Hear the Conversation 27:26 – 15.7 mb mp3

Spartan Dawgs Tim Bograkos, Todd Duckett and Andre Hutson tackle the issue of revenue in intercollegiate athletics and discuss whether student-athletes should be paid some kind of stipend.

Duckett says he can see both sides of the issue and believes that student-athletes should receive some kind of compensation beyond their valuable scholarship.

“A student-athlete’s sport is all-consuming in his or her life and some sports generate revenue for the university,” he says. “But the student-athletes make their choices to attend college on a scholarship with full knowledge of what the university will and won’t provide for them.”

Hutson points out that the recently concluded NCAA men’s basketball tournament brings in big money for the schools, but that athletic departments have to make what they spend.

“Football and basketball generate big money,” he says. “But what about the other sports? Who do you pay and not pay? Or do you pay everyone?”

The Dawgs wonder whether certain star athletes could attend and play for a university without accepting a scholarship, but sell the rights to their own brand.

“Some athletes might be able to pay their tuition by selling the rights to their brand,” says Bograkos. “Someone may test this idea down the road, and it will be interesting to watch.”

Hear the Conversation 29:58 – 17.1 mb mp3

Spartan Dawgs Tim Bograkos, Todd “T.J.” Duckett, and Andre Hutson talk about the coaches in their lives who have had a great influence on them.

“The older I get, the more I appreciate what coaches have done for me over the years,” says Duckett. “My high school coach in particular helped me become a man and taught me real discipline.”

Duckett adds that he saw certain guys “push away while others gravitated toward” this approach from coaches.

The Dawgs agree that good coaches act like father figures to many young men and are often the first positive male influence in many young lives.

“If we didn’t like and respect our early coaches, we might not have even continued playing the sports we love,” adds Bograkos.

Hutson says the coaching relationship often gets more demanding as “we climb the ladder. In the pros, the coaches don’t have the same control over players as many of the players make more money than the coaches; so they have more power.”

Duckett says the beauty of having an amazing coach is the lifelong relationship that’s cultivated. “So you can go back to your coach or mentor throughout your life to get their advice. And then you can pass on what you’ve learned from them to the next generation.”

“Good coaches get the best out of you when you don’t even realize they’re doing so,” adds Hutson.

Bograkos believes the best coaches keep a proper balance between wins and losses, and developing young men as people.

“If that gets out of whack, it’s not good. It’s important for coaches to keep this balance in perspective.”

Drop the Dawgs a line with comments, suggestions, or guest ideas.

Hear the Conversation 11:15 min – 6.4 mb mp3

By Mackenzie Mohr

The director of state news for MLive.com has an intimidating mantra.

“We’re number one in every market and we’re growing at a record pace.”

Russ White and Kirk Heinze talk with MSU School of Journalism alumnus Bill Emkow. As state news director, Emkow oversees state capitol, statewide business and entertainment, and professional and college sports beats for MLive Media Group.

“I work with reporters on their techniques,” Emkow says, “online techniques, web techniques, what works, how to engage with the audience.”

New media and journalism is a rapidly changing industry, he says, with nearly 24-hour online operation. However, he says his way of approaching growth is often misconstrued in journalism circles as “chasing pageviews.”

“There’s nothing wrong with going out and finding something that’s popular,” Emkow says. Read more »

Hear the Conversation 26:37 – 15.2 mb mp3

Spartan Dawgs Tim Bograkos, Todd Duckett, and Andre Hutson talk about creating one’s legacy.

Hutson says that “goal-setting is such a powerful tool to be successful in life,” and Bograkos adds that “actually following through is the really powerful part.”

“Legacy is a lot about your family and your values,” Hutson says. “There’s a lot that goes into building your legacy, and I don’t think there’s one correct way to do it. You can also diminish your legacy if you don’t carry yourself the right way.”

Duckett adds that he believes the “first thing to do to create your legacy is to find your passion, and then it’s important to find humility.”

Hutson adds that “you have to be humble but also proud of yourself and confident enough to promote yourself.”

Bograkos advises college students and athletes to “be ready to take 100 percent responsibility for the decisions you’re making. A lot of people don’t, and they find ways to deflect the decisions they make, good or bad.”

Hear the Show 54 min – 30 mb mp3

Michigan State University President Lou Anna Simon and Spartans Athletic Director Mark Hollis talk with the Director of the Spartan Marching Band John Madden, and with WJR morning drive personality Paul W. Smith.

And we learn all about an innovative executive leadership collaboration between MSU’s Broad College of Business and Department of Intercollegiate Athletics.

Hear the Conversation 14:44 – 8.4 mb mp3

Organizations are increasingly structuring themselves around teams, and this change in the nature of work presents many challenges and opportunities for future managers.

Michigan State University is offering organizations the opportunity to participate in a new executive development initiative. The Broad College of Business and the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics have joined forces to create Building Winning Teams: A Quest for Excellence, an executive leadership program targeted for high-potential business professionals who lead a team or contribute to their team’s success.

