyd Carr didn’t give MSU Head Coach Bobby Williams a handshake after the game.
There’s only one problem. Lloyd did shake his hand. See the picture. Watch the video.
Journalistic Integrity?
Now I’ll be the first to admit that it wasn’t exactly a ‘warm’ handshake. But it wasn’t a snub either. A snub would have been to ignore Bobby Williams completely. But no matter what video shows the media seems intent to re-write history.
…They’re still pouting in East Lansing because Carr didn’t shake hands with Williams…(7/27/02)…
Who wrote this you ask? None other than the illustrious Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press. I vowed to stop reading Sharp (oxymoron?) long ago but happened to run across this article while researching the upcoming Big Ten season. You have to wonder if he even watched the game. The Ann Arbor News also repeated the fallacy in its Friday print edition.
Inferiority Complex
The ‘handshake controversy’ is just another symptom of Spartan inferiority. Of course, some Spartan backers will deny that any such complex exists. But the reality is that some MSU fans have a chip on their shoulder regarding the Wolverines. They don’t feel that they get the respect that they deserve. Wolverine fans find this humorous. The truth is Wolverines fans don’trespect the Spartans. Why should we? Our all-time record versus Michigan State is 61-28-5. Since 1970 Michigan is 24-8 versus the mighty Spartans. Two of their latest ‘victories’ (1990, 2001) were dubious at best. This Spartan inferiority complex even seeps into the media. Respect is earned not given freely.
Why Do They Care?
Michigan fans couldn’t care less what other fans think about the Wolverines. We care what we think and that’s about it. That’s the difference between being number one and being an also ran. That’s the difference between being a Wolverine and a Spartan.
