Blue By Ninety - HATE WEEK 2022 EPISODE 1 W/ SCOTT BELL

Episode Date: October 26, 2022

Twitter troll extraordinaire, Scott Bell, joins the boys for our first episode of 2022 hate week. crack a cold one and enjoy the show.

all right welcome back to blue by 90 i'm justin joined by jack and kaylin as always and because it is a certain week of the year we had to have the the guy that that probably pisses off the most spartan fans of any twitter account on uh you know out there scott bell scott we appreciate you coming out man thanks thanks for having me uh i i enjoy enjoy what you guys do and i'll uh i'll try and get that line on my resume because that's i i wear that like a badge of honor so i feel like we got to start off hot what's what's what's the best interaction you've had with a spartan fan or you could say even a Buckeye fan because you you you troll both very very well yeah well the the thing with like I I don't hate Michigan State more than Ohio State it's just there's so much low-hanging fruit from from Michigan State I would I would love to to be able to uh go after Ohio State a lot but like trust me I'm squeezing

every little bit out of out of 42-27 as I can, but Michigan State's just kind of the more frequent target because of it, they're kind of ripe for the picking with the low-hanging fruit, so I am an equal opportunity hater, and I would love to make it more 50-50, but we got to do a little better in November to make that happen. Best interaction? Probably pre-Twitter. I was the sports editor of the Michigan Daily, the student paper in Ann Arbor, and each year before the Daily State News game that I think a lot of people are familiar with where the two student papers play against. One person from each sports department writes a column in the other school's paper.

So my junior and senior year, I went pretty hard at the whole school. And I had someone show up at a tailgate in Ann Arbor for the game. I guess, I guess it was the 07, 06 or 07 game. I'm ancient. So one of those years, but they showed up with a copy of the column in their hand. They had no idea I was going to be at the tailgate that I was. And they were like looking for Scott Bell and they're like, and I got a bunch of my frat

brothers too and that was like I that was like pre-twitter and pre uh kind of really trying to make an art form out of poking the bear and I feel like that was like it was like getting to be a bad guy at like a wrestling event and that that was uh that was fun that is incredible oh my you're just trying to you're just trying to figure out your top eight on myspace and these guys are just coming at you exactly yeah i was i was excited about color tv happening and i mean that talk about the origin story like that's got to be it where i mean you had to have known like all all right, I think I have something here, right? Like that's, or was it just like completely organic that you were just like, all right,

well, we're just going to keep going. These thoughts keep coming to my brain. Let's keep rolling with it. Yeah, it's fun. I've always, I've always been enamored with, with college sports. And I, I just, I feel a lot more investment in, in college sports than like watching Detroit sports grow growing up. And I mean, like right around that time, the Pistons were actually good. The Tigers were good. Like now it's more socially acceptable to just not care

about a lot of the pro teams, but like, I just feel there's just a lot more passion and ownership of college sports, whether you're attending there, but you also, people can I've just, I've always liked the passion around the college game. And I feel like trash talk and banter and stuff just sort of it's, it's fun. Like part of Michigan, Michigan state week, like probably the majority of its enjoyment is like the buildup and just like talking noise. And like, it's not getting overly personal or like getting angry or stuff, but you're just like, it's fun. And if someone dunks on Michigan and it's good,

like I'll tip my hat to them and I'll, I'll try and one-up it. And that's, that's just, it's, it's fun. And that's why college football is so great because it's more than just those three hours on, on a Saturday, you have the buildup to it. you have the aftermath to it and and all that good stuff is it for you like the I feel like the hate from the Spartan fans is kind of like how you said if somebody's got a good tweet like you know towards Michigan where they're they're clowning on them like you're like I'll tip my hat do you think Spartan fans are more pissed off the fact that your tweets are funny and like they're good that they're dissing them? Or is it the fact that they actually dislike what you said in the tweet?

I would say both. It is nice. Like, and not even like, it's cool if there's like a Michigan State fan that I like respect or we have good banter with where he'll be like, Hey, that was a good tweet. But like, it's almost like when they get super mad and like, don't have a great comeback, like that's essentially their way of tipping their hat too. And you almost like that. You almost like that a little more.

So I'll, I'll take, I'll take joy and satisfaction in whatever reaction I can get. But I do, I do have a special place in my heart for like the okay I don't really know what to say but good job yeah I before we started recording I I said to Scott that there I have a lot of Sparty fans that like they hate him so much because they're like how is he so good at it how how did he twist it perfectly to, you know, be great for Michigan every time? So, I mean, that's the reputation that you have,

which is, I'd say it's a pretty good crown to wear. Well, I'd love to take all credit for it, but I think Michigan State gets a lot of credit too for giving us such great material. Like what is like, he's just on it right away. He's got it. He's got some sort of way to sneak it in there. I love it.

