Blue By Ninety - Merry Christmas, Don is gone

Episode Date: December 30, 2020

The boys bring on former Michigan Baseball Pitcher Derek Feldkamp to talk about Don Brown's departure and share some hilarious stories from his time at U-M and his visit to Omaha in 2019 to watch the incredible run Michigan Baseball had at the College World Series. Crack a cold one with us and enjoy the show. 

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

Touchdown, Wolverines! All right, welcome to Blue by 90. I am Justin, joined by Jack and Kalen, and today we have a special guest joining us. It is Derek Feldkamp, former Michigan baseball player. Derek, how are you doing today? Good, guys. What's going on? Welcome, welcome. Thanks for coming. Did you have a good holiday? I did. I did. Got everything I asked for for Christmas,

which was a lot of golf balls. So I was happy by that. My in-laws were actually really funny. They got me some of the Strixon golf ball deals. And then they got the personalized message and it says, if you find this ball, you're shitty too. So I was like, that's good. So that's all I was asking for. That's amazing. But then I pulled the all-time move. I have a two-year-old nephew.

And my wife and I are pregnant and we're due in April. And we're first and uh but i figured out the two-year-old's just starting to understand like santa right like he's just starting to get it so i bought myself a gift i fucking wrapped it and i put to derrick from santa and i put underneath the tree no one else knew so then everybody like, he's handing out the gifts. I'm like, well, bring that gift from Santa. And they're all looking around my wife and my sister-in-law, brother-in-law, her parents. And I opened up my golf club that I got. That was like, yeah, Santa exists.

So I'm like, do you want to spoil it for him and tell him that Santa doesn't exist? Or do you want me to get yelled at in the car? Well played. They're probably sitting here like, we don't even like this guy. Who got him a present? Yeah, pretty much. So there you go.

Oh, gosh, that's amazing. That's amazing. Well, thanks for joining us again. Appreciate it. So you graduated in 06 uh we were just talking about it you were part of uh probably the first draft class ever with that many um or first uh graduating class ever with that many draftees right which you said was nine yeah i think we had nine guys drafted and i'm pretty sure I was.

I'm sure in the 80s when you guys weren't even a glimmer in your dads, you know what, yet. But they were awesome. They went with Larkin, Barry Larkin, and Sabo, and they had the entire starting. So three-fourths of the starting infield for the Cincinnati Reds that won the World Series in 1990 all went to Michigan at the same time, which is insanity.

That is wild. If you think about it, Hal Morris was the first base, Sabo at third, and Larkin at short. So I'm sure that they had some draft picks. And there were more draft rounds back then. There were 50 when I was there. Now it's way less. Obviously, it's all the rules have changed in the last three or four years.

But, yeah, we had a good crop and had a good crew. We didn't want to be able to win the big 10 championship, but we're able to do some pretty cool things. So. Yeah. And, and you were drafted as well and got a little time in the minors. And, and did you play in the majors? No, I got the double a and I got I got to play – I got drafted by Tampa. So I actually knew a lot of the guys that played in the World Series in 08. So I got drafted in 05.

And so when they made it and played the Phillies and lost, which was really cool. But, yeah, like Evan Longoria was the draft class below me, was on our team the whole time coming up. Wade Davis, who was the World Series MVP for the Royals, the closer, was a Tampa Bay guy. So we were pretty good. We had a really good crop of guys, too, and it was pretty crazy. That's awesome.

And then you were down in Omaha last year as well, right? Yes. Yeah, last year for Michigan when they were in the College World Series. And I know you told me some stories about how just awesome that was to be a part of it. And just like it had been a long time coming for that, right? And so it was quite the celebration just for them to even be in that position. Yeah, it was unbelievable. I mean, Chris Fetter was a teammate celebration just for them to even be in that position. Yeah, it was unbelievable.

I mean, Chris Fetter was a teammate of mine for one year. He redshirted when I was a junior. He was a redshirt and just a great guy. And, you know, we kind of got together. We had like a little alumni thing, and we actually played Indiana, and they lost on a Friday night. They were like rolling, and I think Carl Kaufman pitched and got railed, like shelled

and we're like, holy, is this team any good? None of us really knew. Obviously, they were having a good year. But then everything comes together like that and just you've got crazy stuff that happens and you get great pitching performances and we've always told, there was like four or five

of us that had graduated and we always said, hey, if they ever make it to Omaha, we're going. It's a no-brainer. Drop everything you do. Don't care where you're at in the country. Everybody's going. It was. It was a blast.

You know, I jokingly told my dad I was furious with him because I was like, this is the coolest place in the world for a kid because the entire, literally the entire outfield in downtown Omaha, like there's an entire two parking lots. They just call it baseball village and there's everything for a 12 year old kid. I mean, everything you can imagine, every souvenir you can imagine. I'm just everything. It's really, really cool. But just the way the whole town and everything you can walk to gravitates to

it. It was, it was, I mean, it's, it's the best weekend I've ever had in, in probably for baseball, just fun because we went to, I went's the best weekend I've ever had in probably for baseball, just fun because I went to the first weekend, so I saw the first two games. But then that way you can see everybody play. So there's two games on Saturday, two games on Sunday. I extended my trip out until Tuesday morning to watch them play the first

two games, but it was fantastic. Yeah, I mean, that was – we all watched on you know on tv and followed it on I mean it was just like first of all just the the uh the like pulse that that team had and the identity that they had was like you could not I bet you there were so many people out there that are just casual fans that took a liking to Michigan because of the way they played with intensity and fire. And it's like, you know, I think the basketball team has that same type of thing and did it did under beeline now does under Juwan too. But it's like, that's what we want so bad from football. And it just doesn't seem to happen. But so it was so great to watch that from a team and even though we were you know back here

in ann arbor watching it in omaha um it was just like holy shit you just love to see them play with that intensity and like family and all that stuff that's also the second second time i've heard that omaha is like an awesome place because we had an opportunity to talk to Ben Kaiser, one of the pitchers. And he said exactly the same thing. He was like, Omaha is amazing from a pitcher's perspective and a player's perspective as well. So, I mean, it's like every time someone comes on here and talked about it,

this place keeps going higher and higher on my like two travel list. I mean, it's a hidden gem. I mean, outside of like, um, Warren Buffett, I didn't know anything about Omaha other than the college world series was there. Right. Like I don't. And, um, and then all of a sudden, you know, I'm watching this thing and you killing, you hit it right on the head, Ben. I mean, everybody, the whole town shuts down. I mean, it's, it's literally like a Williamsport little league world series type feel for this. That's what, the only thing I could compare it to is my dad took me when I was 12 to

Williamsport. And it was like, that's the coolest thing ever when you're 12 and then now I'm a 35 year old man. And I'm like, this is still the coolest thing ever. Yeah. And then my last story from there is I, the first game we get into it and now you're nervous. You're a former player. You're actually invested. Texas Tech had crushed Michigan earlier in the season.

We actually had some Texas Tech people at the hotel. They were fantastically nice. But it was so funny because they sold beer at the stadium, which was unbelievable to us. Oh, yeah. Since Justin and I know the ticket guy, the ticket guy put us, it's 100 degrees humidity. He puts us right underneath the last row on the aisle

so we can get out to the concession stand and the bathrooms. Well, so now I'm sitting with all my former teammates. Nobody's got their wives or kids there or girlfriends. It's just the dudes, you're re-equated, right? Now imagine this. So now we're all nervous, so we're drinking heavily. And in the game, my buddy sitting next to me, my best man at my wedding, and he's a former player.

