We have a lot to discuss...

And I'm going to fly through the DAMN TALKING POINTS as quickly and efficiently as I can:

First off a big ole HOOOUUUAAAHHH!!! to the Mississippi State Bulldogs and Coach Dan Mullen for handing Michigan (winningest program in NCAA history) their worst bowl game loss in the program's history. Keep up the good work, Dawgs!

Now, the bad: Basketball.

Elgin "the Amputee" Bailey and Renardo "New Jack" Sidney come to blows in Hawaii.

Sidney is suspended from playing yet aGAIN (what ever happened to three strikes and you're out?).

Baily and Sidney are sent home from Hawaii and the rest of the road trip.

Rick "I recruit, they shoot" Stansbury waffles harder than a weak-willed fat kid in a candy store, and finally acquiesces to the "talent" he's been chasing and lobbying for over the last year and a half, leading to Elgin "Teddy Bear" Baily requesting a transfer.

Sidney is reinstated, cementing his importance in his own mind.

Twanny "Who?" Beckham is disgusted by the state of the program and sees his playing time greatly diminished with the return of Dee "I need a new watch" Bost, and also requests a transfer.

MSU basketball is 8-6 against a pretty weak OOC schedule (RPI somewhere in the 200's?) and now turns it's focus to the murderer's row known as the SEC.

Can Renardo "All me, all the time" Sidney and Dee "Damn a deadline" Bost change the complexion of this squad and have them in contention for a spot in the big dance come March? No.

That's right I said it.

Some experts have indicated that it will take an SEC west team such as MSU having 12+ conference wins in order to make the dance. Do I think these dawgs can pull together and win 12 of the next 16 games?

Absolutely not... and ultimately it all falls on Rick "X's and O's are for tic-tac-toes" Stansbury's shoulders.

He recruited the "players"(pronounced: prima-donas) and has "coached" them (the word "coached" is in quotation marks because any coach that can't find time to practice the fucking ZONE DEFENSE somewhere along the way BEFORE the season starts isn't doing their damn job, now are they?) to be what they are today. A bunch of individuals who are more concerned with their playing time and their potential NBA futures (pipe dreams) than representing their school and their fans.

Renardo "Double Stuff" Sidney clearly possesses some talent or he wouldn't have been so highly recruited by USC, UCLA and the scores of other schools, but he is literally getting too big for his britches (that's "bRitches", Sid... with an "R"... fatty). He will not magically be in "game shape" this Saturday after bellying up to the buffet twice a week for the last 2 years. He will pant and puff and wheeze and huff, he will quit on plays, and he will walk (not run) down the floor, likely on his 3rd or 4th possession of the game. He will do all this and more (less?) because he is already a star in his own mind, and people like Rick "the Kingmaker" Stansbury feed into that by letting him get away with murder...

Ok so it's not murder, but he did beat the shit outta Elgin.

Still, they are my dawgs and I will cheer them on and hope like hell I end up eating crow in march... I like mine with hot sauce.

Go Dawgs!

A quick look ahead with my predictions...I expect MSU to jump out to a 3-0 start in conference play, followed by a hideous 3 game skid against SEC east teams.

MSU v Bama -MSU wins by 5
MSU v OM -MSU wins by 2
MSU v Auburn -MSU wins by 4
MSU v GA -GA wins by 2
MSU v Vandy -Vandy wins by 6
MSU v Florida -Fla wins by 8


P.S. - In case you're a regular reader and wondering, this basketball team doesn't get theme music until I feel they deserve it.... good or bad.