JaMo, Davis Warren, and Managing Expectations: Pure Michigan Sports Episode 17

[Applause] welcome back to Pure Michigan Sports is this episode 16 we're losing count now I I moved like three states away uh so excuse the um I'm just now noticing there's some shirts hanging up in the background my office chair as you can tell sort of got damaged in the move so it looks like I'm leaning back because I am uh so if anyone is not just listening but watching this on YouTube or on our substack or whatever it might be um yes I am leaning back at an awkward angle it's just the way it's just the way how we're rolling today man but uh yeah it's pure Michigan Sports It's Christian P diit Alex I always point to the to the wrong side of the screen over on this side it's Alex daiml and we're getting back at it and for the first time in this podcast history we're doing it during football season are we are we feeling good are we feeling excited obviously it was only week zero I don't should we just get right into the half dozen and go right to Michigan I mean [ __ ] I at the same time like as much as I'm like so so ready for it like I just I want college football's here I'm so excited the NFL literally starts [ __ ] tomorrow at the same like as much as I'm like oh my God can we get there can we get there can we get there it does feel like it was here in two seconds which is great oh yeah um and I yeah I guess going right into it um kind of do we have any higher expectations like I I'll be honest I did not it's exactly it's exactly what I thought it was going to be um trying to spread the ball out and really being kind of you know unsure of ourselves at quarterback going with a couple of different guys I mean we I I think because the spotlight was on JJ so much last year we kind of forgot how big of a quarterback room Michigan did or Michigan has uh a lot of guys a lot of different arms a lot of different legs too um obviously will Johnson did his thing I mean he's never gonna not do his thing unless like his ACL snaps but again like you what's up don't speak any of that new existence now come on I'm trying to I'm trying to say it so it doesn't happen because if I say something will happen it won't and vice versa you know I I'm just the walking curse I guess um but no I you you lost how much of your team like it wasn't going to be great I would I hoped it would have been better against a team like Fresno State but think about like your entire offensive line pretty much gone the the Mason your entire offensive line actually all fiveyear starters are now on an NFL roster of some point so uh for those of you that missed it I I think we get a habit of jumping in very quickly which is good CU I I love I hit the small talk I love getting right into it Michigan started its title defense with a 310 win over Fresno State obviously to anyone that watched that I I think he used the perfect word Alex uh this team was unsure of itself especially on offense it looked like a team that was struggling in my opinion to find its identity uh Donovan Edwards only had 11 carries only had five at halftime I'm sure we'll talk more about that in a second here the biggest thing is Fresno State is and should be a pretty easy win it was a win we tripled their score but I'll tell you anyone that watched that game will tell you just like I am right now it wasn't easy and it wasn't pretty on a scale of one to 10 though outside of just this Fresno State game look ahead to this season how worried are we Alex see I don't think worried is the right word here because there there you had to manage expectations I mean there was a reason so much emphasis was put on The Natty last year is because this was Harbaugh's team he finally got his guys after years of clearing out Brady hul and adjusting to this new landscape of college football he finally got his team and it was this again it he was on the hot seat it was like can you Pro can your team do this or else you're probably gone after this and with that came him leaving a ton of the staff leaving um I don't think do we we I know we don't have the same OC because obviously shran more we lost like we lost Jesse wingler we lost Jay Harbaugh special teams like you said lost our entire offensive line there is not a single coach currently on the roster for Michigan that is in the exact same position they were last year to your point and there's maybe well let's think Donovan Edwards had a de offensively yeah offensively Donovan Edwards coulston Loveland of course yeah preseason All-American who am I missing I mean I guess s Mor got had some I remember Tyler in there somewhere some [ __ ] and then defensively you got mcari page defensively you get a fair amount of the starters back to be honest with you defensively I think always you're talking about managing expectations my expectations and we've talked about it on this show was that defense is gonna be or is going to have to be a lot of this team because that offense is struggled it's it's a young struggled it's a young offense it's a it's a new OC it's a new