I'm sure by now you know that Michigan State suspended QB Jeff Smoker indefinitely last week. The word from the "reliable sources" from East Lansing is that he's part of a coke ring, and possibly involved with fixing games.

per MSU's rivals.com message board...

Quote:ABC's Gary Danielson was just on a Columbus radio station and made hints that Smoker was maybe shaving points and up to 8 more players are being looked at including former Spartan and current Falcon TJ Duckett...

If you want to read more about these allegations/rumors (the plot thickens every hour), here's a thread from a Wisconsin board - <a href='http://pub6.ezboard.com/fbadgermaniacsbadgerfootballboard.showMessageRange?topicID=8661.topic&start=1&stop=20' target='_blank'>http://pub6.ezboard.com/fbadgermaniacsbadg...start=1&stop=20</a>

If even part of this is true, could you imagine the fallout?!? :eek: HC Bobby Williams is going to get the axe after this year is over anyway - that team doesn't has gone into the tank ever since they got blown out by Cal. This could result in something close to the NCAA death penalty that SMU got in the late '80s.

Please oh please let SD Sundeveil post on this thread.

Here's more on this story per MLive.com...

Quote:http://www.mlive.com/spartans/football/s...320820.xml

The Michigan State football team may have been built for success, but it was programmed for failure from the start.

Poor coaching, too many inexperienced players and vastly overrated talent all may be combining to produce was is perhaps the most consistently inept performance on the field since the early 1980s.

However, selfishness, on the part of key players, has undermined any chance of the Spartans becoming a real team, and without cohesion it's virtually impossible to play winning football.

It all starts with Jeff Smoker. Anybody who's spent time with the junior quarterback would agree he's one of the most likable people they've ever met. He's polite, respectful and has a great sense of humor.

Nevertheless, the destructive behavior that earned Smoker an indefinite suspension from head coach Bobby Williams was about "me" not "we."

At some point, Smoker made a decision to do something wrong -- and substantiated information has been difficult to come by -- that has prevented him from performing at the high level he was building toward last season.

While still an active participant, he made a choice that affected his performance and consequently deprived his teammates of their best opportunity to win. That was selfish.

He further let down his teammates when he had to be removed from the squad, at least temporarily. Beating Michigan in Saturday's noon game in Ann Arbor would have been difficult enough with a fully capable Smoker. MSU's chances are severely diminished without him.

Now, there is credible evidence that Smoker got caught up in something he couldn't control.

Inside sources have confided independently what Williams intimated when he said, "We stand by him and he has a lot of support from the coaching staff and from his teammates. It was for the welfare of Jeff and this football program that this action was immediately taken."

One source said Smoker deserves to be pitied more than scorned. "It's all about saving the kid now," the source said. "Whether he plays football for Michigan State again is a secondary concern."

It doesn't help Smoker's situation that rumors linking him to a variety of unsavory off-the-field activities are going unabated. According to sources close to the program, he has not flunked a drug test.

At least it appears Smoker is taking steps to become a team player again and restore his status by cooperating fully. The suspension is "open-ended," Williams said. "He could come back, or he may not play this year."

And yet, the damage has been done. It's often difficult for players who are trying to do everything the right way to respect someone, and play hard alongside someone who doesn't share their values. They feel, either consciously or unconsciously, betrayed and abandoned.

If it's not important to a few individuals to make an effort to be the best they can be, why should everybody else try as hard as they can? It may be a coincidence, but a lack of effort has been cited by Williams as a serious problem.

However, the problems with selfishness can't all be laid at Smoker's doorstep.

Junior center Brian Ottney is another prominent player, like Smoker a co-captain no less, who has demonstrated counterproductive selfishness. His refusal to discipline himself and stop committing stupid penalties has wrecked his teammate's opportunities to be successful all season.

The holding penalties are bad enough, but sometimes understandable because a lineman can inadvertently grab a defender, or purposely hold him to prevent a sack.

But the 15-yard personal fouls are unacceptable and unforgivable, especially for a so-called leader, because they demoralize the rest of the team and show a total disregard for teammates and coaches.

