Ken Braun Article Archive

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Football Bowl Association and Other Bowling Thoughts

My thoughts on the whole bowls vs. playoffs debate is a greyish area. The BCS is foolish, and stupid, and unfair; but we're also not going to get a 16-team playoff, and there's issues of complication with all points in between...

Written by Ken Braun about 11 months ago 66 reads 0 comments
Michigan State-Georgia: Capital One Bowl's Similar Teams With Different Dreams

Michigan State's Javon Ringer and Georgia's Knowshon Moreno are both finalists for the Doak Walker "best college running back" award...

Written by Ken Braun about 11 months ago 207 reads 0 comments
2008 Michigan State Football By the Numbers

The big numbers tell the Michigan State football story as the regular season comes to a close. Last year's group was a 7-6 team. Those that returned played a slightly tougher schedule in 2008 and have come out with (so far) a 9-3 record...

Written by Ken Braun about about 1 year ago 526 reads 1 comments
Michigan State-Penn State: Underwhelmed With Excitement

So it comes to this. The night before what could be Michigan State's biggest win in...a long time. I've had two weeks to prepare for it, two weeks to write something about it, and two weeks to get really jacked up about it...

Written by Ken Braun about about 1 year ago 256 reads 2 comments
Michigan State-Purdue: Spartans Refuse to Lose

Every Big Ten game is important, particularly with a conference title still out there, but you could make a strong case that Michigan State needed this 21-7 victory a lot less than any other game this season...

Written by Ken Braun about about 1 year ago 271 reads 3 comments
The New Same Old Michigan State Spartans

“The team will play better when the coach gets players that understand his way of doing things."This now famous refrain of the Michigan football fan since last December has morphed from ...

Written by Ken Braun about about 1 year ago 527 reads 4 comments
Apocalypse Rod: Michigan's Colonel Kurtz Mission

I began this season thinking Michigan would have a very rough time of it but eventually start coming around. My theory was that the defense, which was expected to be very good, would carry the ...

Written by Ken Braun about about 1 year ago 339 reads 7 comments
Michigan State @ Michigan Recap

The heart says this is a big win. The head says otherwise. They're both right.Emotionally, this was the biggest win of the year...

Written by Ken Braun about about 1 year ago 266 reads 0 comments
Spartan Seasons 2008: Back To The Future

From the first shots of the Korean War until the year of the Six Day War, 1950-1967, Michigan State's record against Michigan was 13-3-2...

Written by Ken Braun about about 1 year ago 74 reads 0 comments
A Rivalry in Ruins: Spartans Vs. Wolverines

Dear Wolverines:Wanting to beat the crap out of you every year used to be fun. Now that it's expected of us, I am left with nothing but angst. By turning your team into so much crap, so fast, you've ruined everything...

Written by Ken Braun about about 1 year ago 244 reads 2 comments
Spartans vs. Ohio State Recap

"If you have nothing nice to say, then don't say anything at all.""A picture is worth a thousand words."A clever neologism should be minted from the merger of that pair of bromides and it would ...

Written by Ken Braun about about 1 year ago 123 reads 0 comments
Spartan Seasons 2008: Dantonio's Moment of Silence

Before dissecting the solid performance against Northwestern and launching into my weekly look forward to the many big games ahead, I need to stop and note that recent events cry out for a change of longstanding Michigan State tradition...

Written by Ken Braun about about 1 year ago 471 reads 2 comments
The Munchausen Wolverines: Michigan's Battle to Beat an Invented Illness

Toledo 13Michigan 10In many corners of Michigan fandom, the radical decision to jettison four decades of a winning leadership formula and hire Rich Rodriguez was hailed as essential medicine...

Written by Ken Braun about about 1 year ago 731 reads 31 comments
Spartan Seasons 2008: Practice Closed for Week Seven

Last Saturday, Michigan State’s offense convincingly demonstrated beyond all doubt that when playing at home against Iowa, they can hang on to win by a field goal...

Written by Ken Braun about about 1 year ago 253 reads 2 comments
Halloween, the College Football Holiday

Making full and appropriate use of holidays is just one of college football’s many virtues.The ADD-inducing New Year’s Day marathon requires no elaboration.Thanksgiving is also brilliant...

