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Ah “how sweet it is” as Jackie Gleason used to say on “The Honeymooners” comedy sitcom in the late 1960s.

Any day that Michigan loses a football game and Michigan State wins a football game is a great day. When Michigan State beats Michigan (as happened today, Saturday, 10-25-08) it is a glorious day.

That would be because Michigan State had not beaten Michigan at the Big House in Ann Arbor since 1990, 18 years ago. The Spartans finished 8-3-1 that year, became Big Ten Co-Champions at 6-2, and beat Southern California 17-16 in the John Hancock Bowl. The coach was George Perles.

Michigan State’s last victory over Michigan was a 26-24 win at home in 2001.

The Spartans huge win Saturday pushed their record to 7-2 for just the 3rd time in 40 years. First-year coach Rich Rodriguez and his Wolverines are having their worst season since 1962, when Michigan finished 2-7 and tied a school record for losses. The Wolverines now have lost 4 games at home this season for the first time in 4 decades, and 4 in-a-row overall for the first time in 41 years

Michigan, which has college football’s winningest program, now has to win its final 4 games?three of which are on the road, including one at Ohio State?just to be eligible to play in a 34th straight bowl game.

Michigan State’s victory was even sweeter because a blown call by a replay official gave Michigan a touchdown in the first quarter to tie the game at 7. Had the Spartans not ultimately won, the Wolverines would have benefited from a touchdown it did not score when Brandon Minor’s 19-yard catch near the end zone was declared out of bounds.

A replay official upstairs in the stands overturned a correct ruling on the field, giving Minor a TD because his foot hit a pylon on his way out of bounds. The NCAA rule book states that “A player or an airborne player who touches a pylon is out of bounds”.

The replay official clearly blew the call, which was so blatant, so stupid and so unnecessary it makes you wonder if the replay official in question is a University of Michigan graduate.

The game was tied at 21 when the 3rd quarter ended. Michigan State’s Javon Ringer scored his second TD on a 3-yard run midway through the 4th quarter, and Brian Hoyer’s 3rd TD pass meant the Spartans outscored the Wolverines 14-zip in the last quarter, lifting Michigan State to a 35-21 victory over the once-mighty Michigan Wolverines.

Ringer, Michigan State’s Heisman candidate, picked up 194 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns on 37 carries (5.2 yards per carry). Hoyer was 17-for-29 for 282 yards and a season-high 3 TD passes, one a 61-yarder to Blair White. White finished with 4 catches for 143 yards, an outstanding game for the walk-on junior wide receiver.

The Spartans out gained Michigan 473-252, their highest total in a win at Michigan Stadium in a half-century and their most lopsided victory in the rivalry since they beat Michigan 34-0 at the Big House in 1967.

Michigan State also out rushed Michigan in its victory Saturday, 167-84, a fact that is significant since the team that has rushed for the most yards has won 35 of the last 38 games in their rivalry.

The Spartans next host Wisconsin, a 4-4 team that beat Illinois 27-17 Saturday. Should Michigan State beat Wisconsin and Purdue at home, the Spartans would then be 9-2 when they travel to Penn State for their final regular season game.

After Saturday’s victory over the Michigan Wolverines, Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio and his Spartans deserve to bask in glory for at least 15 minutes before they turn their attention to those nasty Wisconsin Badgers, who will arrive at Spartan Stadium all too soon.

Michigan State University has a football history of folding when it counts. In recent years they seem to win early in the season and then raise losing to an art form when it really matters. Those days may be over starting this fall.

By unloading John L. Smith and hiring Mark Dantonio as their new head football coach, the Spartans have put themselves in a position to perform better than any time since the legendary Duffy Daugherty coached Michigan State to a combined 19-1-1 record in 1965 and 1966, winning back-to-back Big Ten and National Championships.

The reason is simple: Dantonio is a winner from a pedigree that screams success.

He does not have to talk about what he is going to do as Michigan State’s new coach because he, unlike so many others, has already done a lot of significant winning in support roles under Nick Saban, Jim Tressel and Earle Bruce, all winners and outstanding football coaches.

To say Michigan State has been in the dumper since Duffy Daugherty left in 1972 is being kind. In 34 seasons, the Spartans have been barely above .500. They have won only 8 or more games just once in consecutive seasons and have had one Rose Bowl appearance which happened under Nick Saban with Mark Dantonio as his secondary coach. Dantonio spent 6 seasons at MSU in this role.

He also contributed to Michigan State’s successful 1999 season when the Spartans went 10-2, won the Florida Citrus Bowl and were ranked No. 7 in the final polls.

Michigan State’s secondary under Dantonio was regarded as one of the best in college football, ranking 10th in pass efficiency defense in 1998 and 7th in 2000. A half dozen Spartan defenders under Dantonio were NFL draft picks.

Now Dantonio returns as head coach and things are going to get a lot better in Spartan Stadium.

Dantonio spent 3 years as head coach at the University of Cincinnati where he became the first head coach in 23 years to pilot a team to a winning season in his initial campaign, capping the season with a convincing 32-14 win over Marshall in the PlainsCapital Fort Worth Bowl.

