Men of Sparta

A decade ago Michigan State’s aging players — aka the ‘Men of Sparta’ — gathered in a lounge at Spartan Stadium for the 40th anniversary of their 1966 Game of the Century with Notre Dame.

George Webster, a College Football Hall of Fame linebacker/rover, motioned to Bob Apisa, a two-time All-American fullback, to come over to him. Webster was by then confined to a wheelchair, his right leg amputated above the knee due to circulation problems.

Webster, noting Apisa’s Hollywood background, implored him to document the Spartans’ 1965 and 1966 national championship teams on film. He recognized age was winning against players that once thought they were indestructible.

Recalled Apisa, Webster told him, “I’m not going to be around much longer. Dick Kenney is already gone. Charlie Wedemeyer won’t be with us much longer. Harold Lucas has left us. You’ve got to tell the story of these teams before everybody goes. The legacy needs to be told for our children and our children’s children.’ ”

Webster passed away seven months later at age 61 from a heart attack.

DWags wrote:Shit, how do you get advance tickets?

EAST LANSING -- More than 50 years ago, a group of racially and culturally diverse college students travelled to East Lansing during one of the most turbulent periods in American history to suit up for Duffy Daugherty at Michigan State.

Within two years, the group became one of the most successful in college football history, going 19-1-1 and winning back-to-back national championships, culminating their run in a contest dubbed the "Game of the Century" against Notre Dame.

The story of Michigan State's 1965 and 1966 football teams is now being retold in a new film, "Men of Sparta", which will make its world premiere on Sunday at the Traverse City Film Festival.