aaamichfan

March 29th, 2012 at 11:39 AM ^

This whole story is pretty ridiculous, but I get the feeling that Mark Hollis isn't a very bright individual. 

Willhouse

March 29th, 2012 at 12:09 PM ^

This is a non issue. It's not like he tweeted "Yo Burke, head to the NBA and get paid. LOLZ"

 

EDIT: Okay, so maybe it is an issue. I figured it was on the same level as the Roundtree tweet, which we ALL quickly dimissed as a nonissue. I agree Hollis should not be proactively tweeting athletes from other schools, but who are we to know the nature of their relationship. Maybe they are close for some reason, and Burke appreciates the advice. It still should not have been given in a public forum.

maizedandconfused

March 29th, 2012 at 12:59 PM ^

is that an Athletic Director, who directs the entire Athletic Department and all the facets of compliance and whatnot, tweeted the star player of an intense rival that he should ignore advice and follow his heart (i.e. go Pro).

This is probably the biggest conflict of interest an AD can publicly profess. To put this on a level that would be understandable,  this would be the equivalent of CEO for a Microsoft urging a bright programming star in Apple to start his own business. Unethical.

Totally out of line, unsolicited and down right wrong advice. (wrong in the sense that you never give advice on a decision of that magnatude to someone not in your athletic department.

blueneverquits

March 29th, 2012 at 11:52 AM ^

It's about the athletic director for another school giving unsolicited advice to an athlete from his school's archrival.  Forget that the "advice" concerned the athlete's decision whether to go pro.  It's just stupid.  He has no business talking to another school's players unsolicited.  If he wants to give advice, maybe he should start by advising his basketball team not to rape people and advising his football players not to 1) lead a mob attack in a dorm against other students, or 2) violently attack other athletes at your own school. But what do I know, I'm just some guy on the internet.

JHendo

March 29th, 2012 at 12:20 PM ^

My last childish Facebook argument with a Sparty fan about a week ago actually ended with me using this quote that I think perfectly sums up U of M's rivalry situation:

"I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: 'O Lord make my enemies ridiculous.' And God granted it."

- Voltaire

Tater

March 29th, 2012 at 11:53 AM ^

Smith has presided over a program that has cheated for the greater part of ten years, and still has his job.  His team didn't suffer much in the way of consequences, either.  They actually could come out better by having Urban Meyer coach instead of Tressel, and could very well contend for the national "championship" next year.  

Smith is a reptile, but he certainly isn't "dumb."

STW P. Brabbs

March 29th, 2012 at 12:35 PM ^

If you think there's something canny behind the way he handled tatgate, please do elaborate.

He had the great good fortune to work at a university where the bowtied twit of a president was roomies with the president of the NCAA.  He also had his own ties to the organization.  I guess you can say he was smart enough to realize he could handle things with absolute PR cockfingers and still not get fired because of those connections.  But that's a pretty minimal level of intelligence in this context.

profitgoblue

March 29th, 2012 at 12:51 PM ^

I think he's saying generally that stupid people that are able to hold onto their jobs even after doing stupid things maybe aren't all that stupid.  I've seen these kind of people in the corporate world (e.g. CEO's that tank companies) - they screw the pooch but always seem to stay gainfully employed or land on their feet smoothly elsewhere.  Maybe they're not as dumb as they act/operate?

 

STW P. Brabbs

March 29th, 2012 at 12:57 PM ^

What I'm saying is that this is a baseless assumption.  Especially in Smith's case, where we know that there are numerous personal connections that would appear to be helpful in his keeping a job.  I don't see why "being buddies with powerful people" equates to "being smart," if we're taking smart to mean something about cognitive ability.

RedondoWolverine

March 29th, 2012 at 1:07 PM ^

If someone is smart enough to realize that they can get and stay ahead through acquiring the right friends, identify those people, and then execute that plan. Further realizing that this will yield them every bit as much success as other, potentially more rigorous avenues, this at least implies some sort of mental talents. I don't believe that genuinly stupid people are capable of this sort of thing.

 

 

NOTE: I don't give a shit about Gene Smith or Mark Hollis, my comments are relating to the academic nature of this discussion. 

Yeoman

March 29th, 2012 at 12:57 PM ^

They've managed to reframe the issues at every turn: an investigation into the cars that looks at a fraction of the transactions and asks the wrong questions gets them cleared; ten years of compliance failures under an AD who had already, at his prior school, announced that he didn't believe in monitoring compliance because it creates an atmosphere of mistrust become a problem with the head football coach and the head coach alone...there's no end to the excellent PR work they've done, given the problems they faced. To what extent Smith himself is responsible for that work isn't clear, but there's no evidence the man isn't doing his job (which will probably include falling on his sword when the time comes).

Space Coyote

March 29th, 2012 at 12:03 PM ^

I'm sure there are lots of dumb ADs.

