Close Encounters of the Spartan Kind

Most of the time they are too busy counting my change at the gas station to talk shit.

They usually are quiet during this week. If they pull off the upset (because that’s what it usually is if they win) then they become loud and (more) obnoxious

When I see the one spartan grad I know I kindly pay him for the pizza and ask him to get off of my porch 

Fortunately only work with one Sparty and he doesn't care about football. Surrounded by all maize and blue.

The trash talk is gone, taken to the curb after four straight losses.

All the Sparty fans I know are in hell watching the flames get higher as we approach Saturday

At work and the neighborhood, they have been extremely quiet; like you said, barely talking.

They know a beat down is on the way, as we are hoping/knowing it will be there. Hopefully for many years to come.

Can't defend Mork and his ineptitude, recruiting problems over the last 4-5 years. He appears more focused on his upcoming deposition.

The little brother growth spurt appears to have ceased, and hopefully they don't have one for another 30 - 40 years.

Work for a corporation here in Grand Rapids. They’re still those same arrogant fans. All they do is talk about Morks success and Izzo the god. 

My boss and 2 co-workers are MSU grads. After too many knock-down-dragouts, my boss and I agreed not to talk Michigan/Michigan State sports anymore. One of my co-workers has never been in my face. The second co-worker and I got into it real bad about 10 years ago. He then left the company and returned. Since then, he's mellowed and we've become quite friendly. I usually don't hang out with people from work, but I'd be OK having a beer with him.

They're all pretty disgusted with MSU at the moment, because of the Nassar scandal and cover up, as well as all the rumors of SA from football and basketball. I know one of them was a booster and has stopped giving the school any money. There's not much Spartan pride left for football, although they're clinging to the early-season ranking for the basketball team.

During the Hoke years, I lived in a townhouse that was across the street from the MSU bar in Seattle (I assume there was only one). It was MISERABLE — especially surrender cobra year (harbaughs first year, I believe?). Because the bar feeds were a few seconds slower than cable, I heard the delayed roar from MSU fans after seeing the play live in my living room with my Michigan friends. It haunts me to this day. So much so that when we began renting out the townhome 4 years ago I put in the contract with the renters that on this day I can come and place a large Michigan flag in the floor to ceiling windows of my townhome for all those mouth breathers across the street to see and remember who reigns above them. 

yes, I know I am not healthy. 
 

One of the biggest Sparty fans I know rocks ALL the MSU gear during the summer, I mean shirt, shorts, jacket, hat, folding chair, water bottle, etc.  Every year for the past 6 or so years I've know him.

The full ensemble starts before the season and continues during the season.

Until.

The last few years some of the swag starts disappearing as soon as MSU starts losing.  It's like a bad Spartan version of strip poker as after each loss his fandom suffers outwardly as there is gradually less & less.

The last couple years this has obviously happened pretty early in the season as hope for a championship fades.

This isn't the funny part though.  
As soon as he gives up on his MSU championship dreams and has lost all of his spartan swag he immediately replaces it with . . . The Detroit Lions!

lol

The MSU fans at my work are already in basketball mode.  They are done with football.  "Izzo and the boys are winning it all this year" is what I keep hearing.

It's funny. Where I live, I don't know anyone that didn't go to MSU that actually considers Sparty their "team". 

The actual MSU grads I know are pretty chill and don't flaunt it. We'll do an occasional "wear the shirt of the other team if we win" bet, but that's about it.

It’s nice and quiet, I like having it back the way it has always been.

I don't have MSU grads at my office because they couldn't get a job here.

During the Hoke and RR years, some of my MSU friends started getting a little more confident and boisterous. They used to try betting me that the loser would have to wear the other team's jersey for a day. I would never wear an MSU jersey under any circumstance, so I would tell them that I couldn't make that bet because they weren't good enough to wear the a Michigan jersey - even if Michigan won - the thought of an MSU guy wearing a Michigan jersey made me sick. This would always piss off the MSU guys. 

I've recently struck up a friendship with a sparty neighbor.  He's pretty much an in your face sparty on social media where I'm a pretty low-key wolverine (I do however always wear M gear).  He started the season pretty salty with a few anti-Michigan posts culminating in one mocking the team for celebrating the victory over army as if it meant something.  

A week or so later sparty lost to AZ state and it's been radio silence ever since.  Sparty are keeping their heads down because they are all expecting a colossal beatdown.  A victory would be welcome to them, but none but the most deluded is expecting come.  

If I'm Brad Salem I just tell lewerke to air it out.  Play like you are trying to erase a 28 point third quarter deficit.  They might have a chance then.  Otherwise Don Brown will grind them to dust.

Don't ever sleep with a Sparty unless you like penicillin.  Not speaking from experience FWIW.

In typical Spartan fashion, after Michigan’s loss to Wisconsin, the two sparties in my office had a great time talking amongst themselves (right next to my desk) about how bad Michigan looked, citing the team’s record in big games, etc. They clearly took more joy in Michigan’s loss than MSU’s win (surprising, I know). In fact, I don’t think they mentioned the MSU game once. That same day, one of them remarked that I didn’t seem very happy. Needless to say, after their own team’s series of increasingly worse losses, their chatter has completely stopped. Seems like they’ve forgot about football or something. Weird.

lol at tagging herpes for this post.

I stayed in Detroit area for a couple years post grad, and some of my closest friends in that time were State grads, and they were pretty chill, except they were obsessed with asking "When is Harbaugh getting fired"

Now I live in L.A. and MSU isn't a thing here.

in the last couple of years I have met some very nice MSU grads, who are not sports fans.  

They have been silent. I think they have known since Harbaugh was hired they were on borrowed time, and the clock ran out. 

The only MSU fans I must suffer are relatives on FB and I can always unfollow them if needed for a week. Nice thing about living in the deep south, Sparty fans are few and far between. That said there are more than a few Buckeyes around and of course SEC fans (since they all root for whoever is best).

I have a customer (I'm in sales) who is young and has talked shit non-stop until after last year.  He basically just brings things up now to mention Michigan can't beat Ohio State or the Big Ten.  This week he got elbowed in the eye which gave him a black eye to go as a perfect badge with the scandal ridden school he supports. 

I was hoping this would be a thread about Pony Conquerer finally smashing that girl he's been creeping on and posting about. 

"Oh well, it's basketball season now"

A house not too far from mine had been flying the MSU flag 24/7 all football season night and day with a big light on it at night.  It was still up last Saturday morning.  After the Illinois comeback game I went jogging at night...and for the first time this season...the MSU flag was down.