Dantonio will not be rooting for Michigan
Michigan State has only one path to the Rose Bowl: A Michigan victory over Ohio State, combined with a Spartan win against Penn State.
Many MSU fans will find themselves in an awkward situation- rooting for, albeit reluctantly, that school down the road. If the Wolverines can find a way to overcome their status as three-touchdown underdogs, the Spartans will have an opportunity to win an outright Big Ten Championship.
Naturally, the idea of backing an enemy is generating a lot of conflict within the MSU fan community. There is no consensus on what the appropriate action should be.
Well, maybe there is now. In a blog entry, Adam Rittenberg of ESPN.com writes that Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio will not be rooting for Michigan on Saturday.
“I’m not rooting for Michigan,” said head coach Mark Dantonio, who has spent 11 of the last 14 years working for Michigan State or Ohio State. “I’m going to focus on our task at hand here and worry about the things we can control. I have too many good friends and too many people that wouldn’t let me back into their house to let me do that.
“So Go Bucks.”
Before praising Dantonio for being a loyal Spartan, let’s remember that he spent several years coaching underneath Jim Tressel at Ohio State. Coach Dantonio has friends in Columbus, some of whom may feel disrespected if he comes out in support of the Wolverines.
The other aspect of Dantonio’s comment is equally as interesting. Let’s only worry about the things we can control. Too often, fans get caught up thinking about the impact of other games. When Iowa upset Penn State, Michigan State fans were upset, because the team would not necessarily be playing for a Big Ten title in Happy Valley.
Yes, it’s tough to swallow, but that’s just how it shakes out. If you want to be in control of your own destiny, you need to earn it. Had they not collapsed against Ohio State earlier this year, the Spartans could potentially be playing for more than the Rose Bowl.
When you don’t get the job done, you forfeit your right to complain about the outcomes of other games. Coach Dantonio understands this, and he will not allow his team to be distracted for even a minute by the Michigan/OSU game.
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