The telephone buzzes to life.
From a corner of Mark Hollis' cluttered desk, the voice of a receptionist crackles through the intercom.
She informs Hollis that the executive director of the Alamo Bowl is waiting on the line.
"Tell him I'll call him back," he says. "I'm in a meeting."
All around his office, oversized framed pictures of MSU sporting events line the walls like trophies - an illuminated hockey rink atop a field of Astroturf in one and in another thousands of fans crowding around a basketball court in the center of an enormous football stadium.
The photographs read like a history of modern sports at MSU or a record book of collegiate athletics. But for Hollis, the pictures are his résumé - a gallery of past ideas made tangible.
Officially, his duties as the associate director of intercollegiate athletics are far reaching. Hollis oversees all external relations for the athletics department and is the sports supervisor for men's basketball. He also coordinates community relations, special-event fundraising, marketing and promotions, ticket operations, sports information, spirit groups, corporate sponsorships and broadcasting.
But Hollis' most notable credits are some of the most sensational and controversial events and policies in MSU sports created in the last five years. Hollis has had a prominent role in everything from the successful BasketBowl men's basketball game at Ford Field in Detroit to the contentious new student football ticket policy, and even the Magic Johnson statue outside of Breslin Center. And with a second game at Ford Field and the possibility of a men's basketball tournament aboard an aircraft carrier, Hollis is far from finished.
"Mark is very creative," MSU Athletics Director Ron Mason said. "He knows how to take a project, work it through and make it happen."
That's what Hollis did when he heard about former MSU assistant hockey coach Dave McAuliffe's childhood dream to rush out of the tunnel at Spartan Stadium.
While others dismissed the idea of coordinating an outdoor ice hockey game at Spartan Stadium as a fantasy, Hollis put thenotion into action.
"When we got the approval to go forward, we didn't know how we'd be able to pull it off," Hollis said. "It came down to the president (of MSU) saying 'Let's give this thing a run and go for it.'"
On Oct. 6, 2001, 74,554 fans packed into Spartan Stadium to see the MSU hockey team battle the University of Michigan on a makeshift ice rink built in the middle of the field. The event was dubbed "The Cold War" and gained national attention by setting a world record for hockey game attendance. The university also earned more than $100,000 in revenue.
"I kind of laughed it off at first," said Mason, who was the head coach for the hockey team at the time. "But we came back to it one time and Mark said, 'Wait a minute,' and then he went and pulled it off."
Timeout: A football injury takes Hollis out of the college football mix
Hollis' education in sports began early in his hometown of Lexington, just outside of Port Huron. During his senior year of high school, his successful football career as a defensive back was cut short when he was hit hard during a game. He sustained a serious back injury and his goal to play collegiate football became even more of pipe dream.
"I was also pretty slow," Hollis said, laughing.
He came to MSU and took on a role as a student manager for the men's basketball team. During his senior year, he roomed with Tom Izzo, who was a graduate student and assistant coach for the team. The two would go on to become great friends. Izzo was the best man at Hollis' wedding, and Hollis named his oldest son T.R., after Izzo.
"He's always been a go-getter and a visionary guy," Izzo said. "He's not afraid to put his neck forward."
Izzo said he still uses a pamphlet that Hollis wrote twenty years ago on how to be a successful manager.
When the basketball coach played a round of golf with PGA star Tiger Woods during a pro-am event in July, Hollis was his caddie.
"I was excited until the seventh hole when I heard a guy in the gallery say, 'who's the old guy carrying Izzo's bag?'" Hollis said.
Hollis met his future wife, Nancy, at MSU when they were students. He took her to an ice hockey game for their first date.
"He was always into the sports and he's also one of the kindest people I'd ever known," Nancy Hollis said. "Naturally, I fell in love with him."
After graduating in 1985, Hollis worked for eight years in the Western Athletic Conference office, where he was promoted to assistant commissioner. While working for the WAC, Hollis earned an MBA in business administration from the University of Colorado at Denver. He went on to become the assistant director of athletics at the University of Pittsburgh before returning to MSU as the associate athletics director for external relations in November 1995.
"I love people and this job gives the opportunity to meet a variety," Hollis said.
Record books: Big ideas and years of work put MSU in national spotlight
Hollis said he was looking over the field from a luxury box during a Detroit Lions game at Ford Field in 2002 when he envisioned MSU's next "circus event."