His dad played at Michigan back in the 70s, played in the big leagues for 12 years. This kid, my buddy, was from Dallas, Texas, was going to Michigan his whole life. His dad played for the Rangers, which is why he grew up in Arlington. But imagine this. So Dick Honing, I don't know if you guys are Ann Arborites, you know who Honing is. Dick Honing owns the largest, was the largest sports apparel for referees in America. Umpire, hanging in all that.

Yeah. He was an umpire, and he was a Big Ten football college official for 30 years, did multiple national championship games, greatest guy in the world, but he played on the Michigan 1952 National Championship baseball team. Okay? So he's sitting in front of us, the row in front of us. So in the game, Derek or Jimmy Kerr hits a double down the line. There's a guy on first base, one of our runners with two outs and the instinct for my buddy stick in and said, you got to score him. So imagine this, he's got a full beer. Okay. And he's like, you got to score him. And he's waving his arm.

And then the kid comes in. I can't remember. He slides in and scores. And the entire beer is gone, and it's on Dick Honan in front of us. And we're just sitting there freaking. Here's a guy who's a multimillionaire, right? And we're just sitting there freaking out. And he's like 85, right?

He's 80 years old. He's probably 90. I mean, like, it was hilarious hilarious but he took it so in stride such a good guy but yeah the omaha trip was was fantastic so i mean i've always thought about it too like just the way my wedding was planned it didn't work out to like plan to go to a college world series but that i feel like that would be an awesome place to go for a bachelor party because it's like yeah march, March madness for college. And I think college world series is like another thing that's, you know,

followed a little bit better because you have games for what? Two weeks. Yeah. And you're, you hit it on the head and it's literally, you can buy a ticket for $10. You can sit anywhere in the stadium. There's no ushers. The usher is a 16 year old high school kid. They never look at your tickets. Like literally they have no idea what you're doing. sit anywhere in the stadium there's no ushers the usher is a 16 year old high school kid they never look at your tickets like literally they have no idea what you're doing um and like you said it's affordable number one um it's outside it's warm weather there's people everywhere the southeastern teams they tailgate like it's a football saturday i mean they're going nuts i mean

mississippi state was tailgating florida state was tailgating it's a football Saturday. I mean, they're going nuts. I mean, Mississippi State was tailgating. Florida State was tailgating. It was insanity. It was just a lot of fun. Yeah, it was a blast. It was something that where, like, when we left, people were like, hey, regardless if Michigan's in here or not, I would love to come back for a long weekend or something

or bring my dad back, you know. It was that cool. So, yeah. I just set my date for my wedding july 2022 so and you know that might time up pretty well hey that's the part how many have you done that is that so you've got 18 months to figure out if whether or not you're gonna bail on this whole nonsense too much have to think about like the planning for every you know every day for the next 18 months i'm just like holy shit but that was

corona like corona is going to be around and you know till 2030 so just be ready to postpone so exactly big grudge will make sure you postpone that thing so don't you worry that was like it was just crazy that was literally the first date available for these places like oh yeah already so fucking i give honestly i don't even want to deal with that i can't imagine doing that nonsense my wife said it was some friends kaylin are you single no but i'm not married and i'm gonna keep it that way you're smart see only smart the only smart one in the whole group like literally the only smart one in the whole group but yeah we've heard some people that are just to tell the

stories about rearranging stuff and i just couldn't imagine oh dude it's a fucking mess my wife and i we were supposed to get married this past july on the west side of the state in holland and we ended up doing a small gathering locally like in pinkney uh because their parents live out there we still something in the backyard but we're still like we had to reschedule the vendors or dj the venue all that stuff and it's like still we're like fuck can we even have our our wedding do we have to do this again? It's a mess, man. Yeah. I'm not excited for it. I mean, I pray to God that we're over it by July 2022.

I think, yeah, we're in some real trouble. But that's not the case. Two more years? Yeah. Fucking heck, Jesus. So maybe I'll do a little Omaha trip for the bachelor party. We'll see. We'll see. We'll see.

It would be a bad idea if you don't twist my arm. There you go. Derek did call me right after my engagement. He goes, congrats on ending the rest of your life. That's a good friend. You know, you wanted some encouragement. I mean, do you want reality or do you want me to give you the flunk piece or do you want me to give you the reality part so all right well um let's get into

it a little bit with some you know obviously recent news uh for michigan that we really haven't talked about yet on this podcast and that is that don brown is out he's no longer the defensive coordinator which i one thing that's kind of weird about the whole thing is that bruce feldman broke the news michigan has yet to release a statement on it and actually say he's gone so i don't know if you guys notice that but like i don't know why michigan decides to deal with things these ways but it's just so weird but um now he's you know very heavily rumored to be Jed Fish's defensive coordinator at Arizona. But, Derek, I know that you have been, you know, since 2018 pretty anti-Don Brown. And everybody else kind of jumped on board.

You seem to be like the first guy to the table there. And then everyone else in the past couple years has jumped on board. So tell us why you got to that spot in 2018. I look at it like this. Back in 2016, 17, 18, Harbaugh had an identity. Whether the team had an identity, right? Run the ball, play action, big wide receivers, what they recruited for. However, maybe the quarterback really wasn't what that, you know, required. But so then it gave me the idea of like, okay, we're playing bully ball. All right.

They're the Baltimore Ravens of college football, right? Like beat up on all the terrible teams. But then when Lamar's got to go against somebody good, it's like, the guy's awful. I got to make you stay in the pocket. And I'm third and seven down by four. I'm fourth down. You got to make a completion good. It's like, the guy's awful. I've got to make you stay in the pocket. And I'm third and seven, down by four. I'm fourth down. You've got to make a completion.

That didn't happen. So I use that as an analogy towards the Don Brown situation. It was like, okay, look, this pressure defense, this pressure stuff, is when you're in a lead, it's suffocating, right? Like, we can do it. It's proved to be a total tone killer. But what really set me off was starting in 2018 was just, like, opening against good teams.

Usually what would happen would be, like, an opening play drive. They'd go down seven, eight plays, and they'd score a field goal or touchdown, excuse me. And then Don Brown would figure it out. And then the floodgates started happening. You had the games where it was, like, okay, you're going down, like, with three plays in the first half. And, like, by the end of the was like okay you're going down like with three plays in the first half and like by the end of the first quarter you're down 14 to nothing and you haven't had time to breathe yet and then that led me into the story of Dubai I'm sitting

there and I'm like I said on the freaking my balcony looking at the Burj Khalifa my underwear watching this game on a reddit on my phone and I'm just watching this defense get shredded, but we're still scoring points, right? We're not, like, completely out of the game. And, like, yeah, there's special teams turnover. Stuff happens. Like, kids happen, right? But, like, for the most part, it was just a lack of –

and the problem that I had was that I just don't see it that it's a lack of talent. Like, there's – the NFL thinks these guys are good enough to play, right? Right. I'm looking at Mike Dana. I haven't heard – I don't know five guys. I don't think America knows five guys on the Kansas City Chiefs defense. Outside of Kansas City, like Christian Jones, Tyron Matthew,

maybe Alex Hitchens. Frank Clark. Just off the top. Yeah, Frank Clark. Right, correct. Michigan guy. Like a big play. Right.

