F: THE EXICTEMENT MOUNTS

F    The EXCITEMENT MOUNTS  

This was an unprecedented college prank in these tumultuous times. 

Truly, “The Greatest College Prank of All Time.”

How refreshing the Associated Press (AP) and the United Press International (UPI) must have thought. Both the AP and UPI promulgated the story nationwide.

THE MUSKEGON CHRONICLE  ran an AP story captioned

  “Michigan Men Steal Sparty” with an AP Wire photo of two  Michigan  Men proudly holding the Maize & Blue helmet  captioned:

“SPARTY CHANGES COLOR” 

The ADRIAN DAILY TELEGRAM ran an AP story:

 “Stolen MSU Mascot Turns Up At “M” 

Sparty has changed its colors and  popped up in enemy  territory. Its helmet now is painted a bright maize & blue -  symbols of the Michigan Wolverines.”

THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS ran a UPI story: 

  “Sparty in Michigan Hands” 

“It was a daring pre-dawn raid.

The fearless band swept into the enemy’s territory, infiltrated  the fortress and swept away with the prize.”

“The Perfect Crime.”

 The EXCITEMENT MOUNTS  For Ann Arbor

THE STATE JOURNAL ran a UPI story captioned 

  “M-Squad Describes Sparty Switch”  A-maize-ing Pre- Dawn Crime”

With a photo of pre-kidnapped SPARTY wearing a green &  white helmet.

“MSU retaliated a few days later when a 50-man search  party stormed  Ann Arbor’s Greek Row.

“They didn’t have a chance of finding him.

We got him hid outside of town, and they won’t get him  back until sometime Saturday, said Ted”

“But the Michigan Sparty-nappers predicted that maybe  MSU won’t want him back.

“We’ve been brainwashing him and he says it’s Michigan all  the way to a 17-14 victory.”

The whole prank was done in the best of Big-Ten  brotherhood assured, the boys, even down to giving  Sparty a new coat of maize and blue paint ‘to cover 

The dull green’.”

THE NEWS – PALLADIUM of Benton Harbor ran a UPI story

 “Excitement Mounts For Ann Arbor - Sparty Shifts To

Wolverine Side”

“Michigan State Sparty has shifted sides but the Spartans  are still favored by one touchdown over Michigan before a  sellout crowd of 101,001 – the 20th consecutive sellout in  their lively rivalry.

The favored Spartans have their eyes on a third straight Big  Ten  Championship. Both the Wolverines and Spartans are  twice beaten after 3 games.”

After the newspapers left Wolveriney’s secret hiding spot, Wolverinery was relocated and the kidnappers painted their fraternity’s Greek Letters on the helmet: Delta Sigma Phi.