Mike Slive keeps shoveling.

If you want to read a tongue bath about Mike Slive’s leadership, this article’s for you.  The capper is this wonderful quote in which he explains the secret of his success:

“By definition, a conference has two seemingly incompatible components that have to operate simultaneously,” explains Slive, “(1) passionate competitive rivalries, and (2) a group of institutions that needs to come together as a single organization to strengthen each and every unit and the conference as a whole.  We’ve had to try and balance that for almost 80 years, but only now is there an expectation that even in the pursuit of our individual goals, the conference needs to get stronger by moving forward together.”

In English, it’s very simple:  whatever pays the most, that’s what he’s for.