Are you mad about the sorry state of Spartan football yet? Go read this article in the Louisville Courier-Journal, written right after the Illinois loss:

Michigan State embarrassed itself four years ago by letting the news leak that it was hiring Smith from U of L on the day the Cardinals played Marshall at the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Ala.

All MSU administrators had to do was wait one more day to make the change. Instead, the story leaked its way into the ESPN telecast, and U of L players on the sideline started asking media members if their coach had told Michigan State something he had hidden from them.

Look who's blushing now.

Louisville has better players, better coaching, better discipline and a better grip on the top 10 than it had under Smith. Michigan State, meanwhile, blew a jumbo second-half lead against Notre Dame. Then the Spartans melted down and out against Illinois, prompting Smith to wonder if he had lost the attention of his players.

That contract Michigan State couldn't wait one day for Smith to sign?

I believe it has two years and $3.2 million remaining.

A quick check of the NCAA polls shows that Louisville is #7 across the board. MSU? We're number "who gives a shit?"

This article just puts things into perspective that much more for me.

MSU lost Nick Saban to LSU, where he went on to help the Tigers win a National Championship. A few years later we hired what we thought was an up-and-coming coach, John L. Smith. Turns out we got the expensive figurehead of an up-and-coming program. Louisville continued to improve post-Smith (which proves that there was more to their success than his coaching), while Michigan State has arguably gotten worse.

What do we have to show for hiring John L. Smith? NOTHING.

I know that having $3.2 million left on his contract looks like a lot, but it's time to admit we made a mistake and move on. Yes, it's an expensive mistake, and no, we can't afford to keep making them, but paying off a $3.2 million contract is better than letting the team stagnate for two more seasons. The university will have a hard time paying off that $60 million renovation of Spartan Stadium if fans quit showing up for the games.

There's one last bit of salt to rub salt in the wound, and I might as well throw it out there while I'm at it. My dad and I were talking about MSU's football woes last week, and he gave me Earle Robinson's take on the coaching dilemma. There's a very good chance that George Perles could be an MSU Trustee following next month's election, and one might assume that the board would turn to George to help hand pick Smith's replacement after the season. Do we really want George 'Run Lorenzo White up the middle 100 times a game' Perles choosing our next coach? It's time to start making decisions about John L. Smith now before this thing gets even worse. And yes, it could get a lot worse if George Perles gets involved.