Blue By Ninety - 247sports' Zach Shaw joins the show to talk UM vs. OSU recruiting, Stauskas vs. Robinson, COVID-19 protocol and more!

Episode Date: July 28, 2020

We are joined by Zach Shaw from 247sports Michigan beat writer and 1050 WTKA's Inside the Huddle radio show to discuss how Ohio State's recruiting class is so dominant ever year, how Duncan Robinson has emerged as one of the best shooters in the NBA, and with practices being suspended due to COVID-19 how there will even be a college football season. Crack a beer and enjoy the show.

This is the University of Michigan. Touchdown, Michigan! This is the University of Michigan! And they've caught extra pass. And it goes to the wind! The three-pointer by Jordan Poole! Down the sideline! Peebles-Jones!

Touchdown, Wolverines! seven sports zach shaw what's up guys thanks for having me on yeah man thanks for joining little little raptors baseball reunion yes oh my god i forgot about that too you just said it oh shout out to coach brock who uh ended up being my jb baseball coach too so when i was never see him again he was kind of. That was his shtick. He would yell at 8-year-olds like they were adults. And then I was like, oh, I'll never see him again. So I'm again in high school. And then he goes to some of the basketball press conferences,

and I'm like, what the? Get rid of this guy from now. But love the work he did. He built his grow, I think. Yeah. Oh, yeah. uh taught us how to be uh yelled at and take it like uh like an eight-year-old should nice life skill made us all into the players we are today

for for people out there that don't know so jack calen and zach all went to middle school together in ann arbor i'm the lone wolf over here but they've got all the memories so i might just stand back and let you guys you know talk it out talk it out today yeah zach so thanks for coming on and uh yeah you're still in ann arbor right yep yep i'm about a about a mile from the stadium, which for a long time, long-time followers know I lived on Hoover and Division for a long time. But moved out on the stadium or off the stadium, kind of near the bowling alley. So life is good. It's a lot of fun. You know, sometimes Michigan fans, they can have their annoying moments

and, you know, be living in Michigan with annoying moments more in the December to February variety. But it's, you know, close to family, close to friends. Covering a team I know probably too much about at this point. You know, you talk about those 10,000 hours you become a master. So we're well past that. But, it's it's a lot of fun and uh glad glad to see you guys are getting into the game a little bit too yeah trying man not not quite to your level yet we got a long ways to go but uh we're doing our best that's for sure keep helping us drink beers on the podcast you'll

get the guests lining up pretty soon oh yeah ski patrol is a great beer as well love ski patrol over there shout out to my roommate who moved out three days ago and in the move he left a few of those behind so we're enjoying it nice yeah to zach's roommate are you saying are you saying michigan fans can be insufferable at sometimes no chance no way oh well you know what i i've gotten a lot better with it because i think when i was like 22 23 kind of first getting into first time dealing with radio callers you know dealing with the message boards it was kind of like guys what are we doing here but then then you realize and i've talked to other colleagues and it's it's i mean first of all i sympathize and maybe it's a

discussion that we'll touch on later on the show i mean michigan fans have been through you compare it to other like quote-unquote good football programs they've been through the ringer you know in terms of droughts against rivals and droughts with conference titles i mean every school seems like they get lucky one year at least like like you know like uh an auburn just kind of sneaks in and beats alabama or whatever michigan and it's i mean it's crazy the last quarterback of a top a team that finished in the top five for Michigan was Tom Brady as as wild as that is I mean I mean Missouri snuck into the top five one year you know so it's I I sympathize with it and here's here's the real thing is is um the frustration or the

insufferability your word not mine the annoying it comes passion. And I think that's what's, that's one thing that I really, you know, I'm not, I'm not a, not a fan. I'm an objective reporter, but I do acknowledge and respect the heck out of Michigan for how, how much it's fans care and how much support they show. Not just for, you know, the big rivalry games, but they fill up the stadium. Well, not maybe not this year, but every other year they fill up the stadium, they fill it up for softball, they fill it up for basketball. So it's, I say annoying, but I say it with a little bit of a smile because it's, it's, it's part of the fun, you know, the back and forth. That's what these podcasts and that's

what, you know, different stories and the interactions. I mean, that's, it'd be pretty boring if I, you know know had an opinion and everyone was like okay cool not that fun you know the back and forth is is part of the part of the enjoyment very true i i say insufferable because i've been that guy before and i think we all have at some point right with it's just it's impossible not to like you said with how the last 20 years have went you know 15 years have went it's just been it hasn't been pretty at very many moments so yeah yeah and uh well in some non-michigan related news that i just want to touch on before we move on um some sports are starting to come back right nba um i think they just got

started with their like pre um i don't even know what to call it pre-season pre what i don't know pre-playoff pre-reseason maybe yeah there you go it's it's called duncan robinson lighting it up that's what it is dude and then caris lever is just carrying the nets over there i mean lost by 20 but i think he might have had a good game. MLB's coming back, right? I think, what, this weekend? Tonight? Yeah.

The Yankees and the Nets. They decided their playoff format like three hours before the season started. Wasn't the deadline was like we have to get this done before first pitch and they waited about like right up to first pitch oh man everything is going very well for sports right now very organized everyone knows what's going on good work and zach and kaylin rowan i talked about a little bit did you guys see uh ouchie's first? His ceremonial first pitch? Oh, man. It might take the cake for the worst first pitch ever. It's right up there with 50 Cent.

I was going to ask. What? Was it Mariah Carey? It was really bad. Wait, what was so bad about it? Just look at the left dugout. Oh, my gosh. How?

It looks like he never touched a baseball in his life dude this guy sounds like he needs coach brock dude he doesn't he i just remember him coach brock yelling at gordon porter almost every day those are my flashback memories the best thing i saw about fauci's pitch was that it was a socially distant first pitch okay setting the standard on par on par i hope that's you did that on purpose they're piping in crowd noise there too to make it like the atmosphere or whatever yeah so i guess so baseball is for sure. And then basketball, I saw a couple things with like, they even have video boards kind of throughout the stadium with like old videos of fans from previous years.

So it's kind of, they're trying to get the vibe. But I don't know. What do you guys, I want to ask the question too, you know, if we get to a point where Michigan has a season, season what do we think are we pro pumping in crowd noise is how is that gonna work honestly what i what i'd like to see is what they did with the nfl draft let the fans cheer live i don't even know if that was live or not but put them on the video boards and let them like pump that sound in i like that some watch parties or something yeah yeah might have to put it on a little bit of a delay not sure what people are going to be saying

you know but i think i think that would be a fun idea for sure i think they made people like sign off like well you had to apply and then you had to like sign off saying i won't do anything objectionable i i like the crowd noise to that question i i watched um a good amount of the national women's soccer league this in the past month because they came back even earlier and you know you watch it and you don't actually notice from a from a um tv viewer perspective you don't actually notice the awkwardness if there's a noise but man if you're you know think about how much i mean we i think we all played how much grunting or or you know or swearing when you get older or you know it's just I mean it's it's probably better to have like at least like some sort of white noise

