Snowy Sunday showdown, assorted goodies

Solari here, after braving the brutal roads to get to the Breslin Center for the MSU-Penn State women's game. It's been a busy week without he-whose-name-shall-not-be-written, but I'll give you a quick catch-up before he returns Monday.

First, kudos to Denny Schwarze for a ridiculously busy week in Joe's absence. Today, he gets you up to speed with our Catch 22 list of the top high school senior football players in the state, and he looks at the impact of Brady Hoke's first season on the recruiting wars between Michigan and MSU and Lansing Catholic's Cooper Rush and the recent QB pipeline from mid-Michigan to Dan Enos' Central Michigan program.

On top of compiling all of that and covering some high school basketball, Denny also dug in to look at the football ticket price increase at MSU that's set to take effect this fall. The man has been busy and deserves a nice round of applause for filling in admirably. 

Kirk Cousins had a wicked spike after his TD pass and looked pretty sharp in the Senior Bowl, which his North team won 23-13 on Saturday in Mobile, Ala. Trenton Robinson also had a fumble recover in the game, and Brian Linthicum saw plenty of action on offense and special teams. Cousins did have an interception late in the first half of the game, but it was on a corner route which Ohio State receiver DeVier Posey broke off his route too soon -- not Cousins' fault, in my book.

And for me, I'm here awaiting tipoff as the MSU women attempt to end a rough four-game losing streak. Penn State, which the Spartans stunned a few weeks ago in State College, hasn't lost since that game.

Joe should return to this space tomorrow, unless he's decided to retire to a warmer and less snowy climate in the past week.