He's probably not the first person in the world of sports that comes to mind when it relates to the Baltimore Ravens... Hell, he isn't even involved in the same sport; but Michigan State head basketball coach Tom Izzo told fans this weekend that he's a Ravens fan by default--and last night, he was certainly a happy friend.
You see, for every time Izzo and his Spartans have made it to an NCAA Final Four appearance (of which there have been more than a handful), his good pal Jerry always makes sure to stock the Green and White hotel rooms with plenty of frozen treats. Just who is "Jerry", you ask? Well, he happens to be none other than Jerry Rosburg, special teams coach for the now-Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ravens.
"Every Final Four that I've been into, he always sends, I don't know how many, about 20 little Tom and Jerry frozen things to whatever hotel we're at," Izzo said of the ritual. "Beth (Marinez) got together and sent him a bunch this week and sent them to his house."
The Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers 34-31 down in New Orleans Sunday evening in an, at times, lopsided effort that saw everything from Beyonce gyrating with a slew of CGI Beyonces at her side, to an over 30-minute power outage that left the Superdome in the dark while spectators had nothing else to do but party in the Big Easy.
Rosburg, who stood up in Tom Izzo's wedding back in 1992, was a roommate to the Spartans' coach and also to former-Detroit Lions head coach, Steve Mariucci, back when the trio studied for their Masters in the Upper Peninsula.
Izzo spoke on his radio show this past weekend concerning his hopes that Rosburg and the Ravens would find success in the Super Bowl, and in the end, he would not be disappointed.
"I just talked to Jerry tonight on my way here in fact, pretty exciting time for him," Izzo said. "He called me to thank me and he said, 'But this is unfair. It's harder to get to a Super Bowl than a Final Four.' And I said, 'You're right. And that's why I'm enjoying what you do for me, you know?'."
You can follow MSU Examiner, Michael Ferro, at twitter.com/MichaelFerro.
Comments