I think the debate was crowd noise versus music I think basketball is a good music sport I don't think baseball I think they should just have kind of the little fake organ and then like cheers and boos when things happen yeah the only thing i hope with the crowd noise is that any time a manager or coach comes out of the dugout to to fight with an umpire turn it down i want to hear exactly what he's saying at all times yeah for sure i heard they're not allowed to because that's um breaking the social distancing protocols they're not allowed to argue anymore oh i wonder how that's gonna work well maybe if we uh pump some crowd noise and we'll make the big house loud again oh there we go there we go a tie in there i like that tie in well i will say this with with just the big house in specific, they're talking about should they do, like we've said,

fake crowd noise, or if there are 10,000 to 15,000 fans, put mics in the stands and amplify that to make it more organic. But then again, I can just hear somebody in row one, you know, that's saying, F Jim Harbaugh, you know, and all of a sudden that is boomed over the entire big house, you know, so it's like, what do you do there? And then on the other hand too is, okay, so you, if there's fake crowd noise and they have it there and then they bring it down when the play starts, like a norm, you know, like they do with the music and the band then it's all of a sudden dead silent for the whole play and then you hear that grunting like you just said zach you know it's gonna be weird no matter what they do

yeah i assume with you know that many people in the big house i can only say it would be similar to like the spring game maybe or something in that realm. I've been to an open practice where they estimated they had 10,000 fans and it was still like, I mean, everything's going to be weird about this year. Like there's no, you know, I think as soon as the sooner fans can let weird happen. I mean, we just talked about it with baseball. They decided their postseason format like an hour before the season started. It's gonna be weird and it doesn't it doesn't have to suck I mean it's gonna be obviously not what it normally is but what it normally is is pretty pretty great I mean I love college football it's it's the coolest thing I'd argue about the entire country and

and so you know it won't be at that level but it it can still be. I mean, if you have 10,000 fans, I mean, I've been at that open practice. It's kind of a unique vibe. It kind of feels like a packed high school game or a, you know, small college game. And, you know, Jim Harbaugh's talked about he coached at San Diego, the Toreros, and they would get like 4,000 fans at these games. And I mean, there's kind of a unique aspect of it. So, yeah, I think if they let fans in and if they play i guess there's two ifs there but let them make their noise they'll make their noise but otherwise yeah you probably need some white noise or else i mean honestly like what are what are um super jacked college kids gonna say

when they you know hit hit each other i think there's a penalty i mean it's just you put you put the hot mic on them too much uh whoever's running the mute button i've done that before for the radio show that's um that's what i'm gonna get a workout in like they have a lot of hot mics and they had to move out basically half the show yeah i kind of loved it though like i would i would as much as that is obviously uh a problem for a lot of fans i think they would love to hear what they are saying even if it is obscenities i know when i was 18 to 22 i was not saying great things i'll say say that. You got grown up. Yes, and now I'm very proper.

I haven't sworn since 2012, so we're all good now. Except for last podcast, but that's fine. Relapse, yeah. Okay, well, let's move on to the scheduled program here um so our first down michigan recruiting is doing great but ohio state is obviously on another level how big is the difference between having the number one recruiting class and the number eight how will that translate to the field in the next few years row this sounds like a question that you wrote i assume that you have something to say on this it wase, this sounds like a question that you wrote. I assume that you have something to say on this. It was really, I mean, it was a question towards Zach just because,

and I know you're, you know, you're not Sam Webb, but that's like in the recruiting all the time, but you're around it obviously with working for two, four, seven. And just, it really is, you know, we've seen obviously Ohio state's number one, and they are dominating. So Ohio State's at number one in the 2021 class, and Michigan is at number eight. And the difference between Michigan and the number two class is closer than it is two to one. So that's how big Ohio State bad but that's how big ohio state's lead is in their recruiting and i want to know you know what is that gonna do in the 2021 2022 2023 on the field how big is that difference from number one to number eight when you have five five stars instead of one yeah to me it just um

if i may go first uh to me it just increases it increases the pressure on michigan to to deliver on producing their top players so they can't really miss on any of these top guys they have to be guys that they they find a way to get them to produce. Because, you know, you look at the recruiting rankings, Clemson won a national title without a top 10 recruiting class. Now, obviously, they're going to be in that top five forever and ever. But they got to that title point with really good development, a great quarterback, and obviously good enough coaching. So it's not, it's a big difference. Now we have to see where they finish. I don't know if Michigan will finish eight. I don't know if Ohio State will finish first. You know, this is

going to be a, you know, talking to our recruiting analysts, this is a really weird year for recruiting because a whole bunch of players could decommit, you know, if they're allowed to visit other campuses. I think Ohio State's picked up six or seven out-of-state recruits who haven't even been to campus before, or if they have, it was just to drive by. Like, they haven't actually been in the facilities, met the coaches that much. And, you know, other schools are going to be closer to home or people might make their decisions. So it's kind of a weird year. We'll see where they finish. But if Ohio State finished first and if michigan finished eighth from a pure talent perspective it would kind of be what's been going on the last few years but i think the big difference

is michigan will have enough players to be a national title contender but they have to they can't have misses they can't have five stars who transfer to tennessee after producing like one and a half sacks they can't have you know top 50 recruits who don't see the field until they're 50 or seniors. They can't have, you know, these four stars that don't even make it onto the team. You know, they transfer out before they even see a game at Michigan Stadium. So I like Michigan, what their approach has been and what their class has been. Obviously, they have to close.

Rocco Spindler's a big name, Donovan Edwards. I think they can finish the top 10 class. Ohio State, you know, this might be a preview to my 90-second hot take, but Michigan should focus on having the best class it can have. Ohio State, they've averaged like 11.5 wins a year for 20 years. They're in that Oklahoma in the 70s, Miami in the 80s, Florida State in the 90s. They're in that kind of sphere where it's like, okay, if people are going to commit to them, they're going to commit to them. Michigan just can't miss on these players if jj mccarthy looks like a first round draft pick by the time he's a you know sophomore or junior

michigan's probably in the mix for everything they haven't had a first round draft pick since jim harbaugh if um you know some of these top 100 offensive linemen look like first or second round because that's what our rankings are based on five stars are supposed to be first round picks four stars are supposed to be other nfl draft picks basically and so you know if they have 15 players that look like draft picks from this recruiting class they're going to be in the mix they'll contend with ohio state they'll contend with everybody but it kind of thins the margin of error because if your goal if your sole goal is beating ohio state well basically you have to beat the nation's best team based on this recruiting ranking so yeah it's it's a big difference i think

michigan fans you know they probably gotta you know keep their fingers crossed that ohio state slips up at one point because it seems like every quarterback they throw out there is better than the last one uh it's really phenomenal i mean you think about it went from uh braxton miller to jt barrett cardell jones won him a title and then they you know duane haskins and justin fields it's like they can't miss so and joe burrow didn't even make it into that mix so it's it's phenomenal what they're doing but michigan i like their class and the one thing I like is that they haven't screwed the pooch on any recruitment. You know, there's no one that they've been like they miscommunicated with or they, you know, didn't contact them enough.

Because that's the big thing is you just got to make sure that you're not – you're recruiting what you can recruit. Michigan, you look at what they've done the last five years a number eight recruiting class is probably what you the best you could expect given where they're located given where the top prospects are located given the wins because every recruit they either want to contend for titles go to the nfl or both and so i think eight is probably what's reasonable for Michigan. If Ohio State is going to have the best recruiting class in history, you just got to suck it up and find a way to develop around that.

Wow, that's a great response. Did Mike warn you guys that I talk long? He did not. But between you and Ro it'll be this will be a good long episode here yeah we we could go for for hours and hours here because i mean that is i mean you hit the nail on the head with pretty much everything you said there you know if if michigan isn't putting itself up against ohio state it's a great program it's a great recruiting class year after year so but the problem is that's the rival right that's the that's the

the standard right so and and there's just no way to and I don't want to say there's no way but there's it's so tough to get that, okay, greatest recruiting class in history? Come on. How is that possible to have that be the standard? But that's all that Michigan fans look at, which is understandable. And then I think about what you said about they can't miss on any of these recruits. And it just seems like over the last five years, 10 years, 15 years, all they've done is miss on big five-star recruits.