It's beautiful. But I will say, like, there isn't a team out there that, like, if you actually put it down on paper, right, like 10 out of 14 is what, you know, they all say, which I understand, but it's cherry picking the exact amount of years that you know that they want to uh but like a team that has that has won 10 out of 14 like how do they still have so much low-hanging fruit that's that's what's like an astonishing thing to me is like they they do it to themselves a lot well in in many ways like that's that's kind of like part of the low hanging fruit in itself like they're they're like they have they've won the last two years and like

that's great like you you should talk noise about that you've won that but like two years ago they finished dead last in the big 10 like no no team was worse than michigan state in in 2020 but they're like the the the collective fan base that whole off season was just like puffing their chest because they beat michigan so like it used to be a theoretical thing like hey would you rather lose all your games but beat your rival or would you rather um like have a good season but lose to your rival and people would be like oh michigan state would probably rather like lose all their games but just beat michigan and like that was the joke but it came to life like 2020 like that is it and it's like so the fact that that is like their fan base's mantra like there's there's really no

going back from it and they're it's i'm painting in a broad mantra like there's there's really no going back from it and there it's i'm painting in a broad brush and there's not everyone that feels that way but like it it is like it's so unique in the sense that like there aren't that many fan bases that truly despise another fan base that much and and i think a lot of that was really sort of like etched in there by by Mark D'Antonio and in at the time they had that success and what he sort of instilled in there I think that's just going to to stay for the long haul I don't remember the year but there was a year where like if Michigan State like Michigan State could have won the big 10 or a share of the big 10 or got a trip to Indianapolis or something, as long as Michigan beat Ohio state. And they like asked Mark, Mark D'Antonio, like, will you cheer for Michigan?

And he's like, no. And like, you can win the big 10 if Michigan loses, but you'd rather your rival lose a game that will make your season like indisputably worse. Like so. So that's like talking about origin. Like that's like the origin of sort of where this is gone. And I just feel like it's so ingrained in there that that's just kind of there, at least for the indefinite future. Yeah. And I think like I think back to 2021, right, right where you know I I was at Spartan Stadium for that game it was a very tough walk back to the the car for sure and but I I looked all of my Spartan friends in the eyes and they were you know cloud nine times a thousand right because it

was not only are you beating Michigan, but you're beating Michigan in like what to them at the time was like the road to winning the big 10, right? Like they thought for sure. And so now like then after the season, I just think that like they did everything they could. They beat Michigan and Michigan still goes and ohio state and wins the big 10 i think that's almost like worse than them losing that game because they like they want to talk all

that shit so much but then at the end of the day like even beating michigan still wasn't enough to hold them back from winning the big 10 they just like can't do anything about it well and i think that's really the thing because they're, if they're talking shit and it's going to affect Michigan fans, like they know they have something, but truly like in 2020, like that loss bothered the hell out of me. And it's still like,

it's still an annoying loss to think about, but 2021, like once Michigan got into me and it's still like it's still an annoying loss to think about but 2021 like once Michigan got into November and it was clear that game did not matter especially after what happens with Michigan beating Ohio State and going to the Big Ten Championship nothing about last year's game bothers me like it would have been great to to to run the table um it would have been great for Aiden Hutchinson to have another Heisman sort of tick with that with a defensive touchdown and it's you you would prefer to beat your rival but like this offseason anytime a Michigan State fan is like sends me a picture of Paul Bunyan like I don't care like Michigan won won the big 10 championship. Michigan went to the college football playoff.

And I feel like that is that that has to bother them so much because 2020 trash talk. It, it worked and it should have, because it's incredibly annoying that Michigan lost to that team last year, Michigan state, pretty good team wish Michigan would have won, but you know what? Michigan still was the best team in the big 10. And in that loss to Michigan State in the grand scheme of things truly did mean nothing yeah that's what I love more than anything is like they they're already the second rival right you know maybe 2a 2b with Notre Dame um and uh they to make it so you can Michigan state can beat us kind of like row, like you just said, and it's just so insignificant.

Like who cares? Like, oh yeah, we lost the state, but who cares? We, we beat our actual rival, won the big 10 and are going to the playoff. Yeah. And that's what I love. And it, and it, yeah, then there's no, there's no real rebuttal to either side. So like Michigan state should be excited about their season last year. It's probably going to be the best season they have in a while but they're still going to know that like the third place that they were celebrating so mightily

is the same thing they were using to dunk on michigan a handful of years ago saying ha ha jim harbaugh can only finish in third place. And that looks like their program ceiling for the indefinite future. And part of that's bad luck for being in a division with Michigan and Ohio State. But guess what? It was annoying that Jim Harbaugh's threshold was never winning a Big Ten title when Ohio State is on this program best historical run. So Michigan went and got the job done. And let's see if Mel Tucker can do it. But I I'm not feeling optimistic that that's going to happen.