Being serious, Hollis has done some pretty good things in his time at MSU.  I mean, they have a relevent B1G football and nationally relevent basketball team and he had some interesting/fun game ideas.  Also, Hollis didn't have any major violations against his program, that alone makes him above at least 10 programs probably.

What Hollis said isn't really bad.  It's decent advice.  The only thing about it is it doesn't seem very professional for someone in his position to do in a public manner.  It's dumb, yes, but I don't understand why that makes so many around here angry.  Who cares if he did something dumb to the point of getting angry?  That is the only issue, and it's really not as big of an issue as it's being made out to be.  It may be a small, slap-on-the-wrist secondary violation like when Michigan players tweeted newly committed recruits (a stupid rule but possibly and important one, again, depending on the context of the tweet), but nothing to get so worked up over.  I kind of wish this story would just go away.  Oh, the offseason.

snarling wolverine

March 29th, 2012 at 12:05 PM ^

Why do you wish the story would go away?  It makes our in-state rival look bad.  I'm fine with it being out there.

I also don't agree that he gave "decent advice."  Burke needs to ask around to get an informed opinion.  Hollis is telling him to ignore everyone else and "go with his heart," which sounds like a suggestion to go pro.  (I mean, does anyone possibly think Hollis was urging him to stay at Michigan when he said that?)

Space Coyote

March 29th, 2012 at 12:11 PM ^

Or looking to much into it.  I think Hollis was only saying follow what's best for you and not those around you trying to sway you one way or the other because of their needs.  "Follow your heart" doesn't mean you don't listen to other people who give valuable information, it means take that important information and do what is best with you for it.

Space Coyote

March 29th, 2012 at 12:24 PM ^

@Trey_Burke3 My advice, believe in YOUR heart & mind, everything else is interference. People u seek out is better than those that seek u.

I don't think people actually read the quote, their just going off of what other people have emphasized.  It's just a really uninformed and by way to go about forming your opinion, especially when you can be better informed relatively simply.  That tweet is not bad advice.  He emphasizes YOUR and says heart and mind.  He also says people that you seek out is better than those that seek you.  His advice is good and has good intentions.

And the reason I would like this story to go away because it isn't a story.  It's offseason filler because people don't have other things to talk about.  It is at best only slightly better than nothing at all.  I think it's just an annoying non-story that people are running with for something to do.

jmblue

March 29th, 2012 at 12:31 PM ^

I don't think it's good advice or appropriate.  Anyone who's been in college knows that college-aged peoples'  "hearts and minds" can lead them to make a lot of poor decisions.  What might seem "best" to a guy who's 19 might not seem so smart down the road.  Burke presumably wouldn't have gone this far if he wasn't personally confident he could make it in the pros.  But he could be wrong.

Regardless, Hollis has absolutely no business sticking his nose here.  Let him offer his "wisdom" to his own athletes.

 

Yeoman

March 29th, 2012 at 12:38 PM ^

People that tweet you with unsolicited advice are like the people who show up at your front door offering to repave your driveway or do surgery on your trees. Better to pay attention to the people you've sought out yourself (like the draft evaluation panel).

Space Coyote

March 29th, 2012 at 12:42 PM ^

But Hollis says take advice from people you seek (ie, important people in your life and those that will help you make the best decision for yourself).  He is only saying don't listen to the wrong people around you trying to sway you to make a decision that's only best for them.

And in reply to the Roundtree "story", that's exactly the stupid non-story being made into something that I'm talking about.  It shouldn't be a story except for that people read it, get bent out of shape about it (MSU/OSU fans claiming it's a big deal when it isn't) and it gets page hits.  It's asinine.

Space Coyote

March 29th, 2012 at 12:54 PM ^

I just think people are making a much bigger deal out of this than they should be.  It's a non-story, just like the Roundtree tweet thing.  I think people are basing their opinions off of second hand accounts instead of actually reading the tweet that should have never been made (because it was unprofessional) but wasn't actually anything terrible.

This is more something to laugh at Hollis for doing something dumb rather than getting angry about.  I agree more with what Brandon said.  Hollis had good intentions, but made a mistake, it won't happen again.  Boom, end of story.  It doesn't need to grow bigger than that.

Space Coyote

March 29th, 2012 at 12:16 PM ^

I think he made a stupid, unprofession mistake while possibly committing a violation and trying to say something decent.  Now he wants to do that to everyone.  He really needs to think how to word things a little before he speaks, maybe saying "It's advice that I think everyone should hear from their ADs, coaches, etc." is one thing, saying he basically wants to tell everyone is amazingly idiotic after what he did.

profitgoblue

March 29th, 2012 at 11:51 AM ^

I originally depublished this since there are already two threads on this same topic on the front page of the Board but I changed my mind - this Hollis tweet pisses me off to no end. 

There is no excuse for it.  Whether there is a NCAA rule against it or not, any normal person in their right mind knows (or should know) that they should not be communicating directly with another team's players (and a rival team at that!).  Its 1 part obnoxious, 2 parts inappropriate, and a sprinkle of creepy all rolled into one.