You know, I look back at the Rashawn Garys, the Jabril Peppers, how many of these guys, you know, I would say the last one is like Charles Woodson, you know, that they're like, okay, five-star guy, you know, Spass said this on a, on our podcast as well, five-star guy. And you actually got everything you could out of him. These were not, we didn't get, I hate to say we, but Michigan did not get, you know, five-star quality out of Rashawn Gary. They did not get five- star quality out of Jabril Peppers so that's where I think it's it's different and I guess another question then would be you know what's the difference what is Ohio State doing different that makes them develop five different quarterbacks in

the last five years that are all like you know could be the Heisman possibly or have won a national title and the one guy that misses out that had to transfer because he couldn't make it into the starting lineup went and won a national title and a Heisman and broke the record for touchdowns somewhere else where's the difference there yeah it's it's a fair question by the way I would say Jabril Peppers and Rashawn Gary might not be the people you want to pick out. I'd go after, if you were to say five stars they don't produce, maybe a Derek Green and Aubrey Solomon. Oh, God, yeah.

I mean, those two, to Peppers and Gary's credit, they did end up as first-round draft picks. So in theory, they didn't. What should I say? I was just going to say, okay, yes, they are first-round talents, but did they have first-round production at Michigan? Jabril Peppers did unbelievable. I actually think he was underrated,

but he only ended up with one interception in his career. Rashawn Gary, although with injuries, it just seems like the five stars at other schools, including Ohio State, they get the production in college and they get the first-round talent. They get the first-round draft pick. Yeah, I mean, they had the Bosas. They had the Young or Chase Young. The Young.

The Bosas, Chase Young. And Jeff Okuda was a five-star. I know exactly what you're talking about. And you do have to – I know exactly what you're talking about. And you do have to – I mean, if you're a Michigan fan, you probably should be tipping your cap to Ohio State because whatever – their hit rate is very high. They don't have – everyone has five-stars that don't turn out to be five-stars in college. And maybe that's on the recruiting analysts at 24-7 and other places.

Maybe that's on the player player maybe it's on the coaching and so that's part of it a little nugget for you guys from what I've heard is that uh Jim Harbaugh he is very hard on five stars you know his his meritocracy that he always preached is that the best player the hardest worker is going to play he really takes that to heart and so that's how you see someone like Ronnie Bell I mean there's some success stories with it Ronnie Bell was Michigan's leading receiver last year Donovan Peoples-Jones was number three same time I personally I wonder was he leveling with Donovan Peoples-Jones in the same way where he's like how do I get the most out of you versus you got to

show it to me and so I you know I think Michigan's development is really exceptional I don't mean to you know on over overlook that you know their their draft the amount of draft picks they've produced especially on the defensive side of the ball is really exceptional I want to say 94 percent of players who have started at least six games under Jim Harbaugh have been drafted that's's not a stat every school can, you know, roll out there in their recruiting pitch. But that's a fair point that how many of their five stars have become All-Americans? I think Jabril Peppers has. I think Lamar Woodley has.

But in the last 15 years, that might be the end of the list. And so I don't mean that to be, you know, dunking on Michigan, right? This isn't meant to be that end of the list and so i don't mean that to be um you know dunking on michigan right this isn't meant to be that kind of podcast but it is something to think about is you know how do you make sure you know because i think jim harbaugh has mastered the three-star to nfl draft pick he has i mean he's produced i want to say like 12 15 of those guys and i think the four stars as long as they're they're showing up to work, he can get the most out of them. You know, think about a Devin Bush or Chris Wormley or, you know,

like a Taco Charlton, some of those other players. It's almost John Beeline-esque a little bit, even though he's not recognized as that because he still does get a few of those high rated and he's just such you know a known figure um but it's almost john beeline but it hasn't translated to wins as much as it did with beeline yeah well and i'll you know i don't mean to keep going down the rabbit hole here i know i know we could do this forever big question is quarterback right they haven't had a quarterback drafted at quarterback you know i

mean jake rudolph was drafted but they haven't had a top 100 draft pick at quarterback since chad henney they haven't had a first round draft pick at quarterback you think about last last year's playoff team teams youalen Hurts, Joe Burrow. Well, Tua didn't make the playoffs, but they would have if he hadn't gotten hurt. Justin Fields, Trevor Lawrence. How many of those guys are going to be drafted in the first round? Everyone but Hurts, right? But Hurts, yeah.

They haven't had a first-round draft pick at quarterback since 1987. To me, that tells you what you need to know. The era of college football where quarterback rules everything they have not had the game altering quarterback yet they've had all right quarterbacks i don't think wilton spade or jay patterson ever got due credit for michigan fans because the losses in the game piled up right but man no first round i mean i tell people from the south that all the time like that's been 33 years since they had a first round draft pick a quarterback their minds are blown like why is this team even being talked about seems like it's the same deal right so it's

it's it's an interesting thing i think that would help you think about clemson and they couldn't beat florida state they couldn't it used to be called clemsoning right yeah they could get over the hump they couldn't win the big one and then they finally got to sean watson and he was a breakthrough and so that was a game changer for them lsu i believe they lost eight straight to alabama could not win the scc well last it was too tough of a division then they finally get Joe Burrow so you know to your point Roe how do you how do you get over the hump it's probably quarterback but it also comes down to making sure that you're developing everybody at the in the way that they need to be developed you know what's going to work for a Jordan Glasgow it's a lot different than what's going to work

for a Cameron Brown you know they're Cameron Brown. They play the same position. They have a different set of skills. And so that's on Michigan to figure out how do you make the best team with what you have? Because you can't control what Ohio State recruits. You can't control what Alabama recruits. You can control who you recruit. So we'll see. They feel like they have a better formula.

I don't know i think the jury's still out on that a little bit yeah so good news guys if we want to beat ohio state all we need is deshaun watson or joe burrow and and zach i'm glad i'm glad you brought up the quarterbacks do you think mccaffrey or milton could be that game altering qb to get us over that hump uh me you know i i wasn't as't as sold when I saw them in practice in December. You know, when I saw them, I think it was the Citrus Bowl practices. Now I should caution, it was like 15 minutes of practice. Milton looked a lot better than McCaffrey in those 15 minutes.

McCaffrey actually, he struggled a little bit. But I thought Shea Patterson, whether Michigan fans want to hear this or not, I thought Shea Patterson looked like the clear starter in that particular stretch. Really? Wow. You know, when we saw McCaffrey, he's had some great moments, you know, against Wisconsin in 2018. I think Notre Dame, I think he held his own, right? But then that game at Maryland, that's the one that kind of sticks in my head

where I'm like, I just, it depends on how much he develops. Now, he's got to have had the best quarantine group, right? Because everyone went home and they were working out with whoever they were living with. He had Christian McCaffrey, pro bowler. His dad was a pro bowl receiver. I think his older brother played QB – or, no, receiver at Duke. So, I mean, he – you know, I'm sure he had equipment. I'm sure he had a lot going on.

But, yeah, you know, between them, I think their ceilings are better than Patterson – what Patterson showed. But it's – this is an interesting time because they have to do it themselves. You know, I think – I think now the coaches are able to command, you know, the walkthroughs, the 20-hour work week or 20-hour practice weeks. Got a little Freudian slip there. But I think they can get there because we're both 6'5". You know, McCaffrey's got really good wheels.

