Bag of Bell (Vol. 3): How to stay connected to Michigan sports even when you're old and washed, Coronavirus routine talk, Survivor superlatives and a trip down memory lane
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I promise these things won’t continue to get longer by 1,000 words each time. But since this one is north of 5,000 words, I’m going to forgo my intro and get right into the questions. As always, the success of this thing depends on y’all, so keep sending me fun, unique questions. Tweet me, DM me or e-mail me: bagofbell@gmail.com.
Twitter question from Ben Silberman:
So yeah. I guess this whole ongoing pandemic thing is a fairly big deal, so why not start with a question about that.
I haven’t found my quarantine adjustment to be as stark or as inconvenient as it seems like the majority of people have. Part of that is probably just my mindset. I try to focus on the positive aspects of what’s going on rather than dwell on what I’m missing out on, because I think your attitude can steer a lot of how your day goes. I’m not undermining depression and what a lot of people are probably going through right now, but the way you frame your current situation can help put you down the path you ultimately go on. Instead of being annoyed about the number of teleconferences I need to hop on during a normal work day, I can be thankful that I can have Netflix on in the background while I’m working — a luxury I’m not afforded in the office. Instead of being down over the fact that I have a lot less in-person interaction than I did prior to the pandemic, I can focus on the fact that I have ~2.5 “found” hours a day now that I no longer have to commute from Frisco to Dallas every morning/afternoon. The biggest source of stress in my life prior to our new coronavirus reality was that I didn’t have enough time in the day to do what I wanted/needed to do. Now it’s like I actually have ample amount of time to complete tasks and even have some me time.
As for the structure of my actual day, the most important staple of my M-F routine has been doing morning Camp Gladiator workouts in the morning before work. I started going to Camp Gladiator a few months ago and it’s been a total game changer from a health standpoint (I’ve lost ~20 pounds while adding muscle in the process), but its value has been amplified over the last few weeks from a wellness/escape standpoint, too.
A Camp Gladiator workout in downtown Dallas. Photo via CampGladiator.com website
Camp Gladiator is a HIIT class that does strength training, interval workouts, etc. There are typically 15-20 people in a class, but over the last couple weeks they limited it to 9 people per class with mandatory spacing to keep in line with CDC mandates and it looks like things are trending toward it going fully virtual in almost all locations with shelter-in-place orders becoming more prevalent around the country. While that puts some of the selling points of the class on hold (workouts can typically include partner work with resistance bands, sandbells or ropes where you share with a partner, which is obviously a no-no in our current climate), it’s still a great workout and a great way to get out of the house (even if you’re just doing it in your driveway) and a great way to start your day feeling like you did something for yourself and accomplished something. I love my wife and children very, very much, but it’s also been really nice to see the faces of people other than them during a small window of the day, too.
I’m pretty sure CG is largely just a South/Southeast thing with a few exceptions, but once it launches its virtual plan, which I believe is next Monday, it should be open to anyone in the country. I highly recommend it — or any other form of exercise like a Peleton class or Orange Theory or anything else being streamed online. It’s a really good way to set the tone for yourself. If you’re interested in CG, shoot me an e-mail. I’m pretty sure there are promo codes I’d be able to give to get you some sort of discount.
Outside of that, most of my routine is centered around my actual job, and the job takes up the vast majority of my day. We start our day with a 9:30 video conference every morning to set the tone for the day, and there are usually 2 or 3 other similar meetings scheduled over the course of the day. I have eight different writers/staffers that report to me, so keeping tabs with them from not only a work standpoint, but a personal standpoint, is challenging in itself. But then there’s the whole “creating enough content to put out multiple pages of sports each day thing,” which is a challenge when … nobody is playing sports.
I try and work in different areas of the house over the course of the day just to fight against sitting in the same spot for hours at a time. We have a big pond in our subdivision directly across the street from us, so that’s really clutch when it comes to needing to get outside for a little bit to get some fresh air and a little break. It also helps keep the kids and dog sane, too.
