John,
I am new to this list and feel that I do agree with you in most of what you
are saying.  Being an MSU alumni, maybe I can explain some of the Spartan
fans behavior.
 
Keep in mind that I was at MSU from 87-90 so I am sure some things may have
changed.
 
>[F] To end with a positive (for Yost), I'm not aware of visitors
>being subjected to physical abuse at Yost.
 
When I attended games at Yost the Spartan fans outnumbered the Michigan fans
about 60-40.  I could never understand why the UM team didn't get any
support.  Of course they were a middle of the pack CCHA team at the time.
 
Like I've said many
>times before (I'm sure everyone is sick of hearing it), visiting
>Munn at Michigan State means taking about a 50-50 chance
>(maybe down to 40-60 now) that you'll be hit by a Spartan fan,
>or...more likely...a group of Spartan fans.  They tend to be
>vocal in small numbers, physical in large numbers.
 
I have never seen or heard of anything like this.  The only time I have
heard of MSU fans going after other fans was at a Notre Dame football game.
 However I have been harassed by UM football fans many, many, times.  Most
of which had no affiliation with the University in the first place.  Which
seems to be the case with most UM fans.  I think this is what causes MSU
fans to cheer against the Wolverines.
 
 I was disappointed that the MSU fans
>cheered for the WCHA schools while most of the Michigan fans
>cheered for State.
 
I don't want to take anything away from UM.  They have one of the best
athletic programs in the country, however: their fans tend to be very
abrasive.  The media in the Detroit area is also biased.  Everything is
PRO-MICHIGAN.  MSU always takes a back seat.  If Shawn Respert played for
Michigan, he would have been on the cover of Sports Illustrated 3 times by
now.  When MSU went to the Rose Bowl in 1988, the television stations went
to Ann Arbor to get the Michigan fans reaction.  "Who cared?"  MSU was in
the Rose Bowl not UM.  The fans were wearing Maroon and Gold and cheering
for USC.
 
I was at a Wings game one night when MSU blew a 15pt lead and lost in OT to
the Fab Five.   When they announced that MSU was up 15 you could have heard
a pin drop.  When they announced that UM had won, you would have thought
that the Wings had just won game seven of the Stanley Cup final.  Some guy
sitting next to me said, "That's great.  I hate Michigan State."  I asked
him where he went to school.  He didn't.  He just didn't like MSU's colors.
 The point I am trying to make, as I babble on here, is that most MSU fans
have either attended or had relatives attend MSU.  UM attracts all the fair
weather fans,  who tend to be the most obnoxious and abrasive people around.
 I think that the reason Spartan fans cheer against UM is because they are
sick of always being the second best team in the state.  Even when MSU beats
Michigan there are always excuses, especially in the media.  The Desmond
Howard trip is the one example I can think of.  The media went on for a
month about how MSU should never have won, UM got screwed etc.   They never
mentioned that Alexander was 8ft out of bounds on UM's first TD, that
Carlson missed a 19 yd FG to end the half, that UM fumbled on the MSU 2 with
MSU recovering but the officials ruled the ground caused it (Replay showed
the ball was lose before he even started to fall).  UM scored on the next
play. They never mentioned the fact that UM dropped 8 passes in the 4th
quarter, or most importantly, UM would have had to run the 2pt conversion
again and may have been stopped anyway.  Not once was any of this mentioned.
 It was just UM got screwed, and they were still talking about it the next
year.  Not once was MSU given any credit at all.
 
With this kind of thing going on all the time, I can understand why some MSU
fans cheer against Michigan.
 
Personally, I go BIG TEN and CCHA all the way.  I hope I didn't ramble on
too much.  I was just trying to explain the actions of the MSU fans.
 
Jeff H
MSU '87-90'