But then all of a sudden, Mike Dana, who's an undrafted free agent, is the new, like, he's, like, making these plays. Like, I'm a Dolphins fan, and I'm watching the game the other two weeks ago, and he's, like, all over the field. He's the only guy playing in the first half. I'm like, this is insanity. And same thing. I mean, obviously, Rashawn Gary was, like, what he was at Michigan,

but he wasn't Chase chase young, you know, and now you watch him for the Packers and it's the same shit. He's like all over the fucking place. And you're like, man, how did we not put him into a position to make those kinds of plays in college? Yeah. I mean, and look, we've all, I've told you guys when he got in earlier i'm not a football guy i don't know anything i just watch observations like i really do like i'm like okay if i'm

watching like basketball or football it's like okay that guy's really good all right that guy's much faster and i think a lot of this stuff um you can kind of see like um in person like we all go to the games i don't know about jordan and uh or jay and caitlin but like in person, like we all go to the games. I don't know about Jordan and or Jay and Kalen, but like, can you watch, like, you just see how big like Nico Collins is like in person. You're like, Oh my God. Or you see how big Donovan people's Jones is compared to a college corner. Right. Like you just see these guys and how massive they are. Like, or Michael on way you, you like oh my lord dude they're huge and it's just like

I feel Michigan had so many um personnel advantages like in the sense of like defense too and it just didn't equal into production for the last couple years and and maybe I'm nuts maybe I'm like crazy but I was I was on it earlier because I'm like like dude scoring is not the issue we're scoring 35 30 you know nine points a game and I just don't think it's a big deal I mean I know you said or I think we were talking before you said 2018 Ohio State game you're like boom ready get rid of them and like for me I'm thinking like that had to be the first big blowout he had, right? Yeah. I mean, if you think about it.

Was Penn State also that – well, no, was that 2017? Yeah. Was it? Okay. Yeah, but the Penn State game the year before was the epitome of like my angry aggression towards my ex-husband for 12 months. And I get to see him in a corner and I'm going to beat him in a body bag.

Oh yeah. I'm going to send him to the morgue, you know, and like, talk about Penn state had unbelievable talent. Yeah. I mean, it's the only,

like it was just like, and then you just, it was the perfect storm, like John O'Korn, the whole nine yards. We know how the week, we know how the story ends or like, I know how this movie ends, right? And I think that's what you kind of saw jumping ahead.

That's what you saw this year. Look at Indiana. All seniors, redshirt seniors, men. Just look at the physicality of Indiana. You never thought you'd ever say, like, wow, that wide receiver is massive. Freifogel, just dominating dudes. It doesn't matter if it's Daxon Hill or if it's Vincent Gray. The tight end just going over the middle, dominating guys.

The running back just bigger than anybody on our team. Like, it's just crazy to see the thing, and that's what leads me into the identity of the offense but then just leads into the blow up of the defense and it just it was all downhill so yeah I think it's interesting because for Don Brown I mean when he got fired I the first thing that popped into my mind was that's the right choice like that needed to happen but the second thing that popped into my mind was that's the right choice. Like that needed to happen. But the second thing I thought was almost this like bittersweet feeling where I was remembering like 2016, the game, like right when he got hired. And just that like entire level of excitement I had for the whole program

where I was like, finally we're taking another step in the right direction and we can solve the problem. But things just haven't seemed to work out and i think jack had a really good tweet that seemed to sum it up and i i can't remember exactly what you said jack but it was in the same sentiment yeah basically yeah i was just saying i mean personally i felt a little bit bittersweet about it thought it was the right move but i mean like you said kaelin 2016 what a fucking great year other than shitting the bed in the last two games. But even those last two games were exciting to watch.

Michigan was in it. I mean, you think of that Florida State game, they were down by, I don't know, fucking two touchdowns at one point and came back and got into it at the end of the game. I mean, it was just a fun team to watch. You thought everything was going up from there, and then 2017 happened, and the rest kind of followed.

What I wonder, though, is 2016 through 2018, was it just that Don Brown had unbelievable talent at pretty much every position? I mean, when you think about the guys he had on that field, it's like how do you screw that up? Because you – like you said, Derek, like, yes, when Nico Collins and Donovan Peoples-Jones take the field, they have a size advantage. They have a talent advantage against size advantage, all that against anybody that they were going up against? And then we saw it in 2019 and 2020 definitely drop off in terms of that. And then you see, you know, that's why they obviously didn't do as well.

Oh, yeah. I mean, you just, you know, start with Devin Bush, right? And he had an unfortunate injury in the game, obviously. But just put in, you know, the whole situation with the crossing stuff. Again, I'm not going to get into, like, I don't know it. You know, I'm the first one to admit it. Like, I just use my observation. When I go to a hockey game in Michigan, when I was in school,

Jack Johnson was there. He was, like, better than everybody. It's like, okay, that guy's on the ice twice as long. Because he's faster and bigger than everybody on the field, right, or on the ice. Like I don't know anything about it. I don't know what the blue line is, the red line. I don't know anything.

But that guy is really good. And that's how I viewed Michigan football. Like I have a little bit more competency. Like in a weird way, when I'm a person, I watch the game. I'm like, okay, do we have four came off the sidelines, four came on. Do we have 11 guys on the field? Like I'm weird that way i tend not to drink that much terribly before games i've once rich rod took over i started sneaking in heavy

amounts of copious amounts of alcohol and drank on that during the game to enjoy my misery but um but yeah i just i just i'm very shocked with the talent um you know all the way down to the Glasgow kid you know getting picked and and obviously even though he's a special teamer he still has value in the NFL you know like he's just a total gamer but um yeah that's where I'm at with it and but uh I'm very intrigued to see where this goes with everything moving forward. So you, you mentioned Devin Bush and, you know, now we're looking at the most recent news was Cam McGrone has decided to forego, forego his senior season and go to the NFL. And he's a guy that in his sophomore season looked unbelievable,

looked like he was going to be the next Devin Bush. And we all expected that in his junior season. And I know he had injuries this past year, but I watched the film multiple times and specifically on him, he looked not only lost, but he looked like he did not fill his gaps. He looked like he was slow and just all, all the above. And so, you know, yes, he's got the body and I'm sure some NFL team is going to say, Hey, you've got the tangibles. We can make it work. But I think it's just kind of frustrating

for Michigan fans to see that happen now. And it's happened quite a bit, you know, more often than not, when a guy like Cam McGrone comes out, doesn't play as well in college. And then, you know, I'm seeing it with Donovan Peoples-Jones right now. He's playing unbelievable for the Browns and, you know, obviously wasn't utilized right at Michigan. And so it's like, was Cam McGrone the same thing? You know, I don't know. What are you guys thoughts on that well i'm glad you you said you brought that up because i i saw you tweeted it out and i i was i was thinking the same exact thing i was like man i don't want to say anything

negative but really is he ready to go to the nfl now i know we talked about it preseason i think camber grown was like my guy to watch this year on defense i'm like he's gonna be the guy he's gonna be devin bush 2.0 you know he's gonna make all his plays he looked so good last year but this year it looked like he kind of shit the bed to me so he's he's a guy i'm i'm shocked he didn't come back for for his last year unless he i mean you want to come back because don brown's gone i don't know that's a point, too. Does he want to go through a coordinator change as well? Who knows? Derek, what do you think? First off,

this is going back to... I'm going to go down a rabbit hole. I don't know what he thinks as far as the coordinator stuff and all that, how he's going to fit in. I just don't know if he wants to play football for Jim Harbaugh. I mean,

maybe that's the elephant in the room. Maybe he doesn't know who the head coach is going to be. I mean, who knows? Maybe he's like, screw it. Like I've got enough on film from two years ago when I was flying around the ball and I'm playing the greatest game of my life against Notre Dame.