Right. All right. When your entire, when your entire program is like predicated on beating one other program and you can't do that. Right. When you finally reach that point where the other program is able to prevent you from beating them where do you go from there right like so yeah what's

your identity exactly yeah for sure it's it's a great point it's a great point and let's let's talk about mel tucker for a second because – I'm coming. Is Tuck coming? Tuck might have blew his load too early in my opinion. I don't know, man. You know, I actually said this. So I said this first about Scott Frost.

I have a couple Nebraska friends, fan uh friends i said it about scott frost be careful about like the savior quote unquote coming to your school and you hyping them up paying them a shit ton of money and setting the standard way too high right just be careful of that and that's what they nebraska did that with scott frost obviously, we know how that turned out. It kind of seems like the Mel Tucker situation is the exact situation because Mark D'Antonio, unbelievable coach. There's really, as a Michigan fan, not much you can say. I don't like him as a person because I think he's a dickhead, but, like, he did get the best of Michigan

a lot of those years, even though, I'll add this jab in, you know, Jim Harbaugh did retire Mark D'Antonio. 100%. But I'll say this, like, he was able to get away with an 8-4 season every so often, right, because he was not paid you know as a top tier coach and and it's it's michigan state right it's you know the fact is that they're not going to be in the national media all the time right the same as as a michigan and ohio state But my point is you pay Mel Tucker, Nick Saban money, and guess what? You can't go eight and four anymore, let alone what is looking like this year is going to be.

So now the standard is 10 and two or higher. And now what do you do when in year three, you possibly go like seven and five? And seven and five is their their ceiling like i uh the the they beat wisconsin but let's let's pump the brakes a little bit there like i i still if i have a gun to my head i'm guessing five or six wins for for them uh i help a healthy jayden reeds big and and them getting some of their pieces on defense is important but I could see them playing

Penn State in the season finale for the right to play in the quick lane bowl which I wish that wasn't on the Michigan Ohio State day because that would be an appointment viewing for me

with just a big old bag of popcorn. I would love a Twitch live stream of you watching that game. I would love the opportunity to live stream that. I think it's the same day as the game. A little tunnel vision for Michigan-Ohio State on that day. But I completely agree, though, in terms of expectations. I feel like Michigan State for the past decade, this whole chip on your shoulder mentality was developed. And they're like, all they did was yell, look at us, look at us.

We're a big program. We're a big program. We're a big program. Now that they're shelling out big program money, there's big program expectations. And they're going to learn that if you have big program expectations and you don't live up to them, there, there, there's going to be consequences. And you can't say, Hey, we're going, we're, we want, we want to Nick Saban. We want to pay someone Nick Saban money when you're going to get like jeff braum productivity like it's just it's you you pay someone that much guaranteed and a you're boxing yourself in you're setting yourself up potentially for complacency um if i'm a coach

and i'm guaranteed to be making 95 million dollars. Yeah, you don't have to necessarily worry about him flirting with LSU or USC the next time there's an opening. But you also have to worry about, hey, what's going to drive this guy? You look at professional sports and people on contract years, and when you have to prove it to make your money, you're going to get them super dialed in. And this year, Mel Tucker got paid and he's the guy that's dropping his tuck coin release on the same day of their first day of practice.

Like, is this a guy that's as driven to prove, to prove, to get his team going forward as, as some of these other coaches in the big 10. And I'm not really seeing that right now. I also think this about Tuck is they – Michigan State fans gave Michigan fans so much shit about Jim Harbaugh and us loving him and the whole – listen, I'll wear it on my chest. We all thought like Jim Harbaugh getting, you know, the whole like Jim Harbaugh getting off the plane thing and like the,

the signing of the stars and like, we definitely put him on a pedestal right early on. And to be honest, I'll still say it to this day. And I think a lot of people are with me, if that 2016 Michigan-Ohio State game goes differently, the program is on a total different trajectory. So I think that's where I validate that type of thoughts about Jim Harbaugh coming to Michigan. But they gave us so much shit for that for a long time,

for the last eight years now. And that, and then they went and did the exact same thing about their coach after one 11 and two season. And, and so that's where I'm like, all right, you got to look in the mirror a little bit. If you're an MSU fan and be like, hold on. Am I, am i that same person yeah and and no offense uh comparing to where jim harbaugh was when when michigan fans had that level of excitement around him you're you're taking one of the most like statistically

successful coaches in the history of the national football league when there are other NFL teams that want him you bring him back to your alma mater and like year two you're an inch away from being in the playoff I mean it's it that's a little different than yes 11 and 2 like Michigan State had a great season last year you look at them in conference their statistical profile was not that much different than Nebraska and Scott Frost got fired this year. Like Michigan state scored like nine more points in conference play than they gave up last year. And Nebraska went one and eight and they were like,

they were like their point differential was like three points different than Michigan state. It's like Michigan state had a good year last year, but like not 95 million guaranteed contract. Good. Right. And in an inch away to me where Michigan was in 2016, it's a lot different than 49 nothing at the half. Yes.

