Enough with the Spartan Bashing Already!

I would like to wear my Michigan State Spartan t-shirts, hats, and other paraphernalia without being abused by every bozo University of Michigan fan when I am out doing errands or socializing with members of my community. The thing that galls me the most about these freaks is that 99.9% of people who are Michigan fans and reside in Michigan never actually even went there. And out of those who didn't go there, 98% of them didn't go to a big ten college. Out of those who even went to college, many went to a community college or failed out of a real university before graduation. To sum it up: the bulk of Michigan fans never went to college at all and merely latched onto a winner in the desperate hopes that doing so would make them seem like winners.

That's fine. Many people who didn't attend a big ten school or even any college at all are far more successful than I am. But if you don't have any appreciation for the work and dedication it took to earn a degree (or two, as in my case) from a prestigious educational institution like Michigan State, then don't have the unmitigated gall to say "State Sucks" to me as I am quietly going about my daily business. Now don't get me wrong, I will mix it up with anyone who went to one of the Big Ten schools or Notre Dame. They earned the right to enter into a verbal tête-à-tête with me because they paid their dues at a rival school. Its the slobs who just follow Michigan football and basketball and suddenly feel empowered to comment on the educational standards and caliber of students coming out of Michigan State based on the quality of their athletic program during any given year that really piss me off.

Have the mental constitution and wherewithal to refrain from judging the University by athletic standards (which by the way are excellent still even during our leaner years in the win department). Here's what you are overlooking:

1. Michigan State University has the largest single campus student body of any Michigan university. It is the largest institution of higher learning in the state and one of the largest universities in the country.
2. Founded in 1855 as the nation's first land-grant university, MSU served as the prototype for 69 land-grant institutions later established under the Morrill Act of 1862 and was the first institution of higher learning in the United States to teach scientific agriculture.
3. Nine of MSU's graduate programs are ranked in the nation's top 25 in the field by U.S. News and World Report, including business, primary care medicine and education in the top 10. The College of Education's elementary and secondary education graduate programs have been ranked #1 for seven consecutive years and our nuclear physics Ph.D. program is ranked #2.
4. Our College of Education is tops most any way you look at it. In one nationwide survey, ours was the ONLY one ranked among the top three in all three categories: teaching, research and service.
5. The School of Packaging at MSU is the world's No. 1 program and provides 75 percent of the graduates in the $60 billion packaging industry.
6. The School of Hospitality Business at MSU is the top-rated program of its kind in the world.
7. MSU is the only university in the country with three on-campus medical schools, graduating medical doctors, osteopathic physicians and veterinarians.
8. Our alumni in the news range from the president of Paramount Pictures to the president of Chrysler Corp., to the CEO of the U.S. Olympic Committee.
9. MSU has had more Rhodes Scholars than any other Big Ten university in the past generation.

This is an abbreviated list of bragging rights, the full list would only take up valuable bandwidth and would serve only to beat my point into the ground. So the next time I'm out washing my car with my MSU cap on, have an intellectual argument prepared as to why "Michigan State Sucks, man!" or get out of my face before I turn the hose on you.