Michelle Martinelli
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mmartinelli.bsky.social
Michelle Martinelli
@mmartinelli.bsky.social
250 followers 390 following 43 posts
sports things for For The Win and USA TODAY Sports.
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mmartinelli.bsky.social
learned a lot reporting this, but two injury things i didn't know:

-Jalen Watts-Jackson dislocated his shoulder two days before the game and almost didn't travel to Ann Arbor
-long snapper Scott Sypniewski broke his thumb on the last play ftw.usatoday.com/story/sports...
Watts-Jackson, MSU: Two days before the game, I dislocated my [left] shoulder in practice … so there wasn't even a promise that I was going to travel to the game. Coach D asked me how I was feeling, if I was gonna play, and I told him I was going to play regardless. “WHOA, HE HAS TROUBLE WITH THE SNAP…” Blake O’Neill, U-M: I distinctly remember looking down to catch it, and then the next thing you know, it just hit the top of my fingers, and the ball’s on the ground. Sypniewski, U-M: I get hit pretty quickly by two guys, and I get thrown back on my back. I basically watched the play sitting on the ground, staring up at the opposite scoreboard as they ran in the score. I ended up breaking my thumb on that play, and the only thing that I remember was pulling my thumb back down and popping it back into place.
October 17, 2025 at 3:58 PM
mmartinelli.bsky.social
today is the 10th anniversary of the Trouble with the Snap game between Michigan and Michigan State with one of the wildest endings in college football history. here's my story:

Trouble with the Snap: An oral history of the 2015 Michigan-Michigan State game ftw.usatoday.com/story/sports...
A Michigan-Michigan State photo graphic with Mark Dantonio and the Spartans mascot on one side, Jim Harbaugh and the block M on the other, and the game-winning play featuring Jalen Watts-Jackson in the center.
October 17, 2025 at 3:55 PM
mmartinelli.bsky.social
getting into the really important questions ftw.usatoday.com/story/sports...
Question: Why did you choose not to dump the Indy 500 milk on your head? Alex Palou: "There were a lot of fans and people in this paddock that have been here for so long, and they always told me not to do it because, for them, that was not the way to celebrate. And I was like, OK, I'm gonna try not to do it. On top of that, I thought that just drinking it and sharing it with the team was sweeter."
May 26, 2025 at 4:24 PM
mmartinelli.bsky.social
the gloves.

📷: Doug McSchooler/for IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK

ftw.usatoday.com/picture-gall...
2025 Indy 500 winner Alex Palou celebrating his win, running down the frontstretch with his hands up. His car and gloves are abandoned in the background. (Doug McSchooler/for IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK)
May 25, 2025 at 11:58 PM