This Michigan football vs. MSU rivalry needs a reset in light of tunnel incident
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — I’ve found it difficult to formulate words in the aftermath of what happened in the Lloyd Carr Tunnel following the Michigan vs. Michigan State game on Saturday night. I write and talk about sports for a living, so I’ve gone about doing that, simply retelling the stories from the game, and the awful events that came after. Here, I will do my best to share my thoughts now that the dust is settling — though it certainly hasn’t settled.
I’ve long hated this rivalry.
It’s not fun, regardless of who wins and who loses. There’s always some kind of extracurricular activity, though it’s generally been mundane compared to what happened on Saturday night.
A brothers-in-arms march doesn’t break for a Michigan player, who then scuffs up a grass field that will be resodded days later anyway? It’s great for the lore, and ultimately much ado about nothing. Mike Hart’s ‘little brother’ comment? Much ado about nothing. All those quips from former MSU coach Mark Dantonio — ‘pride comes before the fall,’ ‘it’ll never be over,’ — blah, blah, blah — great rivalry fodder, but again, much ado about nothing.
On Saturday, this rivalry turned from heated rhetoric to physical violence. There is absolutely nothing that justifies it.
I’m sorry, but a player skipping up the tunnel, or a player talking trash, or anything else that’s thought of as a verbal jab — not one of those things excuses what took place by MSU players following the game. Since the happenings of Saturday night, I’ve seen far too many justifications for the actions that took place, which in itself is reprehensible, because none of what happened is justifiable.
‘But Michigan players were gloating over a win!’ or, ‘They waved goodbye to MSU players after the game,’ or, ‘That player had no business skipping up the tunnel in the midst of opposing players!’
No, none of that makes it OK.
If you’re so weak-minded after a loss in a football game that any of that is considered instigation and gives you the right to act violently, then you have no right to play the game. Frankly, whether you’re a player who took part in the brutal aftermath of the game, or if you’re a fan or media person defending it, you’re part of the problem. I’ve seen worse provocations in football games than anything alleged of the two Michigan players that were assaulted, and yet, I’ve never seen anything like what happened on Saturday night.
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For too long, this rivalry has escalated and escalated and what took place in the tunnel is no surprise. We need to stop treating a game like actual war. Sure, it’s fun to look back on epic battles, especially those over time, and equate them to war, but it really is not. It’s a game. And it all unraveled on Saturday, a hot air balloon burst by a needle.
These are people involved. Sons, brothers.
I don’t know Ja’Den McBurrows at all, I’ve had no interaction with him either as a recruit or in the media. I know Gemon Green rather well, having covered him for five years. When I saw the video of a helmet being swung at him, it made me sick, sad, frustrated, angry — everything you’d feel if you saw a friend or acquaintance in that position.
Blaming the victims is awfully convenient if you’re a fan of the green and white, but if you really want a healthy sport, a healthy rivalry, a game that can actually be enjoyed and not tarnished, then you’ll root for justice in this situation. You’ll clamor for a reversal to the rhetoric and for both teams to find more common ground. Winning the Paul Bunyan Trophy should be enough. If you don’t win it, that should be enough to motivate for the next year.
This war of perceived slights has to end, because this rivalry is far too nasty, and it was before Saturday. I really don’t care what those in East Lansing say — it’s really not that serious. It’s a game. And from now on, it should be treated as such.
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