Williams was so fed up with Ottney's renegade style and apparent self-serving need to appear to be macho and tough, he finally benched him for the last 12 minutes of the first half against Wisconsin last Saturday.

It was a necessary and welcomed -- if not too short-lived -- show of authority on Williams' part.

Sophomore tight end Jason Randall has said he feels too many MSU teammates are playing for themselves, trying to accomplish what they can for their own self-aggrandizement instead of the common good.

A house divided cannot stand.

:eek:

I would've NEVER thought...

I am not a fan of Mich St but I am really sorry to see this. What a shame. Threw his life down the toilet.

Looks like most of this stuff will end up being true. This could get really ugly. Another article on the scandal per the Oakland (Mich.) Press...

Quote:A week away from what is always its biggest game of the year, two-thirds of the way through a season that was supposed to be Michigan State's brightest in at least a decade, the Spartans are a team and a football program in shambles.

Athletic director Ron Mason said Saturday that he will issue a statement regarding the unexplained Jeff Smoker suspension at the appropriate time.

But time is no longer on MSU's side - in this rapidly deteriorating season, or in
the scandal that has been festering on the banks of the Red Cedar River since Thursday.

School officials need to come forward with the truth in this controversy as
quickly and completely as possible - no matter how embarrassing or painful those facts may initially be.

Otherwise, the rumors - however unfounded or unjustified - of failed drug tests, gambling, and point shaving that were swirling around Spartan Stadium Saturday evening are going to get completely out of hand.

Moments before the start of Saturday night's 42-24 walloping at the hands of
bowl-bound Wisconsin, an unconfirmed story circulated around the stadium that seven more Spartan players were about to be suspended.

On top of everything else that has gone awry in this thoroughly rotten 3-5
season, Michigan State doesn't need any more innuendo.

Rumors were rampant at the late afternoon tailgate parties all around the soldout
stadium on this damp, dismal day. The more the liquor flowed, the more the speculation grew.

By kickoff, the name of the young quarterback whose likeness towers over the
parking lot at the south end of the Spartan Stadium, and whose face is on the cover of the 360-page media guide, had been thoroughly trashed.

All of this idle talk isn't doing Smoker or MSU any good.

In a season in which, given their cozy schedule, the Spartans were expected to

win eight games minimum, they will now be lucky to escape with less than eight losses.

In a season in which they hoped to prove they didn't need slow-fingered clock
operator to beat arch-rival Michigan, the Spartans may now need a win over the Wolverines next weekend to save Williams' job.

Smoker, who was supposed to be the best quarterback in the Big Ten this year,
was Michigan State's Jack Armstrong. He is good-looking and glib. He was the embodiment of what we would like to believe college football is all about. He was the All-American boy.

Maybe that was part of the problem.

I noticed this season that much of the boyish enthusiasm that made Smoker so

special when he first burst onto the scene two years ago had disappeared.

I assumed that was merely a sign that Smoker was growing older, growing up.

Apparently, like a lot of other people, I was naive.

Smoker's suspension is but the latest in a long line of costly setbacks that


MSU has suffered in the past three years.

First, Nick Saban, who had rebuilt the Spartans into a 10-2 Citrus Bowl team,
bolted because he felt underpaid and unappreciated.

Ryan Van Dyke, hailed as the QB who was going to lead the Spartans back to
Big Ten prominence, never approached those lofty expectations.

T.J. Duckett, MSU's talented workhorse tailback, jumped to the NFL without
ever getting the most out of his college career.

Now Smoker is suspended indefinitely for unspecified crimes - his future in
doubt.

The next blow will almost certainly come after the end of this season when
Charles Rogers, the father of two, will announce he has had enough and is headed for the NFL.

Rogers, who definitely has not played up to his Heisman hype, looks more and
more like a player trying to avoid injury and save himself for the pros.

The way this season is going down the drain, you can't totally blame him.

Last week, center and co-captain Brian Ottney actually admitted some of the

Spartans "haven't given their all."