And like, life is great. Right. Like just all that kind of stuff. Maybe he thinks that and less is more. And, and, you know, or maybe he's saying, Hey, I'm willing to be like a fifth or fourth, fifth round pick. Let me get to my second contract in the NFL and I'm going to roll with it. Right. Like, I mean, cause what's camera growing? Like outside of a crazy season next last year, camera growing is what a, you know, because what's Cam McGrone? Like, outside of a crazy season last year, Cam McGrone is what? A, you know, a second-round pick at best?

I don't even know. Being fair. Being fair, yeah. Second or third. So, I mean, what's the difference between pick 96 or pick, you know, 62? I mean, like, you know, who knows? You know, whatever. But that's my only thinking on that.

Maybe I'm way off. I do think you bring up something very interesting there that I have heard as well, and that is that Harbaugh has rubbed some of those guys the wrong way, especially guys that have had serious injuries, that he has forced them or pressured them to be playing through injuries. I know that to be a fact for Rashawn Gary. Back in the, you know, he was definitely pressuring Rashawn Gary to play through injury, and Rashawn was not ready,

and it definitely hurt Rashawn's draft stock because he should have been a probably top five draft pick and dropped to 12. So I've heard the same thing for Dylan McCaffrey. Dylan McCaffrey was banged up. You know, you almost think – you wonder what happened with Joe Milton this year too. You know, it turns out he's got a cast on his arm uh you know a week ago and it's like okay when did that happen was was jim making him play through all of that too so i think there's something to be said about jim uh rubbing people the wrong way as well yeah totally i mean

we heard about you brought it up with uh what wide receivers, right? Or at least Donovan Peoples Jones. I mean, it seems to be some sort of trend. Yeah. And which is why, in my opinion, it's like you have to take a deeper look at Jim Harbaugh and say, you know, beyond the records, beyond that, which isn't even a good thing. But say, how is he treating his players? What are his relationships with his players um and and how you know i think that is what uh a matt campbell has you know even if you go back to brady hoke that's what brady hoke had his players will freaking die for him

you know and so it's like how how do we get the Brady-Hoke relationship guy that actually knows how to coach a fucking football team, you know? And so you're trying to find the combination of those. I mean, we still got a chance at Matt Campbell, guys. No deal's been signed yet, all right? I'm going to still hold out hope. So I've been on Campbell, and Justin will tell you. I don't know.

You can talk to Brent, our buddy Brent, about this. I've been on Matt candle for two years ago. As soon as I was off the Tom Brown bandwagon, are you sure you don't have a Twitter account? Are you Wolverine corner? Swear to God. But here's the problem. Here's the, here's my, and here's why I'm on Matt Campbell. Okay. Two reasons why two, two best in my opinion, coaching jobs in my lifetime, hear me out on this, in my lifetime for college football

have been Mike Leach at Texas Tech and at Pullman Washington at Washington State and Matt Campbell. I've been to all three of those cities. To convince anybody to go to Ames, Iowa and play college football. You guys, I don't know if you're first, anybody ever been there? No. You couldn't pay me to go to Iowa. There's three best things that ever, first off, Iowa city, most underrated town in the big 10. You need to go there when Michigan plays their next for football. Amazing. I actually went to college. Kirk Ferentz had two daughters and he has got two boys.

Obviously both boys played at Iowa, played football. One's in the NFL. One's the offensive coordinator. Kelly Ferentz went to Michigan and lived in the house next to us when I was in school. Awesome girl. Great, great family. He told all of his kids to go to big 10 schools, but anyway, but, but I've been to Ames, Iowa. It is like a glorified Bowling Green, Ohio. And with all due respect, I grew up in Adrian, Michigan.

We talked about this, right? Very similar. I'm not pissing on Bowling Green, Ohio, dude. I love the original Mr. Spots. Is it from Bowling Green? There's amazing things in Bowling Green. Don't get me wrong. But to win at that level at Ames or like Pullman, Washington,

I've been to Pullman, Washington. It's the worst college city in America. I mean, there's nothing there. And that's why I've been on Matt Campbell. My, my, my reasoning for Matt Campbell is number one, number one, he can coach right. Number two, he can obviously relate to kids. He can recruit obviously number three i'm assuming his dream job was ohio state and the guy didn't even get a chance to interview for it right and that's that's my that's my biggest one of like why this would be the perfect landing spot for a 39 year old guy to come back and build a program and just say go with it that's me so i'm i'm all in man i i watched them play um shit who'd they play in the big 12 championship game oklahoma

oklahoma and like you just watch him on the sideline you honestly do get like vibes of Jim Harbaugh in you know at in the at the 49ers and like he's got that vibe where he's fiery he's all over the place he's got you know and obviously we haven't seen that Jim in fucking five years now but um he I just I think he's got these guys – he's got his guys on a – you know, they are on board with everything he does. You watch his halftime and postgame and pregame speeches, and it's like, holy shit, man, I'd run through a brick wall for that guy. And so I don't know if there's anybody that's, like, wanting to run through a brick wall for Jim Harbaugh.

And it's like the biggest thing for me, the biggest question is, okay, well, Jim Harbaugh has to turn it around immediately, right? There is no time for him to say, all right, we got to, you know, rebuild or something like that. So do you think that Jim Harbaugh is the guy that's going to beat Ohio state in year seven, like after what's happened in the past six years? I don't think so. So you might as well just, you know, it's the inevitable. Just fucking cut it off and then start new and go, even if it's not Matt Campbell, you just got to fucking get a change of scenery in and figure something else out because it's not working and it's you know there's too much negative negativity going around and not much positivity yeah the biggest thing that has

happened because you know it's holiday times i've been at home more i've had some time to think and one thing that started to pop up more is name image likeness, right? With the NCAA coming up to vote on these things and these things starting to kick in and knowing that Jim Harbaugh doesn't necessarily relate to players that well, it doesn't speak very well to me as a Michigan fan. Cause I'm going like, Hey, Michigan, you know, largest alumni network in the country. Like that should be very easy for a coach to sell to a player. Hey, all these guys will be wearing your Jersey,

but knowing that Jim Harbaugh doesn't relate to players that well. And that kind of thing is going to be all over college football. Especially the star players. That's where he really struggles mostly too. That's one of the things that i've been thinking more recently like dang this jim if you don't change and like fast we're gonna get left in the dust because the entire landscape of college football is changing yeah i mean like you guys said a guy that can relate to his players a guy that goes a guy that shows fire i mean we've missed that from harbaugh since what i'll give him 2016 was the last time we probably saw it but like that's the thing right he's losing we're not seeing the fire it feels like he just doesn't even want to coach at michigan

anymore which i can't speak for that but that's what it seems like from what i've seen and when you see a guy like matt campbell who's winning in and aims Iowa, he's young and he brings that fire and he's got a great culture at that university, it makes you just think, why is he not signed a contract already? Again, I think there's still hope. Or at least why have you not interviewed him or done your research? My conspiracy theory, I think maybe they do have some sort of hush-hush deal with them. But I think – what do they play? 30th, 31st, New Year's Eve?

Yeah, I think so. I feel like shortly after New Year's, there's got to be some sort of either Harbaugh's coming back or a new coach is coming in. But it's just hard to buy into Harbaugh when there's no fire, man. It's hard to buy in, especially after the year we saw. You would think – I mean saw you would think i mean you would think a lot of this would would be done and just i it just makes no sense to me i don't i don't understand at all i don't understand like i yeah i totally just and here's the problem like

i'm gonna jump in to the next topic because i just i have to tell you i mean and i and i'm just and i'm sorry if i'm gonna go off the rails but like here's here's the thing okay so let's use the realistic like so you guys are how old all right let me 27 so just so you guys all 27 28 whatever all right so think about your lifers right like I know Kalen went to Purdue you probably love Purdue basketball and Robbie Hummel and I get it robbie like why wouldn't you love a guy that and brian cardinal who you don't even know that we used to wear knee pads in college like this yeah those patrick ewing knee pads on and the guy could ball right like just totally just dominating in big 10 play and earned seven years in the NBA. Just wearing a ski mask and a gun,

stealing paychecks from multiple teams. Just absolute paycheck bandit. But you guys are lifers. And here's where I think there's a huge issue, the culture issue of Michigan and where I go from this. Now, think about this. We're all locals. You've got 51% of the schools from the state. Okay.

