Blue By Ninety - E71: Recruiting update, new uniforms & tailgate hype

Episode Date: June 22, 2021

Big recruiting weekend for Football and Basketball, a sneak peek of some dope alternate football uniforms and some hype as we close in on tailgating season. Crack a cold one and enjoy the show.

This is the University of Michigan. Touchdown, Michigan! That's the beat of Michigan ball! And they've got one extra pass. And it goes for the win! The three-pointer by Jordan Poole! Down the sideline! People jump!

Touchdown, Wolverines! Alright, welcome back to Blue by 90. I am Justin, joined by Jack and Kalen. As always, it is Monday, June 21st. Summer solstice. Oh god, that was bad. Summer solstice. That's a tough word. Come on, that's a tough word, right? I could see you getting slipped up on that was bad. Summer solstice. That's a tough word.

Come on, that's a tough word, right? I could see you getting slipped up on that. Yeah, summer solstice. Longest day of the year, right, I think. I mean, I spent the weekend out on a boat, and we were legitimately on the boat until, like, 11 or 12 midnight because it was just forever oh yeah geez dude yeah the fact that it stays light until like 10 and it gets bright at like 5 30 i love it i'm all for it i would kill to have this all year round oh yeah dude

kiss your seasonal depression goodbye sun is shining exactly exactly yeah i uh this is like i mean they should hold every recruiting visit ever like at michigan in this like two-week span because it's just so nice in michigan and the days are long the sun is shining and then we'll just pretend like, you know, fall and winter never comes. Yeah. I swear it's like this all year round. Yeah. It should be illegal to have visitors on, like, February 1st or whatever. It's just awful.

Exactly. Exactly. Which, speaking of, they did. They had a great, huge, did this used to be like the barbecue at the big house? I think that's what they used to call it. I think so. Yeah. Yeah.

And they just called it – I didn't even see really what they called it, but it was a huge recruiting weekend for Michigan, and they had some big dogs on campus, including Walter Nolan, who is the number one D lineman in the country, right? And he said it. Kalen, you've got all the intel here, but it sounds like he said it was a great weekend. Yeah, he tweeted out, great weekend in Ann Arbor. So, like, that's awesome to see.

Also got two commits, C.J. Stokes, a running back, and Aaron Alexander, a linebacker from Belleville. So, awesome to see there's already guys committing you know day of day after whatever and then i mean i i'm not i can't even go down the list because there are so many guys there but i mean that to me just speaks volumes to uh what's the guy we brought in courtney morgan for like director of recruiting i mean he's obviously just murdering it.

Yeah, I think, I mean, it's obviously tough. I think recruiting has to be really hard. Like Michigan's pitch right now. It's like, all right, we don't know if our coach is going to be here next year. Just came off a two and four season like all that stuff i mean that's got to be a tough sell right haven't beat our rival in fucking 300 years yeah like i i mean people are like pissed off that we're getting three stars and i just feel like that's kind of where we're at right now and And I also think, you know, people were like, oh, why do we have a three-star running back?

Hassan Haskins is a three-star running back. So that's worked out decently well for us. Well, the good thing, too, and Michigan has been doing a really good job in their evaluations lately. Like some of the guys that we see that they've offered extremely early, then months later you go like, oh, wait a second, that guy's getting an offer from Alabama, Florida, Georgia,

and you're like, oh, maybe they're actually starting to get some of their eval stuff going, which is good, and hopefully it pays off in the end. Yeah, I agree. I know, good, and hopefully it pays off in the end. Yeah, I agree. I think, you know, honestly, yes, stars definitely matter. I think that that is very obvious,

and anybody who argues against that is probably just trying to make up for the fact that their team doesn't get highly rated recruits. But I still think there's something to the fact of like you want guys that are gonna buy in i mean let's be honest here in michigan i think if you went back and looked at it over the past seven years or ten years more three stars have panned out than five stars is that is that a crazy thing to say or am i that's a bit of a hot take maybe i mean well how many of the five stars have like truly panned out i know i mean jabril and rashaan i think the problem was more so the just the expectations of the five stars compared to what

we got out of three stars yeah i guess i guess but i see i mean like dpj you know five star guy like he's gonna produce at michigan but he's killing it in the nfl like that you know i don't know how much that has to do with it like michigan's coaching or what but it could be something you know along those lines well i think that there's something like the things that i heard from the people i know in the department was more like TPJ was a big diva. So it was like Tariq Black and those guys and they weren't bought into being at Michigan. So I think there's something to getting a three star, a high three star guy or low four star or something that is truly bought in. And that guy might pan out better than a better-ranked guy or a more talented guy that doesn't really want to be here.