Only the legendary Sid Gillman had taken Cincinnati to a bowl game in his initial season as head coach.

Even this season the Cincinnati Bearcats upset then No. 7 Rutgers on Nov. 18, the highest ranked team Cincinnati has ever beaten.

Before moving on to Cincinnati, Dantonio served as defensive coordinator under Jim Tressel at Ohio State, assembling the defense that led the Buckeyes to the national title in 2002. Ohio State was 2nd nationally in scoring defense and 3rd in rushing defense during its perfect season.

In 2003, Dantonio’s defense at Ohio State was 2nd nationally against the run, 10th in total defense and 16th in scoring defense.

He was a member of Earle Bruce’s Ohio State staff in 1983 and 1984, helping the Buckeyes to the Fiesta Bowl and Rose Bowl.

Dantonio has spent the majority of his coaching career in Ohio where he also helped the Akron Zips to an 8-3 record and an appearance in the Division I-AA playoffs.

He then joined Jim Tressel’s staff at Youngstown State and helped the Penguins make 3 Division I-AA playoffs during 5 seasons, and posted a perfect 11-0 regular season record in 1990 when he was the defensive coordinator.

When Tressel became Ohio State’s coach Dantonio followed as his defensive coordinator.

Dantonio is clearly a winner, and I believe he will find some winning players and train them to excel. In business and in football there are really only two possible outcomes: results or excuses. Dantonio has made a career out of producing results.

I believe that Mark Dantonio is savvy enough to surround himself with more winners like himself, and together with his staff will lead the Michigan State Spartans out of the mud hole that they have been stuck in for far too long.

Let me make it clear that I am a Michigan State University graduate from the Class of 1966. I know that dates me, but it hardly affects my memory. I remember when Michigan State was arguably THE football team in the country during 1965 and 1966.

I am so happy that Dantonio is a Midwest boy born and bred. He has the strong Midwest ties to compete effectively against major magnets like Ohio State, Michigan and Notre Dame.

I was born and raised in Michigan and now reside on the West Coast in Washington State. Let me tell you that folks in Washington are different than those in the Midwest, not better or worse but different.

When I go to battle I want a Midwest boy in the foxhole with me. Welcome aboard, Mark Dantonio. I will dig the foxhole, you can throw in the trophies.

The University of Michigan is famous for producing some of the most reputable leaders of the country. They hone the minds of Justices and state leaders. One of the most renowned alumni of the University is the 38th president of the United States, Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr.

However, this is not the only achievement Michigan is proud to have. Aside from their highly regarded graduates, they are also home to one of the best university athletics, the Michigan Wolverines. They have varsity teams to represent them in various college sports association.

They have one of the best sports standings in the past decade, as they have been included in the top six of NACDA Director’s Cup seven times. This is a proof of the efforts of the university to be consistent with their team standards.

They have also proven that they have a strong team in various fields. They remain the sole university to have championship trophy in four different sports. These are football, ice hockey, baseball, and basketball.

Among the above-mentioned sports, football is the most celebrated. They won 11 national championships for this sport. They have also more reason to display those Michigan Wolverine merchandises because their football team is also one of the most envied teams in college football.

Other teams have all the reason to envy the Wolverines. They are among the few teams who have marked unforgettable milestones in the history of college football. They have set an NCAA record in terms of winning percentage and number of games won. One football record that will stay for eternity is being the first ever team to win the Rose Bowl, the oldest bowl game, in 1902. They also have one of the largest football stadium in the world. Who would not want to wear their Michigan Wolverine gear if they have these things to brag about?

The football team has always been strong. It started playing in 1879. Michigan football history clearly shows that the team has dominated the game. After winning the first Rose Bowl, they went on to win in the next three years.

Another notable fact that includes the Michigan Wolverines football is its rivalry with the Ohio State University. In the fan polls conducted by ESPN, the rivalry between the two is the greatest in the American sports in the years 2000 and 2004. The NCAA record they set in 2003 drawing 112,118 viewers when they played the Ohio is one of its proofs.

Snow Bowl is a witness to that rivalry. The name refers to the game between the two in November 1950 where UM defeated the OSU, making them the Big Ten Champion. The game made a mark in the hearts of football fans because of the level of difficulty their athletes endured. They played in unlikely winter weather.

Although the team seemed strong, they also experience some heartbreaking losses. An unforgettable demise happened in 1994 when the Colorado Buffaloes won a non-conference game. It was a painful defeat because everyone thought Michigan had the game in the bag.

University of Michigan has plenty to celebrate in terms of the turnouts of its graduates and the standing of most of its varsity teams, particularly football. They may have failed at some point, but their overall success overshadows it.

Crazy clip I recorded in 2006 about how a 15 year girl thinks the guy she slept with who is also 15 is the father. Funny reaction at the end too.

Nick Saban recently became the University of Alabama football coach by signing the richest contract ever awarded to a college football coach.