The Citadel versus Michigan State.

My lovely fiance, Diane, grew up in Michigan, and is a big Michigan State Spartans fan. See? Here's a shot from Spartan Stadium in East Lansing in October. Anyway, as many football fans do at this time of year, she was lamenting what might have been on the gridiron, and expressing hope for the early basketball season. I'd mentioned that the Big 10 teams (all eleven of them) have a Big 10/ACC challenge, and that maybe MSU would play Clemson or something and we could go see them play. She was at the computer, and -lo and behold- Coach Tom Izzo, Sparty, and the rest of 11th ranked crew would be visiting Charleston to play the Citadel at the McAlister Fieldhouse. She scored tickets, and we were on our way.


The Citadel and Virginia Military Institute (VMI) are the only state-supported military colleges in the country, and The Citadel has always intrigued me. Though I've lived fairly close to Charleston these last 22 years or so, I'd never been to the Citadel. Though there are plenty of Citadel grads in the area, including my running partner, Kevin, most of what I know about the Citadel I learned from Pat Conroy's books. Conroy has not always portrayed his Alma Mater in a flattering light, and his relationship with the Citadel has, in the past, been strained. They've largely patched things up, apparently, and he was at a book signing for his new book, South of Broad, upstairs.

It was interesting to see a cadet in a guardbox wave us in to campus, and respond with "Maam" when Diane asked him a question; to watch students in gray uniforms march ram-rod straight in little narrow paths out of late classes; to see Freshman "knobs" with their shaved heads; to watch the student section singing "Hey, Baby" in unison, just like the fraternity stuff I remembered many, many years ago.

Citadel coach Ed Conroy (cousin of the aforementioned author), had the Bulldogs ready for the game. Though eventually MSU pulled away to win by 13 or so, the contest was a lot better than the Spartans expected. Powered by a meteor-shower of three-point shots, The Citadel battled MSU toe-to-toe for most of the game. I'm marrying in to Spartan fandom, but I may yet be a Bulldog fan, too.