"I thought that this was the one venue where we could do it," Hollis said.
The idea was set in motion, and Hollis and the staff in the MSU Department of Intercollegiate Athletics went to work establishing sponsors, setting ticket prices and working out logistics with Ford Field officials.
In May 2003, MSU officials announced that the men's basketball team would face the University of Kentucky in a game at Ford Field. It was later dubbed "BasketBowl" and, on Dec. 13, 2003, the game shattered the world attendance record for a basketball game.
Once again, MSU was in the national spotlight, and once again, Hollis was guiding the beam.
"MSU is a land grant school. That has to be something that sets us apart," Hollis said. "Some people say its a circus-like environment, but the athletes love it and the fans love it."
And since 2003, Hollis has been laying the groundwork for two other major men's basketball events.
In December, Hollis traveled to the Pentagon to talk with admirals in the U.S. Navy about a four-team basketball tournament aboard a U.S. aircraft carrier. The tournament would pit MSU and the University of North Carolina against Navy and Air Force.
The tournament would offer low-priced tickets to members of the military and the teams and coaches would sleep on the ship during the tournament.
The event had been scheduled for early last season, but it was canceled because the Navy said all its battleships needed to be ready for action in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Hollis said that the event could happen as early as late 2006.
"It's doable and affordable," said Hollis, adding that the location is still in limbo. "(The military is) very interested, but it's a logistical thing."
Hollis said he is also ironing out the final details for a second basketball game at Ford Field against Texas Tech in late 2007.
And Hollis might not be finished even then.
He said his dream event would be a men's basketball game on Main Street, U.S.A. at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom.
"If it's done the right way," Hollis added.
Izzo said that some people see these events as gimmicks, but the events propel MSU into the forefront of college athletics.
"He's nuts and I love it," Izzo said. " Where some people say, 'are you crazy?,' I'm the kind of guy that says, 'boy, he does a lot for this institution."
Flag on the play: Ticket policies cause student outcry
As many events developed by Hollis have flourished and brought revenue to the university, students have criticized recent ticket initiatives, including the current Izzone policy and the new student football ticket plan.
Representatives from ASMSU have petitioned Hollis to change the football ticket policy after students complained.
Instead of paper vouchers mailed to students, season tickets are now encoded on student IDs, which makes them more difficult to sell to other people.
"The biggest concern is that 'I can't sell my Michigan ticket,'" Hollis said. "The second biggest concern is that 'I can't give it to my roommate.'"
Hollis said an online program that will allow students to transfer their tickets to other students is being tested and should be available for the last three home games of this season.
He said the new system saves the athletic department $25,000 per year in printing costs, an essential gain in the business of collegiate athletics that allows his department to offer student tickets at reasonable prices without turning Spartan Stadium into a giant billboard of corporate sponsorship.
Although the new Izzone ticket policy - which allows members only two "unexcused absences" before they are penalized - was created by officials in the Student Alumni Foundation, Hollis approved of the changes and supports them, but admits that the system is never perfect.
"Everything constantly needs to be tweaked," he said.
Recruiting: The search for bowl games starts early for Hollis
On the drive home from the MSU football game against Notre Dame on Sept. 17, Hollis called every bowl "from the Sun Bowl up," to open up the lines of communication for this year's bowl bid season.
In a style perfected by the sports world, Hollis dodged questions about where he thought the Spartans would end up at the season's conclusion.
"There are a lot of games to be played yet," he said, smiling.
Hollis attends many of the games, oftentimes meeting with sponsors and university donors.
"It's a seven-day job almost year round," Hollis said. "You don't have any offseason, really."
He credits the Intercollegiate Athletics staff, which he says is constantly under stress.
And Hollis, who is married with three children, admitted that balancing his family life with his work can be a daunting task.
"People in the business have told me that you have to make time or you're not going to end up in a good place," said Hollis, who also coaches his 6-year-old son's soccer team. "(Coaching the team) is harder than any other job here."
Hollis said he is satisfied with his accomplishments at MSU and he still gets excited during MSU bowl games and Final Fours, but the best part of his job is the people he gets to deal with on a day-to-day basis.
"It's working and listening to fans and knowing that they'll support the university," Hollis said. "The decisions seem really small, but each decision affects somebody."
