What was meant to stir a football rivalry in Michigan last Saturday has turned into a good deed.
A skywriter left this message over the East Lansing sky last weekend: "Go Blue."
Those are fightin' words in Michigan State University territory.
The aerial taunt by University of Michigan supporters did not amuse most Spartan fans, but one managed to turn the jab into a constructive form of revenge.Scott Westerman directs MSU's alumni association. He asked MSU fans to raise the same amount the skywriting message cost -- about $3,000 -- and give it to the Michigan Ovarian Cancer Alliance.
Westerman's wife, Colleen, is a two-time ovarian cancer survivor.
"I never, ever thought I would be hearing from people as far away as China and India, from just about every state where there are Spartans," Westerman says.
Westerman says more than $20,000 has been donated so far. Now he's challenging U-M alumni to match the amount.
That kind of positivity would illustrate the true collaborative relationship between MSU and U-M, Westerman says.
"My wife had outstanding care at the U-M Cancer Center. Her life was saved by the most popular cancer drug today, which was invented at MSU. So that to me was an example of how our two schools need to come together to attack the world's biggest problems," he says.
"What if one of these $10 donations turns out to be the catalyst that puts an end to this horrible disease, that makes ovarian cancer just two words in the history book. I think that would be something amazing."