So maybe that's going to work out for Michigan. Who knows? That's very true, yeah. I mean, the culture and the attitude is a huge part of it. Another big part of that recruiting weekend was a lot of guys got, like, crystal balls towards Michigan, too, like prediction-wise. So it didn't just pay off in terms of getting direct commits, but a lot of guys who definitely started getting a harder lean towards Michigan

that I think that in years past we would have just totally whiffed yeah yeah I think that's good I I think I mean it's a good sign to come out of a big weekend like that with crystal balls with people like raving about it and things like that I mean you you may not it's still very early in that site recruiting cycle. So I think, I don't know how many people are actually going to make a decision then, but, um, why are you laughing at me? I'm literally laughing at myself because this whole conversation is like you guys talking about recruiting and I'm sitting here and I'm so focused and I'm like, I'm not going to fucking get excited for anything like you guys are like yeah

you know it's good to see this good to see that i'm like i'm not gonna fucking do it i'm not gonna do it oh god yeah i mean if you're out there listening i i would love to hear some feedback some people hit us up on twitter or instagram or something where like are you guys excited or are you trying to be like jack and just like almost tune us out essentially i've never i've never been part of a podcast where one of the hosts tries to tune out the other hosts here we are here we just gotta put my blinders on man don't get the hopes up don't get the hopes up you'll have a good time just don't get your hopes up oh that's amazing that is amazing well um i mean i i think you gotta have a little bit of optimism right oh god you guys are gonna be full-blown 11 and 1 ready to go by by august whatever that first game is for sure for sure so all right well i don't know i mean do we want to just talk about the uniforms jack talk about the uniforms that that at least

the uniforms that the recruits showed can you get excited about those i can get very excited about that i told you i'm i'm rooting for players this year i don't you know if the team does well great i mean if they start getting hot i'll get back on the bandwagon but i'm not gonna get my hopes up but i did love from the recruiting weekend we saw a lot of guys in the all blues we saw a couple um all maze we obviously saw like the maze and blue but now we saw the blue pants and the maze top i kind of like that i kind of like that uh combo dude that was that was fire i was into it i love how they lined them all up and it was like you could kind of mix and match a little bit oh it was awesome well they they lined them all up they didn't have that uh

maze on top blue on bottom one so i wonder if it was just the recruit saying like hey like let me let me try this real quick but like michigan like is super against it or something they're just frowning in the corner like we're right like oh god get this kid out of here gotta keep our traditions i'd love to see it though dude made top blue bottoms those look fire i like those did look pretty sweet those look sweet i would do i mean i like any of those combos honestly but i like play around a little bit i like maize top blue bottom than the more than the all mazes i think well i think that i like oh no i'm with you on that 100 i i'm not a huge fan of all i think they could tweak that to make it look better

but i hate that there's a blue collar for maize pants it's just it's like it's weird to me it's like wearing a black belt with brown shoes you know like it didn't it's didn't i didn't like the visual of it but with the blue collar with the blue pants kind of makes it's a little more aesthetically pleasing for me um but no dude i do like that big fan the other the other thing honestly there's one little thing that bothers me so much that michigan could do so much better with their uniforms with that with that collar that you're talking about just put a little m right in the oh my god dude been saying that for years i mean it would look it actually like pulled the uniform together i don't understand why we can't do that little thing.

Right. And even, like, Ohio State, dude, they got, like, the – it says, like, Buckeyes on the top of the back collar. Like, if it says, like, Go Blue or Hail to the Victors or, you know, yada, yada, yada, anything, really. Just play with the jerseys a little bit. Have a little bit of fun. I mean, I get it.

