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The Perfect :10
You know an event is one for the ages when everyone can tell you where they were at that moment.
Ten years from now, a quarter-million people might tell you they were in Michigan Stadium on Oct. 17, 2015.
We know the Michigan State Spartans were there. Mark Dantonio’s soon-to-be Big Ten champions came to Ann Arbor to play 60 minutes of football. And his “Rangers” special-forces punt-block unit knew how to tell time — with a play for all time.
The Perfect :10 is your opportunity to meet them, all 11 of them: Zac Leimbach, Monty Madaris, Matt Macksood, Matt Morrissey, Grayson Miller, Andrew Dowell, T.J. Harrell, Khari Willis, Brandon Sowards, Jermaine Edmondson and, of course, Jalen Watts-Jackson, a name that will live in Spartan lore like that of King Leonidas.
It’s also a chance to see why the outcome matters so much to so many people. Or should. When Dantonio says, “It’s an important game,” he might as well add, “The sun is hot. And it sets in the West.”
Michigan State University and the University of Michigan have a complicated relationship that stretches back to 1850, with football games since 1898. For nearly half that span, the Wolverines were almost always the hosts and heavy favorites. But nothing is guaranteed, as their punt team and millions of stunned fans were reminded.
Finally, The Perfect :10 is a lasting tribute to the human spirit and proof that perseverance pays dividends. So does preparation.
So prepare to be taken back in time. Prepare to relive a rivalry, an era, a season, a day and a play you can try to explain to your grandchildren. With smiles if you’re green, with tears if you’re blue.
Michael Rosenberg of Sports Illustrated says this about The Perfect :10: “If you want to read about the best job any college coach has done in the last two decades, the most amazing play in one of college football’s great rivalries, and one of the best seasons in Michigan State history, skillfully told by two journalists who know the story better than anybody, then this book is for you. If you’d rather read something boring, then hey, that’s your problem.”
Ten years from now, a quarter-million people might tell you they were in Michigan Stadium on Oct. 17, 2015.
We know the Michigan State Spartans were there. Mark Dantonio’s soon-to-be Big Ten champions came to Ann Arbor to play 60 minutes of football. And his “Rangers” special-forces punt-block unit knew how to tell time — with a play for all time.
The Perfect :10 is your opportunity to meet them, all 11 of them: Zac Leimbach, Monty Madaris, Matt Macksood, Matt Morrissey, Grayson Miller, Andrew Dowell, T.J. Harrell, Khari Willis, Brandon Sowards, Jermaine Edmondson and, of course, Jalen Watts-Jackson, a name that will live in Spartan lore like that of King Leonidas.
It’s also a chance to see why the outcome matters so much to so many people. Or should. When Dantonio says, “It’s an important game,” he might as well add, “The sun is hot. And it sets in the West.”
Michigan State University and the University of Michigan have a complicated relationship that stretches back to 1850, with football games since 1898. For nearly half that span, the Wolverines were almost always the hosts and heavy favorites. But nothing is guaranteed, as their punt team and millions of stunned fans were reminded.
Finally, The Perfect :10 is a lasting tribute to the human spirit and proof that perseverance pays dividends. So does preparation.
So prepare to be taken back in time. Prepare to relive a rivalry, an era, a season, a day and a play you can try to explain to your grandchildren. With smiles if you’re green, with tears if you’re blue.
Michael Rosenberg of Sports Illustrated says this about The Perfect :10: “If you want to read about the best job any college coach has done in the last two decades, the most amazing play in one of college football’s great rivalries, and one of the best seasons in Michigan State history, skillfully told by two journalists who know the story better than anybody, then this book is for you. If you’d rather read something boring, then hey, that’s your problem.”