it's in a lot of ways a very different offense again I don't think they found their identity they clearly had their Harbaugh Chiron Moore identity they're going to have to have a new one now that Harbaugh's gone and it it's not it's not going to be pretty I think is how I would put it so I I wouldn't say worried I I'll State the obvious I don't think this is a national champion Team Championship team this year and no I'm not going to root for Michigan State I know I'm wearing all green right now it's just how it happened today um but no I again it was the expectation was there that this is not going to be another undefeated National Championship team um you're lacking a lot on offense and it was it definitely wasn't as pretty as I would have hoped um but panic button I don't think we're pressing that yet so scale of one to 10 then what are we how are we feeling or doesn't have to be worried scale one to 10 how he feeling like a five like I I'm I think part of it is because they're still that high I still have that high from the national championship here's the long not every season is Natty or bust you know what I mean we're no longer on the Natty level I get it that's fine but we're now every other college football team in America where the low end for this team to me the the floor is still eight wins which 90% of programs dream of that's what I'm saying how are we feeling about this season just it doesn't have to be Natty it's probably not going to be uh but but but I think there are a lot of questions that need to be answered and um I I think we all sort of had nty hopes going into week one of like maybe it all fits maybe it all works I'm not going to say those are immediately dashed and there's zero Natty chances now but it it feels like yeah you should adjust your um your feelings on this season overall do you have a new uh record prediction I know you texted me sort of in Anger during the game uh but looking ahead to this season it's not exactly a cakewalk what do you think Michigan probably comes out with record wise here I'm I'm gonna go with eight and four okay I I think that's it I I I think Texas this weekend will be a struggle um I do think we cover if that helps I I do think our defense is actually there's something to be spoken of um I I see a loss to Oregon I see a loss to OS you know what I still I could go with the nine wins I I do think we have the power to be USC I think Miller Moss just played a an abysmally poor defensive team in LSU um Fair even though the over didn't hit um I I don't think that's that USC is necessarily a threat um and I do think that'll give Michigan some time to in a way settle in um get you're not buying UFC hype no I'll tell you what I thought they looked scary as all hell going against LSU granted you're right not the greatest of defenses to speak of but they certainly have a better one than last year and while that's a low bar I don't know as a you know Michigan fan just the same as you are I was watching that game sweating knowing we've got him in a couple of weeks here but but how long have people been drinking this Cliff Kingsburg Kool-Aid for so damn long you're getting rid of you got no hype in kingsberry at all you're just [ __ ] on everybody now that guy the there there's my thing is he was kind of brought in correct me if I'm wrong he was brought in as this like this quarterback guy right he was known as like this court he was a QB's coach yeah oh yeah he couldn't win with the guy that went one1 could you had a [ __ ] terrible defense you had the worst defense in the conference that Prides itself on terrible defenses but if he can't win with what people are what who people or sorry no not even people what the NFL deemed as the best player in college football last year if you can't win with him how you g to win without him because you have an entirely different roster that's I think that's the thing about transfer portal in general and we're we're seeing it with Michigan now to a lesser extent it's more graduation that's hitting you same thing in basketball same thing in football every year separate from the year past you almost have to reset where particular this is more of a discussion of basketball uh but it's true just as much in football so much of your roster building you're now looking at it like a pro team where high school recruits that used to be obviously the entirety of your recruiting are now like the draft for your pro team like I'm running if I'm shiron Moore running Michigan your high school recruits are the college football draft you're getting your rookies in and you want actual starters you go out and you buy them in the transfer portal as sucky as that is it does allow programs to have shitty years terrible defenses and snap their fingers and reset year to year I don't think just because he had a shitty defense and he had this or that or lacked it means that they're immediately going to be bad the next year you could have bought in in 2020 going into 2021 we just talked about it with Harbaugh you could have said this dude's