“The ability to create and sustain excellence through teams is vital to organizational success,” says Broad management professor and John Hollenbeck, who helped develop the program.

This unique collaboration will provide participants of this executive leadership program the opportunity to enhance their skills to build a strong team structure and culture, select and recruit top talent, build team performance through accountability, make effective strategic and tactical decisions, manage conflict and promote perceptions of fairness, and bring about change and team development.

This program features many MSU coaches including Tom Izzo, Mark Dantonio, Suzy Merchant, Tom Anastos, Cathy George and Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll. Registration is open and limited to 50 participants.

To register or to learn more – please visit the program home page or contact Kristin St. Marie at (517) 353-8711 x71005; stmarie@bus.msu.edu

Hear the Conversation 22:01 – 12.6 mb mp3

Spartan Dawgs Tim Bograkos, Todd Duckett and Andre Hutson return to talk about passion.

“Passion is the backbone and heartbeat of everything we do,” says Duckett. “Sports are passion-driven. Now that we’re not playing our sports competitively anymore, we need to transfer our passion into our professional lives.”

Bograkos says his initial passion as a child was WWF wrestling, and all competition really.

“The showmanship of wrestling has impacted all sports,” adds Hutson. “For me, making a good play and hearing the crowd react was enough for me. I didn’t feel like I had to do anything else to feed my passion.”

Bograkos says he thinks fans can sense original passion in players and don’t need to see the hot-dogging to think an athlete is passionate.

Hutson says an important factor in transitioning passion from the fields and arenas to one’s professional life is self-promotion.

“Self-promotion is frowned upon on teams; we’re taught to be humble. But now if we aren’t promoting ourselves and our businesses, who’s going to do it?”

“Goal-setting and going back to who you are and what you do – that’s where you find your passion amongst all the clutter that life can provide,” says Duckett.

Hear the Conversation 33:52 – 19.3 mb mp3

Spartan Dawgs Andre Hutson, Tim Bograkos, and Todd Duckett talk about their experiences with their coaches, Nick Saban and Tom Izzo.

“I had absolutely no idea what I was getting into with Coach Izzo,” says Hutson. “Tom Crean mostly recruited me, and I never met Coach Izzo until my official visit.”

“Coming in I really had no clue what Coach Izzo was about,” adds Hutson. “I just knew Michigan State was a Big Ten school, I loved the players, and I wanted to be in that environment.”

“While they’re recruiting you they show you the beauty, not Coach Saban yelling,” jokes Duckett.

All three Dawgs say they can see that the tough love they often received from their coaches has carried over into how they carry themselves now in their professional lives.

“To look back at it now, you see how they go about building a young man,” says Duckett. “You see how they prepare us to go into life. And the older you get, the more you appreciate it.”

Hear the Conversation 37:34 – 21.5 mb mp3

Spartan Dawgs Todd Duckett, Tim Bograkos, and Andre Hutson discuss how each of them went through the recruiting process. And they talk about how that process has changed to the point where “high school kids are announcing their choices on ESPN,” says Bograkos. Kids now put their own videos on You Tube, and the three say coaches are watching kids earlier, and kids are committing earlier.

Duckett was a high-level recruit, Hutson a mid-level recruit, and Bograkos a self-described “extremely low, not on the radar recruit.”

Duckett says he got his first recruiting letter in the eighth grade; it came from Wisconsin. Todd says he received 15 to 20 letters a day during the peak of his recruitment. Hutson was recruited first as a football player and says “the first letter I received was a hand-written note from then MSU assistant Mark Dantonio.”

Bograkos says MSU first recruited him for football and that he likely would have walked on to the Spartan football team had Nick Saban not left the program.

Todd, Tim and ‘Dre talk about how their careers were impacted by their parents and about what it’s like for a parent to have a Big Ten athlete in the family.

“My dad was at almost every game,” says Duckett. “It didn’t matter where the game was; he’d be there even if he got to see me for just 5 minutes after the game before he had to turn around and drive right back.”

Hutson says his mom, too, “made just about every game” and that proximity to home is a big factor for athletes choosing their college.

Hear the Conversation 19:24 min – 11.1 mb mp3

Former Spartan basketball player Lauren Aitch joins Michigan State University President Lou Anna Simon and Spartans Athletic Director Mark Hollis for a conversation about how being a Spartan athlete has impacted her thriving entrepreneurial spirit.

She says all the discipline required to succeed as a Spartan athlete carries over into the business world.

Aitch also talks about how her international experiences have enlightened her. And she says former Spartans making a go of it in the highly-competitive fashion industry, Willis & Walker, are role model for her.

She advises anyone desiring to compete athletically at the Big Ten level to “be flexible,” and advises current athletes to take full advantage of the resources available to help them succeed beyond their athletic careers.