New book digs deeper into MSU-Michigan rivalry history

John Hannah died in 1991,Ralph Aigler in 1964.

Their debate lives on — both within college athletics and in the pages of Dr. David J. Young's second book about the interstate college football rivalry, "The Student and his Professor."

Compensation for athletically gifted individuals takes center stage. And the leaders of Michigan State University and the University of Michigan serve as foils for this meticulously detailed narrative that still resonates more than 60 years after the vehement disagreements between the two men ended.

Hannah, who would become president of his alma mater from 1941 to 69, briefly was a law student of Aigler's at U-M in the early 1920s before dropping out and eventually enrolling at what was then Michigan State College. His professor in Ann Arbor, Aigler, served as faculty representative to what would eventually become the Big Ten from 1917 until his retirement in 1955. Their relationship would establish and come to define the contentious rivalry that persists between the two schools today.

Young grew up in East Lansing and now lives and practices internal medicine on the west side of the state in Holland. He went to Notre Dame, not MSU or Michigan, and that independence allows his extensive research the spotlight.

Young's neighbor as a kid was Jack Breslin, and a conversation he had with the former Spartan star athlete and longtime administrator nearly 40 years ago piqued his curiosity. He started to examine the MSU-Notre Dame series and instead ended up fascinated with what he learned about the rivalry between the Spartans and Wolverines. That eventually led him to write his first book, 2011's "Arrogance and Scheming in the Big Ten."

"The Student and his Professor" picks up where the first book left off, with much of the information culled from Young's examination of stacks and stacks of letters and correspondence that now resides in the archives at both universities and other Big Ten schools, as well as interviews with those still around to lend their insight.

His new book delves deeper into some of the main differences between the two men and the animosity that simmered out of the public view back in the 1940s and '50s. Most of all, it pits the letter-of-the-law venom of Aigler against the spirit-and-intent interpretation of the rules by Hannah. Aigler serves as the antagonist here, Hannah as the hero.

Aigler was a staunch opponent of any type of financial assistance to students who were involved in college athletics, Young found. Hannah, meanwhile, became a pioneer of sorts in giving above-the-board aid to athletes with his Jenison Awards while the Spartans had yet to gain admission into the Big Ten. It was meant to differ from the surreptitious pay-for-play schemes that existed beyond the eyes of the NCAA.

To Aigler, Hannah's practice — regardless of the fact that it was being done openly — was tantamount to cheating per NCAA rules of the day. He did everything within his reach to block the Spartans' hope of joining the Wolverines' conference. It involved espionage by U-M grads in Lansing, backroom politics among his Big Ten peers and manipulating and molding the opinions of the leaders of the league.

Hannah and the Spartans eventually persevered in that skirmish, receiving admission into the Big Ten on May 20, 1949 with its sixth application. But Aigler's assault continued. An investigation shortly thereafter into alleged improprieties by the Spartan Foundation and offshoot Century Club booster organizations followed. His maneuvering landed his soon-to-be rival on probation for nearly a year, just before Biggie Munn's football juggernaut was to begin league play in 1953, and cast an outlaw shadow nationally over the Spartans and nearly cost them a spot in their first Rose Bowl.

Young also chronicles the final major battles between the two giants, over then-Gov. G. Mennen Williams' creation of the Paul Bunyan Governor's Trophy and the eventual change of the name from Michigan State College to Michigan State University.

We know how those turned out. It's the politics involved behind the scenes that make "The Student and his Professor" such a compelling read.

MSU currently has the upper hand in the football rivalry, with U-M fans hoping new football coach Jim Harbaugh can restore their decades of dominance over the Spartans this fall. Yet every Mark Dantonio scowl and vaguely glib comment shows the historic division between the two schools continues.

The concept of pure amateur athletics long since has vanished, however. Some would say it was dead even before Aigler and Hannah's back-and-forth, with shady figures all over the country giving money to athletes in secret. Aigler detested it.

In the background looms that next frontier of college athletics: stipends and cost of attendance compensation. Nothing has been set in stone yet, with discussion continuing on both campuses. It's in many ways a continuation of Hannah's legacy.

Somewhere, it's easy to imagine the professor and his student are still having their same debate.

You can find Dr. David J. Young's books at www.msu-umbig10.com ; locally at Schuler's Books, Student Book Store and MSU Bookstore; and online at Amazon.com.