And having Michigan State or having Ohio State completely pull off the dogs in the second half. Yeah. Like that. That truly could have been the hang a hundred game. That. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. have yeah like that that that truly could have been the hang 100 game that true oh yeah yeah i i that's where you know i i just laugh a little bit because of like you know i've just been given so much shit over the years about us loving jim harbaugh and like how you know up until the up

until 2021 it wasn't working out blah blah blah like all that stuff it just it just cracks me up because i i i watch my smarty friends hang a tough coming flag in their fucking garage like i've never had a harbaugh coming like i don't wear a jim harbaugh t-shirt you know like it's just it's a little ironic to me it's a little ironic i i had a rich rod coming flag back in 08 so hold on to that that's a collector's item yeah for sure but i mean i i think the the crap you're talking about the the crap from friends after oh you you lose in 2016 i i think that's another part of like the whole fandom experience though like winning getting over the hump against ohio state in 2021 winning the big 10 going the cfp like i think that felt differently last year than it would have in 2016 and it would have been

like i'm not complaining or like 2016 would have been great i would have liked to have been on the other side of that but like i think last season felt so special because you got over the hump you lived through those ups and downs and the criticism and the um nearly getting rid of harbaugh um the the year before i think just living through the roller coaster and the ups and downs really makes the highs better if you're truly kind of along for the ride the whole time yeah we had we had brad robbins on uh just last night actually i don't know when we're going to release these probably at some point uh the week Yeah, we had Brad Robbins on just last night, actually. I don't know when we're going to release these, probably at some point the week before the game.

But, yeah, so, Brett, like we were talking about it, and we were talking about the Michigan-Ohio State game in 2021, and he's like – he was talking about how he walked out onto the field for that last touchdown for the extra point right and it was you know obvious that that we had the game one and he just said he at he didn't like rush out there he walked you know very slowly and just took in the whole thing and we talked about we talked about like how for him he's a 60 year, right, which is crazy in its own right. But there's how much leading up to that moment for him to walk out there and beat Ohio State.

Like think about all the shit that he went through in every one of those years leading up to 2021. So I do agree with you. Like, you know, not that I'm saying that we're the same as every every player, you know, as Brad Robbins, who's actually been in Schembechler and worked his ass off to get there. But like there's a little piece of that fandom in me that's like, you know what? We went through some shit to get to 2021. We went through some shit for me to to be in Indianapolis to, you know, you know, take that confetti on the, on its way down and celebrate a championship. Absolutely. And it's like, I, I think there's always like Michigan fans kind of being surprised why so many

other schools in the big 10 sort of circle Michigan as a rival and people like, Oh, why does, why does Illinois think of Michigan as a rival? Or like, why, why, why do these schools like hate Michigan? And it's like one of the rare times where like michigan really is in that underdog role and it's not like this manufactured thing like to to lose as frequently as michigan's loss to ohio state like it it's it makes living through like the decade-long losing streaks, on, on both end of 2011 was, was obnoxious.

But, but when you get over that hump, it's just like, okay, now I know what these schools like feel when, when, when they really are the underdog. Yeah,

absolutely. I, I want to, we should probably talk about this year's michigan football team i think um there there is a game coming up here soon um this team is absolutely rolling uh i i feel i wanted to ask you rolling dude what's that big time what'd you say what did you say absolute rolling absolutely rolling did i say absolute rolling? Absolutely rolling. Did I say absolute rolling?

You did. I liked it. I liked that one better. Sorry. I wanted to ask your opinion on, like, the state of Michigan football, where this program is at right now. And I actually had this conversation a little bit, like, you know, 2018, we probably said the exact same thing, right. In like week 10,

as we were right now, right. Where we thought like, holy shit, this program is that like it's peak, you know, and then you lose Ohio state and then all of a sudden everything goes away so that still can happen but i you know where we're at right now two seven and oh starts right uh consecutively for the first time in a long time um but what what are your thoughts on on the state of michigan football i i think i think the fact that you're stacking these two seasons right on top of each other is kind of a first. Like, okay, year one of Harbaugh, it's a transition year. It ended up being a pretty good first season, but it was a good season, not a great season. 2016 looked like it was a great season.

2017 was that weird year where, okay, maybe we're getting a little ahead of ourselves so like you're getting those buffer years in between um really successful seasons and then 2020 was just where everyone got through in flux like yes it's a covet year and i think as as we get more separation from that it it looks like the true anomaly but 2021 and 2022 that like you said the two seven and oh starts um i think i saw a stat somewhere where michigan has a better record than bama over the last two years which is pretty cool to see but like this is the first time i feel like last year everyone was like this team is good this could be a special year but i feel like this year it's like this program is good i think this could be a special program.