You've got 49% of them. They're not from the state where you have like a situation where Ohio state has 70% of the kids from Ohio. They're everybody's pulling the same way, right? Like it matters to them that Ohio State football is the value of winning. I guess that's my point is what is the value of what we're going to do going forward? The value of everybody pulling together and winning. We're the same machine that has a culture problem.

It's like, all right, so let's just be fair. Like since 2008, it's been a bad product for the most part, you know, outside of a couple of random years, a lot of people are paying a lot of money for tickets to an inferior product. I do it because I had the greatest experience of my life. I was able to, it's my way of giving back. I love going to it. It's my seven escape Saturdays, kind of like Justin, we talked about the tailgating and everything that goes along with it. But the cultural issue of the valuing of how good the football program is to be is I don't know where it's at at Michigan.

And I really mean that. Like my wife and I get in an argument about it. She's like, you know, the next year everybody's going to come back because people want to tailgate and do stuff post-corona. I agree with that. I actually really, really concur with that. However, after that, I mean, like some people might not want to go into the game.

They may just want to have beers with their friends. Maybe they're not going to support a product where I'm paying X amount of dollars. And it's like, look, I'm just here to drink beers and barbecue. And there's nothing wrong. And to add to that, the next generation who's never seen Michigan win. I don't know if that's what you were getting at. Yeah, and that's my point leading into that. Now you have somebody who graduated, let's just say 2012.

They're now 30 years old, okay? Let's say they live in Metro Detroit. They're now married. They're starting to establish their career. They're starting to have disposable income. They have zero emotional and connection with michigan football those are your donors those are your fan bases right those are all the people that are going to make you be successful moving forward you know what they do have a connection with michigan basketball

right all of a sudden they're awesome where when I'm growing up I've got the fab five and then I've got from 1998 just shit all the way until beeline shows up like horse shit I've got Brian Ellerbee you guys are in diapers you don't know who Brian Ellerbee is. I've got Tommy Amaker, my senior year in college. He starts off his opening season presser with, I hope our team accomplishes three things. I want us to be happy. I want us to be healthy. And I want us to be hungry.

Are you fucking kidding me? And that's what his fucking three goals were for the fucking season. Not, I want to win a Big Ten championship. Not, I want to make the NCAA tournament. I want to win a big 10 championship not i want to make the ncaa tournament i want to be happy healthy and fucking hungry i mean and it's mock turtlenecks get the fuck out of here the arena have you got you guys ever been in freaking chrysler before they redid it it was a. It was terrible. I used to run laps in that thing in the morning at 5 a.m., okay, hungover, vomiting in the corner, and probably nobody picked it up because it was just like, oh, that smell belongs here.

It was a total – so I had zero connection with Michigan basketball outside of the Fab Five, right? And then all of a sudden it all flips. And it's like we can all agree we're all from here this state in fairness is a way better high school basketball state than it is a football state let's be point blank the basketball talent that comes out of this state a year in and year out basis that goes everywhere is nuts it's crazy right like it's really really deep and beeline did it for the most part recruiting kids from out of state which is that goes everywhere is nuts. It's crazy, right? Like it's really, really deep. And Beeline did it for the most part,

recruiting kids from out of state, which is even fucking more insane if you really think about it. So, but that's my thing. I think Michigan's in real trouble with that. And that's, I just look at the long-term aspect of that. And I just, that's where I'm at. And I'm sorry to go on a tangent, but that's what really worries me about the program going further.

Well, I mean, you're absolutely right, and the reason why is it hasn't been just five years that Michigan's had a couple down years or something like that. We're going on two decades, right, of only beating Ohio State, what, twice in two decades or whatever it is, 18 years. And so it's not like it's just like that's an entire generation. That truly is an entire generation that now sees Michigan as, A, for the better half of the last two decades, getting dominated by not only Ohio State, but also Michigan State.

And so when you're talking about the Midwest and Michigan, the state of Michigan recruiting and all that, you know, this next, this up and coming generation that is going to be the next fan base is not looking at Michigan as a dominant, you know, team. They maybe get to, you know, like 2016 and 2018 they're up there in the top five and in the discussion but by the end of the year they're not making it past that you know the five or six seed in the college football playoff or whatever it is and so um yeah i i'm very worried about that for the future too. And, you know, it's just going to be – it's going to take a lot.

It's going to take quite a bit of winning to get over that. And you're going to have to – the problem is you're now going up against the literal best team in the country in Ohio State or one of and the top recruiting class in the country as well for not only this year but next year and probably the year after and it's like you you've dug yourself into this hole over the last two decades where now you have to go up against the best of the best that is your rival and you can't beat them you can't compete with them you can't you aren't even on the same playing field with them at this point yeah and it's not just the ticket holders and the donors who you know who might not remember a time when uh michigan

could beat ohio state now it's the players i think about a kid who's 18 years old oh yeah literally hasn't seen us beat ohio state in a like not down ohio state year not a 2011 year right right like at least us we can remember like john navar chris perry braylon edwards steve breston mario manningham i was a sophomore in high school you guys are i mean college you guys are the worst you know know that? You guys are so old. You guys, you guys are terrible. Well, I wish I was in college when I was watching those teams, though. I mean, could you imagine being at scorekeepers watching that game? It's going fucking nuts, man.

No, and that's what my point being is, like, I've been to two Rose Bowl games when I was a student. You know, like, I had two buddies living in California that were on the baseball team. They were super nice. The families were nice. We flew out after Christmas, you know, pre-corona. I like to get that jab in.

And it was the greatest experience of my life. My grandparents actually had a chance to, if you hang with me my, my grandmother's brother was one of the five people that created the university of Michigan hospital system. So he literally, yeah, he literally came in. And so my grandparents went to a million Rose bowls, like in the seventies and eighties on the university dime. So I'll never forget when, in 03, when Michigan beat Ohio state, I got to go to the Rose bowl. My grandma paid my flight she was like look this is you know what you need to do like you need to go do this because this is like part of like what i want like i look at that now as my family i mean as i'm getting older i'm like my goal is and i don't think this should be

unrealistic but my goal is like hopefully michigan goes to two or three Rose Bowls, the remainder of my life. I don't think that's asking for that much. Beat Ohio State every five or six years, right? Nothing too outrageous. Like I'm not delusional to think that this is going to happen every year. I think that we all get that. But those are the feelings. Those are the things that are memories that you want that are just non-existent

for your age group, which is terrible. That's why I feel awful. Like, that's the worry part of me is going further. I mean, I was going to say, you bring up the Rose Bowls. I remember it was either 03 or 05, my, like, last, like, really exciting memory of, like, Michigan football. I remember, like, going to the store, getting, like, last, like, really exciting memory of, like, Michigan football. I remember, like, going to the store, getting, like, the Michigan versus USC Rose Bowl matchup t-shirt.

