This is a weekly spotlight that highlights a trash football tradition of Ohio State's upcoming opponent. And after a week of uncertainty, we're thankfully turning our attention to Michigan State.
The Spartans possess dark magic.
You know it. I know it. They know it. Everyone knows it.
There's no other logic you can reasonably argue that dark magic wasn't afoot in Michigan State's upsets of undefeated Ohio State in 1998, 2013 and 2015. The Buckeyes fielded superior teams in each occurrence, although the margin between the two programs was the thinnest in '13.
That '98 squad entered the season ranked No. 1 nationally, and it held pole position all the way to week 10.
That's when John Cooper's Buckeyes faced off against Nick Saban's Spartans, who sported a 4-4 record. It should've been a walk in the park, but Michigan State marched off 19 unanswered points in a stunning second half that handed Ohio State its only loss of the season — a 28-24 defeat.
In 2013, the Spartans once again halted a national title run by ending Urban Meyer's 24-game win streak at Ohio State. The Buckeyes were solid favorites, but eventually fell 34-24.
But the most painful loss (for me, at least) came two years later when Michigan's other team beat what many consider the most talented Ohio State squad in program history. They did so with a backup quarterback making the first collegiate start of his career.
// BRB gonna go do a puke //
With that framing in mind, I'd like to redirect the conversation to a recent tradition Michigan State established. It involves the Spartans' cobranding efforts with the 2006 film titled 300.
Tradition's Origin
The movie itself was widely celebrated, grossing over 450 million dollars globally while amassing an impressive collection of awards. Its popularity and influence stretched deeply into both the entertainment and sports industries, and it's still routinely replayed on television 14 years after its release.
The storyline combines heroics and tragedy, which ultimately leads to triumph. Set in ancient Greece, the film showcases King Leonidas leading 300 Spartans into battle against a Syrian army north of 100,000.
The small group of Spartans find success against their opponent by forcing them to fight in a narrow path between a high mountain and the sea. This strategy eliminated the numbers advantage for the Syrian army, and the superiorly skilled Spartans started to win the battle.
Leonidas was on the brink of victory, but things swung drastically when a spurned deformed Spartan betrayed his country and told the Syrian tyrant about a secret path that would help his army surround and ultimately beat the small group of Spartans.
The Syrians used that information to prevail, but in the end, they were met and defeated by an army of 10,000 Spartans and 30,000 additional Greeks.
The football season that followed the release of 300 came in 2007, and Michigan State began to incorporate aspects of the movie into their game-day experience. For instance, before kickoff or a key third-down play, this scene from the movie plays on the jumbotron and leads to a stadium-wide chant.
It didn't stop there. In 2015, Michigan State dubbed its recruiting efforts "Spartan 300," a nod to the movie and ESPN 300, the network's ranking of the top 300-rated prospects.
Fans bought in as well. Scenes from 300 are consistently woven into promotional or hype videos, and the movie has become a legitimately recognized part of Michigan State's traditions.
Why It's Trash
Because literally all but one of the Spartans featured in this film were violently killed.
Admittedly this movie kicks a lot of ass, but why would you want to draw parallels between your team and a small Spartan army that met a vicious end? I get that they defied great odds and fought valiantly, but that doesn't change the fact that they literally died. Doesn't drawing that parallel give off serious defeatist vibes?
And you can't make the argument that "they lost the battle but won the war," because that would mean you're actively rooting for your team to lose a contest. Sure, that's something I think every fan of any team would sacrifice — one regular-season defeat before ultimately winning it all (hello 2014, my old friend). But the Spartans haven't won a national title in over half a century, and the closest they got was in the 2015 College Football Playoff, where they were dispatched more violently than Leonidas' men.
Aligning your team with a small Spartan army that was viscously eliminated is conceptually dumb, and doing so with the bigger army that eventually won is literally wrong because Michigan State hasn't done that since the movie's inception, and it doesn't look particularly close to accomplishing the feat anytime soon.
Oh, and of the nine top-300 rated players Michigan State signed in its "Spartan 300" class in 2016, four were literally arrested and kicked off the team, three transferred, one is currently a fifth-year senior playing on a Spartans team that recently lost to Rutgers, and the lone winner of the group was a third-round selection of the Pittsburgh Steelers who proudly boasts 10 career tackles in two seasons and counting.
SPARTANS! WHAT IS YOUR PROFESSION? FAIL-URE, FAIL-URE, FAIL-URE!
