Home Sweet Izzone

Upon returning to East Lansing after the game against U of M, I kissed the sweet Spartan soil I call home. I’ve never appreciated it more.  The four hours

Upon returning to East Lansing after the game against U of M, I kissed the sweet Spartan soil I call home. I’ve never appreciated it more.

 

The four hours I spent in maize and blue land weren’t too harmful to my health, but they did prove to me once again that Spartan fans are the best fans in the Big Ten.

 

I missed the Izzone within minutes of being in Crisler Arena. The Wolverine student section, which consists of one quarter of one side of the lower bowl, was lethargic at best. Cheering started with a small group, working its way up in a tentative progression, then dying a slow painful death in the middle of a play. All energy seemed void, even in the second half when it seemed like Michigan had a chance at a comeback. But that’s only when you’re a Spartan used to the perfection of the hard core Izzone.  

 

The student energy was a far cry from Michigan State’s raucous Izzone, which takes up the majority of the Breslin’s lower bowl. Frenetic and passionate, they’re a green and white-clad synchronized swimming team on steroids. Every play is cheered for in its entirety, and Spartans leave no play unturned.

 

 Let me put it in the academic terms that Wolverines eat up: According to Spartanism, it’s survival of the cheering fittest.

 

The Izzone has a reputation for being one of the hardest venues to play in the Big Ten. Even when the Spartans’ 28 –game winning streak at the Breslin was broken last month against Northwestern, the Izzone was relentless. Every Wildcat basket only gave their lungs more ammunition. Spartans would wear maize and blue before giving up on their team.

 

Yet U of M students were packing up before the timer read two minutes.

 

Then in the last minute of the game, I heard “Go Green! Go White!” coming from the rafters. The Izzone had come to Ann Arbor, and it had taken over. Their battle cry was heard throughout Crisler and on television sets at home as MSU got the win 54-42.Â

 

The reverse will never happen at the Breslin.

 

MSU has an innate camaraderie that cannot be facilitated by academic programs or high test scores. It’s the reason many high school seniors who get accepted to both schools choose MSU. It’s the reason the statement “Go Green” is never uttered without another Spartan completing the sentence. It’s the reason Spartan fans are the best.