Written by Ken Braun about about 1 year ago 340 reads 0 comments
Michigan State-Iowa: Spartans' 16-13 Win Could Have Been Easier

This game is what Stringer Bell would call a “40-degree day.” Stringer is the very shrewd businessman-gangster from the HBO series The Wire...

Written by Ken Braun about about 1 year ago 378 reads 4 comments
Michigan State Spartan Seasons 2008: VI

"No battle plan survives contact with the enemy."Those wise words (supposedly spoken by Prussian Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke the Elder) were my own unspoken battle plan when I began this ...

Written by Ken Braun about about 1 year ago 217 reads 2 comments
The Lake Woebegone Conference: What If Alabama Is Just Above Average?

With the last two conference champions going on to win the national title, and projections of a legendary "speed" advantage that will continue to pay dividends to conference members for generations ...

Written by Ken Braun about about 1 year ago 347 reads 2 comments
Michigan State-Indiana Recap

My black lab, Cheese, is the sweetest dog I've ever had. He came to us as a starving stray puppy at six months of age, and he appeared to have had a rough life before arriving at our door...

Written by Ken Braun about about 1 year ago 666 reads 6 comments
No Passing Panic: Michigan State Fine at QB

Many message board posters have been dinging Spartan QB Brian Hoyer all season because the Michigan State passing game isn't what it used to be...

Written by Ken Braun about about 1 year ago 1,606 reads 15 comments
Spartan Seasons 2008: V

Ho... hum... Another week, another predictable game for Michigan State. Still the same team in the large scheme of things. I move not a bit from the 8-4 regular season projection. No surprises yet, but some of the competition is changing its stripes...

Written by Ken Braun about about 1 year ago 200 reads 4 comments
New BCS Blood: WAC/Mountain West Champion Should Have BCS Bid

Rather than take the slow fade to professional suicide that is the ultimate fate of all who coach the Detroit Lions, Darryl Rogers elected instead to crash and burn in a memorable fireball...

Written by Ken Braun about about 1 year ago 1,038 reads 21 comments
What Does Michigan State's Win over Notre Dame Mean?

With Michigan State and Notre Dame each receiving five votes in the USA Today poll last week, it's possible that the Spartans might eke out a Top-25 ranking as a result of this win. I hope not...

Written by Ken Braun about about 1 year ago 658 reads 3 comments
Opposition Research: Notre Dame

Notre Dame @ Michigan State -8.5That's a good point spread. Against Michigan and a woefully awful San Diego State, Notre Dame's echoes got up for some sleepwalking but otherwise yawned and went back to bed...

Written by Ken Braun about about 1 year ago 199 reads 0 comments

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Ken Braun Article Archive

Football Bowl Association and Other Bowling Thoughts

Michigan State-Georgia: Capital One Bowl's Similar Teams With Different Dreams

2008 Michigan State Football By the Numbers

Michigan State-Penn State: Underwhelmed With Excitement

Michigan State-Purdue: Spartans Refuse to Lose

The New Same Old Michigan State Spartans

Apocalypse Rod: Michigan's Colonel Kurtz Mission

Michigan State @ Michigan Recap

Spartan Seasons 2008: Back To The Future

A Rivalry in Ruins: Spartans Vs. Wolverines

Spartans vs. Ohio State Recap

Spartan Seasons 2008: Dantonio's Moment of Silence

The Munchausen Wolverines: Michigan's Battle to Beat an Invented Illness

Spartan Seasons 2008: Practice Closed for Week Seven

Halloween, the College Football Holiday

Michigan State-Iowa: Spartans' 16-13 Win Could Have Been Easier

Michigan State Spartan Seasons 2008: VI

The Lake Woebegone Conference: What If Alabama Is Just Above Average?

Michigan State-Indiana Recap

No Passing Panic: Michigan State Fine at QB

Spartan Seasons 2008: V

New BCS Blood: WAC/Mountain West Champion Should Have BCS Bid

What Does Michigan State's Win over Notre Dame Mean?

Opposition Research: Notre Dame

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