And in the back of people's heads, I think there's still a little worry about, okay, the recruiting momentum isn't there right now. And there's NIL and all that stuff. But I am, I'm really trying to remove myself from that and just like enjoy the ride. And the fact that Michigan's been able to do this two straight seasons and the way they beat Ohio State last year

and in the way they are winning games this year it just looks like okay that wasn't a fluke this is like this is a program mentality this is like something that they can replicate and and this is kind of where this program is now so it was always kind of when you think of tiers and in college football, your top tier, it's kind of your Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia, and maybe Clemson, depending on where they are there. But you look at all these advanced metrics now and Michigan's really kind of looking like the peer

of those other four. And it kind of looks like a top five, and then everybody else. And the fact that in just two years, Michigan's at least even put themselves in that conversation, I think is a testament to where this program is right now. Harbaugh has definitely been very good on the front half of his tenure at Michigan. But depending on what happens at the end of this season, you could argue that he's taken them to elite status. Right. I mean, are we kind of seeing the front half of almost like a like a Clemson Dabo Sweeney, like dynasty level, like transformation of the program michigan starts to shift into this like perennial college football playoff kind of team yes and no i think in terms of like where the program floor is like this jim harbaugh has the the program to a point right now where i feel like in the next handful of years, I really can't see this being a program that does worse than like nine and three. And the fact that that's where the program is now compared to where he inherited it,

that's a great, a huge step up and a sign of where they've been. The thing with Clemson is there's the Ohio State factor. And Clemson could be Clemson because the ACC outside of Clemson is there's the Ohio State factor and in Clemson could be Clemson because the ACC outside of Clemson was largely the Big Ten West and in Michigan every year is going to have to get over that Ohio State and slay that Ohio State dragon and and like I mentioned a little earlier like the timing of everything like you look at Ohio State in the last decade and you compare that to any other like 10 year stretch in their program. And Ohio State, this like very highly regarded program historically, like this is their peak. This is their longest, their extended stretch of excellence. So it's, I think in terms of the talent level and just the culture of the

program, I think Michigan is kind of in that Clemson-esque situation internally, but from an opportunity to excel and to perennially get in the college football playoff, it's tougher sledding for Michigan still than where Clemson was and probably still is because you've had a little bit of a hiccup with quarterback play last year, but Clemson's still looking relatively Clemson-like this year too. Yeah, I don't think Clemson this year is even the – they're not quite to the 2018 Clemson team, but they're still going to win the ACC. So I think if you put Michigan in Clemson's shoes in that ACC, there's probably like five straight conference championships, honestly.

Without question. Yeah. So that's where like – i don't know i there's a lot of like back and forth about jim harbaugh and blah blah blah jim harbaugh was not put in a like easy situation at michigan you know you come off of like some of the worst teams in michigan football history although they had a ton of talent one of the best one of the best as well thanks to rich rod rod came but he was gone by the time they came yes yeah he did come coming and going at the same time a lot of that yeah um but yeah he he did not he did not you know it wasn't just like he wasn't set up with like you know know, this perfect. It wasn't Ed Orgeron going into 2019 LSU.

You know, let's say that. So, yeah, I think that, you know, I think that all in all, Jim Harbaugh has done a pretty damn good job. And his overall record states that. And, you know, I think the biggest piece for me is the changes after 2020, because normally Jim Harbaugh doesn't do that shit. Normally Jim Harbaugh says, I'm too good for this. I know what I'm doing. I don't have to look at myself, but somebody got to Jim Harbaugh and he looked in the mirror for the first time, probably in his whole career, and said, I need to change.

I need to do something different. And that's where I like say that that's where I'm like die hard, you know, ride or die with Jim Harbaugh, because I think he changed himself to change Michigan football. And that's why we're here. What we're you know where we're at in the year of 2022. And that's a sign of a great leader. And so many of these college football coaches are, they're all wired differently because you have to basically be 50% sociopath to be a successful college football coach anyways. But to have that self-awareness to basically humble yourself and

say, Hey, what I'm doing isn't good enough. I need to make this change. I need to consult here. I need to change this. Like it takes a special leader to do that. And, and some coaches can do that. Some some can't or won't even try. And I i think it's very telling that um jim harbaugh came here with a goal he hadn't achieved it so he took a step back looked said okay i need to change some things and and he changed some things and you look at the coaching changes made in the last two off seasons and find me someone with a better hit rate than than what uh hardball has done i mean two years ago you you overhauled 66 of that staff you uh move people existing on the staff to other spots you uh like it just it had such a high likelihood of not working out just because you can't find other

examples of it happening because so many coaches aren't bold enough to do something like that and Harbaugh not only did it but like the last two seasons the last two teams the the last two seasons coaching staffs have been the two best coaching staffs of of the Harbaugh regime and I he deserves a ton of credit for taking some chances on on some of the coaches that he brought in that some people were like, Oh, that's not a sexy hire or this guy is not going to be an incredible recruiter,

but like the pieces fit and it shows that he has a grasp of what's on his team, what he needs to do to make those people tick. And, and, and he did it and he's getting out of the way of some of these coaches and letting them do what makes them special assistants too. I mean, it's easier too when you become a minor league NFL team