You're trying to stay traditional, but, like, you can tweak it without going too far off the cuff i mean i would i would rather they go too far and then reel it back in then just stay reeled in forever right right well no i don't want them to go too far because if they go too far people and they don't like it then they'll never go fucking take any steps forward well then you don't wear that one again. So what? I think you want to know what the big problem is too, is that it's been very rare that we've worn different jerseys and won the game. Like Florida, we won with the all mazes.

Did we beat Penn State at home with the Devin Funches all blues, Adidas all blues? Maybe. I don't know. But, like, I know, like, the freaking Bumblebee ones at MSU. Oh, God. That was awful. Well, also, though, with that, Michigan's losing that game either way,

no matter what uniform you're wearing. They're obviously bringing out the exciting uniforms for the big games. Don't bring up that narrative. It's also we try to do like the all-whites are different. Oh, I love the all-whites. I know, but we lose every away game, every big away game. Because we suck at away games. That's not on the jersey.

That's just we just suck at away games. We can not on the jersey that's just we just suck at away yeah we can't play on the road hey man maybe try the blue bottoms with that white jersey i don't know maybe well maybe that'll check some things what do you call it were you like you gotta man what's the word like you get fuck i can't see it i have no idea where you're going here. I have zero clue where you're going. You get superstitious about your jersey, right? Oh, I know that. Then you gotta change it up.

Yeah, I hear that. No, I don't. I mean, in all seriousness, they just gotta play better, right? Alabama's won the same two jerseys for their entire history In all seriousness, they just got to play better, right? Alabama's worn the same two jerseys for their entire history, and they beat the shit out of everybody. So, I mean, jerseys are cool and stuff,

and they definitely do help recruiting, I think, in the year 2021. So might as well do something with it. But, like, you know what? I'll say this. It's really going to piss me off. If they have all these recruits wearing these jerseys and then we wear zero alternates all year, that would piss me off.

Yeah. Fuck that. That would really piss me off. Like, I know you got it. Yeah. Well, I don't know if they have enough that I don't know if they have enough of the yellows, but they should do blues.

But, anyways, did we have anything else on that topic? Dude, I got nothing. White cleats, maybe? Love to see white cleats. Oh, I would love some white. White cleats with the all whites. I'd love that. I see.

Like, we don't have to change the helmet. We can keep the helmet. Just, you know, play around with Taylor's stuff. I agree. I agree. And so I will say on the recruiting side, basketball, we did get a sweet recruit for basketball. Dougie. Doug McDaniel, which, I mean, it doesn't get more cool than just spelling your name d-u-g

i do like that so and and people i don't know if you guys saw this i can't remember who tweeted it out today um because people were all up in arms about him being five nine like oh he's too small why are we taking him he's five foot'9". Yeah, people haven't watched Michigan fucking play the last two seasons with a short fucking point guard that balls out. Exactly. And I think also there was a video that surfaced today of him. Yes. Oh, my God. Boomed out.

He did. I mean, I don't care if he's five nine he hammered one down on somebody dude yeah he just came flying down the lane he just got up and he just kept going up and i was like oh shit he threw that down on that kid so once again i also like uh before i say you know discount a guy on his height i'm probably going going to trust Juwan Howard's talent evaluation until he proves me wrong. Yeah. Yeah, that's what I was going to say, too. Just full faith in Juwan Howard.

Whoever he likes, that's who I like. Yeah. I will not question that man. Exactly. Basketball-wise, i will say this so we've got what like four or five guys in this uh in this like g league camp right like invite camp i'm getting a little worried to be honest about like davante smith i know i know i saw davante jones i saw he was hooping a little bit i'm like oh don't do that good all right slow it down yeah down. Yeah, and Hunter, too. I'm like, hold on, boys.

I'd really rather have you guys balling out in Chrysler in practice right now instead of the freaking in front of the G League who's literally trying to scout you. Right. Fuckin' A, dude. I don't know. This might be a hot take, but I think i'd rather have davante jones if i had a paper to one of those two guys that's going to come back or go to michigan next or play in the fall whatever uh i'd say davante jones over hunter dickinson we've got other big we've got other big guys man we need a veteran point guard

you you're saying that you'd rather have a guy that played in a mid-major last year than the Big Ten freshman of the year. I'm just saying we got big fucking dudes coming in. Or I guess we got Moussa coming in. We got Moussa coming in, but he's only like 6'9". Like he's not 6'10". Slanky though. He looks bigger than that.