Beyond the elimination of a commute, there are some really great perks to working from home. I can see my kids a lot more than just getting them ready in the morning and seeing them after school. And then when they’re acting like brats, I can just say that I need to get on a work call and have my wife handle everything. (Just kidding. Maybe. Depends on who’s reading this.)
Other advice: Set some time aside for yourself at night to do something creative. I’m obviously writing 4,000 word mailbags every week, which is just a good outlet for me to write about whatever’s on my mind and do something that’s not “work.” Read a book. Turn your brain off and just binge-watch a show (new season of Ozark out at midnight!). Structure is good, but make sure that part of that structure is to give yourself some time to be unstructured, if that makes any sense whatsoever.
As for the last part of your question RE: my excitement level, the answer is football. I think the basketball team has a higher likelihood of being very special, but college football is top dog to me in a vacuum, and that excitement level will only be heightened as it becomes increasingly possible that college football might be the first real sport we’ll get to watch in almost half a year. Absence makes the heart grow fonder — even if you always lose to Ohio State.
DM question from Avi Sholkoff:
Hi Scott, looking forward to the mailbag. A question I had that’d I’d love for you to dive into is What’s the best way to stay connected to U-M/Michigan athletics as I grow older — more distant from the year I graduated? What can I do to make sure that I still “care” about Michigan sports? (even if they tend to disappoint)
I think this is a really good question, and it forced me to be a little introspective. In short, at least from my perspective, no matter how hard you try, you probably aren’t going to care as much as you used to. And I think that’s just human nature as you grow older, gain new responsibilities and hit different stages of your life. That probably sounds weird coming from a guy who has a Twitter account reserved solely for Michigan sports, but it’s true. I care deeply about my alma mater and I still structure my fall around Michigan football games. But the level of “caring” is certainly different for 30-something Scott than it was for 20-something Scott. Michigan football losses that happened in college were things I’d carry with me for weeks at a time. I would be legitimately angry and treat people differently because of how a Michigan sporting team performed, which is pretty damn embarrassing in hindsight. When you’re married with kids and have a career and real responsibilities to worry about, that’s just not the case anymore — at least in my experience.
The JT was short game in 2016 was brutal. It’s a sports loss I won’t get over for a while, and it will always serve as a “what if” for me when I think about where Michigan’s program is now and where it could have been if the game had (rightfully) ended when JT Barrett was stopped shy of the first-down mark on 4th down. But later that night I was taking my son on a Polar Express train ride where he got to meet Santa Claus for the first time. It’s pretty easy to forget about a football game you weren’t even a part of when it comes to life events like that.
So with all that said, I guess my first bit of advice would be to adjust your expectations. Don’t think you’re a bad fan if you’re not losing sleep heading into the season opener, or that you’d rather talk to your friends about your kids or your dog or your job when all you guys talked about in college leading up to the opener was which freshman wide receiver had the best chance to get in during mop-up time. Don’t be Uncle Rico and try to replicate your glory years. Aint gonna happen.
Other tips:
Find a Michigan community that makes sense for you: The first caveat aside, I think this is the most important thing for someone that’s looking to stay connected to Michigan sports and wanting to ensure they still “care.” The reason it’s hard to replicate the passion you had when you were a student at Michigan is because it’s basically an impossible task. When you’re living in Ann Arbor, you’re surrounded by all things Michigan athletics for four (or five, or six) years. You’re not going to have that once you hit the real world. So finding a replacement to fill that void can be crucial. When I got fresh out of school, it was the U-M Alumni Club. As the years have gone by, I’ve learned that “community” for me is actually Twitter. I think watching games with the added second screen of in-game, real-time commentary from members of the Michigan fan community has really helped me enjoy games more in recent years. It’s an added bonus that I’ve learned a lot more about players and the game itself from people who are infinitely more knowledgeable than me, too. The community is full of really bright, funny people who all bring their unique perspectives to the viewing process. The key is finding those people and blocking out the morons, because our fanbases is full of those people, too.