and you're just pulling coaches from the Ravens. That's true. For sure. But, I mean, you look at a lot of coaches that, and it's definitely a special circumstance, but how many coaches can take people from the NFL and have them be coaches that are going to A, agree to make that move, and B, have what they do in the NFL translate to college because so many of these college programs, I mean, even Ohio State, like, hey, they kill it in colleges, but you look at some of their players that excel at the college level and they're not necessarily doing it at the pro level because there's a huge difference in like lexicon and like how intense these programs are and these playbooks are. And the fact that Jim Harbaugh has created a culture

and in a situation here where, hey, we're going to succeed because the opposing defenses aren't going to know what we're going to do because there's so many layers, there's so much depth to what we're doing, and we're just going to be better prepared than they are. And so he this program can benefit more from NFL styles perform as a head coach, but he's been a hellbilt defensive coordinator and nobody ever has said Vanderbilt and good football team in the same sentence. And they were five and now just to be corrected there. All right. Yeah. And I did, but it was sarcastic. So two people, there you go. Scott Bell and sarcasm. I was trying, I was trying something new yeah um yeah i mean the that that right there to

me is like it's not it's more than just the people that he's getting it's buying in it's it's getting somebody that's not like you know maybe this statistical best person out there it's getting the right fit for your program right and so that's where i think jim harbaugh has been so different in the last two seasons versus the first you know five whatever six whatever you want to call it there um and that's where i'm proud of him like i know that he's probably very you know excited to hear that justin roe is proud of him uh and i and he does listen so he's a weekly listener he tells me so yeah very exciting so uh yeah man i'm i i think it's pretty sweet we're all right all right cool oh jim hobo yeah he's uh michigan's head coach oh no shit yeah okay all right all right Oh, no. Shit. Yeah. Okay. Baseball. All right. Baseball coach.

What do you think? Is he good? Seems all right. I mean, have you heard of Don Brown? He's almost that good. Hi. Don E. Listen, Don, he gets too many shots at him.

He's such a nice person. You just have to. I actually was told a story about 2018 ohio state game that is going to infuriate every michigan fan listening to this where there was like a fight uh between some coaches on the field because he everyone's like telling him like hey they're stealing our calls they know everything that we're running right now on defense. And he was just like, nope, we're doing it. We're doing it. We're solving our problems with aggression.

Yeah. And then, you know, 62 points later, it's just not that great. That solve the problems with aggression clip is incredible. Listen, the clips that they put on, I was ready to run through and I'd keep him as coach based on those clips alone. All right. Let's talk about 2022. The game on October 29th, this Saturday. I, I am very excited. I don't know about you, Scott, but I am very excited for the Spartans to come to Ann Arbor.

I'm excited. There's a little bit of uneasiness just because there's a lot of receipts out there that I might have to, but I will say this. how i've i've eaten um i've eaten my fair of shit sandwiches and in the aftermath of uh talking a big game and not having it uh do you keep your own receipts like do you keep your do you keep receipts of other people that are talking uh you know stuff about michigan and also do you like send out a tweet and be like I should probably bookmark that because somebody's going to come back on me? Well, with the latter, there's no use because if I say something dumb and it comes back to bite me, I won't need to point it out because there will be thousands of people ready to make me answer that. How many people do you think have your notifications on, like waiting for it well here there's a difference between how many people and how many accounts because i am convinced that like it very well could be i mean look look at the stands in spartan stadium and how many empty seats there are how many scarlet like

msu twitter could be 12 guys for all i know and it's just different computers different everywhere like so there, there's a difference between how many people and how many accounts, but I will, I will have a lot to answer to if, uh, if, if Michigan comes up short against Michigan state, but, uh, I, I, I do think you're, you're going to see, um, a focused Michigan state team. Like I shouldn't be breaking any news, but like, we all know how important this game is to them. Jaden Reed's healthy now. I think you're going to see a lot of jump balls to him, and I think you're going to see him come down with some of them. It will probably be a little 2020 PTSD with Ricky White or whatever the hell his name was but i i do think just hearing michigan all season long and in their focus i i i would be surprised if michigan loses and i'd be surprised if it's relatively close um i know that that might be a receipt that that that ends up back in my face but

michigan's team has been focused and and you hear them even in the off season, they're saying state, like they're talking about Ohio State and Michigan State. And I think a lot of the criticism of Michigan in the past years was, hey, you're not focusing on Ohio State enough. You're not focusing on Ohio State enough. Last year, you saw that focus on Ohio State and they got over the hump. This year, they're largely lumping those two schools in together and can i give you a little tidbit too i love tidbits um they they get uh they get a reward for every time they beat

a state team penn state michigan state ohio state i like that they're they're definitely i agree with you it's not just like a last year year was a beat Ohio thing, right? But now it's like the state teams are it for us. And like you should carry it. And whatever it is that's going to motivate you, whether like it's embarrassment, like you're sick of hearing about Michigan State and even like last year you had this great season and I talked a little bit about how it really didn't

matter in the grand scheme of things but it probably would have been a lot cooler to have a zero at the end of your record and it probably would be cooler to not have to hear about jawing from Michigan State fans or players whenever you're on there, even though half of it's cell phones. It's still like you got to get past this whole Michigan State hump. And it looked like the program had sort of gotten by it when it was the end of the Mark D'Antonio era. Like you mentioned, Michigan retired Mark D'Antonio and you kind of got that in the rear view. And then all of a sudden you're sort of restarting this and we can get into flukes, bad calls or whatever.