Milton's got an amazing arm. You know, I think they're both – I think they both see the opportunity that they have. I think they both saw Shea Patterson as kind of – they feel like they can be better than Shea Patterson. They do. And now whether they can, I think we've got to see it in games a little bit first. But they feel that way. And so I'm not going to say that they can't because if they're motivated enough and they they improve enough they can also anyone who's watched joe

milton during warm-ups hard not to think he can get there right i mean you think about right he he has some traits where you look and you say man there's like four human beings on the planet that can do that now you know we'll have to see you know if he throws it to the right guy he threw it it was intercepted by a wisconsin player last year i remember that and and so so you know accuracy you know obviously the intangibles but they're both athletic they're both six five um you know they've both been in the system for three years. There are worse starting points to have, I guess, is the short way to answer that question.

And I'll ask for your short answer now on the big question that we talk about every week. Are you a Milton guy or are you a mcafree guy oh man uh you know i i don't i don't know if i'm any guy i just write about what happens but if if if i'm let me put it this way i'm creating a video game team and i'm i'm picking one of the quarterbacks i'm i'm picking joe milton i. I'm picking Joe Milton. I am. And maybe I'm selling Dylan McCaffrey short, but I was at Maryland for that game

where it just didn't look like he had quite the same touch. And everyone has bad days. I have bad days where my stories are kind of whatever. So I don't mean to say like he can't be that guy. Joe Milton, just the way the ball comes out of his hand the live arm i mean i think he he was telling us last fall we asked him if he last time he threw a baseball and he was like yeah i haven't played baseball in like six seven eight years we're like well how fast do you think you can throw he's like 92 okay sure let's work with that so he could be a pitching prospect if it if this

doesn't work out for him as well i'll tell you what i'll say this i would take the guy with the best arm in the big 10 and find a way to make sure he's thrown to the right guy it has the right touch and i i would take that, I think, over someone who's the opposite. Some things you can't teach. Arm strength. You know, Ben McDaniels, he might be a great QB coach. I don't think he can teach arm strength that Joe Milton has. He can teach everything else. So I don't know if I'd pick Milton to win, but if I were designing a video game or drafting my team, I think I'd look at Milton first.

Very diplomatic answer there. Love to hear it over here. These guys are big Milton guys, so that was great for them to hear. Well, don't even put Caelin in that He's still with Jack now Just me Playing this side, playing that side Well it sounds like the answer to beating Ohio State Is the QB

And our starter remains to be seen So we will stay tuned And hopefully we'll have some sort of season Maybe until 2022 It could be JJ could be so jj mccarthy man that's yeah exactly well let's move on to our second down topic and change gears here to basketball a little bit uh duncan robinson has quickly become a star in the nba how has duncan been so successful while nick stauskas has struggled fun Fun fact, Jack has officially nicknamed

Duncan Robinson Slim Diesel. Yeah, I'm still waiting for that to catch on, but this was years ago. That wasn't now. That was when he first came to Michigan. Have you patented that? I should. I'll look it up right now.

I'll try to see if it's taken. So you'll definitely hear us shouting all about Slimmy D later on. It's kind of like Christian McCaffrey's nickname, Derry Sanders. I have not, but I like it. I like that a lot. No,

but I mean, it's just, I, I had this question too, because I, I watched Nick Stauskas at Michigan, and he was lights out. And it wasn't just a spot-up shooter.

It was moving off the ball, creating his own shot, passing. It was he could get to the rack. And then I watched Duncan Robinson, also a great player, but not until the very end of his career was he ever even getting to the rack. He really he was, you know, he was a good three point shooter, but it was only when he was wide open. He wasn't really creating his own shot. And then I watch him now play for the Miami Heat and it's like oh my god they're like trying to get him the ball every time down the floor and he's knocking down any shot possible so I don't know Zach I don't know how much you know you I'm assuming you've watched a lot of these guys you know is there any analysis

how did Nick Stauskas not pan out in the NBA and now Duncan Robinson is going around right now as the best shooter in the league. Right. That's still crazy to hear. I mean, you know, can't, you can't discount what Duncan Robinson is doing and he's proven people wrong

literally every step of the way. And so it's, I'm not going to say like, you know, I think it would be unfair to Nick Stauskas to be like, why don't you do, you know, like what Duncan Robinson is doing is pretty exceptional.

By the way, he kind of looks like Rowe, if you think about it. Having covered Duncan Robinson for three years, there's some similarity there. I see the hair. Our shot looks very different, I'll tell you that. I had a feeling. Didn't need to make that declaration. Zach's a little nicer than Spath is. This is his Superman, right?

He takes his glasses off and all of a sudden he's Duncan Robinson. Right. But, you know, Stauskas, I still wonder if he had ended up with like the right coach or the right assistant coach, even just someone who knew what to do with him, because I think once he got to the six years, he was just, he was thrown into that tanking culture. And I don't, I don't think that was good for him. I mean, you know, I think I don't, and he lasted longer than a lot of people do in the NBA. I mean,

his career was what, six years. I mean, that's, you know, don't sell him NBA. I mean, his career was, what, six years? I mean, that's, you know, don't sell him short. You know, he's not a complete, it's not like he was, well, there was one of his teammates who decided he liked drugs more than he liked basketball. So, you know, his career was shorter. You know, Stauskas did score a good amount of points. I want to say it was, you know, in the thousands. And I think he ended up in the wrong culture. And he was just in that tanking culture. And I think that set him back.

Whereas Duncan Robinson, I think you ask around enough in the basketball circles, Miami Heat might have the best culture in the NBA. I mean, how does a team that loses Dwayne Wade, LeBron James, Chris Bosh, still make the playoffs you know still be a good team pretty much every year and Juan Howard is there right that that's it yeah it's a big piece of it right yeah and and he's kind of brought that to Michigan it's you can ask same questions how does Eli Brooks and Austin Davis, how do they have the seasons that they have? And so, you know, I think that Miami, first of all, the NBA is a little bit different than it was even five years ago.

You know, guys like Steph Curry and Klay Thompson have kind of shown, hey, if you can make your threes, I mean, you look at Duncan Robinson's stats, I think he only attempts like one or two two-point shots per game. It's like Klay, where Clay Thompson shoots what? I can't remember the stat, but I remember some ridiculous stat a few years ago of Clay Thompson had like three two-point attempts for the whole year or something like that. Yeah, I mean, there's a role for that. And if you think

about points per possession, well, if you can make 44% of your threes, yeah, keep shooting them. And so that's part of it. I do think Duncan Robinson being 6'8 helps. You know, that's something. It's an unfair thing as someone who is, like, maybe 6'0 if I'm, like, really standing up straight on a good day. You know, I can sympathize with this. But the NBA, they're very heightest. You know, you think about Derek Walton.

The way he finished his career at Michigan probably should have been drafted. Instead, you know, he was too short or things like that. And so height matters. And, you know, this is what, 6'6", so it's not like it's this colossal difference, but that can be the difference between having an extra, you know, .2 seconds to get your shot off or your release point. So that might be part of it too. I mean, sometimes it's just luck too.

I mean, you know, a certain guy, you know, I think Jack and Kalen can relate to this in high school baseball. It's like suddenly randomly this one guy that you were striking out with ease a year ago, he just gets on this hot streak and everything just clicks for him. And so that might be part of it too. But probably the big answer is probably the culture. I mean, Eric Spolstra, we talk about Michigan. They need to get the most out of all of their guys.

I think he's one of those coaches that he will coach players differently or bring in different assistant coaches for different types of players. And so he's found a role, and they're letting him shoot like 11 threes a game. I'm not sure the exact stat, but I'd love to shoot 11 threes a game. I'd probably make one or two. Yeah, we love Slimmy D. I'm not sure the exact stat, but I'd love to shoot 11 threes a game. I'd probably make one or two. Yeah, we love Slimmy D. He's going to catch on. I hope he catches on.