Don’t be fair-weathered: Another way to stay connected to Michigan sports and still feel like you “care:” Don’t forget about the heartache you’ve endured in recent years (/decades). You’ve already done the time — now you get the “benefit” of visiting your mausoleum of disappointment. Want to know why Michigan’s 2013 and 2018 basketball runs were so enjoyable to me? Because I was there during the Amaker era and during the early stages of the Beilein era where the NCAA tournament was considered an unachievable goal and not an afterthought. I was at the Selection Show in 2009 when Crisler erupted over Michigan getting a berth into the NCAA tournament. True success feels much better when you know you’ve been there through the hard times. The Fire Beilein crowd can try and convince themselves otherwise as much as they want, but I still refuse to believe that a fan that was calling for a coach to be fired just two months earlier can truly have as enjoyable of an experience watching their “team” make a run into April. I realize I might not be wired like everyone else, but I’ve rewatched the 2016 Michigan-Ohio State game before every subsequent edition of The Game because I want that disappointment fresh of mind when/if Michigan ever does win.
Don’t follow recruiting: This might sound like ass-backwards advice to give to someone looking to ensure they can still feel connected and care, but hear me out. I think part of the reason people can feel disconnected as they grow farther and farther from their time on campus is because it feels like an increasingly daunting task to consider yourself a “good fan.” A good way to lighten that load is to redefine to yourself what it means to be a good fan. I’m not saying distance yourself from caring about the next generation of players coming into Ann Arbor. But there’s a difference between knowing Josh Christopher is going to decide if he’s coming to Michigan soon and knowing which three stars might get a bump to four-star status when the next round of 247Sports rankings come out because they showed great hand technique at a recent satellite event for The Opening.
Have fun: Being a fan of your alma mater (or a fan of Michigan if you’re not a graduate — it’s perfectly acceptable to root for a school you didn’t attend, fwiw) should not be a chore. You have finite time for extracurriculars and entertainment. If you find yourself getting more angry than anything else when it comes to Michigan sports, then you’re doing it wrong. Either adjust how you’re approaching fandom or maybe cut bait on it altogether.
Watching Michigan play for a natty means more when you were in NYC a decade earlier watching it play in the NIT.
(The first-ever) text question from social media-less Jack Herman:
Best Survivor castaway, favorite survivor castaway, and best survivor moment? Best and worst seasons?
For the handful of you that reached out to me last week after I went in on my love of Survivor, this section of the mailbag is for you. For the other couple thousand of you reading this, I’m sorry. But please know that I’m just saying that to make you feel better because I’m actually not sorry at all and there’s a freaking pandemic going on, so maybe instead of being a Survivor hater you should get CBS All Access and spend the next couple of weeks catching up on the 39 previous seasons of Survivor before we reach the Survivor 40 finale in a couple of months.
As for the five-part(!) question (which should come as no surprise to anyone that knows Mr. Herman), let’s break it down in five different parts.
PLEASE NOTE — I WILL BE INCLUDING INFORMATION FROM THIS SEASON IN SOME OF MY WRITE-UPS. THERE WON’T BE EXPLICIT SPOILERS BUT I WOULD SUGGEST NOT READING THIS IF YOU ARE NOT CAUGHT UP ON THE CURRENT SEASON.
Best Survivor Castaway
There are a few different schools of thought here. The obvious choice (at least for the next month or two) is to go with Sandra Diaz-Twine, the only multi-time winner. And while her wins haven’t been as flashy or spectacular as others’, it’s hard to argue against the only person to ever win the game twice — especially win one of those wins coming in a season with some pretty heavy hitters in terms of returning players (even if she probably didn’t deserve to win that season. More on that in a minute). I think the fact that her first win in Pearl Islands was against really weak competition and that her two in-game appearances since win No. 2 (Game Changers and Winners at War) have been relative busts tarnish her legacy, and unless you're voting strictly by stats (i.e. wins), it would be hard to give her the nod under other criteria.