But the fact of the matter is Mel Tucker has been here for two seasons and Michigan State's won two games. And if you're really going to, we were just talking about Michigan being in that top five program nationally sort of echelon, you don't see the other four teams in there losing to inferior teams on an annual basis. So this is kind of the last little non-elite program thing Michigan needs to put itself put behind itself to sort of take that step up into sort of the big boys table absolutely I I 100% agree and it's to me it's gotta be like statement statement type win you you said you know you you'd be shocked if it's close I agree with you do you feel the same way where like even if even if it's a three-score game in the third quarter like let's throw the ball absolutely and and I think Jim Harbaugh has

that in him too um we we don't we don't see backslap jim as much anymore but i think i think it's in there and i think he's probably pretty annoyed of the things he's heard and some of the stuff michigan state's done and it's and it's branding and it's celebration and stuff i i don't think this team i don't think michigan just wants to be mich State. I think Michigan wants to put its little brother back in its place, all narratives or stereotypes aside. This is a game where Michigan really wants to take care of business, and that's more than just walking away with a win. I like it.

I got to pee. Can you guys keep it going?'ll be honest i don't have much you don't have much i know you like to talk justin so i know you guys i have been talking a lot that's why i was hoping that you guys would have a couple things to say i thought we had a great little spot here you know i got i got nothing i'm here for the show i'm here for the entertainment all right kaylin take it away i can also edit this i'm definitely gonna add this part because i gotta edit out rose fucking idiocy i know one thing like i like we were talking about the the coaches coming from the ravens i'm waiting for that like michigan ravens crossover merch like that could be sweet dude i've

seen some sweet stuff on tiktok where they people like they'll like dye the shirt like obviously see the jerseys and stuff that like people like merge together like stafford with the rams and lions but like a little tie-dye thing get like a michigan ravens or like baltimore wolverines or something have like one side be purple and one side be blue i was just thinking the ravens or like baltimore wolverines or something have like one side be purple and one side be blue i was just thinking the ravens head with a michigan helmet on it or something yeah but then we get a market for that you could have you could have at least three people buy it every year whether it's a michigan player drafted or signing as a, as an undrafted free agent, they'll, they'll at least sign up for that.

It'd be great. I will say. All right. So I will say, you know, we, you've talked about receipts, Scott,

we did like, this was very early in our podcast. I know this. That's why i'm like being very quiet right now 2020 season we like who did we have on with burns we had burns burns um and he viral yeah we we all were which i think everybody i mean're 23, we were like 23 point favorites, right? Whatever it was. And we like posted this clip before the game being like all of our score predictions, which was like, we're going to kick their ass.

We're going to go nuts. Like, this is going to, this is going to be the beat down of all time, blah, blah, blah. And then it went viral after the fact just like every single spartan honestly i think half of that was like part of why we like became popular which you know we'll take it but like that that part of me where like i think you said it at the beginning of the pod where you're like a little bit of uneasiness that is down deep for me it's it's it's there for sure i do uh i do radio with sam webb and ira weintraub every monday in 2020 was the first year i did it and the 30 minutes that sam and i had on the monday before the michigan mich Michigan state game was just like, I thought it was like a dunk contest on a six foot rim. Like I was,

we were just going left and right. And I'm like, Oh, this is great. This is great. So that's, that's tamed me down a little bit, but again, like you feel it, you say it and you own it. And if you don't say something stupid, if you have a microphone in front of you for two years you're probably incredibly boring so yeah any you ask any person going into that 2020 game that thought something other than michigan blowing out michigan state was going to happen and you're you're either gonna talk you're talking to either an idiot or a liar because

it just that was the game that michigan was just going to blow the doors off michigan state like didn't michigan state like lose to rutgers in the season they did so i mean we had we had cameron mahomes playing quarterback so michigan was coming off a road win over a top 25 team so that like i said that game bothers me because like that's just a bad team like michigan against michigan state last year that was two top 10 teams playing michigan was on the road michigan was the better team michigan should have won that game michigan should not have blown that game there were some calls that bothered that year like michigan still should win that game yeah it's just a

completely the the two years are just completely different in terms of the the hurt scale but if michigan is a 7-0 team a top 10 or a top 5 team a team that's going to be in the playoff in the first set of rankings uh if they lose to a three and four michigan state team like that is going to be just the stomach punch of all stomach punches i i wonder a little bit listen i don't want to speak this into existence so i don't want to take too much time like i like that to me is like i i just talked up j Jim Harbaugh for about a half hour, but like I would have some questions. I think I would have some questions.

