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The Michigan - Michigan State Game That Almost Wasn't

by oldnews

The October, 1970 Michigan - Michigan State football match provided one of the weirder twists in the long interstate rivalry that is known simply as "The Game." A former Michigan Daily sports editor, Joel Block, filed a lawsuit to block the game, citing it as a "public nuisance." Block was protesting the pre-emptive canceling of the Goose Lake Music Festival due to perceived widespread drug abuse at a previous concert.

Preparations for The Game continued as the team and the AAPD finalized plans for defense, offense and crowd control. And then the day before the game, Washtenaw County Judge Ross W. Campbell issued one of his more popular decisions, dismissing the lawsuit as "patently frivolous."

And The Game? Hail To The Victors ruled the day at Michigan Stadium as the Wolverines battered MSU, 34 - 20. The Spartans suffered injuries and Billy Taylor did everything right for Bo. The final twist on the lawsuit came as the Ann Arbor Police reported October 17, 1970, one of the quietest Michigan - Michigan State games ever.

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