I'm just going to reply specifically to why I understood 90 in 90 to be important.
Learning
Reinforcement
New life choice of sobriety
Beginning the steps- I was not one of those people who found a sponsor right off and flew thru the steps in a wkd.
I haven't heard the expressions you have (certainly not the 90 friends part! I cannot imagine how you make real friends, rather than just get numbers, say, that fast!).
I know my fanny had to sit in a chair, if only that, as my brain was healing and I could begin to compute what AA the program - NOT meeting attendance- was about. Like others said, willingness/desire to stop drinking, consideration of the 3rd step and therefore real prep for the 4/5, the start of the spiritual process.