Dude, I was just about to say the same thing, dude. Oh, my God. If I still had that shirt, like, I remember the memory. I was probably 10 or 11 at that – 10, 11, 12 at that time. And just being, like – it must have been 03 because that was, like, Chris Perry, John DeVar. My favorite team ever it was the 04 rolls bowl yeah yeah yeah i remember getting that shirt and just being so excited

to watch that team play in the rolls bowl man i i remember i nothing like it i completely agree i can't believe you said that because i literally have a memory of walking into Meyer and making my mom buy me this gray hoodie that was, it had the, you know, the helmets on it and the Rose Bowl date. And like, that was like, that was Michigan football. Cause that was just like expected kind of at that time, Michigan was dominant. And, and now like literally since then Michigan hasn't fucking sniffed a Rose Bowl they have literally not even smelled the roses so um it just like I don't when have you guys even thought about the obviously the Rose Bowl is

different now because it's part of the college football playoff and you know blah blah blah um but like when was the last time you guys thought like oh michigan has a chance to to play in the rose bowl this year i it was it was that moment i feel like that i felt you know that that michigan had a chance yeah because what 2011 we didn't win the big Ten, right? Like it was – Oh, no. It was just – no. Because there wasn't even a – was there a championship game then? No, it was a split. Michigan State shared it with who?

Didn't Michigan State share it or no? Did Ohio State win it? They shared it with Wisconsin. That's right. No, there was. Wasn't that the first year of the championship game? That was the first year. Yeah, that was the first year yeah that was in wisconsin won on the the the like block pun or whatever and they won that

was like the road bowl i think that was like the most unbelievable big 10 championship game of all time that was like an insane game and then they went and they got steamrolled by old andy dalton and the texas tcu baby frog them yeah yeah it's just it is it's like this is a fucking depressing conversation but it's it's realistic it really is now let me let me jump up to one thing let's let's be fair here all right okay outside of like a couple of things that have gone bad, we talk about this is a historic run for Ohio State, right? Right. Let's be fair.

Ohio State doesn't know who their quarterback is going to be next year. Okay? True. Imagine if Tate Martell is the quarterback in 2018, right? Think about it. Like all the things that have fallen their way, right? Yeah. Zero injuries to their main stars.

I can't remember the last time a star for Ohio State has missed a significant game or multiple significant games. Even in 2014, it was like injuries happened and Cardale Jones just fucking somehow. Yeah, like the greatest quarterback. Right, might be the greatest. Like Kalen said, probably the greatest coaching job in the history of college football. Right, because he did literally nothing after those three games.

He literally played three and a half quarters. Remember, he had to come in at halftime in the Michigan game. So the guy played first three and a half games, right? But maybe J.J. McCarthy's the dude. You don't know. I mean, that's how quick this could change. I really mean that. I mean, let's be fair.

What next year on Ohio State outside of the receivers scares you? Nothing. Coaching staff, the fucking five-star freshman, they're getting in at quarterback. I'll tell you, they fucking scare me. Okay, so all that stuff scares you, but you don't know. I mean, I'm going to take my chance with a five-star freshman quarterback over maybe our five-star is just as good.

I mean, who knows? You duped me for the last time. I'll believe it when I see it. No, no, no. And I agree with that. My, my point being is though, is it, is it so, is it looks so far away? It's, I don't think it's as drastic as we think it is. That's college football, right? Like a play here, a play there. Like I can go through a million games where it's like, okay,

that game's close. And then all of a sudden it's a blowout because of two or three things, you know, a block punt or a drop snap, and you're like, oh, shit. And then it just snowballs. And you're like, okay, was it really that big of a difference? And you're like, no, not really. We even talked about this before. Like, honestly, even in 2020 for Michigan,

like there were times in each game that they could have you know a couple plays go a different way and like Michigan State 100 it's literally like three plays and then Indiana like there was a couple plays even Penn State like it you're definitely correct on that where things can go a different way but Michigan just seems to always be on the losing end of that for whatever i agree with that 100 100 i agree with that i just think it like you know i mean my last big thing for the thing and i'll just tell you because i got out of my mind and i'm almost through an entire bottle of Evan Williams eggnog. And I consider you guys better be planet fitness.

This better be a fucking judgment-free zone. Absolutely. Of course. So you better not fucking judge on any of that. My point being is, as I look at this, as far as it is away where the only thing that's been crazy. And the one thing that's been nuts about this whole Michigan state, Ohio state situation for like the last decade to me has been when those guys have needed to play their best for the most part, they have Rocky Lombardi is a fucking Heisman trophy winner this year.

And the fucking guy transfers to northern illinois and he's probably gonna shove it down our fucking ass in week three next year right like the guy like comes out of no ricky white making fucking catch is coming out of his ass right like just unreal stuff that doesn't happen and that is what's so surprising like last thing i'll never forget i'm literally in line flying to dubai for the honeymoon and i'm watching the ohio state maryland game the week before our game in 2018 yeah and i'm watching anthony mcfarland god bless him he's probably on the practice squad of the fucking who in the fuck knows whatever team in the nfl just running all over ohio state and i'm like this is gonna not only good is this gonna

be this is gonna be a reckoning next week like holy shit we're gonna win but it's just when they needed them the most they showed up and urban even said that if you if you guys don't know that everybody even said that on the podium at the Rose Bowl when they won the Rose Bowl game. He was like, when I needed our guys for the last six years, they showed up in the biggest spots. And it was crazy. And that's kind of how Ohio State and Michigan State has done the same thing to us. Really, if you think about it, like, hey, 2015, they kept the game close. They kept it close, right?

It was fucking – obviously, you have a crazy ending, and you'll never see that ever again in college football. But the fact that they kept it close, there was never this thing or this feeling where we're out of it. And that's where Michigan's got to get to. We've got to stay in the fight and not get the knockout punch with seven minutes to go in the second quarter where you don't have any chance.

And that's the difference of the Michigan football program compared to Northwestern, compared to Ohio State, compared to just the belief and kind of what Kalen said, the belief that we can do this. There has to be some sort of time. There has to be a belief as a player, as a team, that you can figure this out. And maybe the psycho jj mccarthy as my friends like to tell me this guy's a fucking crazy lunatic on social media maybe this is the fucking guy that we need maybe it is i don't know i mean he came out what was it like two days ago

and said that the future means national championships for michigan and i'm sitting here like i've heard this before but i will say like something about him makes me believe him more than and maybe it's just me being a fucking loser michigan fan that probably won't believe anybody who says that sure and i know that there that's half of it 100 but there's something about him that does make me think like maybe he could maybe he could be that guy um and the one thing i'll say one more thing and and let you go kaylin but like the one thing to your point uh derrick like michigan has been so close but i think back to those michigan state under D'Antonio and Ohio State and, like, a lot of these just in general in sports.

Michigan basketball has had it too. They haven't had those magical moments of, like, how the fuck did that happen? Every time that there's a magical moment in a Michigan football game, it's going not their way, right? It's the blocked punt against MSsu it's the spot it's like everything happens somehow magically not their way it's like somebody made a deal with the devil and maybe jim harbaugh is the fucking devil so that's the reason um but like michigan has never had a jordan pool houston shot uh on the football side right it's Trae Burke, Kansas. All the big moments are happening in basketball.

I think about, like, the plays that Michigan State has made under D'Antonio to make those Big Ten runs and, like, fucking Kirk Cousins to Keith Nickel against Wisconsin in the end zone. And, like, Hail Mary. Like, how does this shit happen for other people? And then it just doesn't happen for us. So it's, like, there definitely is just some luck in the world.

