In 2000, I served as a member of MSU's RHA. As such, I attended many meetings to combat problems like student binge drinking at tailgates(Might as well have tackled world peace). At one of these meetings, Clarence Underwood attended. He walked in quietly and sat down next to me. He wore a name tag, after all in 2000 they had just invented the internet and so he wasn't instantly recognizable. He struck up a conversation with me and so I eventually asked him the question on my mind.
"When is MSU going to play Florida State?"
Allow me to take this chance to remind you, I hadn't followed football at all until fifteen months prior. So I had no idea about Nebraska coming in here and blowing the doors off of MSU a few years earlier, etc.
He laughed politely and even more politely said, "Never son. We're not ever going to have Florida State come here." We talked some more about things not sports related after that, sat through an excruciating meeting about I can't remember what and parted as friends.
Were it 2010 when I was a whippersnapper in student government and I had bumped into Mark Hollis I suspect that conversation would have gone a little differently. I'd have said "When is MSU going to play Florida State?" Mark Hollis would have said, "Florida State? Why would you want to play them? Let's play LSU, in India, while being cheered on by a pack of wild tigers."
After a weekend like this one, with victories at Ohio State in basketball and a very well played split with Michigan. It feels important to say thank you to Mark. While I haven't seen eye-to-eye with him on every subject (it's starting to feel very difficult to bring my kids to a football game sir) the places he is taking Michigan State are very special.
To use football as an example(this is primarily a football blog after all), he's scheduling quality opponents. MSU plays Boise State, West Virginia, Alabama and Miami of Florida in the next ten years at Spartan Stadium. Three of those four have won BCS bowl games since the beginning of 2010. All the while, he's renewed our more or less lifetime contract with Notre Dame until the robot revolution occurs and is firmly in place.
On top of giving students and alumni the games they want to shell out their money for he's made coaching hires that win games. Hollis and Izzo hired Dantonio back in late 2006 to replace John L Smith. Dantonio has already tied for a Big Ten Championship in 2010 and was a blocked punt away from repeating in 2011. Hollis and Izzo hired Suzy Merchant and she went on to win the Big Ten title last year. Jake Boss Jr. was hired in 2008 by Hollis and won the Big Ten title in baseball in 2011. Tom Anastos was hired in 2011 after a long stint as the CCHA commissioner, many outside of the MSU circles laughed at the hire. Anastos is 6-2-1 against the top 10 this year in a year that was meant to be a rebuilding year. If you're a newly hired coach at MSU, you have a GREAT chance to succeed here.
He also kept the patron saint of MSU sports here. I cannot state strongly enough how flustered it seemed like Tom Izzo was back in 2004. Yet, when Dan Gilbert came and backed the money truck up to the Izzo residence in 2010, Tom's good friend Mark Hollis helped provide Tom the space, time and probably dollars needed for Izzo to declare himself a lifer in East Lansing.
I'm as excited about watching MSU sports as I have been in years. It's the coaches who are winning the games on the court, on the field, on the ice, on the playing surface of their sports choice. It is important to stop and say thank you to Mark Hollis and his staff for adding winning without destroying cupcakes only.
Back to sports. Who's next?
"When is MSU going to play Florida State?"
Allow me to take this chance to remind you, I hadn't followed football at all until fifteen months prior. So I had no idea about Nebraska coming in here and blowing the doors off of MSU a few years earlier, etc.
He laughed politely and even more politely said, "Never son. We're not ever going to have Florida State come here." We talked some more about things not sports related after that, sat through an excruciating meeting about I can't remember what and parted as friends.
Were it 2010 when I was a whippersnapper in student government and I had bumped into Mark Hollis I suspect that conversation would have gone a little differently. I'd have said "When is MSU going to play Florida State?" Mark Hollis would have said, "Florida State? Why would you want to play them? Let's play LSU, in India, while being cheered on by a pack of wild tigers."
After a weekend like this one, with victories at Ohio State in basketball and a very well played split with Michigan. It feels important to say thank you to Mark. While I haven't seen eye-to-eye with him on every subject (it's starting to feel very difficult to bring my kids to a football game sir) the places he is taking Michigan State are very special.
To use football as an example(this is primarily a football blog after all), he's scheduling quality opponents. MSU plays Boise State, West Virginia, Alabama and Miami of Florida in the next ten years at Spartan Stadium. Three of those four have won BCS bowl games since the beginning of 2010. All the while, he's renewed our more or less lifetime contract with Notre Dame until the robot revolution occurs and is firmly in place.
On top of giving students and alumni the games they want to shell out their money for he's made coaching hires that win games. Hollis and Izzo hired Dantonio back in late 2006 to replace John L Smith. Dantonio has already tied for a Big Ten Championship in 2010 and was a blocked punt away from repeating in 2011. Hollis and Izzo hired Suzy Merchant and she went on to win the Big Ten title last year. Jake Boss Jr. was hired in 2008 by Hollis and won the Big Ten title in baseball in 2011. Tom Anastos was hired in 2011 after a long stint as the CCHA commissioner, many outside of the MSU circles laughed at the hire. Anastos is 6-2-1 against the top 10 this year in a year that was meant to be a rebuilding year. If you're a newly hired coach at MSU, you have a GREAT chance to succeed here.
He also kept the patron saint of MSU sports here. I cannot state strongly enough how flustered it seemed like Tom Izzo was back in 2004. Yet, when Dan Gilbert came and backed the money truck up to the Izzo residence in 2010, Tom's good friend Mark Hollis helped provide Tom the space, time and probably dollars needed for Izzo to declare himself a lifer in East Lansing.
I'm as excited about watching MSU sports as I have been in years. It's the coaches who are winning the games on the court, on the field, on the ice, on the playing surface of their sports choice. It is important to stop and say thank you to Mark Hollis and his staff for adding winning without destroying cupcakes only.
Back to sports. Who's next?
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