Sports Then and Now

When it comes to the football rivalry between the Michigan Wolverines and the Michigan State Spartans, some observers see it as Big Brother vs. Little Brother with the Wolverines cast as the big brother and the Spartans as the little brother.

Heading into their 1990 meeting, Michigan had a confident feeling they were going to their little brother another beat down as the Wolverines entered the game as the #1 team in the country while Michigan State came in with a losing record.

The 1990 season was the first season in 21 years that Michigan did not have legendary head coach Bo Schembechler roaming the sidelines.

Gary Moeller, a Michigan assistant coach for 17 of Schembechler’s 21 years at Michigan, took over as head coach and guided the Wolverines to the #1 ranking despite a 28-24 loss to Notre Dame in the season opener.

Michigan had an offense that featured running back Jon Vaughn, the nation’s leading rusher at with 168 yards per game, sophomore quarterback Elvis Grbac, and a sophomore wide receiver named Desmond Howard, who was starting to make a name for himself in college football.

While the Wolverines came into the game as the top-ranked team in the country, the Spartans entered the game with a 1-2-1 record and were coming off a 12-7 loss to Iowa the week before.

This was the eighth season for Michigan State with head coach George Perles as head coach, who had complied a 46-33-3 record in his first seven seasons and had taken the Spartans to a Rose Bowl victory following a 1987 Big Ten championship season.

However, Perles had a 2-5 record against Michigan and had been held to an average of less than seven points in the previous five meetings against the Wolverines. Read the rest of this entry →

Iowa State self destructed last week.

It was an agonizing week for the all-seeing seer as four of his ten picks went South on October 1.

In retrospect, Zultan offers these occult words of wisdom to the Iowa State Cyclones, “In the future, if you are going to shoot yourself in the foot, do not use a sub machine gun.”

Prior to the Texas vs. Iowa State debacle, Arkansas came back to thwart Texas A & M as the Aggies failed by five points. Zultan could not believe his eyes as he watched A&M’s second collapse in a row. Someone must tell the Aggies that the game lasts 60 minutes, not 45.

Even playing in Columbus, Ohio State could only hold on, losing by three. It could have been even uglier. But MSU quarterback Kirk Cousins spared the Buckeyes abject humiliation by doing his own Spartan version of self-destruction in key moments.

Zultan blames his cloudy crystal ball which continues to conjure up  images from 2010.

But the pigskin prognosticator’s biggest miss was Clemson who stomped on Virginia Tech 23-3 without mercy. This Tiger is all business and will claim the ACC in 2011.  Zultan made a note to himself—C Rules in ACC.

What is more—to heap on massive degradation— almost three score of you recorded better results that the Mighty One. Zultan has barricaded himself in Mom’s garage, pouting and throwing rocks at a poster of Paul Rhoads.  Where was the triple overtime win when you really needed it, Coach?

Those surpassing the great one will be listed at the end of this article along with appropriate, if begrudging accolades.

Next up for the all-seeing seer—Week 2 in the Big Ten, Week 6 overall in the college football season.

Zultan offers you another week of difficult picks daring you to try to outguess him again.  If you feel lucky, or even if you don’t, click here to make your picks and see if you can surpass the big Z this coming Saturday.

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The annual Texas-Oklahoma game is almost always one of the most anticipated games of the college football season, but the 1984 edition of the “Red River Rivalry” had even more hype as both teams entered the game in the top three of the AP Poll.

Texas was 3-0 and the #1 team in the country thanks to wins over then #11 Auburn and #4 Penn State.

Despite the fact they had lost 17 players to the NFL from the 1983 team that finished the season with a 11-1 record, the Longhorns were led by a number of seniors including quarterback Todd Dodge, wide receiver Billy Boy Bryant, defensive tackle Tony Degrate and all-American safety Jerry Gray, all under the direction of eighth-year head coach Fred Akers.

Oklahoma entered the game with a 4-0 record and a #3 ranking, but were hoping try to avoid their fourth straight four-loss season under head coach Barry Switzer, who had led the Sooners to at a least a share of the Big Eight championship in his first eight seasons and two national championships.

The Sooners’ rise to the top was due in large part to their defense, which had allowed only 38 points through the first four games, led by all-American defensive tackle Tony Casillas and freshman linebacker Brian Bosworth.

It would be a game dominated by the defenses as torrential rains had the Dallas area and caused players to slip and slide on the Cotton Bowl turf.