And Michigan has gotten itself under Jim Harbaugh actually to be at the spot where like things can go either way and they just never go their way. We are the like unluckiest program in like oh yeah all of college football at this point like i was i'm honestly thinking of like 2013 auburn do you remember how lucky that team was they like they beat georgia because the ball like bounced off some guy went into receivers hands boom all of a sudden they're playing for sec championship right then the kick six happens against alabama james james winston and florida state like they went undefeated somehow and we're the worst team in like half their games yeah right and so like i feel like we're the team that they're playing like all the time every time it's just like and we could be doing everything right we're like wow we're having a great game

even though it's really close and then all of a sudden like you know zeus throws a lightning bolt down and bpj trips you know you're like what the hell what just happened we just lost the game and i feel like that all the time when we're playing well and then when we're playing not well it's like we're really not playing well to the point where we're playing well and then when we're playing not well it's like we're really not playing well to the point where we're just getting blown away so if we could just like you know we just need to find

Jack you need to call up your Notre Dame guys and grab one of those leprechauns because we need to be like rubbing the leprechauns head getting some of that luck on our team oh that's funny no but you're right I think a lot of it is I mean I don't know about you guys I'm assuming you guys all play Kanugi down in the business. Yeah, getting some of that luck on our team. Oh, that's funny. No, but you're right. I think a lot of it is, I mean,

I don't know about you guys. I'm assuming you guys all play sports, but it's just a belief, right? I mean, a lot of it is. It's like, hey, we're good. We're just as talented. I don't know. I mean, I'm not going to bring up my old-time war stories and talk to you about how I thought I could capture Mount Rushmore,

you know, whatever by myself or climate, you know, any of that kind of, but just, it just seems to me that like, Hey, you know, and that's, and that gets me into like the entitlement. You know, is there a massive entitlement at Michigan? Very good point. There could be a huge entitlement. I mean, the school's changed. I mean, I was there last year for the 2006, for the Notre Dame game. I had friends fly in and it was hilarious. The school's changed. I mean, I was there last year for the 2006, for the Notre Dame game. I had friends fly in and it was hilarious.

We went on campus and, you know, the fucking school's got a fucking soul cycle. I didn't even know what soul cycle was until my wife was like, oh, my God, do you believe this? They have a fucking soul cycle. I was like, what is that? She's like, imagine Peloton on steroids. And I'm like, oh, okay. Like, I didn't even know what Peloton was. And like, I didn't even know what that shit was.

Like, but like, it's just different, right? It's a whole different feel. Like, I remember still trying in the scheme on chicks at Rick's where like, okay, everybody's wearing blue jeans and the same slutty black tank top. And like, okay, your makeup's definitely awful for a 21-year-old girl, but we're going to go home later on tonight. Like, I've got a feeling that like, I mean, but you know what I'm saying? Like, I got a feeling it's just like these fake girls or guys that are worried about Instagram or worried about everything that's other than what's the objective at hand. And that's just, that's just my theory on it. Maybe because I don't see that in the baseball

program. I'm not saying I'm not in Justin knows I'm not, I mean, Eric Bokage is what he's done has been unbelievable. And I really mean that, but like, it's just, he's not like the best with the alumni and I'm not saying he's terrible, but I'm just saying like, but he identified, he made an identity for his program. And I see that with the line and i'm not saying he's terrible but i'm just saying like but he identified he made an identity for his program and i see that with the line and you kind of see that you know just the kind of the carousel verts right use him as the perfect example right like just use those guys and the trey burks and those guys just unassuming grinders that are going to go out and you know, just figure it out. And that's kind of what we're missing.

You know what's peculiar about all that under Jim Harbaugh is I feel like he was the guy when he played for Michigan, even when he was in the NFL, he was that guy that believed in himself so much that he felt like he could conquer the world so it's weird that he can't convey that feeling to his team at this point and it almost felt like he he did that at Stanford and he did that at the 49ers he like he like willed himself to the Super Bowl willed himself to the Rose Bowl for Stanford and like, it just seemed like that was his mantra throughout his athletic career and now his coaching career.

And then he gets to Michigan, and it feels like they don't have that identity. There's no, like, we believe no matter what, whether we're down 14 with two minutes left, we still can win this football game. It's like if we get down seven in the first quarter well might as well pack it in because uh it just kind of seems like we're not the better football team today caitlin i'm gonna go to you like think about it you're an alumnus of a program that has just as many wins against ohio state in the last eight years as any school in the conference. Think about that. I mean, that's a truly remarkable statistic, right? So it shows you that it can

happen. That's my point. Like it shows you that shit, the ball bounces the right way one day and it can all come together and everything can go your way right like it really does and that's what's shocking about it like i just don't understand how that hasn't been able to happen but um you know we can always have hope and that's that's the beauty of these things and sports and and and that's it i think i mean derrick like well let's say derrick like you said, 2016, ball bounces the right way. Ref spots the ball an inch short. I mean, where is Michigan's program right now if that goes Michigan's way?

I mean, they've probably been to a couple playoffs at that point, I'd assume. Yeah. It's crazy, dude, how sports work. It's so fucking depressing to think about. God damn it. Oh, my God. It makes it even more difficult for us, though, because, like, yeah, you're right.

Like, Purdue has beat Ohio State a number of times. But when Ohio State comes into West Lafayette, they usually don't have their guard up, you know. They're like, like oh we're just going to come in here and you know purdue's looking to you know ruin their season which they've had the opportunity to do a few times thankfully but when they come to the ann arbor or when ann arbor comes to them you know they are like ready for war they and that's that's their super bowl well you and you you know what if you want

to be a fucking elite program you better be ready for war every fucking day dude like that's just the deal like do you do you think nick saving goes into any game thinking oh we can just run through this team no like they just they're ready for war every fucking day. Clemson and Dabo have the same thing. So, that's where, like, I agree with you. It's tough. It's tougher for Michigan to, like, dig out of the hole because of that because Ohio State's going to be ready for that game, right, no matter what. But Michigan doesn't seem like they're ready for that game ever.

No, they don't. It's crazy. It's crazy. It's crazy. Like, you know, it's just I don't get it. I don't mean that's – here's what's crazy. I'm going to go to like just jump to something that's crazier. You have like Big Ten basketball this year. Michigan State has been an abortion.

They literally are an abortion. They are pulling them out in third trimester, and this is not healthy. They are assigned at the corner of Michigan Stadium in Maine of a guy showing you an abortion picture before you walk into Michigan Stadium, like preaching to you. They're awful, right? They're terrible. They're bad.

Is anybody worried about Michigan State basketball? No. No. You don't hear one. I got a million friends that are Spartys, and they're like, whatever. It's going to be fine. I look up in Vegas this morning. All I do now is I gamble degenerately and wait for my child to arrive

and bet their savings on the over on the Monday night game tomorrow night. But, I mean, like, it's like all I'm thinking about, so I look it up today. I listen to the Brett Musburger VEASAN network every morning. Michigan State is still the third highest pick to win the conference, and they're 0-3. Holy shit. So think about that.

So now it gets even better. So you have Wisconsinisconsin's one and they lost okay and then illinois's two and then michigan state's three michigan's five they're not even fourth that's crazy they're not even fourth and they're playing the best ball of anybody in the conference even like iowa just obviously got exposed a little bit. I mean, they get exposed every day on their defense, but they finally got exposed and got beat. Wisconsin just got exposed and beat by Maryland, who Michigan plays now.

And it's like, how are they still fifth when they're playing by far the best basketball of anybody in the conference? It's crazy. That's what I love about basketball season, man. More games, less games matter. I's what I love about basketball season, man. More games. Less games matter. I mean, like you said, Derek,

Michigan State can start off the conference 0-3 and still be one of the favorites to win it. It's crazy. Michigan football goes 0-3, and they're calling for the coach's head, right? No matter who it is. Even 0-1. They say they start the Big Ten conference 0-1. It's like over, right?