So if we’re not giving it to Sandra, who would get my vote? I think there are three deserving candidates (as well as a cop-out fourth option). I’ll break down the pros and cons of each below.
Boston Rob: This is probably the most popular pick if you ask a general Survivor fan. And his resume is impressive. He has one of the most dominant wins in Survivor history under his belt (Redemption Island). And I don’t think that was close to his best performance on Survivor. His runner-up finish to now-wife Amber in All Stars was far more impressive to me. Any objective observer thinks he should have won that season, and it was against what was at that time (and arguably remained that way until the current season 40 took that title) the most star-studded cast in series history. Points against him? The Redemption Island cast was historically bad. He’s been voted out of the game on four separate occasions. And as we learned in Winners at War, his strategy might be a little antiquated or at the very least, tough to win with when he’s surrounded by more competent players.
Parvati Shallow: Parvati has the resume which most closely resembles Rob’s. She had a very impressive win (Micronesia) and was the runner-up in a season where the majority of fans think she deserved to win (Heroes vs. Villains). I actually have her a notch above Boston Rob in my personal rankings because a) the Micronesia competition was better than Rob’s on Redemption Island (save for Erik and his historically awful gaffe) and b) it’s taken her fewer attempts to get her two top-2 finishes. I think you could make a very convincing case for Parvati being the best social player in the history of the game. The way she played Russell Hantz in HvV (a flawed player himself, but someone who had a strong track record at the time) is pretty legendary, and I think that was one of the best non-winner games in the history of the show.
Kim Spradlin: Kim doesn’t get nearly the love she deserves for her Survivor dominance. I would go as far as to say she played the most optimal game in Survivor history when she won Survivor: One World. There have been flashier wins and more outwardly dominant ones, but if I was to teach a class on how to play Survivor to someone completely unfamiliar with the game and I needed them to model their game after one person, I would choose Kim. She pulled the strings without needing to seek credit or attention in the moment, she performed well in challenges if she needed to but didn’t have to rely on it and she made good, genuine connections with people. Most importantly, though, she was able to vote out people she made those connections with but still make them gladly hand her a check for a million dollars — almost an unteachable social trait that few people have in their Survivor toolkits. She’s my pick if I’m asked to name someone at gunpoint, though I’d question why someone would hold a gun to my head just to get my Survivor opinion.
Someone else: If we’re playing percentages, this will most likely be the answer three months from now once the dust has settled from the Winners at War season. Whoever wins will be the second two-time champion in the history of the show, and unless it’s a Ben or a Nick that ends up winning, those wins will end up holding up nicely when compared to Sandra’s track record. People that I think could fall in this category: Jeremy Collins, Sophie Clarke, Sarah Lacina, Denise Stapley and Tony Vlachos -- and you might be able to convince me to add a couple other names, too.
Favorite Survivor Castaway
My favorite castaways are ones that are entertaining, play the game well and help narrate the game with humor and insight in confessionals.
People who fit this mold include castaways like Stephen Fishbach/Rob Cesternino (who have a great Survivor podcast, btw) Kelley Wentworth and Aubry Bracco. The Survivor in recent seasons that probably fits this mold the best is Rick Devens.
But my three favorites would probably be:
Malcolm Freberg: Fun, sarcastic guy that obviously cared deeply about the game it was showed through in all of his actions on the island. Played hard, played smart and was entertaining.
Spencer Bledsoe: You can literally copy and paste what I wrote for Malcolm and apply it to Spencer.
Tyson Apostol: A little less strategic than the other two (which sounds weird because he’s the only one of my top three to win a season), but he deserves a spot on my podium because his dry humor is matched by nobody, and any season that includes confessionals from him are immediately enhanced by about 500%.
Malcolm is probably my 1A with Spencer as 1B. Tyson is a little behind him because he’s gotten a lot of chances to play and he loses a little clout for how bad Russell outplayed him in HvV, even though it was great TV.
(And even though you didn’t ask, the clear pick for least favorite castaway is Rupert Boneham. An odd choice on the surface, since he won America’s favorite player and a $1 million prize after the initial All Stars season. But all that really shows me is that the vast majority of Americans are stupid, and it’s a legitimate travesty that this guy has gotten to play Survivor four different times (along with an additional Amazing Race appearance).
Best Survivor moment
This is tough, too, because there are a lot of directions you can go with this. There are some iconic moments from early Survivor that have been topped by more recent seasons, but since they were OG moments, do they still get the nod? Sue Hawk’s speech from the first-ever Final Tribal Council comes to mind. So does James going home with two idols in his possession in China. And the absurdity of the fact that they went to drawing rocks with four people left in Marquesas is still lost on many because it happened so long ago. But my top 5 list here will largely be from the more modern seasons. I’ll try to make it relatively broad to try and catch as many different types of “moments” there can be.
Johnny Fairplay’s dead grandma: A great moment in show history, but also a very important one. The first season of Survivor was so popular because of the diverse set of characters. Richard Hatch wasn’t afraid to be abrasive and the show could have a “bad guy.” The next handful of seasons that followed was largely full of “good guys,” though. Colby, Tina, Ethan, Kathy, Jenna, etc. All of these people were fan favorites and squeaky clean. Johnny Fairplay came and was not only OK with being a “bad guy,” he embraced it. The dead grandma moment was awesome and helped pave the way for what has helped make this series have such longevity: the importance of true characters on the show.
Parvati’s double idol play in HvV: There are a lot of iconic idol plays that could make this list, but I like Parv’s because of the season it took place on and how many people were blindsided by it — including her own alliance.
Erik gives away immunity in Fans vs. Favorites: Probably the most memorable moment in the history of the game for all the wrong reasons. Any list without this somewhere in the top 5 is a flawed one.
Chris takes out Rick in fire-making challenge in Edge of Extinction: Chris is rightfully toward the bottom of the list of all-time Survivor winners because of how little time he actually spent playing the game on the idol, and I think EoE is kind of an afterthought season because of that, but it’s hard not to include a moment like this on this list. It took balls to give up immunity and a guaranteed spot in the final tribal to take out the game’s biggest threat in a fire-making challenge. Great drama and a really cool way to end a season.
Denise votes Sandra out with her own idol in Winners at War: Hope you listened to my spoiler warning at the top of this. Could be recency bias but I think this one will stand the test of time because of who it happened to and Sandra’s speech that preceded it (saying everyone but Denise was a big threat at their five-person tribal, only to have that person send her packing).
Best Survivor season
Like my favorite Survivor decision, I’ll make this a top 3, because I think there are strong arguments that could be made for all three. Honorable mention goes to Second Chance, David v. Goliath and Borneo. I like the chances of Winners At War being in this conversation when the season is all said and done, too.
Fans vs. Favorites: Great winner (Parvati), some great moments (Erik gives up immunity, Amanda’s great idol play) and a really good cast. Survivor has swung and missed with gimmick/returnee seasons before and I prefer either the all-or-nothing approach (if you bring players back, make it a season of all returnees or else don’t bring anyone at all). But they made it work this season.
Heroes vs. Villains: Very similar to Fans vs. Favorites in the sense that it was full of great moments (Parv’s double-idol play, Russell convincing JT to give him his idol, Tyson essentially voting himself out) and that it had a good cast. Would probably be the GOAT season in my book if Parvati won it over Sandra.
Cagayan: Whoever casted this season deserves a raise. Some amazing characters with Tony (spy shack), Spencer (who I already gushed over earlier in this) and Kass (who made for some great TV). Some really great gameplay all season long. And not overly reliant on a gimmick, which I think Survivor tries to force-feed to its viewers too frequently.
If that same rude guy that had a gun to my head earlier comes back, I suppose my answer would be Cagayan, just because of the new characters it was able to create without having to rely on returnees. But all three are fantastic on about every level imaginable.