Are those questions valid? I probably wouldn't have questions because you'd be peeling me off the bottom of a concrete thing because I would have hurled myself off the biggest building I could find in Dallas. But if like you lose three straight games where, where your program is right now. And again, like I'm talking about, I think we're all in agreement that this is like a team that's on the doorstep of being elite. But if you for three straight years lose to an inferior team an inferior program where we are far beyond

the point where we can say Michigan State snuck up on Michigan like everyone knows what Michigan is going to face this game so if Michigan can't can't get the job done um against Michigan State this year then then we're going to be having some conversations. But I really hope that's not the case. Yeah, me too. And I don't think it is. I think that there are a lot of guys on this team that last year did not sit well with them. That hour bus ride home felt like 24 straight hours.

And I think these guys are way too focused to let it happen. Again, we're talking before the game, and you just never know what will happen. But it definitely feels like there's just a different mindset there. Are you calling out Hutchinson? Do you think he wasn't focused enough before the game no i'm not i yeah it kind of sounded like i'm missing aiden if you i think i could take down aiden for sure though yeah me and him very similar strength very similar strength i mean can he get buckets like you i don't know no definitely not definitely

not he doesn't have the touch he doesn't have the touch around the rim he's too rough yeah yeah um all right i was just gonna say give a score prediction i'm i'm not even gonna say i don't want to i don't want him i i think michigan wins by double digits um but i i the line, or at least when we're having this conversation, I don't think I've seen a line. Like, I feel like Michigan's going to be a double digit favorite. And my advice for anyone will be take Michigan State in the points, just because I don't know if I've been hurt so much by the past or whatever.

But it feels like a game Michigan's going to win. I don't think it's going to come down to the wire. but I, I know what we're going to get out of Michigan state. And I think you have to have a healthy respect for them in this game. At least I agree with that. I agree with that. And, and listen, the thing is I I've said this for the past, like few weeks, I'm pretty sure for the past four weeks, Michigan State has just been prepping for Michigan. Without a question. Fuck every game plan against Wisconsin and Ohio State and whatever it was.

They've just said, you know what, we're game prepping for Michigan. Honestly, it's a good move if you're Mel Tucker To do that because To your point earlier Scott That is what the fan base cares about That guy Beats Michigan On the 29th Michigan State goes 6-6 and they will probably

Give him a new Contract and like A gold plated throne At the 50 yard line at Spartan stadium. That's accurate. That is very accurate. So, but it ain't going to happen. It ain't going to happen. So that's what I'm going out on. I I'm excited.

I'm so happy. It's a night game too so that they can get Michigan fans at their rowdiest. I know Michigan fans get a certain rep, but I will say, I know, Scott, you haven't been to the big house in a while, have you? It's been a little bit. Yeah, unfortunately, due to your location. But last Saturday against Penn State like it it felt different it felt more like

Ohio State Michigan 2021 than it did in in other games and so that's where I think like people will be ready to go people will be ready to go for sure you're you're not going to have to talk anyone up into that stadium to be excited for this one, whether they're wearing green or whether they're wearing blue. And hopefully we're looking at a lot of people in blue for that one. I love it. I love it. The blue out, the unofficial official blue out.

Jack's sending us out here. Hold on. What do you got? Hold on. I got an ad. He's so ready to have a beat Kaelin we gotta get on that thing that you guys were talking about I love it

perfect the people can't hear it, though. You got to put it back by the mic. There you go. All right, Scott, tell the people where to follow you at. I am on Twitter at Sbell021. Come talk to me unless you're a Michigan State fan and Michigan State pulls off the upset and

then just spare me a couple weeks of headaches. But I also have a newsletter, scottbell.substack.com. You can also just Google Scott Bell newsletter and it's the first thing that comes up. And it's not so much the humor, Twitter-type stuff. It's a little more serious breakdowns, analysis of football team and season and then other Michigan sports outside of it. So that's about it. All right. Perfect. I've been a follower for a long time, even before Blue by 90,

so it's been fun to have have you on here we appreciate it man um and i i personally am looking forward to you know some some very fun tweets on october 30th um so and october 29th as well uh so hopefully it goes well for us. You can follow us at blue by 90 on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, at blue by 90 podcast on YouTube and blue by 90.com. Scott, leave us with,

leave us with some wisdom. Have fun. Don't, don't take the rivalry too seriously. It really can be a, it can be a toxic two weeks, but it can be a fun two weeks too. Enjoy it.

Keep watching or keep listening to these guys. They do a great job and thanks for having me. Alright, go blue. Go blue.