gonna be terrible he can't coach this he can't coach that he can't win the big game was of course the big knock on on him he can't you know coach good wide receivers he can't do this he can't run a pro style offense those were knocks for Harbaugh going into then three straight years of college football playoff appearances I don't think you can you just write off a coach in a whole program because of a couple bad years that'd be a little patience right yeah I guess patience is is key there um the argument I'll make for uh Harbaugh that I and I could this where this is where I could be wrong um or it's not even Kingsbury anymore it's uh I we've been saying the wrong [ __ ] name it's uh Lincoln Riley it's not Kingsbury I'm not gonna lie to you you've been saying Kingsbury this whole time and I've been thinking Lincoln Riley in my head yeah long I get I get those two confused but no it's it's Lincoln Riley I do think and this is my this is my weird brain I do think you have some karma for leaving oklah the way he did but it's also he got there he got to USC what 2022 he's had sounds right he's only had two three years there think about how long it took Harbaugh to build his team and build his guys and figure out what worked but it's a new face of college football now you got a whole new landscape dude it's hard even with a with a new landscape though like look OSU people were saying the same [ __ ] about OSU as they are last year as they were this year talking about how great Kyle tras was gonna be or Kyle TR Jesus well I'm am so [ __ ] off with my names today uh Kyle McCord um talking about how great he was going to be how great their offense was how they were going to dominate they've literally been ranked every single [ __ ] year it's been Ohio State over Michigan in the rankings every single time all right look what has happened let's shift now how do we feel about OSU how do we feel about the top of this Big 10 conference it's Powerhouse packed and we've got both Oregon and OSU of course both top 10 teams on the schedule in the last month of the Season I'm marking those down both as losses but how do we feel about the top of the Big 10 right now I I think Oregon there's more than there was to be desired this week um I I don't think I think Oregon will take some time um it was definitely The Struggle Bus there um but again new quarterback new system um it's going to take some adjusting in game like you can practice it practice it practice it game is different game is always going to be different um the truth so I think that'll be a little bit I I I'm I'll give Oregon some Grace there um I was just so happy when akan took the lead in the first quarter off that field goal they went down scored three 0 I was like [ __ ] yeah like let's go and then it all went to [ __ ] um so we're not feeling OSU then as well I I am I I think well I'm not happy about it but I I think they'll be a half decent team um all right okay I I know I have to be objective here they will be they have a lot of talent they are a talent star started roster I I hate to say and you know there's as much I'm trying to find something Michigan sitting around me to hold up as much a Michigan fan as either side of this podcast combined that may be the most talented roster in college football I will I would never put money on it because I just couldn't bring myself to do that that might be my Natty pick man I don't think they can never I will never come close to ever picking Ohio State to win a National Championship in anything objectively if if they have if they have Prime Tom Brady Prime Damian tomson I will never be picking them again I get what you're going for I get what you're going for I think this May damn well be the most talented roster in college football and I know that people don't like the will Howard fit I've been covering Sports professionally in Kansas the last year he's he's I feel damn good about him on that roster and I know a lot of people don't that's fine you know only time will tell it's Sports it's educated guessing to a certain extent I feel like he's got a toughness and a grit and an ability to make any throw that fits in with the absolute boatload of talent that you've got there and it hurts believe me it hurts to admit that I think that's the best team in the Big 10 at the very least now here here's my thought let's say by the grace of God they don't win a Natty this year or they don't make it as far as they are expected to go obviously like you have the new playoff format there's going to be more opportunities for them to make it further but let's say they don't make like the final four is Ryan Day gone I think he has to be right no dude no really is but you're why would he be gone because he because he has the most talented roster in football and he still can't bring a national championship home because he's what excuses or reings has he had realistically on paper rivalry games anything can happen on paper he slated to beat Michigan this year right but based on the games that we just watched for Michigan I'm saying I'm saying on paper I'd love Michigan to upset them he probably wins that game which has been a massive hurdle for him the last few years right that's step one step two is the fact that more than likely he'll win the Big 10 another hurdle for him it's been big for him to overcome I'm holding up three fingers I was on number two now here's number three he's going to make the college football playoff again I don't think okay here here's Ohio State fans like Michigan fans hold their coaches to a higher standard I get that that's one damn high standard if you're consistently making the playoff and then losing in the playoff or in the Natty is your version of losing the big game I don't know man I I can understand that to it sense I guess I'll change the hypothetical a little bit here Oregon takes the Big 10 yeah okay are we saying beating OSU in in the chip like beating OSU either in the ship or in the regular season and OSU is not are not the big 10 Champion are not the big 10 Champions this year okay I do you think it's safe to say the only thing saving Ryan Day from getting fired if he does not win the Big 10 is making a Natty appearance I'm not I don't know about hyp the these are too far into the hypothetical range again though talented it's the most talented roster you're right but he can lose to Oregon who is probably the second or the third favorite I I'm guessing going into this season the third the three best picks most commonly picked teams to win The Natty Oregon OSU and Georgia if you lose to Oregon and that's your only loss in the season and then you go win a a a playoff game I think you're fine I'd love to see Ryan Day fired I'd love to see OSU fail being realistic man I do want to emphasize that point though that you men like the standard that yeah Blue Blood college football programs have for their coaches and like Harbaugh was literally two inches away from getting gassed he two and that's not just fans wanting him that that's not just fans wanting him that was they were like dude you gotta beat Ohio State they restructured his contract they made it so much more incentive based I mean that was a big thing yeah being he went two and four in the 2020 year and to come all the way around to a chip whether it's tainted or not and obviously it is um still a big deal the way that yeah I I think Blue Bloods hold their coaches to too high of a standard is a bit ridiculous but discussion for a different time we've been talking a lot of Michigan football MSU opened their season with a win as well we're talking about not pretty ugly wins down in the dirt down in the mud that was one of them MSU 16-10 over FAU and uh no it wasn't pretty yes you had a bunch of turnovers yes you couldn't do anything in the Red Zone but win is a win man that that under betters that's right under betters uh it was beautiful um no again uh it's kind of My Philosophy with Michigan it's been my philosophy with the Tigers it kind of all revolves around the same thing um bringing in a new coach it's great uh obviously had a lot of success over at Oregon State um I'm terrible with names today I'm blanking on Michigan State's [ __ ] head coach I'm wearing all green I should know what the hell I'm talking about that's so true that's so true you're wearing the green gota have it God anyways run at Oregon State um it's going to take a while it's not going to be pretty just yet and Michigan state is a program that has been terrible for how long now ever literally really ever since Antonio since Antonio left they had that run where they you know they beat Michigan in the year that Michigan went to uh run they run yes I mean they were in the top 10 they had they Kenneth Walker they were they were a solid team but ever since then it has been kind of [ __ ] it things don't change overnight even even in this landscape where you can buy players and buy players and buy players and do all this things still cannot change overnight so I I do it's no surprise that it's that's another close game I I still I I think M I hoped Michigan would do better than they did Michigan State if you want to talk a team that fit the expectation exactly it was ugly wins against a team like Florida Atlantic hey a win is a win and I'm to a point now I I think I just have a a you know fetish for cheering for underdogs here um it was nice to see MSU get the win would I like obviously mid game while I'm watching the Michigan fan in me like wants MSU to lose these games but in the in the least disrespectful way possible it's nice to see him like get some wins there um but no it it wasn't pretty you were three of 13 on third down which is only topped by the two of 15 that FAU was you had two picks if I'm remembering correctly I believe both of them were in the Red Zone uh it wasn't pretty uh but you do have some bright spots and we're trying to focus on that because we just spent the first 20 minutes of this show with a lot a lot of negativity uh Lynch Adams is a dog dude I don't know if you saw him run nine carries for 101 stands out but watching the game the eye test he has that dog in him dude he he was Finding Lanes he was lowering shoulders I thought he looked really good and for a team I know this is going to sound very old head get out my cane I'll show you how to play this game type of thing but when you've got a program that's struggling and you're trying to build it up get the foundation down get the trenches get the Run game going going I feel you can then build from there a program that's a nice way to start nine carries 101 a tutty solid day and and their receivers struggled just as much as Michigan's did uh but a win is a win and there's that there's that old saying and this applies to both schools of you know you'd rather learn from an ugly win than an ugly loss so yeah you'll take it I guess I mean you're going to have to start with the run when you've got your you know your brand new child's your starting quarterback there was two picks against Florida Atlantic like that you really you don't have a choice there you're going to have to earn it on the ground um they are currently according to ESPN matchup predictor um 17.6% against Maryland this weekend oh that's that's mean that feels intentional but the spread is eight and a half so for 177% eight and a half seems like a very close spread you know what I won't make it my pick of the week I don't want it coun against my record if I'm throw I'll probably throw a dollar at plus eight and a half to be honest with you I feel like their defense played well enough they can standing hang in a tight game yeah this was a Maryland team that you know beat up on a beat up on a really star started Yukon team this year uh you know really really showed their grit um in a 50 to7 win over God I can't believe Yukon as a football team crazy right that's some of the Big East teams just don't at yukon's they fighting I I guess um but no I we'll see uh I'm not not high expectations for either Michigan football team this year um which is great that we still have the Lions on the relative scale not high expectations for MSU is like six wins not high for Michigan absolutely you got you're right you got to have those scales there um I know you did you did pose this question uh earlier and I do want to kind of transition into it unless you had more on yeah go um biggest question mark for Lions right now because for me right now it it after training camp it's just straight up injuries really okay that makes sense are we going to lose jir Gibbs are we going to lose J again are we going to lose SU is golf going to get banged up at some point like our guys could not it seemed like every other day there was a tweet about someone on the Lions getting hurt in practice you can play I think the what if injury game with any team at any point but Alex you're exactly right there that one there were a lot of hurts where you you're sitting at your desk at work and you check your phone you go [ __ ] of ah and it and they kept adding up it looks like most our the prayer circle most of our Heavy Hitters should be back Gibbs I think should be good to go uh for week one I think I saw leaport um will be good as well Gibbs I think the quote I saw was he's like 80 or 90% right now which feels good and on track and remember when you got a two-headed monster with Monty as well you know you K well sorry if you go and click on the preview for Lions Rams it gives you season leaders obviously the season hasn't started yet so we're taking the preseason into effect so henden hooker is currently the team leader in passing yards Li Sam Bennett is it for the Rams um henon herker is also the leader in receiving sorry rushing yards um like look at I'm like no that no I love it though I love that he beat out sudfeld cuz that's an ugly watch bro I have never seen one fan base uh gang up on a guy who's not a starter who has no like actual impact on the roster yeah but I'm saying like never before have I seen one fan base gang up on someone who will have no impact on the season whatsoever negatively usually usually you're you're looking at like a bowan or like some sort of meme player where you're like he really won't impact the season but like dude hell yeah like guys stop saying knock on wood that he doesn't impact this season when [ __ ] Goff and go down and then we're stuck with him yeah yeah if him and hooker go down that's so true but I think we'll be I think if we get to that point anyways if you're on a third string quarterback kenden hooker you know the best that you can pray for uh but yeah the lion season I I think I wanted to just pose this question because I feel like whenever we've talked about the Lions it's been like let's go you know maybe this is the Year this is a Super Bowl year I think at this point the national media has caught up with us and with this team where it's like all right everyone now recognizes this squad as a Super Bowl Contender and I feel like it's only the local team the local reporters the local people that have looked around and said absolutely but there's still question marks to be had with this team injuries I think is absolutely top of that list top of my list Alex uh was wide receiver three who fills in behind Aman ra and J which is Big we've me in particular actually have been critical of J not so much hating on him but more saying this is a massive year for him because he has to go from like a fringe wide receiver four like decoy run a deep route every every time get one catch a game he has to snap his fingers and become the second best receiver on a Super Bowl caliber roster I think that's a big jump to make can he make it I think so everything we've seen out of training camp all of the reporting from early practice says he's at that level but assuming that he is there's a very short list of guys behind him now this Lions offense benefits from Ben Johnson in that after you get ped amanra your next best weapons you go leaport you go Gibbs you go Monty you go J you've got to get to that like sixth slot on best offensive weapons before you even get to your third wide receiver really even to your second but I still think that that is a major major turning point next Factor this season can a guy like KH khif Raymond jump in here and be a legitimate like 500 yard receiver for us because if he can this team is on that 49ers level on that best team in the NFC level but if he comes out and he has a 200 yard season and J Mo has you know a handful of drops and like 700 receiving yards suddenly you feel sort of iffy about the consistency of the passing attack and I I know I'm playing um hypothetical game again and we've done a lot of that today but I feel like that's something to watch out for too injuries you're right though the health of this team the cornerbacks room I think should be all right because I think we've got a little bit more depth than we have in years past uh but Gibbs and Monty a great two-headed monster but is if Gibbs goes down if leaport goes down same thing list gets pretty short behind them it does I do have faith in Brock Wright and I do have faith in Monty um I have faith in Craig Reynolds as that sounds to say um I I do think uh and here here's my comment on the whole passing game I I think yards won't be the measurable for that um it'll be drops or it'll be Miss targets or it'll be something I don't think it'll be yards because this is a team that is going to focus on Aman rosing Brown this is a offense that is going to style a lot after him um and obviously you need your wide receiver two you need your wide receiver three you're right it is a make or break year for J Mo but it's important to remember it's from the wide receiver to position you can't expect him to be the you know leading receiver every game you can't expect him to be unfortunately the first round pick because of the position he's in Aman ra is going to be the target yep um he's gon to be the main guy you have jir you have Monty there is a lot of depth on this offense that is it there's a lot of depth and weirdly enough as soon as you hit like the bottom it's gone which sounds like does doesn't sound like that makes sense no you've got a plethora but again when it comes to injuries there is a certain threshold odly enough I know exactly what you mean yeah there's a threshold you can hit and as soon as that you hit that bar you're done I think more than any other team maybe minus the 49ers in the league right now if you want to say the whole league probably throw in the Chiefs or maybe the Ravens in the NFC the 49ers are the only other team with as complete an offense you have Heavy Hitters everywhere you have dudes that could be thousand yard you have dudes who could again both rush for a thousand yards two of them in your back field you have a thousand yard potential receiver at both tight end and wide receiver I think you've got a lot going for you offensively but you're right it it feels oddly thin where if say leap pora tweaks his knee a little bit again he's out three or four weeks and J literally all J has to do is not take a massive step forward and suddenly you get a little bit thin at your receiving spots and so I think maybe combine both our question marks to say I'm a little bit worried about everyone just doing their jobs offensively if that makes sense yeah no absolutely um I do think the three and a half spread against the Rams is a little disrespectful um do we okay yeah I I don't think I mean this is again Stafford hasn't even won a playoff game in Detroit he lost last year by a decent margin I don't think the Rams got that much better in the off season I know they finally had a first round pick for the first time in like 10 years but um there's a reason the lions are like right there up with the Super Bowl favorite contenders I think three and a half is a bit disrespectful I would have gone with probably closer to six or seven um and that doesn't sound like a lot but in terms of NFL spreads that's pretty big um oh yeah obviously so I I do I would have probably set it closer to five or six but I'm not in Vegas there's a reason I'm not a bookmaker um because I end up giving them my my money anyways uh