- GenresSports
275 pages, Paperback
Published August 1, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 1, 2017
Few who follow college football would dispute the top play of 2015. I’m of course talking about the last 10 seconds of the Oct 17th Michigan State - Michigan rivalry matchup. The much-hyped Wolverines featured the return of one of their own—Coach Harbaugh—back at its helm, and the underdog Spartans, who at the time were 6-0, went into the Big House where expectations were high for a Wolverine team that had witnessed them as Spartan roadkill for the majority of the previous recent competitions of the rivalry. Ebling and Rexrode cover those last 10 seconds of Spartan glory by peeling back the entire 2015 season end to end, including vignettes of each of the players on the field during that moment of glory. This story, and play, could be amongst the most unlikely, yet highly satisfying for Spartans—forever—in the ongoing rivalry! And the best part about this book is the fact it was a gift from the man who has underwritten much of the success of MSU football over the past decade—my friend and Spartan football coach Mark Dantonio!
January 2, 2021
A relatively quick read that does a great job covering a truly special Spartan season. The beginning of the book is the real highlight, covering the history of MSU football, it's rise to prominence under Munn and Daugherty, and the contentious relationship with the University of Michigan, both on and off the field. The book can sting a bit as a fan, however, knowing where the program would go after the 2015 season. Still, I would absolutely recommend this book to any Spartan fan.
August 13, 2020
The Perfect :10 is an enjoyable stroll through Michigan State Spartan football history, with a special emphasis placed on the contemporary success under coach Mark Dantonio's leadership.
The book compiles the numerous historical hurdles stacked against MSU in its decades-long efforts to gain legitimacy and respect as a football school. Without naming names, there's a particular regional rival that time & again acted with hostility towed the development of MSU as a school and athletic program. Truly a-maizing pettiness. Added attention in the book is given to Dantonio's tenure and how it culminates with the team's longshot run into multiple Big Ten titles and a berth in the College Football Playoffs. Especially for fans, reliving those glory years through the written word is fun.
In addition to crafting a comprehensive reference for key historical Spartan events, the authors spent time profiling each of the players that contributed to the memorable ten second Trouble With the Snap play in the 2015 triumph over the Michigan Wolverines. (Hence the book's title) There's not enough meat or intrigue there to support an entire book, but they're somewhat amusing detours.
I'm not sure there's enough new or insightful reporting to interest a non-MSU, non-Big Ten, or non-college football fan. The book preserves what became the apex of Spartan football, as the program followed the book's publication with underwhelming seasons in 2016, 2018 & 2019. In light of Coach Dantonio's retirement, the contents highlighted in The Perfect :10 will continue to serve as a reminder of the profound success he and his players achieved.
The book compiles the numerous historical hurdles stacked against MSU in its decades-long efforts to gain legitimacy and respect as a football school. Without naming names, there's a particular regional rival that time & again acted with hostility towed the development of MSU as a school and athletic program. Truly a-maizing pettiness. Added attention in the book is given to Dantonio's tenure and how it culminates with the team's longshot run into multiple Big Ten titles and a berth in the College Football Playoffs. Especially for fans, reliving those glory years through the written word is fun.
In addition to crafting a comprehensive reference for key historical Spartan events, the authors spent time profiling each of the players that contributed to the memorable ten second Trouble With the Snap play in the 2015 triumph over the Michigan Wolverines. (Hence the book's title) There's not enough meat or intrigue there to support an entire book, but they're somewhat amusing detours.
I'm not sure there's enough new or insightful reporting to interest a non-MSU, non-Big Ten, or non-college football fan. The book preserves what became the apex of Spartan football, as the program followed the book's publication with underwhelming seasons in 2016, 2018 & 2019. In light of Coach Dantonio's retirement, the contents highlighted in The Perfect :10 will continue to serve as a reminder of the profound success he and his players achieved.
April 11, 2020
The most unforgettable moment in the history of MSU Football. Go Green!
March 15, 2017
Of course I give it 5 stars---MSU football AND my dog made it into the narrative!
December 31, 2016
A must read for all MSU Spartan football fans!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews