MSU's Mark Hollis Does It Again

[H2S]

No AD in the country comes close to Mark Hollis for innovating groundbreaking college sports Spectaculars...especially CBB! Looks like he's done it again. Guy's a fucking genius...a Spartan Treasure.

2001. The COLD WAR, featuring Michigan State and Michigan, was the first college hockey game to be played in a football stadium and drew a world record 74,000 hockey spectators to Spartan Stadium...the record stood until 2010, when 112,000 people (me too ) watched the same two teams play in Michigan's Big House.

2003. The BASKETBOWL, featuring Kentucky vs Michigan State, was played in Detroit's Ford Field for 78,000 people, the largest basketball crowd in history...that record stood until over 108,000 watched the NBA all-star game in Arlington,TX in 2010.

11/11/11. The CARRIER CLASSIC, featuring North Carolina vs Michigan State, was played in San Diego on the deck of the USS Carl Vinson, for the President and 8,000 military personnel and a national audience...establishing a cbb tradition of honoring the nation's military called the ARMED FORCES CLASSIC.

only 4 days later, in 2011...another Hollis-inspired cbb tradition was established:

The CHAMPIONS CLASSIC, a 4-team/3-year series featuring Duke, Kentucky, Kansas and Michigan State kicked off in New York's MSG...the series was renewed through 2017 after the fabulous third round that kicked-off the 2013/14 cbb season.

and now?...Hollis has done it again. Starting in 2018:

2018...ROUND ROBIN NATIONAL TOUR (that's not the real name, it doesn't have one yet), 4-teams/3-cities (New York, Chicago, Los Angeles)/8-day series featuring North Carolina, Florida, Texas and Michigan State. (it's being touted as something 'for the kids'...I think it's for us fans as well, eh?)

Hollis has been planning a Trojan/Spartan 'war' in Athens, Greece between USC and MSU for years...when it's 'safe' to wage it, we'll be heading to Greece...LOL...how fucking cool is that?

GO GREEN!

 

[Texas Jefe]

Cool, I see that.

 

[dcZONAfan]

that's awesome. wish he had included arizona instead of texas

 

[H2S]

Cool, I see that.

no chit, brah...you think Barnes will use that as a recruiting incentive?
(playing 3 top programs in 8 days in New York, Chicago and Ellay?...bwahahaha!...awesome stuff.)

 

[H2S]

that's awesome. wish he had included arizona instead of texas

you can bet your ass that Byrne (and AD's across the country) will take the cue and 'up' Zona's game in years to come.

 

[Runeman]

Congrats on a great schedule...wish Florida would/could attend.

 

[H2S]

Congrats on a great schedule...wish Florida would/could attend.

Florida is one of the four participants.
Gators will play North Carolina, Michigan State and Texas during an 8-day stretch in New York, Chicago and Ellay as part of their 2018 ooc schedule. Three less cupcakes to deal with. Donovan (I think) is one of those coaches -like Izzo- who prefers tough pre-seasons to 'development romp pre-seasons.'

 

[jonvi]

Florida is leaving the state for OOC play? Daymn.

 

[H2S]

Florida is leaving the state for OOC play? Daymn.

LOL...you think Cuse would ever consider such risky shit?

Naaaaaaaah.

 

[Runeman]

Florida is leaving the state for OOC play? Daymn.

Easy now.....it's the football team that doesn't like to travel. Air sickness; I guess...lOL...The basketball team travels a lot....Seems to me we played Wisconsin in Madison, and UConn away as well. Kansas and Memphis was also away....ALL this year. It's the Cuse who is afraid to visit Gainsville....LOL.

At any rate; glad to see the Gators get in the tournament. It only makes them better.

 

[jonvi]

LOL...you think Cuse would ever consider such risky shit?

Naaaaaaaah.

You can't touch dis.

 

[dcZONAfan]

Easy now.....it's the football team that doesn't like to travel. Air sickness; I guess...lOL...The basketball team travels a lot....Seems to me we played Wisconsin in Madison, and UConn away as well. Kansas and Memphis was also away....ALL this year. It's the Cuse who is afraid to visit Gainsville....LOL.

At any rate; glad to see the Gators get in the tournament. It only makes them better.

nah you played Kansas at home, memphis in NYC.

 

[Runeman]

nah you played Kansas at home, memphis in NYC.

Kansas was at home; point being we had a decent OCC schedule.

 

[dcZONAfan]

Kansas was at home; point being we had a decent OCC schedule.

agreed. your SOS # is only bad this year because of your conference, not because of OOC. If you played one of the good conferences it would probably be a top 20 schedule instead of where you are right now, I think kenpom has it at about 60

 

[H2S]

Yall know I'm an Izzo homer...guy's a tough little nut...his OOC mantra is "Any Team, Any Place, Any Time"...and that's where Hollis' genius comes in - with all of these high-profile media spectaculars every year. Together, they've transformed MSU's national identity from a second-rate football school to a perennial basketball power.

Ain no doubt Izzo's joyfully wetting his Depends thinking about having an OOC schedule including Texas, Florida & North Carolina, plus the B1G/ACC matchup, plus the Champions Classic?, plus the usual pre-season Tourneys (sumbitch might have more high-profile matchups than cupcakes...haha...might have to ease off his mantra a little.)

nice to note too that Hollis' support of Coach Dantonio's football program is having a similar impact on getting the green up on national horizons.

 

[H2S]

for the 'kids'...

werd is the teams will be traveling together from New York to Chicago to Ellay...they'll spend a week playing against and with each other...they'll be making lifelong friendships (whether they go NBA or not)...they'll learn the culture of the three other schools...they'll get to share a 'once-inna-lifetime' all-expenses-paid week-long upscale vacation in three of the greatest cities in the world...and, unless they get arrested being stupid, they'll return to campus better athletes, better young men.

for the 'rest of us'...

we get more great basketball during pre-season.

in 2019 I'd like to see Sparty join Syracuse, Arizona and Louisville in the same thing. Hell, I'd like to see that NEXT YEAR! dammit.