fair you know is that your pick of the week then an ALT spread uh no I have a different one A different Michigan centered one I'm going to go with um and I'll I'll mention that one later I do want to quickly touch on oh the Tigers yep I'm still frustrated I'm still mad okay because I had to ask Tigers fans have been getting more and more optimistic and they've earned it been sliding up in the Wild Card been looking better and better all the time winners a seven or their last 10 they're back up to a positive run differential plus 14 now and believe it or not you sort of blinked in your four and a half games out of the Wild Card which isn't ideal but you were as many as nine or 10 at one point so you got to be feeling good Alex would disagree thousand per um and here's why we're in the last month of the Season here you've got the Padres you really only have one series that really controls your destiny and that's in Kansas City towards the end of the month let me check I want to I'm want to say it's like the third yeah you're in Kansas City the 16th through the 18th um you know you face Baltimore you face Oakland you face Colorado you face Tampa you face Chicago the only series that really has playoff implications is that Kansas City game or is that Kansas City series so we're going to do all of this winning to have that series control our destiny and have nothing else to control it as in we're four and a half games back now watch us get a half a game and we're not even at the wild card and then we're picking in the middle of the [ __ ] draft next year again and yes I know torque it doesn't really matter because we it's clearly proven that torque or Torque is the proof that you don't need first you know one- one picks because he's been dog [ __ ] but for the love of God we're picking at the same spot in the draft every year taking the same High School guys that are better like the same High School shortstops and the same [ __ ] and we're not getting guys up to the league for 40 [ __ ] years when are we going to learn that this is not the plan until like something actually happens where we like I get we're getting closer we have that young roster and that that's great but teams right now are either let's be honest they're either tanking or they're fighting for a playoff spot and there is no middle ground and you don't count this as fighting for a playoff spot I count it as fighting what the hell are we GNA do in the playoffs what are we gonna do we talked sorry we have two guys we have the sa Young Award winner which it's the fact that we're finally winning we have a winning record with the S award winner may just get an over 500 record we just got over a 500 yet 500 record I'm so mad I can't even talk and we have the best pitcher in baseball on our team that should show that this is not a playoff ready team at all but this is something we still are fighting for like we couldn't we we had to DFA orella we're still jav's still there we're not going to go anywhere we still have him eating up what 25% of our [ __ ] cap space we've Kenta MAA as the second biggest contract on our team and we're fighting for a playoff spot Kenta [ __ ] MAA why why do you want to pick in the middle of the draft every year it's that Detroit curse ban where it's like you it seems like and we've talked about this before every single Detroit team fetishizes the idea of either squeaking into the playoffs or finishing just below and then not actually helping your team at all God you know if this if this ambulance had any respect it wouldn't be going off in my during the middle of my podcast recording what in the world um but no you're absolutely right and and here's the thing I I remember going on a rant a while back about how for the Red Wings every year it was the six pick it didn't matter where we finished we could be the worst team in the league or like right on the end we were always going to get the six pick hindsight I'd rather have that than what the tigers are doing right now because we're gonna have like the back of the lottery we I don't we're not I don't even know if we're going to be eligible for the lottery if we keep going at this rate and it's just to barely not make the playoffs like what are you gonna do next year are you gonna go out and get a if you want to go out and fill that Gap at third base and get a bregman or a monata I might feel a little bit better but it's got to be a younger guy that isn't that you're not going to overpay for like you did with Javi that you have to realize he's not going to have 20 years left of his prime or actually scratch that like they might have two or three years left of their Prime if that maybe so you can't go out and give them multi-million dollar contracts so firmly then in the too little too late category for the Tigers if that wasn't if if that wasn't um if I wasn't effective enough in giving my opinion on that let me say it now it's way too little way too late yeah why did you dump at the trade deadline if this was the plan great point I think it I yeah I think you're right