Smith wants to make MSU a Big Ten target; alcohol and seat backs not allowed at Spartan Stadium
For a while now, MSU has played the role of Big Ten underdog, doing enough to spoil great seasons of other teams while not being able to consistently put it all together and win the conference. Shannon Shelton of the Detroit Free Press says that now John L. Smith wants to make the Spartans the team everyone else is gunning for.
“I’d rather be rated as having the big target on our chest, rated the No. 1 team in the league,” Smith said. “That’s what you shoot for, is always to be the defending champ.”
Smith, the Spartans’ third-year coach, laughed when reporters asked how he would get to that point. He’s optimistic, yet realistic.
“It would take us staying healthy, it would take us making all the right decisions, which is highly unlikely,” Smith said. “Some other people stubbing their toes. And a lot of luck.”
It’s official: all of Spartan Stadium, with the possible exception of the student section, will be alcohol-free this Saturday, reports the Detroit Free Press. The ruling by university President Lou Anna K. Simon is part of an effort by MSU to stop “destructive drinking” on game days.
It won’t matter where you’re sitting at Spartan Stadium on Saturday, because the same rules will apply for the new luxury suites as the — relatively speaking — cheap seats: No alcohol.
It’s not a permanent ruling yet, but Michigan State president Lou Anna Simon decided Wednesday to not allow alcohol inside the suites for Saturday’s noon opener against Kent State.
The same article also reports that ticketholders will no longer be able to bring seat backs into the stadium. Instead, you must pay a $30 seasonal fee to use an MSU-approved seat back.
If you want to give your spine some support on the stadium’s benches, the State Journal said, you have to use one of the official, stadium-approved portable seat backs — for a fee of $30 per season.
Consider it a poor man’s luxury suite.