The wet conditions were a factor in the first turnover of the game as Oklahoma punter Mike Winchester dropped a perfect snap and could not get the punt off, giving the ball to Texas at the Sooners’ 26-yard-line. Read the rest of this entry →

During the mid-1990s, the Ohio State Buckeyes had some great teams go through most of the regular season undefeated only to have their arch rival, the Michigan Wolverines, spoil the Buckeyes’ dreams of a national title on three occasions.

But perhaps the Buckeyes’ most heartbreaking loss during this time period came at the hands of that other football team from Michigan.

The 1998 season was the 11th season for John Cooper as the Ohio State head coach as he had complied an 86-32-4 record during his 10 years in Columbus.

Despite his success, Cooper was not embraced by the Buckeye faithful as he had only defeated Michigan once in his first 10 meetings with the Wolverines and was 2-7 in bowl games.

But in 1998, it appeared that the stars were lining up for Cooper and Ohio State to have a magical season.

The Buckeyes began the season as the #1 team ranked in the country because of the 17 returning starters on offense and defense that included quarterback Joe Germaine, wide receiver David Boston, and linebacker Andy Kaztenmoyer.

Through the first two months of the season, Ohio State was dominant as they won their first eight games of the season by a combined score of 306-72.

As the Buckeyes entered the month of November, it appeared that their only obstacle would be arch-rival Michigan on the last game of the season in a game that would be played in Columbus.

So as Ohio State entered their home game with Michigan State on November 7, 1998, it seemed the only question was by how many points would the Buckeyes win over the Spartans.

It appeared that the Spartans were headed for another mediocre season under head coach Nick Saban, who had only gone 19-15-1 in his first three seasons in East Lansing, and were 4-4 at this point of the 1998 season.

The Spartans did have some talent such as sophomore wide receiver Plaxico Burress, who would break the Michigan State season record for receptions, and linebacker Julian Peterson, a junior college transfer from the Valley Forge Military Academy. Read the rest of this entry →

October 1, 2011

Headline: The mighty Zultan finally escaped captivity just in time to forecast the results of the first Big Ten conference games of the 2011 season.

The all-seeing seer was being held against his will in a cornfield outside of Lincoln where the gridiron guru was forced to time Taylor Martinez trying to out zigzag Jared Crick down 500 rows of corn…brutal stuff.

Eventually, however, without ever giving in to the Cornhusker demand to be picked as the winner in their opener over Wisconsin, the mighty Zultan vamoosed down Interstate 80, the most boring stretch of road in existence linking many Legends and Leaders alike.

Back in Mom’s garage, the most proficient football prognosticator plugged in at long last, ready to surge ahead picking winners as conference rivalries simmered, ready to boil.

But something was terribly wrong, the all-seeing one noted as his turban burst into flames.

After the pain subsided from short circuiting during his initial trace, Zultan realized that all hades had broken loose in his absence as football teams abandoned traditional conference alliances to bolt to other, greener conference pastures half a continent away.

The shifting landscape pulled all the wires loose—so much for geographical proximity and cultural similarities.

As Zultan predicts winners of college football contests this Saturday, you need to be aware that the economy has stricken the prognosticator, leaving him poverty stricken. There will be no prizes for this contest, just the satisfaction of besting the mighty Zultan.

So do you feel lucky?  If so, click here, and enter the contest for this week.  If you do better than Zultan, I will list your name in the next contest.

Be brave—what have you got to lose?

Read the rest of this entry →

The LSU Tigers have had plenty to shout about during the first month of the 2011 college football season.

Isn’t it hard to believe that something that takes so long to get here, can already be going by this fast? If there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s that drinking beer and watching football passes the time like no other. The good news is it’s only the first third, and plenty of exciting football remains.

People often say that the polls don’t matter this early. But ascending your way through the rankings and ultimately being crowned #1 is what it’s all about. Seeing as how we are now one-third of the way through the regular season, it seemed like the perfect time to do a special breakdown of what we’ve seen so far from each team. Top 25

1. LSU Tigers (42) (4-0, 1-0 SEC)
So far LSU has been the most impressive team of the season, and are deserving of their new #1 ranking. Three of their four wins have come on the road and have come in dominant fashion. All three against ranked opponents, including last years runner-ups and #3 ranked Oregon. The Tigers may look like the best now, but the daunting SEC West may be too hard to make it out alive. If they keep up their winning ways, they will without a doubt be making a short trip to New Orleans in January.

2. Oklahoma Sooners (12) (3-0, 1-0 Big 12)
The Sooners were jumped by LSU this week despite being alloted top spot to begin the season. With an impressive road victory over the #5 Florida State Seminoles already, the Sooners sit at 3-0 with an easy Ball State opponent coming to Norman. Oklahoma’s next test comes in two weeks when they travel to Austin to face the Longhorns. Read the rest of this entry →