But that's the funny thing you said about culture with the Heat. And I know a lot of people when they saw Jimmy Butler leave the Sixers and go to the Heat, they're wondering if he could be kind of like not – yeah, I'll say, okay, maybe he'd be like a problem in the locker room. But clearly that hasn't been the case. Yeah, I'm not an NBA guy, so. But he was, you know, in the Sixers. At the Sixers, he was a very big problem, it seemed like.

Timberwolves before that, too. Yep, yep. And then all of a sudden, he gets to the Heat. And so that's where, like, I mean, I really never thought about this as much, but until you said it, Zach, you know, Juwan Howard's coming here with that culture, which only seems like could be good things for Michigan basketball in the near future here. Maybe, you know, I hate to project because I would have loved to have seen what it looked like in a tournament setting. You know, I think ask Iowa fans how they feel about their regular seasons versus their post seasons in basketball.

Ask, you know, Purdue fans. I feel like they've won versus their post seasons in basketball ask um you know purdue fans i feel like they've won like four big ten regular season titles and i don't think they've been to a final four and so in the last like five seven years and so you know we have to see it's we're still still seeing but it does seem you know having talked to the players and things like that it does seem like a really close-knit culture in Michigan basketball. And I think Juwan, I mean, it's almost to the point where, as a reporter, we get almost annoyed because he is so for the players. He will never admit that a player is in a slum.

He will never say a player had a bad game. He will never say – it's just one of those things where he just um when he goes out into the podium he basically has the players on his sleeves and he's like don't you know don't don't go after these guys and so um you know i don't know i always compared it to like you think about college players so like second semester seniors where it's like all right well i should say the top tier college players the ones who are going to the nba it's kind of who would you rather have as your teacher the 60 year old grandpa type who is very stern very by the books making you do stuff like homework and assignments you haven't done since the sixth grade or would you rather have

like the the mentor type who knows what you're going through and has all these fun conversations kind of like a cool uncle vibe i think juwan howard's a lot more of that and john beeline as many accomplishments and as much as he knows about basketball which is i mean he he knows more on his pinky than i all of us know combined right but it's um i think there's a really interesting, I want to keep evaluating it. I don't have a full answer yet, but it's an interesting vibe that he, the way he's able to connect and level with players

is it's something, it might pay off because I think his combination of basketball knowledge, knowing how to build a team culture, and then also being able to connect with players. I think, I think a lot of former players who become college head coaches, I don't know if they have that all with them. I think they,

I think they assume it'll be easier than it is. And I think his time at the heat, which again, maybe he got lucky. Maybe he ended up at the right team that kind of trained him for this. So that was a really long non-answer but it's something that that i keep in mind you know when i'm when i'm kind of reading between the lines with what these players and coaches say yeah and i i mean just one

more thing on that too is i think isaiah liivers coming back says exactly what you're saying here you know he and he said it in some of his interviews especially I saw with Andy Katz you know he said Jawan is this guy that is he's all about us you know Isaiah Livers could have very well said you know what I have no idea if there's even going to be a college season. I'm going to just go somewhere, work out and try to do my best and prove, you know, work my connections in the NBA world and get into the G League or work myself. He even said it himself. He was late first round in early or early second round after having injury riddled season. He could have just been like, you know what, that's it. But it seems like he wants to come back and be mentored by Juwan

another year or even six months if there's not a season, and then he'll be more prepared for the NBA. I think that says a ton about Coach Howard and everything he's doing here. Whether it translates to wins in March, I have no idea. You have no idea. You know, that's to be seen. But I think as far – he's done pretty much everything right up until this point with what he's had dealt.

Yeah, he reminds me of – I think we've all had a boss that we, like, especially liked. Like, we have bosses that we're fine with like especially liked like we have bosses that we're fine with we you know we have boss that we don't like but then there's like kind of the middle ground he's on that end where he's the boss or for for people who um maybe haven't had this but like he's like the professor or the teacher that you're like i'm looking forward to that class i'm looking forward to picking his brain and and you can see it when he's practicing I mean he's he's a little bit more subdued than I would have expected for someone who is an NBA player who's a

little bit younger but he I think he really connects with the players I think he does and and I think he goes out of his way to do that his open door policy I know there's been a few stories written about that where I mean it's it's often literally open. It's obviously a figurative open-door policy, but he wants to be a mentor. And I think that's the big thing is that was my big question when he came from the NBA is, is he going to want to do these extra mile things? You know, what's he going to be like on a Tuesday night when they lose a game and some, well, I guess these other college towns are other college towns. But, like, it's a very depressing chartered flight home from, like, a Champaign or from a state college or from, you know, wherever the Iowa City, you know, it's like 10 degrees outside. And it's like, is he going to be, is he going to want to be there for the kids?

Or is he going to be thinking about how he could have still been an assistant coach in Miami? Or he could be a head coach on the private jets bouncing all over the nation's biggest cities. And I think he embraced the mentorship opportunity. And so that's big in basketball. In football, there's a lot of other things, you know, with all the game plan, you only play 12 games, so a lot of it's more the off season for head coach but for basketball a lot of it is you know putting the hand on the player's shoulder and finding a way to make you know say Isaiah Livers is hurt after just returning from being hurt how does he respond and so

so far I can't I can't recall a thing that you know in thing in that mentorship capacity that he hasn't done right. Whether livers is probably more to the decision, but you can tell he wants to play for Jawan Howard, and that's notable. Yeah, for sure. I mean, a lot of it is about knowing your player and conveying that message. Okay, well, we're going to transition into our third down topic. Michigan State paused workouts after a staff member tested positive for COVID on Wednesday night. If this is the protocol for teams moving forward, how can there possibly be a 2020 football season?

Who wrote this question? We are having a 2020 season. I'm sorry. Again, I wrote the question. But it's just, to me, obviously I want a 2020 football season. And last week's podcast, I said I'm single-handedly willing us to a 2020 football season. I'm preparing as I would normally. I'm getting my tailgate stuff ready

in the middle of July like a psycho. I'm watching old film of last year's games and getting myself ready. But it's just like, and this is not a knock on Michigan State. I don't think it's right or wrong what they did here by pausing voluntary workouts because a staff member tested positive. But my point is, if that's the case, so say that happens and that's the protocol for every other school. If one person tests positive that they're shutting everything down, how can there possibly be a 2020 season it's gonna happen you know we talked about it with spath i've heard him on the radio i've heard you on the radio zach it's like it's if that's the protocol then there's no way that nobody's gonna test positive in the next four months so if that's what's gonna happen i just don't see it happening so real quick um i i guess i'd want to know more about the michigan state situation i know i being a staff member that's a little different than a player just because you don't know i don't know who the

staff member was i don't know their age you know i don't know what how severe it was or how involved they were with the players i mean this could be a guy that's – they might have shut it down because it's like the head strength and conditioning coach. Forgive me if we know who it is and I just haven't read it. But it could be someone who interacts with the players like every single player every day. And they're like, okay, without him, this whole thing's got to be tabled. So it might be that.