And Rogers had only to look across the field Saturday night at Wisconsin wide
receiver Lee Evans to see what can happen to player who, with the best of intentions, elects to remain in school.

Rather than turn pro, Evans returned to Wisconsin for his senior year, tore up
his knee in spring practice and is out for the year.

Bobby Williams is under fire and fighting for his coaching future.

According to one rumor making the rounds Saturday, MSU president Peter

McPherson had to order Williams to take action this week against Smoker.

And sources say offensive coordinator Morris Watts was understandably less
than thrilled about Williams' threat to take over the play-calling chores.

Clearly, this football program is coming apart at the seams.

Almost forgotten in the all the fuss was the fact that Michigan State also played

a football game Saturday night.

Whatever the reason for Smoker's suspension, the truth can't possibly be any
worse than this.

<!--EDIT|JoltinJacket|Oct 29 2002, 11:24 PM-->

Hate to put it this way, but something like this makes me feel a lot better about the season we're having in Chapel Hill. We may be losing a lot, but our guys are staying out of trouble off the field (knock on wood). That's more important....

-JD

True. And at least they're still out there competing and trying to get better. IMHO, Michigan State rolled over in their blowout loss to Cal and haven't gotten up since. I mean you've got players admitting they aren't giving it their all. I don't care who they are - I'd sit them down and put somebody in there that wants to play. That (the quitting part, not the scandal) reminds me of how Tech played in 1994 under Bill Lewis. Lewis lost complete control of the team and we went 1-10. Bobby Williams seemed like a pretty good coach the last couple years, but he's no longer the man in charge of that group. He'll pay for it with his job at the end of the year.



<!--EDIT|JoltinJacket|Oct 30 2002, 12:05 AM-->

The Cats have been shaving pts in Football, otherwise their high powered attack would be averaging 50 plus this year! Mackovic is a great coach!I bet Bobby Wade is happy with his decision to go to UA out of high school, he was to help them win their first Rose Bowl! The wheels have officially fallen of the UA bandwagon!
GO DEVILS!

Liquid Karma will be stopping by to give you his thoughts shortly....

:laugh:

-JD

I could really care less of his opinions!
:snore: :snore: :snore: :snore: :snore: :snore: :snore: :snore: :snore:

Oh sh*t.

Irony defined:

A poster representing a school whose claim to fame in the past decade was a horrible point shaving scandal involving their best basketball player chimes in on a thread about a horrible football point shaving scandal and has the cajones to lob accusations of point shaving at the rival school that owns their ass.

Bobby Wade will gladly thank you guys when he claims his spot on a few AA teams after this season.

And this year, when Arizona sends you guys packing again in football make sure your ***** ass players don't charge into the middle of the postgame handshaking at midfield and start assaulting people.

The only thing more annoying than a Tarheel is a ScumDevil. The only thing more classless than a scumdevil is nothing.

By the way, don't think us Arizona fans have forgotten the Steve Kerr incident. You scumdevils are doomed to decades of basketball mediocrity ever since the incident.

Right now your football team is staring at a big fat Donut hole in the W column, and with the way they are playing it's not going anywhere too soon! Typical mentality of the Kitties, "just wait until BBall season" . I think the list of incidents on the campus of Nogales Tech far outdue the ones up north, you rioted after your BBall NC, your football team robbed an ATM and now a tragic shooting on your campus.Bobby Wade is still chasing Shaun Mac!
The Cats season in a nutshell :bang: :bang: :bang: :bang: :bang:

Dont forget you ran your all time winningest coach out of town with threats to he and his family. Very Classy Bra!
:bang: :bang: :bang: :bang: :bang: :bang: :bang: :bang: :bang:

Who ignored football to start talking hoops? I'm telling you right now the cats are going to beast your ***** ass football team in Tucson this year.

Way to drag a non-sports related tragic shooting into a sports discussion.

Sun-Devil class folks. There ain't nothin' like it.

:snore: :snore: :snore: :snore: :snore: :snore: :snore: :snore: