An Open Letter to Spartan Nation
Dear Spartan Nation,
It’s been a long journey to get where we are today. As the seconds ticked off the clock in East Lansing Saturday night I stood soaking in the energy that vibrated through Spartan Stadium and I pondered if this could be one of the best moments. To grasp the magnitude of this statement, I think you must know that to date, one of the best moments for me was standing in the Rose Bowl next to my husband and good friends when our Spartans made dreams come true and won the 100th Rose Bowl. Saturday night may have topped that… It at least tied it. To some of you that may be a really weird statement Rose Bowl win vs. Regular Season win… Does this chick know what she’s talking about?! Go home Sparty Girl, you’re drunk. Not in the least my friends, so stroll with me down this storyline.
When I was an undergrad at MSU it was during the Bobby Williams and John L. Smith eras. If you remember these days, you know that football season hurt my pretty Spartan green heart more than it made it happy. Our program had a lack of luster, and there was definitely no shimmering coming from our trophy cases in those day. It was a rough game most weekends and we were the punchline to many jokes. We were far from anyone’s list of championship teams.
Enter Mark Dantonio.
From the moment he stepped on campus our program began to transform. Over time we started to gain a confidence in who we were and what our teams could do on the football field. We became confident in our abilities, confident of what we could achieve, confident in the future of the program. I watched as we climbed the rankings by reaching higher and proudly beamed as we attained more bowl victories. In that same breath, I stay humble in who we are as Spartans and I know that hard work, tenacity and solid ethic are the only things that will get the job done. Coach has built a foundation at MSU that he and our teams have built on year after year. A program has been built in East Lansing that has made us proud to be Spartans. We hold our head high with a confidence that We. Are. Spartans. There isn’t a pretentious arrogance in that statement but a bold fact that Spartans Will. A promise of what you can expect from the Spartans of Michigan State University.
Playing on a national stage in games that make a statement. That’s where we are these days, Spartan Faithful. As I walked out of Spartan Stadium Saturday night with Hubbz, among a throng of Spartans, a realization hit me. Our program has reached heights that we have always dreamed of. The hard work is paying off inch by inch, play by play, win by win. Beating Oregon tops the list. It’s been a long journey and it is far from over but college football nation is taking notice that we are a program that isn’t going away anytime soon. Coach Dantonio so eloquently stated it already, “This is the place to be”. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else these days, Coach, and for that I thank you.
Be proud Spartan Nation. Michigan State University is the place to be.
