Staudt: Spartan schedule tough compared to most

Of all the rhetoric surrounding the Big Ten football media days this week, what caught my eye the most was Fox Sports' Bruce Feldman's rankings of the toughest non conference schedules in the country. At a time when attendance is fast becoming an issue for football-playing colleges everywhere, Feldman believes Michigan State has the fourth toughest non conference schedule this fall. The four games include two MAC schools and a service academy (Air Force). The ranking obviously is centered around the home opener September 12 against Oregon, but the notion that all four teams played in bowl games last year is a stretch in my mind because any team with a pulse anymore plays in such a game somewhere. Fans everywhere have become increasingly tired of paying for non competitive non conference games. Most schools have at least three of them and the simple solution is to play more league games. Otherwise they can all continue to scratch their heads over decreasing ticket sales.

SABAN BOOK OUT: Forbes Magazine writer Monte Burke releases his book "Saban: The Making Of A Coach" this coming week. Excerpts were published last Sunday in the New York Times with the assertion that many of the Alabama coach's career moves have been aggressively orchestrated by his longtime agent Jimmy Sexton. Included is Sexton's role in Saban's post-1999 season departure from Michigan State to LSU. Saban is quoted as saying without Sexton's eager agent "I don't think I'd ever make one change the way I am."

BAND BRAND CONFUSION: An incident on Long Island this past weekend helped me understand why NIKE gave Michigan all that apparel money. At our oldest son's wedding reception the band was asked to play the Notre Dame Victory March and the MSU Fight Song since many in attendance had ties to both schools. No problem according to the band leader, who promptly struck up the familiar tune of the Fighting Irish followed by Michigan's song The Victors. That brought a crescendo of boos before a lone trumpet player, with an MSU background, played the Spartans' tune solo. It's happened previously in my experience that a request for the MSU Fight Song has produced Michigan's also well known tune.

Michigan's brand name produced NIKE's decision, not the recent win/loss records on the football field.

CAPE COD STANDOUTS: I always hear Big Ten baseball coaches excitedly announce whenever one of their players is chosen to play during the summer in the Cape Cod League. Now I know why. This past Tuesday I saw Brewster play at Orleans on the Cape and at least 3,000 were in attendance, far more than any crowds who ever show up for a college game in the spring. Michigan's Carmen Benedetti is hitting .296 this summer for Orleans. The schedule runs two months through mid August and features the nation's best college players assigned to the various 10 teams. Each plays more than 40 games before the playoffs with an all star game in the middle at Boston's Fenway Park. It's a big deal and clearly a way for college players to enhance their off season skills.

HALL CALL: Coming up this Thursday-- induction ceremonies Thursday at Cooley Law School Stadium for the inaugural class of the Michigan Baseball Hall of Fame. Predictably not all of the 10 inductees will be directly represented and it is understandable. For those who have been inducted at Cooperstown, this honor might not seem as big as it will for, say, high school coaches Pat O'Keefe of Grand Ledge and Larry Tuttle of Blissfield. Going forward, decisions will have to be made on who best fits induction for a statewide baseball hall of fame and how much play those from a Major League backgrounds in Detroit merit.

HEATING UP: Northern college teams always struggle to play home games in late March and early April. Michigan and Eastern Michigan both added artificial turf. Michigan State has been loathe to make such a move but the Spartans are now installing heating coils on both their baseball and softball fields. Will they make a notable difference? We'll see, but with the silly northern schedules remaining where they are something had to be done to enhance the quality of play over previous years.

CLASS CONFUSION: The Michigan High School Athletic Association reports that roughly half of its 735 member schools still have pay to play provisions. What is a mystery to me is that of the class A schools 70 percent require fees, but the number is a mere 35 percent for the class D schools. Why?

MACK ATTACK: Gus Macker three on three basketball began in Lowell 42 years ago and moved to Belding in 1987. This year's tournament concludes today from an original field of 400 teams, the largest enrollment in 17 years. The original Macker in Belding drew 5,000 teams and 20,000 players. It obviously is not as big a deal these days, but it is still a big deal each summer at least in Belding, where slam dunk contests and kids' events have been added through the years.

PRUDER PROMOTED: Michigan State has done a terrific job through the years of developing talent through its athletic department in backup roles to the various department heads. So it comes as no surprise that Dave Pruder has been promoted to replace the retired Bob Knickerbocker as equipment chief. Pruder has a long background at MSU and is well liked by all of the coaches. He might have another long run just like Knickerbocker had.

WILLIAMS BACK: No surprise that Michigan State is giving running back Delton Williams another chance to play on the team after his well documented legal issues of the past year. So will he take advantage of his new opportunities or will he blow it again? There are plenty of examples of other such athletes who have excelled with a second chance and those who continue to be their own worst enemy. We'll see.

COMETS CONQUER: A high five to the Grand Ledge under 13 baseball team that won a zone championship in West Lafayette, Indiana last weekend. The team is playing in the PONY World Series this weekend in Whittier, California. Play continues through Monday.

ALLEN, YOUNG TRICE IMPRESS: A number of local high school basketball players were a part of the noteworthy AAU Gym Rats Tournament last weekend in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Haslett's Brandon Allen scored 28 points in a game his team won over a team led by former Spartan Travis Trice's brother, D'Mitrick Trice. He scored 25 in his team's loss. Allen has an offer from Long Beach State with his senior season ahead, but more offers likely will start heading his way as the November signing date approaches.

TOUGH TASK: In Chekhov, Russia last weekend, the host women's basketball team lost 78-70 to team USA in the Under19 World Championships. Michigan's Kim Barnes Arico was an assistant coach for the Americans. Barnes Arrico has spent the past two seasons working with USA Basketball, which improves her credibility of course. But her tougher task ahead is to build fan interest in Michigan women's basketball, which has never seemed to be a big deal in Ann Arbor.