Dantonio, Hoyer Respond to "Little Brother" Comments
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9 CommentsYou knew it was coming. After what Mike Hart said following Michigan’s 28-24 win over Michigan State, it was only a matter of time until the so-called “little brothers” responded. Rightfully so, they should be able to respond to the comments, but I just didn’t think that it would go down the way it did.
Let’s first start with MSU head coach Mark Dantonio. When asked about Mike Hart’s comments, he said this (courtesy Hondo’s House):
He starts the answer off by asking if Mike Hart has a little brother or if he is a little brother, but then takes a shot at his height by motioning his hand to a certain spot and saying, “he’s about that tall.” Listen, I can understand if you’re pissed off at what he said because it was a harsh statement, but there’s no need to bring his height or size into it considering he managed to run for 110 yards on your defense. And that was with an injury. Had Hart been 100% healthy, he would’ve run for a lot more than 110 yards.
Moving on to some of Dantonio’s other responses (to watch the full press conference, go to Hondo’s House), I’m just going to go through them one-by-one.
Immediately following the game when the clock was running out, most of the Michigan team ran on to the field and gathered in a huddle. It looked very similar to what a team would do for a postgame prayer, but that isn’t what Michigan did. Instead, they had a “moment of silence.” Why exactly? Well, when Mark Dantonio was being interviewed on the radio following MSU’s win over UAB to start the season, the interviewer passed along the news that Appalachian State had beat Michigan. At that point, Dantonio said something to the effect of, “That’s a shame. Should we have a moment of silence?” In response to those comments, the Michigan team had its own moment of silence after defeating Dantonio’s Spartans, and he was asked about it today.
“Are you aware that Michigan’s players met at midfield after the game and had a moment of silence in response to your comment after the Appalachian State game?”MD: “No, I’m not aware of that.”
“Any reaction to that? Do you find that amusing?”
MD: “I find a lot of the things that they do amusing. They need to check themselves sometimes. Let’s just remember pride comes before the fall.”
The tone that he used when saying the things above sounded very angry. He obviously was pissed off that Michigan did that, and would show that by repeating things about U-M mocking them later on in the presser. But if he was so mad that it happened, then maybe he shouldn’t say anything to begin with. When told about Appalachian State winning, was it necessary for him to say anything about having a moment of silence? No. It was a great one-liner that I even can find humor in, but if you’re going to dish it out, then you should be able to take it as well.
The next thing I want to bring up is this statement made by Dantonio later on in the press conference:
“I’m very proud the way our football team handled themselves after the game as well. You don’t have to disrespect people. We’ll come to play. We don’t have to be disrespected. We don’t have to disrespect people. If they want to make a mockery of it, so be it. Their time will come.”
As I already said, if you can’t take it, then don’t dish it out to begin with. This is a rivalry. In a rivalry, there is a deep hatred for the other team, and with that comes disrespect. You don’t think Michigan State has never disrespected Michigan before? Give me a break. As Dan Hawkins would say, it’s Division I football. It’s the Big Twelve Ten. It ain’t intramurals. With that being said, just get over it.
Dantonio wasn’t the only one that had a lot to say. MSU quarterback Brian Hoyer was asked about Hart’s comments and had this to say:
“Let’s put it this way, if anybody hadn’t taken this personal up until this point, it’s personal now,” Hoyer said. “It just shows what kind of class he has.“Sooner or later, the little brother, you want to put us that way, you get pushed around enough, the little brother fights back and kicks the other brother’s ass [Detroit News replaced ass with butt].
Maybe if Hoyer would’ve played the way he talks, then this discussion wouldn’t even be happening. Hart does talk a lot, but he had a right to after this game because his team won. Hoyer’s didn’t, and he probably should worry more about that.
The QB went on…
“I’ll look forward to the next 364 days for that game because it just shows the arrogance that they have. We don’t take that lightly. That’s something you take personal.“We don’t feel they really deserved to win that game. I’m sure they walked away feeling a little bit lucky coming out of it, too. I can guarantee you come next year, that (Hart’s quote) will be sitting up on our bulletin board.”
You know, instead of worrying about what will happen 364 days from now, maybe Hoyer should just concentrate on Purdue, the next opponent on MSU’s schedule, especially since the Spartans need a win to become bowl eligible.
Since I think Hoyer should move on, I am doing the same here at MSC. Michigan State week is over and it is now time to focus on Wisconsin. Unless something comes up to prompt another post, I’m just going to focus on the next task at hand: beating Wisconsin.
There are folks who feel that you shouldn’t say anything that would be considered “bulletin board” material because it might excite the other team. BULL-CRAP! MSU on its best day couldn’t beat UM. In fact, the MSU players were all psyched up telling the media before the game that they were going to get Michigan to respect them Saturday. So they played their little hearts out and what happened? They lost.
If MSU could have won they would have…PERIOD! Michigan don’t need bulletin board quotes to get them psyched for MSU because they are better. And I don’t give a damn how long Dantonio plans to be there. Michigan will beat their ass until he gets fired. Then they will start with the new coach again.
The law of the streets says, “If I kick your ass, then I can talk as much smack as I want.” If you’ve noticed, those wait till next year quotes are only quoted by losers. I guess that is why Dantonio and Hoyer made them I guess. I’m proud of the fact that even when Michigan looses a game, they never say that. They just move on.
Go Blue!
What Dantonio didn’t realize is that it was his comments about the moment of silence, that got the Michigan players all fired up to play his team. So it back fired.
If he’s not careful, he will fire up the Michigan players for next year as well.
Dantonio started it, and Michigan finished it.
What a group of classless clowns on this board. As a proud Michigan graduate our team has showed nothing but arrogance and all of you are too tied into the Michigan success to simply admit it. I’m glad that Michigan won, of course, but Hart’s comments were childish and Dantonio’s were said as a joke in response to a direct question, as in “am I supposed to feel sorry for another team just because they lost”?
Yes, idiots, you can talk smack when you win, but it’s still classless and to compare Michigan’s boorishness and idiocy with dantonio’s joke long ago makes Michigan look like arrogant fools.
Just because you’re a Michigan fan does not mean you need to excuse even stupid things that Michigan does. State’s planting of the flag years ago was 100 times worse, to be sure, but I’ve lost all respect for Hart off the field.
Well you know what, Baby Hoyer? Michigan won fair and square. Ringer should have been tackled that time, and Mallett shouldn’t have fumbled, but Michigan overcame that. The same can’t be said about MSU, who has now lost 6 in a row since clockgate.
Anonymous 9:09 is about as much of a Michigan fan as Charlie Weis. Give me a break, that was a transparent, pathetic, and phony spin job by a Sparty. And it wasn’t even subtle.
Dantonio is embarassed. That’s the short and simple story. He put the entire year into one game…and he lost. Even with UofM’s best players hobbled. He lost. He joked about Michigan being dead. Then the ghost beat him.
anon 9:09,
You mean that flag planting WAY BACK in 2005? Yeah, no longer relevant, I suppose, since HALF of the players involved in that incident have since moved on.
Also, your impression of Mike Hart off the field is obviously very narrowly limited to this particular incident, or maybe you’re including his comments after the osu game last year. If so, you do not know him at all. At least take the time to know the man in whole before judging him based on one comment. I suppose his involvement with local junior and senior high schools; Mott childrens hospital; various local charities (homeless shelters, soup kitchens); campus organizations; etc mean nothing because the guy spoke a little trash, right?
Urban “Cryer” was such an easy name. Its harder to think of something for Dantonio.