uh without we got move on my My Head Start pix of the week of the week yeah I know you I I love AJ hinch but Jesus Christ um yeah I'll I'll go out and say it uh I'm going my Michigan pick of the week over 42 and a half Michigan Texas oh I wow Vegas knows something I don't I do not think it's going to be that low scoring of a game defenses Texas defense can be damn good brother Texas defense can be damn good but so is Texas offense and I I do think that like this is a team that if Michigan can focus on ground pound I think Michigan can at least make it close it's not like they're gonna get shut out I think both I think both teams could easily put up at least 21 points and if one doesn't the other will make it up interesting okay I'm not mad at that I won't be making that bet myself um just because I trust that both those defenses too much but I there's something about Texas that just scares me that they may just run up the score a little bit you might be right there um so I'm a little bit conflicted here um but I think my pick of the week right now is tomorrow night as far as when we're recording this it'll be tonight um for Thursday Night Football this Chiefs Ravens game I know that Ravens defense damn good their secondary legit but I've got Rashid rice over 62 and a half I think you've got a couple of really solid new weapons and Xavier worthy uh and though I don't think he'll be ready for week one Hollywood Brown for the Chiefs and for Patrick Mahomes I think that takes a little bit of getting used to live reps wise that is obviously they've had training camp and everything I think it takes some time to get ready to uh get some chemistry with your receivers and I think in that he's going to rely passing wise a little bit more on Travis Kelce a little bit more on Rashi rice granted he's only in his second year but he had a great uh rookie season 62 and a half the line for his receiving yards I've got the over there uh frankly just in general whether you're betting on it or not love that pick oh yeah whether you're betting on it or not I think that's going to be really fun game to watch obviously they scheduled it thinking that I think it'll pay out should be a fun one um you had something interesting as well that you were telling me pregame pre-show that you wanted to add something about a a former player oh yeah um this guy's Instagram just came up I think he was getting like some Hall of Fame nomination I want to say for his college um uh here's what we'll do is I'll uh I'll name the college I'll name the position not a Michigan guy not a m okay nothing to do with michig or Detroit nothing to do with Michigan was from Texas oh and as soon as I say the college in the position I think you'll get it I most this might be the uh the make or break to see if you're a true DieHard college football fan or not because this does go back a little bit of a ways this is like uh when we were growing up um played at Oregon okay and he's fast and he was a running back oh running back I was about to say Marcus Mariota um a little bit older than that earlier than that o see that that might be testing me here who is it l Michael James oh that's a name I don't know really yeah man if you're listening to this right now go Google this guy's highlight tape there's a reason you used to see those like dark it was like the dark green jerseys there's a guy that made him famous before Marcus Mariota and his name was L Michael James because he was like the fastest guy like to me at that time he's like the fastest guy in the world what's the update though on this boy I that he's alive forgot he existed for like yeah like I was like oh my God like I'm 8 years old I'm talking about like Michael James I love it um so that was my I guess kind of like you know where are they now I don't know exactly what he's doing but I was like this this guy's he he was he was it he was the man um so shout out shout out like shout out Michael James uh guy random dudes exist I love a good Instagram post where you're like oh I remember this guy from when I was in when I was a a a wee young lad um yeah I that that kind of settles it for me uh we did our picks um hopefully we'll get back on more of a uh routine here obviously both settling into different aspects of Life uh it's a little bit hotter down where Christian is now though uh good Lord so hopefully we'll get back on a routine uh with that and with the blog uh if you didn't know we did start a substack you probably didn't know because I haven't been posting as much as I thought I would um but hopefully we'll get back on that too with uh you know I'd really say like Prime Time Sports season uh getting back into full swing so keep an eye out for those um and yeah this is why you do the outros because I suck at them Pure Michigan Sports everywhere on Instagram on Tik Tok on YouTube on substack which is free right now to subscribe so go subscribe to that uh until next time it's been a great little 50 minutes here spent with Alex daml with Christian P dimit it's pure Michigan Sports sh [Music]