It's just crazy. It's just crazy, man. I don't get it. I just don't understand it, but it's just funny. Well, we have not been able to, you know, I had hoped that we could get just some answers, you know, on why things are the way that they are, but it doesn't sound like we have any answers.

And we never will have answers because this is – it's just perplexing on how the hell we are where we are with Michigan football in 2020 after six years of Jim Harbaugh. And it's just like – it kind of feels like Michigan football is the same as corona. It's like we're just like way too far into Corona and you still don't have a solution. And we're still like not in a good spot.

There's still no light at the end of the tunnel. With Michigan football, we're six years into Jim Harbaugh. There's still no light at the end of the tunnel of like, oh, yeah, we're going to, you know, be good one day. And so it's just like, holy shit. Just need that Operation War warp speed and get the uh michigan football vaccine going yeah get the vaccines going into michigan football to save the day um i love that you compared fucking michigan football the the coronavirus that's

amazing the biggest pandemic since 1918 yeah i mean i'm, I'm not. Am I wrong? Am I wrong? It is an infection. I can't get it out. That's the sad thing. You're not wrong. Michigan. We got to hold out hope. Hopefully everything's going to be normal again soon.

Michigan football has officially been put on a ventilator somewhere inside of fucking Ann Arbor City limits. And they're just FaceTiming their friends right now hoping to God to survive. Big Grudge is about to shut us down. But you know what I mean though. Exactly.

That was a great way to end it. We'll end it there. I was going to say you can follow Derek Feldkamp but you can't because he's in No you can't. Here's the thing. MySpace. No, you can't. Here's the thing. My space?

Maybe my space? No, no, no. Bud. I was on Facebook back when only college kids could have Facebook. Wow. Back in my day. Think about that. Think about that. I think Facebook came out in 03.

I think it was 03. I'm pretty sure it was 03 and then literally all it was a dating app in college it literally was like what's your relationship status was a single yeah like and it was like a huge deal that was like the first thing of like okay online dating which was fucking wild you unfriendster i met my wife on bumble i mean how about that i finally long time listener first time caller i finally my uh my wife's like you know she's like it's good that you're tall i'm like what do you mean girls like that i'm like uh okay she's like yeah you need to put that on your like profile like put down just put down your height and that's it i like you because you're

tall but i don't like you enough to come back. Well, but it totally proves it. I put down six foot four and then dot, dot, dot. Apparently that matters. And my world changed. It was incredible. I'm like, I have nothing else going on for me in my life. Note to self, you put your height on your dating profile and you'll have a kid on the way. There you go. We were love at first sight.

All matches and all worked out. So there you go. Love it. Love it. Well, we'll probably, you know what, we'll have you back on for sure. Hopefully soon. I think we should have you as a regular, like leading up to football. Cause I know, you know, Derek will call me sometimes and just like out of the blue, be like, dude, I got to talk to you about fucking Don Brown, man. And like, he just will just go off

on it. So we might as well save those takes for the podcast. Cause they're, they are great takes and you've got, you've got about as many stories as anybody as i've ever met so yeah no for sure i appreciate you guys having me on it was fantastic it was a lot of fun and i promise you i'll drink this or not more next time i'm on and i'll get a little bit i'm intrigued now man i've i've got to get that evan williams eggnog dude it's so here's the deal so all right so i've lived a lot of places i lived in australia i lived in Bozeman, Montana. I've lived in Fort Myers, Naples, Florida. My buddy in Fort Myers, Naples,

I started drinking this before I moved back to Michigan. He's like, this is really fucking good. We put some cinnamon. It's $7. $7 at Meijer. You can't go wrong. This the greatest are you mixing it what are you mixing it no it's already mixed oh shit all right it's already got the whiskey in it

that's fantastic you just literally shake it that's why i was shaking the whole thing the whole just put it on ice that's amazing 6.99 at meyer hey i used to bring evan williams cherry back in college you had some great times i'm open to that evan williams and i hate brown liquor i can't do it you're literally hey how about this this is what i love about derrick he was like you know i gotta go on a diet for the summer i gotta got to stop drinking. I'm done drinking beer. Done drinking beer. Only drinking vodka. Yeah.

I had such a good body this summer post-corona. I was going into it. It was such on a high note going up. I've got some pictures and angles that my wife took. I don't even have social media. She was really good on a dating profile. I can only imagine. I mean, it was just so going up.

Just the lack of carbonation was huge. Send me those pictures. I can tweet about them. Yeah, you should. I've got stuff from the Maldives for the honeymoon where it's like, dude, if this ever goes bad, honey, I'm putting these on the dating profile. I am sure sure this is like a layup i mean this is a fast break open ended trey burke layup finger roll like this is a

no-brainer like i am saving these things for sure so yeah this blue moon mango wheat too oh yeah very good Very good as well. Every time I see Justin, he's drinking. Just to let you know that. Yeah, most times. Same to you, you bitch. What the fuck are you talking about? No, I know.

I'm just saying. I see you at the bar. I see you at the golf course. Well, yeah. Hey, Darren. It's like you're not drinking. I was going to say, shortly after you brought up how the SEC, like Southern teams are tailgating down in the College World Series, I texted these guys.

I was like, man, we got to make tailgate all sports like a thing, like basketball games, baseball games, fucking soccer, field hockey. I don't care. Fuck it. Give me a reason to drink. Anything to go tailgate. I'm down. Yeah.

Dude, you know what? I mean, I'll just tell down. Yeah. Dude, it's unbelievable. You know what? I mean, I'll just tell you, like, dude, it's crazy how amazing, like, the facilities are now compared to when I was in school. Like, dude, that's not been that long ago. That's 15 years. It's 14 years. Like, the soccer field, the cross, like, cross country, like, all those.

Yeah, dude, this is nuts. This is insane. We got lights. I'll never forget. We got lights in baseball. A rich guy donated lights named Fred Wilpon, who used to own the Mets. Right, yeah. You don't know who he did. He donated lights for softball and for us, for baseball.

And when the hockey season in 2005 got canceled because of the holdout the lockout ESPN needed games to put on tv so we got to play Ohio State underneath the lights and it was the coolest thing in the world it was the day after exams and it was snowing sideways I've never been more cold we were warming up in oosterbaan we saw a tv guy from espn who was literally just bitching in the corner of oosterbaan being like i've got to do this fucking game from the outfield like dead center field oh my god and he's like i'm like hey dude is this game gonna happen he's like yeah man this is on national fucking tv this for sure is fucking happening like i'm like are you kidding me he's like no none of us wanted to play like we were fucking dude you had fucking

you're pissing slurpees okay i mean you're fucking so cold you couldn't even like you had no idea what you were doing and yeah it was it was so awesome because everybody was going fucking bonkers kids have been drinking tailgating all day long. Our alumni were down in the third baseline just giving this fucking left fielder shit like I've never seen. Like just in his ear. And it was a blast. And now you have that action for everything at Michigan.

So it's a great thing. Well, you can catch us tailgating just about everything we should make it like uh we're gonna be those losers at like a fucking women's lacrosse game just like drinking beer we should just make it a goal to tailgate every single sport or something oh yeah oh it'd be great let's do it um all right well you can follow us at blue by 90 on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and on YouTube at blue by 90 podcasts. We'll have Derek back on here for some more hot takes and, and fun stories here soon. But thank you for listening and go blue.