It might be a precaution i know michigan state they were under one percent in terms of positivity rate with their student athletes this summer so they they would be what i would say in in that good position where you know they didn't have because they i mean there's been teams that have had seven eight nine players on the football team test positive and so i think michigan state michigan penn state notre dame are some of the some of the bigger schools in the area that that have done really well and and haven't had many players test positive so your point stands if they have to shut it down when a when a you know staff member test positive you start to wonder. But I also wonder, would Michigan State have shut it down

if they played next week? Or is this a hyper-proactive, let's make sure we're – but you also wonder, okay, does it matter? Should they be treating it differently in July than they do in September? I would argue morally, no. Or, you know, my other question question too is did they really shut it down or is that like a PR play you know I don't want to put this on Michigan State because I think it could be anybody but I've always talked about you know I've talked with people in the Michigan Athletic Department and just friends in general

you know what if if we're in week nine of this football season and Justin Fields comes in and he's asymptomatic and he tests positive for COVID I can promise you that test is getting buried you know what and and that's not an Ohio State thing that's just like these guys mean that much to these programs you know and if he's asymptomatic, it means millions of dollars. So it's those types of things too. It's like, okay, are they doing this as a, as a PR thing? Are they doing it for real? It's everything's just so unknown. You know, how do we know as fans? And I think it's, it's in the athletic departments, it's in the coaching staffs they have no idea what's going to happen in the next week and a half with a you know a schedule if football is going to

happen how they should be going about it this is all brand new territory for them so what do they do and in the the obvious answer for michigan state here to be precautious about their players and everything else is say, let's shut it down. So I don't blame them one bit. It's just I don't see how, you know, I said it 10 times now, I feel like, but I don't see how that plays out to where we can play a full season of football. Yeah, it's going to be interesting. And that's kind of what I was saying before is it's going to be a full season of football yeah it's um it's going to be interesting and that's kind of what i was saying before is it's going to be a weird season you are going to have starting quarterbacks who are out with even though they feel fine but like there's just they have to sit out and that's that's the ncaa's rules and so yeah it might at the end of the day it might not happen

they might cancel it early they might throw an asterisk on it at the end of the day, it might not happen. They might cancel it early. They might throw an asterisk on it at the end of the day. You know, whoever wins the title is just whoever avoided COVID the most. So there's a lot of potential things here. The only thing that I would say for fans who are wondering, you know, to your point, you know, who are wondering, okay, how is this possible, is it is precautions like this if you know maybe it's not shutting down practice but are you making sure that people who test

positive and people who are around the people who tested positive are you making sure they're staying away because that's really what it's going to be about because you miss a lot of schools have shown and i'd say michigan is one of them that when they're in this bubble they they can avoid covet 19 i think mls had what 1200 tests last week and none were positive i want to say you know mlb and nba have been relatively pretty low positivity rates so it's um i'm not going to make any promises. I'm not going to sit here and, you know, preach that they should have it or that they could. I think, you know, there's a lot of, a lot of interesting points have been raised that if schools don't feel comfortable having

their teachers in school, why on earth are they putting the unpaid college football player or the, or the amateur athlete out there you know for battle and the answer might be because they want to because they are giving players an option to sit out but man i don't i don't know there's a lot of i don't knows that come with the the covid related questions but it's uncharted territory yeah in these unprecedented times drink right we've heard that a thousand times and you know i i as a michigan fan i've been a michigan fan my entire life and i know how things go for michigan and you said something about having an asterisk nest next to the season this would be the year that michigan goes 10 and 0 and wins the national title and then everyone can but everyone still can say jim harbaugh didn't actually win it it wasn't a real title like

that's just how things would happen for michigan i like i it's it's weird how everything happens it seems like nothing can go our way that's just like how it goes yeah well as long as you're aware of the rules then yeah oh we're very self-aware here um does anybody have any cleanup on that topic no i think we touched on it pretty well we hope there's a season but we all understand uh the realities of covid. Our fourth down topic here. Our partner, Michael Spath, said on Inside the Huddle yesterday that TV partners want a full 12-game conference schedule. Let's just say that that happens.

What three teams should Michigan add? Well, if you're getting to a 12-game's all conference just big 10 all conference yeah okay so you're really there's only really only going to be one team that you don't play right so that would logically speaking i would think that would be nebraska um they're not a division divisional opponent there isn't a ton of history and my i i wonder i i prefer I defer to a health expert on this, but are the bus rides safer than the flights, even if they're chartered? My thought would be yes, because you can open a window and you can kind of control who's driving. You don't have as much crew. It's not as much foreign elements.

But my thought would be maybe you decide to drive places and you can drive to northwestern so that's one you can drive to illinois it's kind of a lame drive but it's it's you know five and a half hours um and then you can drive to iowa city it's if you're going quick it's six hours um you know we'll i guess they all they all stink right because rural illinois is not a not my favorite place to drive through but you know i've done all those drives day in day out and so i guess those would be the three that stand out to me that's pretty much naming again you know suddenly they're playing 12 of the 13 other opponents um but it i'm really curious to see because i i can imagine where the tv execs

want 12 games but as we were just discussing i mean there's a lot of factors here and it's not you know ann arbor is pretty good about covid from what i can tell i think there were only four new hospitalizations in the last week the positivity rates well below you know it's kind of in that one to three percent territory so they would be one of those cities that would be classified as like okay they can have a season because those are two the positivity rate and the hospitalization rate are two factors that the NCAA actually outlined as these are reasons to cancel the season so Ann Arbor might be good I don't know what's going on in Evanston, Illinois, or in Minneapolis, Minnesota, or in Madison, Wisconsin.

And so it might, I mean, 12 games is awfully ambitious. I don't know about what you guys think, but I get wanting more money. More money is more money. It's never not more money. But man, that is counting on everything clicking perfectly. You know, I like the 10 game in 14 weeks format because if say Ohio State loses Justin Fields and, and Trey Sermon and a couple offensive linemen for a week, maybe they can just play

the next week and they can, you know, you have, maybe they can just play the next week. You have those bye weeks to kind of help with the isolation. Now it's never going to be perfect. There's probably going to be a lot of teams that cry foul or unfair, but at least you have those weeks to do it. If you're trying to get 12 games in in 13 or 14 weeks, I feel like I'm going gonna sound like a road here but like i just don't see how it works out it just doesn't i don't see the end game again like this is not i i we want it to happen obviously but it's just like it just doesn't i

trust me we're hurt by more by this more than anybody else like we want a football season you want a football season for your job we want it for our podcast that we don't make any money off of we just like to talk football you know like it's it's all that and and i'll actually pass this to jack a little bit to uh here too because we talked last podcast about you know the schedule and where where would you rather play people where where would michigan rather play other teams and you know as far as money goes maybe it's better to play those more high tier teams early in the season jack and you said it last week so go ahead yeah i mean i know we've we've brought it up multiple times and i've brought it up for different reasons but as far

as this case goes i mean every every year we want to play ohio state just because there's always a hope that this could be the year that we could beat them you know more often than not it's happened but but those are the games you want to play we want to see us play ohio state want to see us play michigan state um blue bloods like wisconsin penn state minnesota i mean those are really the big games you want to play so i mean i feel like as far as adding games in i'm with you zach iowa northwestern um illinois those would be like the safe ones as far as travel and leave nebraska out because a little bit farther across the country um but even reorganizing the schedule put michigan state ohio state and penn state in the first month i mean

make sure you get those big money maker games as far as like broadcasting and, you know, whatever it is. Yeah, division titles. I mean, get them at the beginning of the schedule where it really makes that difference. And they have that there. I mean, honestly, if we could add three more games to Ohio State, that gives us an even better chance we'll beat them sometime. I'm all for that as well Yeah what other teams are there besides Illinois, Northwestern That are within five hours

Iowa Would be the outlier Even Maryland Maryland's a far game Penn State's a nine hour drive I've done it three times in my life It's not fun Never fun It can be pretty life it's not fun never fun nope it can be pretty

but the drive home is never fun so well we yeah i we've lost every single time i've been there so the drive home hungover sunday morning drive home after getting beat 42 to 13 not my favorite drive hey don't remember the game. Joke's on you. Good thing I blacked out that day. Blacked out for the whiteout? Is that what they call it? Exactly. It's my new smart move anytime I go to Penn State.

