There have been dozens of times in the past year when I would turn to friends or family in the heat of the moment watching sports and say “that’s it, I’m going to start blogging again.” Well, each time, my aggression passed as I got consumed with life and would think to my self – I’ll just wait and start is at the end (or beginning of) “x” season. Obviously, many seasons (both in sports and nature) and come and gone…but I’M BACK! This past weekend was the tipping point for me…

As a self-proclaimed sports nut, I spent much of this weekend (a rare one at home for me) watching multiple games at once. Between baseball, CFB and the NFL, it seemed busier than some of the weekends when I’m on the road. NFL and Baseball blogs will come, but Saturday was dubbed “Rage Day” at our house and will be the topic for my first time back in the blogging saddle. I try to keep my entries non-bias, but this one is pure emotion and focuses on my alma mater.

As a midwest girl and lover of Big Ten Football as long as I can remember, week 4 of the season was brutal. September 22nd, 2012, was a total embarrassment to the B1G Conference. Jim Delaney and his lemmings should be hanging their heads in shame right now. “Bravo” to OSU, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Penn State, Minnesota and MSU for surviving against your weaker opponents.

Illinois, Michigan and Iowa – on various levels, you are an wreck – much like some of the winners from your conference this week. Iowa is a mess and everyone knows it. As for U of I and U of M…you might not want to turn the ball over 6 times (yes 6 per game) if you actually want to win a game!!!

By the way, congrats to Indiana and Purdue for having their bye weeks to avoid being in this convo and getting a pass for now.

Based on my ties and the games I watched the most I have a few thoughts/notes to share…

U of M – Denard is a great running back, but he should never play QB. However, until he ever realizes that, he is what will be leading the offense. The turnovers were brutal and you were lucky that ND only capitalized as much as they did. Brian Kelly has a top notch front 7 and they’ve looked stellar for the last 2 weeks – where they have used the same game plan. If you can’t have a balanced offensive attack, you might as well plan to lose the game if you’re going against a team or coach with any credibility. Considering that he already leads the country in INT’s, I’m guessing that even the 2nd tier coaches will know enough to force him to throw moving forward – and just hope they have the personnel to do so.

MSU – There is so much RAGE in my head and heart when it comes to thinking about the debacle of a game that I watched. To say the game was brutal to watch is a huge understatement. The defense was the only part of the wasn’t vomit-inducing and they were still mediocre. As my poor husband can attest to, there was a lot of yelling that took place while this horrible game was going on. MSU was lucky to win that game and still have many concerns as we begin conference play.

I said it last week after the ND loss and I’ll say it again – what in the world is going on with the offensive play calling?!? There are many times each game that I seriously wonder if a drunk hobo is calling the plays. I mean, who else would decide to run a 6 yard passing route when it’s 3rd and 10?!? I was never a fan of Dan Roushar becoming the OC when Treadwell left for Miami. He’s never seemed comfortable in this role. I tried to be easy on him last year as a newbie, but that is no longer the case. Last year’s offense had a senior leader and some explosive wideouts who could make up for the deficiencies in his plan. Now, with a new kid running the show and some bad hands to throw to (seriously, where do they find these guys?!?) – all the faults are showing bigtime. An offense that looks that anemic against EMU is completely unacceptable.

In case that wasn’t reason enough to be upset, having Bell in as a Punt Returner is completely moronic. He’s the best offensive weapon on the team and there’s no reason to risk him getting hurt fielding kicks – especially when this is suddenly a new role for him. If he gets hurt, the season is over. Period. This is not the time to figure out who to have back deep, or put your star there since you can’t trust anyone else.

Perhaps the most frustrating part of being a fan so far this season is the overall lack of heart we’ve seen from the team. They came out so flat at home against ND and we all kept waiting for them to look like they wanted to play. I give the Defense a pass for most part since they’ve spent way too much time on the field in 3 out of the 4 games and you can’t bank on them scoring each game. There have been some stupid mental mistakes though on all sides of the ball, most irritating being the running into the punter and flags for other actions that show a lack of discipline.

I was very interested to see what Coach Dantonio had to say after the game. Unfortunately, I almost missed the whole 3 minutes he took to answer with Belichick-esque phrases. I was infuriated! He has asked fans to buy into his system – both with their hearts and checkbooks. Sorry coach, those fans want and deserve answers. Actions would be acceptable too, which might mean shaking up the coaching staff. On behalf of Spartan Nation, please DO SOMETHING. The OSU game this weekend will answer a lot of questions about this team, Coach D just better be ready to answer to fans and the press about what they see!

The B1G has a lot to prove still. The teams that were picked to do well have faltered and the whole country is just waiting for them to fail. This first weekend of conference play will answer some questions for sure…