Some trophies mean more than others.
Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo was presented with a 2020 national championship award by Lansing Sparrow Hospital President Alan Vierling during a virtual visit with the coach. According to an employee at the hospital, Sparrow Health System has a daily virtual call to talk about the latest developments in the COVID-19 pandemic and on Friday they were joined by a special guest: Tom Izzo.
The calls are open to the entire health system, so Izzo was able to give some words of encouragement to a number of the workers battling COVID-19 on the front lines. An employee estimates a few hundred workers were on the call and said it was typical Izzo, gushing about how proud he is to be a member of the community.
Izzo was also presented a mock-up 2020 national championship trophy by Vierling, who is also Lansing Sparrow Hospital’s Chief Nursing Officer.
Michigan State’s 2020 basketball team has been awarded virtual national titles by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi and 538.com, but I’m betting the one from Sparrow is extra special compared to the others.