November 5, 2009

The bye week came at a good time for the team, but selfishly a poor time for me.  I mean that somewhat jokingly, and I must write that because sarcasm does not travel clearly in "blog" language.  If we had a game that week, I would have had my first career start due to the injuries to Daunte and Matt.  Well as we know that was not the case, so I will continue to wait for that day to come. 

Honestly, it was the best thing for our team to have a bye.  It is at that point in the season where guys have little knick-knack injuries, and with the bye they can heal up for the long haul.  Not to mention we have a couple days to relax and take our mind off of football, at least for a little while.

For most of us, it is in our blood so we cannot go without it for too long.  I was lucky enough to get out of Michigan for the weekend, but found myself in the hotel room constantly watching games on Saturday and Sunday.  When I wasn't in the room, I had to stop and look at the TV for updates of my teams. 

Unfortunately, Saturday was not a good day for me.  All the teams I was rooting for LOST.  Which brings me to the topic that I will finish with... my beloved Spartans.  Who, for the past two weeks, have been screwed by the officials.  They have had two crucial calls go against them at pivotal points in the game, only to lead to their demise.  First, the game against Iowa was not a helmet-to-helmet collision.  Those calls are not supposed to go against you at home with the game on the line.  Secondly, the Minnesota call was an absolute joke.  It goes back to my belief that referees rely too heavily on instant replay to do their job.  It is a security blanket for them, so they do not to blow the whistle and risk making the wrong call. 

The Spartans future is bright though, throw the out their record and look to see what has actually happened.  There are one or two plays in some of their losses that had they gone the Spartans way would have changed the outcome.  I know that is not the case and that is how you are measured ultimately, by your record, but it needs to start somewhere.  They have a lot of good pieces to the puzzle in order to win a Big Ten championship, and as long as recruiting continues the way it has they will be just fine. 

GO STATE!!!!

Drew Stanton is a quarterback with the Detroit Lions. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.drewstanton.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/drewstanton.