Worst Survivor season
When you’re 40 seasons deep, there are going to be a lot of forgetful seasons. While I’ve never given up on a season, there are ones I’d have a hard time re-watching. Seasons like Thailand, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Fiji and Vanuatu come to mind. But really, I’d have a pretty hard time going back and watching any of the first five or so seasons now that I’m so used to “modern” Survivor. They’re just different games at this point, and I’m a lot more interested in the strategy/gameplay than I ever was in the survival elements. Speaking of surviving, I hope you all survived this way-too-long answer to this question. I promise no more reality TV for the rest of this week’s mailbag.
Twitter question from GoBlue4Ever (various emojis):
I was a Bursley guy. I can sit here and justify how it wasn’t that bad and that the distance from campus allowed me to better bond with my hallmates and that the Bursley cafeteria was the best on campus. But even if all of those statements are true, it still doesn’t justify the hell that was waiting for those buses, especially in the winter months. It took me about five days of class to realize North Campus life wasn’t for me, and I had signed a lease to live off-campus the next year by the middle of September.
I was a Jug guy in college. I liked the location and the atmosphere and the relatively low douchebag factor when compared to other nearby establishments. But I’m not going to sit here and say I’m not a hypocrite, because I wasn’t immune to making my fair share of trips to Rick’s, too. But I promise that most of its appeal was to people watch and not to add to its skeeziness.
Truth be told, going back and reading most of my stories from the Daily make me cringe quite a bit because I was pretty raw at the time and hadn’t really found my voice as a writer, but a few stories that come to mind are:
Mario Manningham profile: Not particularly well-written, but Manningham was notably caustic toward the media and I’m pretty sure this was the first longform type piece of the guy that had his voice/plus people associated with his upbringing.
Michigan beats MSU in hoops, sophomore year: This was significant to me because it was a big game at the time (Michigan was still in the Amaker era, so a hoops win over MSU was notable) and it was one of the first deadline gamers I ever had to write.
My cover from the NIT finals at Madison Square Garden: It’s not even worth reading the story — I just want to brag about the fact that we got away with using “COCKBLOCKED” as the banner headline on 1A of the Michigan Daily.
My “Goodbye” column: Last thing I ever wrote for the Daily and probably the closest thing you’ll get to me being openly sappy.
Twitter question from Andrew Wink:
Depends on table dynamics, his stack size, how he’s been playing postflop, etc. But based on the information given, my preference would be to 3-bet him to ~$80 in hopes of inflating the pot a bit more and to put me in the driver’s seat in terms of decision-making. Everything you’ve written leads me to believe he’s a very LAG player. My philosophy against players like that is you’re going to lose the majority of pots against them, but the ones you do win should be big ones that make up for the smaller ones you’ve lost along the way. If I’m flat calling, there’s a strong likelihood of me being about to check-raise him and win on the flop, but that’s likely going to be a ~15 bb win. Assuming we’re playing $800 effective stacks, if I c-bet and he calls pre flop, we’ve already got ~35 bb in the middle before a flop even comes. This is definitely opponent-specific, and if you value your post-flop play I don’t recommend bloating the pot pre against your average opponent, but if you’re playing someone that’s aggressive and opening all the time, I’m fine playing out of position and with higher stakes with AQ if you feel like you’re crushing his range.
Twitter question from Ethan Bezzina:
I’ve never seen a Star Wars movie. So that will be the extent of this conversation. I figured I’m bored with this whole quarantine thing, though, and some hate mail over the next few days might liven things up a bit. So do what you please with this information.
p.s. I also haven’t seen any of the Marvel movies besides Ant-Man and the first half of Black Panther, any of the Lord of the Rings movies, any of the Harry Potter movies, any of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, The Lion King, Finding Nemo, Gone With the Wind, Ghostbusters and any of the Godfather movies. But I do own all eight installments of the Saw series and anxiously await news on when Chris Rock’s reboot of the Saw franchise will hit theaters now that its May 15 release has been postponed.
See you all next week. Or at least the ones who haven’t unsubscribed after the above revelation.