Honestly, I've never been to a Penn State whiteout game. Have you guys had a chance, Zach and Ro? I've been. I think it's the best atmosphere that I've never been to a Penn State whiteout game. Have you guys had a chance, Zach and Roe? I've been. I think it's the best atmosphere that I've covered or that I've been in. Wow. Hands down, I've been to the SHU in Columbus. I've been to quite a few Big Ten games, never really outside of that.

It is unreal. I tell you what, if we could take michigan stadium and make it into that i would that would be heaven on earth for me it truly would i mean it's like i don't know what it is i know it's a night game i i don't know what they do they must like hand a beer to everyone coming in like Like it's just unbelievable. And we've been on the losing end of every game I've been to there in a bad way actually. I've been to some blowouts.

But it's still – I'm just in awe of what they do. It's literally – like Michigan has tried to do a ton of whiteout – sorry, maze outs. And it doesn't really work penn state for some reason the white out is a true white out and it is just like there's nothing that compares to that in my mind you know so here's a way i would describe it to michigan fans you know how like pumped up the stadium is for like mr brightside yeah nowadays like the new tradition and how like you can turn the music

off and they'll just keep singing for another minute and a half so a penn state white out because because the color is relevant i mean every part of it is that every every human being owns a white shirt but part of it they do all wear white, and that is helpful. But it's the energy and the tone. The way Michigan Stadium responds to Mr. Brightside, that is a Penn State whiteout to every single song. And even, like, the little first down jingle they play, like the Zombie Nation, oh, that one.

It's like that for, for like four straight hours and and their aluminum stands probably help echo it but it is i don't know have you ever been like so inspired by something that it scares you a little bit that's that's what a penn state whiteout is and so the closest thing i've come you know purdue basketball is quietly a great atmosphere uh was lucky enough to go to the Final Four in 2018. That's cool in a different way because there's like 20,000 fans of each school that are there. But the Penn State Whiteout is something to behold. It's got to be the fan base just deciding.

The students will always show up for every school. I think Michigan students do a really nice job. It's more the 50-yard line. I think, honestly, what I think it is is it's a bunch of people. Happy Valley is on a cliff that is in the middle of nowhere. So I think the people that go to Penn State games, they have nothing else to do but drink and so you know ann arbor maybe is too close to detroit or you in ann arbor on a football saturday other

than drink well that's true too maybe we just like to put even the downtown is so close like there's like there's so much like tailgates are right there and people are just i don't know i know zach you said you feel like the students do a great job. I'm not saying they don't, but the stadium is so big and it always looks like that student section is only 75, 80% full. I think we should,

we should make it smaller if we're not going to fill it up. Well, they fill it up. They just don't fill it up until an hour later. Yeah. Okay. Jack. Okay. So you're going to fill it up until an hour later yeah yeah okay okay so you're gonna fill it up with what more of the 60 year old people that are gonna fill in there and be even quieter than the students hey at least them telling people to sit down will be louder than empty seats okay grandpa yeah i heard that's a really it's for the aesthetic it'll look better on tv that way

i hear that's actually a really big problem at wisconsin that the student section doesn't show up to like the second half oh my gosh i've seen it yeah like for michigan wisconsin game day was there and they didn't show up until like isn't it like an 11 a.m. Central kickoff, though? Yes. It can be. That's part of it. Yeah. I mean, if I were –

They're still at the bar. Trust me. They show up in the third quarter for jump around, though, right? Yeah. Yeah, that was pretty cool. I don't think it was as cool as a penn state white out but jump around i've always wanted to see it maybe i had the expectations too high in my head but i mean it's part of part of what college football needs to do and i'm curious how this

year impacts it is how do you make sure fans want to be at the games because i'm telling you if i were a fan i'd maybe consider going going to one game or two games. But when you can sit, you know, 75-inch TVs have never been so affordable. You can flip your channels. You can order your Buffalo Wings. You don't have to get up. The beer is like, well, I don't even know. Michigan Stadium doesn't sell beer, right?

Right, exactly. They should. It's just one of those things it's like you might be happier at your part especially if you're not like a die-hard football person like if you're like a casual fan which i mean most people most people aren't like us you know spending all of our waking moments thinking about football and so yeah you'd rather go where you can go to the bathroom you don't pay i mean think about how much a ticket costs. How much beer and pizza and chicken wings could you buy with that money?

I'm doing the calculations in my head. It's a lot. It's almost crazy when you think about all the things you just said, that they can get 110,000 people to come to the games every week. I'm telling you, it's, it's, that's, it's part of what I love about college football that like it, some of it just goes beyond reason, but people show up and they, and they care might argue they care too much.

I say they care and a very admirable amount. I love, I have absolutely. And I'll say it too. So my girlfriend is the director of a game presentation at michigan athletics and it's like we talk about it all the time what can we do to get people up to you know she came with me to penn state multiple times it's like how can we get that at michigan stadium and we just haven't been able to figure it out like it's it if you can if anybody can figure that out that is a literal billion dollar question like somebody will pay you so much money to figure that out at michigan um but it just it just i

don't know it's just the culture well i've been solving this question over the course of the entire summer. Billion-dollar ideas is what I produce every week. We got the Make the Big House Loud Again series going, and Kalen is the leader. He's the conductor of the train. Numero uno. That could work. That could work.

I don't know about you guys last year in 2018 when michigan was thumping wisconsin and thumping penn state i feel like that was pretty good like the the volume you know when they play jump around or they played um zombie nation or they you know i i kind of i look down now i'm very up high and the windows aren't you know they prop them open but i don't quite get a full sense of the atmosphere but i was kind of looking down like okay this looks like uh this looks like a capital f football crowd you know this looks like an sec crowd an ohio state type of crowd so part of it might be the team's got to be better.

But I think if you think about historically, for so long, Michigan games were presented as this family affair. That was like Don Canham's big pitch was don't just go because you like football. Go because it's the family fun thing to do. And so there's a lot of people who still abide by that tradition. And I mean, I don't know. I wonder as, as like people, maybe our age as, you know, millennials or 20 somethings or 30 somethings become the season ticket

holders and the preferred seat donors and things like that. Does it change? I don't know. But when Michigan does well, I do think that the volume follows just a little bit. Imagine if they beat Ohio State at home. Oh, come on. This is me like Leo DiCaprio in Wolf of Wall Street. That's my gift.

I just imagine. I literally go to bed praying every night for the Seven Nation Army after Michigan beats Ohio State. And they're just like, oh, my God, just going nuts. And that's the big thing. I feel like the best crowd we'll get for Michigan versus Ohio State is the game at home after we beat them the first time. Because then maybe all the Ohio State fans won't travel to that one. Because that's what they do. They travel to the game.

I mean, I may be drastically off here, but it seems like it's about 50% Ohio State, 50% Michigan. It's pretty close. I don't think you're off. I mean, it seems like... They get the OHIO going, and it sucks. It's loud.

