News and Notes from Around the Spartan Nation.

News and Notes from Around the Spartan Nation. The Spartans aren’t saying much publicly about Laptopgate, but don’t think that they don’t care. Weis knows the rule and he blatantly broke it. Before you send me the email saying it was an intern, it is his staff. He is responsible. One official from a Big Ten school called me moments after I broke the story on Spartan Nation and said, “You watch. This is Notre Dame and if anything they will put Eastern Nowhere on probation. He will blow it off, but that rule is well known.” He coached for Belicheat and clearly his arrogance is out of control. I used to really like Charlie, but with Slapgate and Never lose to MSUgate and Schematic advantagegate he has run his course. I have a feature article coming on Thursday about MSU LT Rocco Cironi. Don’t miss it. Trust me. Super kid and an excellent football player. The Spartan coaches gathered on Monday and with the speed of Kellen Lewis don’t be surprised to see Denson and Allison get a lot more reps. Decker is a very good MLB, but with Lewis’ speed, they may try some “shadow” packages on him. Mitchell White is a freshman that the Spartans are going to red shirt this season. He is also a 6’10” high jumper and Dantonio is going to use him a lot this week as the scout QB to try to give the D a good and athletic look at that spot. We are seeing a reemergence of Michael Jordan. When he arrived at MSU he had a lot of fan fare (yes, even from here at Spartan Nation) and he finally has his technique in order as well as his conditioning and we are seeing that translate to more minutes. Look for that to continue. Freshman CB Trenton Robinson has a nose for the ball and continues to make plays in practice. The coaches love his attitude and they have decided to not red shirt him. He is now on the depth chart. CLR looks great and Dantonio praised him today, “…Shut down EVERY wide receiver he gone against.” Those are huge words of praise from a DB Coach (now head coach obviously) who is slow to praise. Izzo is famous for saying, “A player coached team is better than a coach coached team.” That philosophy is reiterated by Dantonio and we are starting to see that emerge with the football team. The Spartans in 06 had a disappointing game at IU and when asked if he is using that to motivate his team, Dantonio said no. “The current players have brought up that 06 loss.” You may remember (but if you don’t I will use this as a chance to toot our own horn) that SpartanNation.com broke the story when MSU was looking for a new football coach that former DB star Alan Haller (now a well respected and very good police officer) was one of the three men out doing informal interviews on the road on behalf of the school. Well this week he will be the honorary captain for the team.  Very good pick by Coach D. Haller was not only a very good football player, but he is well respected and an even better person. He is a great example to the players. How good is rising star Joel Foreman? A good friend of mine who is a scout for an NFL (AFC) team called me after the ND game and raved about his performance. He has to send in weekly reports to his team about guys who won’t be in the next draft, but they want to keep an eye on and he said, “That kid has star written all over him. That is the difference with a Dantonio team. His kids just get such great coaching at every position and that kid shows it.” MSU doesn’t take any opponent lightly. In fact I asked him once about cup cakes and less than stellar teams on the schedule and he said, “You can look back at the past and at times see a pattern with MSU losing when they should win. I can’t and won’t do that. We approach each and every game with a Big Ten Championship or a Rose Bowl mentality. If they sense me taking some teams lightly they will. We play and respect our opponents and with that attitude we hope to avoid those let downs that good football teams don’t make.” That is why even when many of us don’t like it, you see Ringer running kicks back against an EMU or an IU. He sends the message. I must confess that when I predicted an 8-4 record before the season started, I looked at OSU and was sure that the Spartans would lose. I would suggest that any of you who can get it, watch the OSU vs. Ohio game. Ohio plays very similar in a lot of ways to MSU without the talent and gave the Bucknuts all they could handle. If MSU is 6-1 and the Bucknuts only have one loss, that will be a national game and at home with the crowd that will be on hand, MSU could do something very special. I am not predicting a win. I am just saying think about it when you are alone and your mind is wandering. If MSU doesn’t have the best staff (top to bottom) in the Big Ten, then someone intelligently tell me who is better? OSU is also very good and MSU may not be better, but they are just as good.