Spartans Feel the Heat
12/22/1999 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 22, 1999
ORLANDO, Fla. - With a high temperature near 80 and humidity at 85 percent Wednesday, ninth-ranked Michigan State (9-2) concluded its two-a-day workouts in preparation for a Jan. 1, 2000, match-up against No. 10 Florida (9-3) in the Florida Citrus Bowl. The Spartans practiced in full pads for the morning session at Tinker Field and returned in shells for a two-hour afternoon workout.
?Today was a tough day especially with the heat and humidity,? MSU head coach Bobby Williams said, ?but I?m proud of the way the kids worked through it. We had two spirited practices today and got a lot of work done.?
In addition to working on the game plan, the Spartans dedicated several practice periods to special situations. ?We worked on third-down situations and the two-minute drill,? Williams said. ?What I liked most about today was the fact that we had guys on both sides of the football making plays.
?We got exactly what we wanted to out of the two-a-days. We had an opportunity to sharpen our execution, improve our conditioning and expose the players to part of our game plan for Florida.?
The Spartans survived two-a-days with no major injuries. ?We have our share of aches and pains, but I don?t expect any players to miss any significant practice time,? Williams said.
Wednesday night, Michigan State?s players attended the opening of Oliver Stone?s Any Given Sunday, which stars Al Pacino.
The Spartans have only one more practice scheduled, Thursday at 1 p.m. on Thunder Field, before taking two days off for the holidays.
The Michigan State football team has suffered a setback with the death of junior cornerback Renaldo Hill?s father, Arnold Hill, 50, who died last Friday of complications from diabetes. Renaldo returned to Detroit immediately after Wednesday?s practices in order to attend his father?s funeral Thursday.
?Our thoughts and prayers are with Renaldo Hill and his family,? Williams said. ?I recruited Renaldo and his older brother Ray (former Spartan cornerback from 1995-97 and current Miami Dolphin) and they come from a close-knit family. Those two young men have the support of the entire MSU football family. I want Renaldo to spend as much time as he needs to with his family before returning to Orlando.?