I don't want us to... This is getting pretty long-winded off the rails. Bro, shut up. It's my fault. It's okay. We're getting off the rails here, so let's try to move into our zero to

90 takes um zach i don't know if we told you about zero to 90 you basically have 30 seconds to do any hot take pitch whatever you want to say you got 30 seconds to say it um but so we'll let you see how it's done and uh row we'll let you go first if that's okay yeah i can go first all right row your zero to 90 starts now all right so by the time basketball season rolls around everyone is going to be so amped up for sports that there's they're going to need to expand chrysler stadium so what they're going to do is basically a big chill inside of michigan stadium but for a basketball game and they're going to do is basically a big chill inside of Michigan stadium, but for a basketball game. And they're going to say, all right,

we're putting the basketball court in the middle of Michigan stadium and they're playing basketball in Michigan stadium, maybe in December, maybe January. 30 seconds. Okay. Some Timberland's on and like big puffy coat trying to hoop out there and 10 degree weather i i mean i do it i do it for the ohio state game why can't our athletes do it

they're the best athletes in the world come on i've got a similar take to what i just put out all right jack your zero to 90 starts now. All right. There won't be fans in the stadium, but tailgating will be better than ever. Everybody is craving sports. They're craving interaction. They're craving just anything that involves, you know, getting ready for a game and all that hype. And if people are allowed to tailgate because people will do it at their homes or do it wherever it's gonna be a great great thing to witness okay yeah no i'm i'm tailgating right now cheers this is like heavy breathing right here that is that gets me going i'll tell you what that that gets me going real good gosh all the blood rushed from Ro's head, too. I'm not going to say where, but he got very excited with that take.

I'm going to be outside tomorrow building my whole bar for the tailgate. Oh, gosh. All right, Zach, you've seen how it's done. Are you ready for your zero to 90? Okay, so I thought I had 90 seconds. I did a bad job explaining that. It was only 30 seconds. You know so I thought I had 90 seconds. I don't have any. I did a bad job explaining that. It was only 30 seconds. You know, we can give him 90 seconds.

He's a guest. Yeah, come on. All right, well, I don't know if I've made a point in 30 seconds. Don't cut him off. He's good. All right, let's do this because I was teasing it earlier. Michigan fans will not be happy ever until they stop comparing themselves to ohio state i mean you look at the run that they're on they i think it's like eight straight years they've

been a top six team michigan's never done that the last time they were close the telephone wasn't invented and so they are just for your own sanity you think about the the one guy michigan has a statue for he went 10 9 and 1 against ohio state like talk about the one guy Michigan has a statue for. He went 10-9-1 against Ohio State. Talk about the best ever. Bo Schembechler, at least in the modern era of Michigan football. It's just an unfair comparison. They've won 11.5 games a year for 20 years. Michigan's kind of sitting in that 8.5 zone.

Obviously, Michigan should try to get there. But if you want to be happy and you're a Michigan fan, you got to start comparing yourself to Penn State. You got to start comparing yourself to Notre Dame and probably appreciate the fact that you have pretty much taken over the Michigan State rivalry. And so I get a lot of people who tweet at me when when players say thing this or that who cares beat ohio state not a way to go through life if if you do well in an im basketball game and someone and you come home and you're excited about it and someone says who cares you know focus on the tps report due monday that guy's not going to be your friend for very long right so it's just i get i get the rivalry i'm not dismissing it but if you are michigan fan you're like how do i be happy appreciate celebrate all victories right and

appreciate that while you're not ohio state you're not ruckers you're not maryland you're not some of these other schools and so we're not the know. We're not the Spartans either. You know what? You said it. Thank God. I'm going to take the high road here. We're leaving the Ohio State out, but our rival, the Spartans, they're in bad shape.

And we're going to take the victory there. There you go. There you go. I see it all the time. I don't know about you guys. Every time something happens to Michigan, it's like, who cares? Just beat Ohio State. It's just, I don't know.

The whole just beat Ohio State thing, literally, that gives me, like, aneurysms, honestly. But I come from the West side of Michigan. I come from nearly all Michigan state fans are, are my friends. And you know what? We're dominating the football rivalry after, you know, they had their run for sure, but it's over their whole, they won eight out of 10. I think Michigan might win 10 out of 10, honestly, for the next 10 years.

And the only problem is basketball because they're still pretty good in basketball. And Tom Izzo is doing a pretty good job. We'll cut this out because I don't want to get any fouls. I'll take that 10-0 action, by the way. I like that. I mean, Zach, what we might have to do is take off Ohio State like we did with Notre Dame. Oh, you're taking it out of schedule for 12 years? Yeah, resume it back in 2034.

Give us some time. Give us some time to catch up, and then we'll go back up there. I mean, all right, since 2000, they lead the nation in wins, NFL draft picks. I believe they lead the nation in conference titles. Like, I get where Michigan wants to be at that level. No, I don't think the national titles part. No, no, sorry, conference titles.

Excuse me. Yeah, they don't win in national titles. Alabama does. But I really don't like you coming at us with stats here to actual facts. We don't like those on this podcast, so you can leave those at home. I didn't get that in the memo. All right, somebody put a timer on me. Let me do my 0-90. All right, here we go. All right, Kieron, your zero to 90 starts now okay in the

unlikely event that we don't have a football season i suggest that we make a custom version of madden or updated ncaa and we make it playable with 11 guys versus 11 guys. We recreate every team, and then every player, starter on every team, gets an opportunity to play against every starter on the other team. So we've just virtualized NCAA football. We can stream it on Twitch, slash YouTube,

slash whatever the kids are watching. Ah, you're cut off. There we go. Interesting. Sounds like a lot of work. I liked it. Dude, it's just Madden 11 v 11 updated rosters so you're saying so you're saying like aiden hutchinson can play as himself and and then

dominate and then okay all right i like that i like that yeah let's do it. Zach, are you a gamer? I don't know. I like video games. I don't play nearly enough to be a gamer. I don't think any of us are. So I think we're all in the same boat. We're like casual, love to play every once in a while, but not anything serious.

Because that way, at least we could watch a season, right right and the players would still get to participate in a season whether they enjoy it or not man i could still drink and gamble i mean yeah i'm with that or us recreating a season and just tailgating while one of us plays you know it's yeah anything any reason to give myself the opportunity to tailgate and drink, I'm all in. At this point, we will tailgate literally anything. Like, if you guys, if there is, I don't know, you know, horse racing. I saw a little team playing at Vets Park the other day. You can go tailgate them. I was already there.

Let's tailgate them. Do you think there's a line that we can bet on, too? You know? them do you think there's a line that we can bet on too you know i want like over under uh tommy at first base gets 1.5 hits right i'll bet on that i swear to god i'll do it all right we're off in the weeds now uh let's go ahead and wrap this episode up right uh thank you for listening to blue by 90 you can find us on instagram and twitter at at blue by 90 you can find us on youtube at blue by 90 podcast uh zach if you have anything you want to plug um no just right in a way over at 24 7 sports love the work that myself and my colleagues have done um also inside the huddle starting to get back into things a little bit

uh you know we're not in studio yet and i'm only, I think I'm only on once or twice a week at this point, but, um, check it out. It's a fun show. I know, I know Ro got, got his debut there the other day, right? Yeah. These, these guys are next though. They're coming on. So you better watch yourself cause we might be coming for your spot.

You never know. You never know. You never know. This is what you deal with when you talk to Roe, Zach. Just to keep your heads up. You want to share your Twitter at all or you want to keep that under wraps? I'll be for Zach Shaw. Yeah. I wish there was like, oh, you know what?

Actually, there'll be a couple of cool stories in the next week or so. There's some ideas I've got cooking. All right. Well, check out Zach on Twitter. There's some ideas I've got cooking. All right. Well, check out Zach on Twitter. That's underscore Zach Shaw, right? Yep. All right. Cool.

Well, thanks for coming on, Zach. And thanks for listening. And go blue. Go blue. Go blue. We'll see you guys later. Outro Music All right. Outro Music Big guns need love too, no discrimination here squirrel So keep your hands off my cheeks, let me study how you ride the beat, you big freak Skinny slim women got the c**k so within them you can f**k them Lift them, bend them, give them something to remember

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