Mark Dantonio has DirecTV. Mike Dantonio has cable. And while Mark is the coach who led Michigan State to the second annual College Football Playoff, Mike is the one getting all the credit.
Thank Sports Illustrated, whose latest cover features a gaffe about as big as they come:
"How Mike Dantonio rebuilt the Spartans" appears on this SI cover leading into the playoff. pic.twitter.com/c2hMjyNa0s
— Mike Wilson (@MikeWilson247) December 17, 2015
The thing is, all media outlets make simple mistakes like these, and they all get grief for it. Nothing gets by the Internet these days.
SI has already owned the mistake:
We messed up. SI apologizes to Mark Dantonio, Michigan State & its fans for our cover error https://t.co/mIlaMDA1BA pic.twitter.com/4NrUrNLK56
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) December 17, 2015
Here’s the corrected version, which will be on newsstands shortly. pic.twitter.com/RNZs7HoKTn
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) December 17, 2015
And by the way, Mark Dantonio's name has been victim of misspellings in the past. Variations include D'Antonio or, as ESPN wrote it earlier this year, D'Antoni, confusing him with former NBA coach Mike D'Antoni.
There isn't a more visible platform for an error like this. SI has little to do but hang its head, take its licks, and take solace in the fact that they're not alone.