Welcome to the B1G, Coach May
Dusty May
Head Coach – Men’s Basketball
The University of Michigan
Crisler Center
Ann Arbor, MI
Dear Coach May,
We here at The Only Colors wanted to give you a belated, but warm, welcome to the Big Ten and also say congratulations on an excellent first year leading the Wolverines. Finishing tied for second place three games behind your rival is certainly nothing to sneeze at. But let’s be honest – there really was no other direction for that program to go but up.
I don’t know if you’re aware, but your predecessor left it in a bit of a mess. During one game, he went so far as to instigate a physical altercation with an opposing team’s coaching staff. That’s not what did him in though. Leading the team to the worst season in the history of Michigan basketball is what got him canned.
So, enter you. Welcome to the Big Ten! We also thought we’d take the opportunity and do our best to educate you on some of the traditions from the other fine schools in this conference. You know, since you mentioned on Sunday that you didn’t know about the 30-year tradition of Michigan State seniors kissing the Spartan helmet when they are subbed out for the last time at Breslin Center.
So let’s begin!
It’s probably not a stretch to argue that the greatest tradition in Big Ten sports, and perhaps all of college sports, belongs to the University of Iowa. It’s in football, not basketball, but still hard to top. At the end of the first quarter at every Iowa home game, fans and teams wave in unison to pediatric patients and their families at the UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital. Pretty cool how 70,000 people can come together to acknowledge some kids going through a tough time, right?
As a former manager under Coach Bob Knight, perhaps you remember the “Greatest Timeout in College Basketball” at Indiana University. According to IU’s website , at the under 8-minute media timeout in the second half, they play a rousing rendition of the William Tell Overture (AKA the theme song to the “Lone Ranger”), which blends into the IU fight song. Noise levels commonly reach those of a jet flyover and cheerleaders and flags add to the excitement and pageantry.
There is also Wisconsin’s “Jump Around”. This, too, originated with football where, between the third and fourth quarters, the House of Pain song plays at Camp Randall Stadium as the student section goes nuts. Apparently this has now made its way to the Kohl Center for basketball games so there’s something to look forward to when you go to Madison!
There are plenty of others. And, when your NCAA tournament run ends, perhaps after the first weekend, we encourage you to take some time to read up on some of these.
For now though, let’s circle back to Michigan State. Oddly enough, the University of Michigan may be as much responsible for the kissing the logo tradition as anyone. Legend has it that, in the mid-90’s, some of Michigan’s “Fab 5” players decided to wipe their backsides on the Spartan logo like they were itchy dogs scooting across a carpet. Memories fade and video then wasn’t what it is now but one of those butt scooters may have been your predecessor.
Perhaps in response to that, in 1995 Spartan great Shawn Respert kissed the logo when he was subbed out for the last time at Breslin. Since then, every Spartan senior has done the same. It’s not about “rubbing anyone’s nose in it”. It’s about, as Respert did, giving your all to Michigan State.
We hope that helps. Some of us might also hope that this rivalry gets back to what it was when your predecessor’s predecessor, John Beilein, was coaching the Wolverines: extremely intense but respectful. We Spartans certainly were not cheering for Beilein but many of us recognized that, like our own Tom Izzo, he was a great coach and is an honorable person.
So we’ll close with that. We would say “best wishes” or “continued success” or something like that but the nature of this rivalry means we would be lying. Instead, we’ll just close with “regards” without specifying the nature of the regards.
Regards,
TOC Staff