Yeah, but he's not going to like be able to D up a Luka Garza. You know what I mean? Good thing Luka's in the league. I get what you're saying. I get what you're saying. But I don't know, man. It's like we saw what Mike Smith did last year and he was just like having him run the point was huge for that team having a veteran presence leading the offense I mean it just made such a difference but then when you had

like Zeb in there I don't know I just didn't love Zeb at the point guard yeah I feel you I feel you I mean it would be sweet if I would love for like Juwan to be able to put that all together, where Mike Smith last year was obviously huge, but he didn't really score as much for us. If, like, Juwan can learn from that and have Devontae Jones run the offense but also be this elite scorer, that changes everything, right? Yeah. I mean, that's what he is, right?

He's a pretty good scorer coming out of wherever he came from charlotte yeah but so was mike smith was that was like coastal carolina or something like that right yeah yeah um yeah coastal carolina i suppose but like so mike smith was scoring like 27 points a game and then he came to us and didn't score any yeah well i feel like i feel like with mike though it's like you know he didn't need to. When Eli was shooting well, he was shooting well. Obviously, he had Franz, he had Hunter, Livers when he was healthy. I mean,

all these guys that are amazing scorers, too. Kind of limit his touches a little bit. True. True, true. I'm going to disagree with you, though. I'd take Hunter. Caleb, who do you got be the tiebreaker i mean i i would take hunter to be honest that's

he's you know he's our guy so stick with him he is we uh we are still selling big dickinson energy shirts so always stocked always stock keep that thing on me which i mean guys all right this is the last thing i want to talk about today i mean i think we got to get these people excited because i'm excited about the tailgate merch we're about to drop in the next oh months. Oh, it's coming up, baby. It's coming up. I'm ready. I'm ready. It's going to be so fire. Let's be honest here. I'll be quite frank with you guys. I think about tailgating

literally every day of my life. That's not an exaggeration. Not an exaggeration one bit. I've been thinking about the new speakers that i want to buy i've been thinking about a new tent uh i sent you guys that trailer the other day yes yeah it'll be this will be a fun tailgating season we haven't had it for a fucking year or a few years i guess the biggest thing is there's a good chance i don't even give a shit about the game so i'm

just going to continue to tailgate. I'm telling you, dude, that's where I'm at. That's where I'm at mentally right now. It's a pretty great place to be. Dude, I was driving by the golf course yesterday, and I was just like, oh, my gosh, I can't wait. It's going to be so good. I mean, the merch that we're about to come out with, too. We got t-shirts. We got hats coming out.

We got, I mean, what else do we got? I hope we're doing koozies. Just do some koozies. Koozies, hoodies. I mean, find the flag. Find the flag. Yeah, get that flag. Fucking A.

Yeah, for sure. Banners and flags. We're going to, we'll have it all. We'll have it all. And it's not just going to be like, it's not just going to be saying Blue by 90. It's going to have a million different things on it. It'll be fun to do that. Just got to give that a little plug before we sign off here. Jack will be wearing a Blue by 90

branded shirt that says, don't get your hopes up. I like that a lot actually kaylin i'm adding it that is definitely happening don't get your hopes up in just amazing blue that is oh my god kaylin i love it that's gonna be that's fucking great i'm getting that there's only gonna be one and i, and I'm going to get it. I don't know. That might be our highest selling item. That could be, man. Don't get your hopes up.

Oh, my God. I love that. That is incredible. Oh, my God. All right. Well, I think that is a perfect way to end it here. Hopefully, we'll have some of that merch coming out later this summer,

maybe July, August, something like that. But I want to get everybody ready and make sure everyone has it for the first day of tailgating. So, anything else that you guys want to talk about or drop in before we head out? I'm good.

Ready for this apparel, that's for sure. Love it. Love it. All right. Well, you can follow us at Blue by 90 on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, at Blue by 90 Podcast on YouTube. And we will see you all next week. Go Blue.

Go Blue. Go Blue.