Answering Your General Emails and Questions on MSU Athletics...

As I prepare to work the Women's College World Series, when will MSU Softball get rolling? 0-12 in the Big Ten. Good Golly!! Doug McNiven, Oklahoma City Doug, I

As I prepare to work the Women's College World Series, when will MSU Softball get rolling? 0-12 in the Big Ten. Good Golly!! Doug McNiven, Oklahoma City

Doug, I can tell you that I have occasionally heard comments over the years about softball, but nothing like this year for some reason. With the new stadium and facilities there are higher expectations and there is no doubt that the program is not producing at the expectations that Mark Hollis has set out for every MSU sport. I said at the time they moved into the new stadium that you had to seriously judge the program from that point going forward. Coach Joseph agreed with me. Has there been enough time to get a feel for how the program is progressing? That is a call Mark Hollis will have to make. I just don't know enough about the softball world to make that call at this time. I am reaching out to get information about our program from the high school perspective and from other B1G schools and BCS type programs. I will have more soon.

 

Hondo, I see a lot of coverage for MSU hockey, women’s basketball, and baseball on Spartan Nation. I also hear the golf and men’s soccer coach and the swimming and diving coach on the radio show often, but not a lot else. With so many other sports that don’t make money I would think you would give them more coverage? Karen

Great question Karen. I have done everything but beg those other sports to let me help and they simply don’t have the sense of urgency to do so. I am not complaining because people would much rather read and listen about the big sports. 

I even had a parent of a sport that gets essentially no coverage from me or anyone else ask me why and then went to the coach and THEY couldn’t motivate them. Not all, but some of the sports’ coaches and even some of the leadership of the non-revenue sports, I think know they are protected and just don’t make selling their sport a priority. 

 It is disappointing, but there is little interest like there is for the bigger sports and perhaps some of that is the people involved don’t want to put the effort into selling them. Every non-revenue coach and the entire non-revenue administration should take lessons from Anastos, Izzo, and Dantonio. They can complain all they want about money and resources given to football and basketball, but not one of them spends the hours of media obligations those sports do selling their program and the University.

Hondo, I heard you mention that a future magazine is going to have a lot of hockey behind the scenes stuff. When is that coming out? George

The June issue of the magazine will have an in depth look at “The Man Who Saved Spartan Hockey” and an in depth analysis of what he did. Tom Anastos did the most amazing coaching job in any sport in MSU history this past season and there were many reasons why. Who was the true MVP? What was the one pivotal moment that won over the team and taught them that he was the real deal? What decision did Anastos make early that STUNNED the hockey world? This was such an amazing year that we will go in depth and hockey and non-hockey fans will love it!

Hondo, you were so far out in front on assistant salaries and what Hollis made, I wonder if there has been any progress on getting Hollis more money and fast. I agree he is the single most important figure at MSU right now and we can’t lose him. James

More than one member of the Board of Trustees assured me that Hollis has a raise coming and that they had already informally approved it. I was told that it would come at the end of May when money is freed up with a retirement. Members of the Board of Trustees have assured me that at their June retreat it will be officially ratified. I can assure you that I have a story ready to go in June and if this doesn’t happen, when you read it you will be GREATLY concerned. 

 I have no reason to doubt the people that told me it would happen and if it does I will report it and if it doesn’t, look out. Mark Hollis is the singularly most important person on the MSU campus by a long stretch. His compensation is an embarrassment to the Spartan Nation and should concern fans. He is paid either the 10th or 11th out of 12 Big Ten ADs, depending on the data you use and source. That is a joke. I have backed off because I was assured it would be fixed, but I am closely watching this.

OK everyone, there you go, our weekly general MSU athletics Q and A article. We will continue them, so if you have a question (not about basketball or football) here is a simple way to get it here. 

Send your questions to SpartanNationMail@yahoo.com and put in the subject line general. If it doesn’t get answered in the article you will get a personal response. Thank you!