Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Pt 3 - Iowa United forward Matt Tiby joins the show to discuss life, basketball, and rescue animals

Episode Date: May 8, 2019

Former UW-Milwaukee forward and Urbandale, Iowa native Matt Tiby joins the show to talk about his life, career in basketball, and what excites him about playing for the Iowa United. This is a three-part series and today is the final episode. Make sure to check out Monday and Tuesday's episode to catch the first parts of our conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are listening to the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast, your daily podcast covering the Iowa Hawkeyes for the Locked On Sports Network, hosted by Andrew Wade, editor at dearoldgold.com. We are back on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast, and I am your host, Andrew Wade, editor at dearoldgold.com, and we are coming at you with our final part of our three-part series highlighting Matt Tybee, the power forward for the Iowa United, originally from Urbandale, Iowa. So if you haven't listened to the last two episodes, make sure you do that. Monday and Tuesday morning episodes were both interviews with Matt Tybee.

We talked to him for over an hour and wanted to make sure we gave you the full breadth of that conversation. Make sure you heard everything that Tybee had to say. He had a lot to say and it was really fun and exciting to talk to him. So make sure you listen to those episodes as well if you are tuning in for the very first time. If this is not your first time, make sure to go. So make sure you listen to those episodes as well. If you are tuning in for the very first time, if this is not your first time, make sure to go like,

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We really appreciate, you know, you as listeners always listening to the show, giving us the great feedback that we enjoy, obviously, and appreciate. And we're going to be doing a small little giveaway to commemorate our 100th episode. So make sure you're listening to the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast over the coming couple of days as we kind of divulge the details of that giveaway. Also, if you are on Twitter, make sure to follow us on Twitter at LockedOnIowa, and follow us on Facebook at LockedOnHawkeyes, and follow the Iowa United on Twitter at IowaTBT. That way you can get the full updates of what they are doing as a team as they get prepared

for the basketball tournament. Alright, so we're going to jump right into it again. I don't want to waste any more time. We're going to talk to Matt Tye before the final piece of our three-part series, highlighting the power forward who's going to be playing on the Iowa United this summer. So let's jump right into it right now. First, your verification video for the basketball tournament. You have your cat in it.

And it kind of reminded me of Austin Powers' Goldmember-esque. I was wondering, did you play in that? Or was that just your cat having to be on your lap? You're like, well, I'm not going to move him or her. So we are fostering this cat right now. It lives outside our complex. They have a lot of stray cats and dogs out here in Turkey, but the people are amazing. I mean, they, I love the people on how well they take it as their own to be like, you what i'm gonna go feed the cats i'm gonna go feed the dogs when you know there's dogs sitting outside you know corner stores and stuff and people will go in and buy bread go buy food for them it's just you know amazing to see and my wife

she loves animals she you know her biggest aspirations for when basketball is done is she's like we we got to move to Iowa get a big old patch of land so we can have our own animal farm and make sure that we can save all the the cats and dogs and the and the pound I'm like I'm all for it because I love animals and she really brought that out of me so we actually had that black cat and it wasn't like staged at all. Like the cat just wouldn't leave me alone because it was, she was recording. They wanted to be a part of it. So we're fostering the cat right now because it just gave birth to two small

babies, Oakland and Frederick. They're awesome. I love them. They're barely crawling right now one's got a little hitch and it's in its front paw but it's it moves it trucks along it's awesome that's that's really cool it's funny you talk about having a farm with an animal farm because we have two dogs now both rescues and I think if my wife had her dream,

we'd have about five acres and about 15 dogs and whatever we could do for that. My wife's goal right now is to get, what is it? The older dogs, like, you know, the hospice dogs. And she's like, we gotta get the hospice dogs. And I was like, you're gonna put so much pain on so much pain on our heart to spend their last days with us. Unfortunately, I haven't said goodbye. It's the quality of life.

It's for them to feel loved for their final moments. For even these cats that we look after. We look after a bunch but I mean we just love animals and love anything about uh the betterment uh I don't we don't agree with PETA so don't get me started on that but their their shelters yeah just get rid of them but you know for the shelters that do the no kill you know we're all for it just uh prolonging their lives and you know making it a mission for themselves to be able to uh give their love to these animals that may not experience love every single day is uh you know

very heart whelming or heart whatever it is like there we go yeah so it just tickles me when people just you know love to look out for animals and you know they do a great job as a community out here and that's uh one of the most things that i really enjoy out here i love it man um dude so i real quick i have to go on this adopting hospice dogs and older dogs is one of the most rewarding experiences and also one of the most painful experiences we actually did the same thing we adopted a nine-year-old beagle uh springer spaniel mix a few years back and ended up passing away after a year and a half and uh yeah it was it was one of the best i mean uh one of the most incredible dogs, most incredible experiences, but man, you have to, it's tough.

I just want to be very upfront. I think hopefully you're listening, but it is one of the toughest things we've ever had to do was when he passed away. So, but it's great for the heart. It's good for the dogs. They deserve it, but it's tough, man. It is tough. And it's like, you know, you're thinking about, you know, adding them to the family. You're just like, you know what?

Like, whatever it is, we're going to, you know, make it as long as possible for you to live with us and, you know, be able to enjoy life with us and if it's you know a month three days I think you know my wife and I are very willing to take that step into getting that and having that in our lives because she I know for a fact you know it it would really mean a lot to her and it you know anything, anything that she loves, I love, uh, or learn to love because, you know, do sacrifices in relationships. Yeah. You gotta, you gotta do the stuff that they want to do as well. Exactly. And, you know, for her to come out here and help me be stable and, you know, live out my life and, you know, my dream and, you know, for her to be

like my rock out here. It's, you know, it's really awesome. And it's a blessing to have her out here. And I'm really glad she can be out here with me to experience this because, you know, at the end of the day, it's, it's one thing when you're experiencing it by yourself and you go, like, tell everyone, like, yo, yeah, I was at Istanbul or whatever. And it just means a lot more when my wife and I are out here together and, you know, we share these experiences and we can go back and look back on it and be like, just have some good laughs, good cries and stuff like that. The amazing moments that we've had being overseas. Man, I couldn't agree more. I mean, it's incredible traveling with my wife, going to places with my wife when she's not there. Yeah.

This kind of sucks. Like, this is nice, but it'd be really cool if she was here to see it with me. So I 100% get that, man. Exactly. And it's like when you try to explain things that, you know, they would laugh at or something. It's just like, oh, like, I wish you knew you were here. You would have had this inside joke easily. Yeah.

And, you know, for me, I do a bunch of, like, one-liners from, like, Step Brothers, Pineapple Express, like, silly movies like that. And, like, you know, some of my friends out here they're just like what and i was just like man my wife would get this like gosh where is she that's hilarious well speaking kind of some interesting stuff this is my last question for you buddy um your twitter name is phantom menace uh yeah i'm curious where that came from are you you a big Star Wars fan? It's from the artist Suicide Boys. It's their name. Don't do anything that could self-harm, but they're really great artists. I just kind of really, like, when I heard the song and just read the name,

I was just like, yeah. People have alter egos and stuff like that, and I just, the name, I was just like, yeah. People have alter egos and stuff like that. And I just, for myself, I've always been like, when I was in college, we were like road warriors. We embraced the villain because no one liked us. No one, like I was an energetic player and people didn't like that and opposing crowds. So they would tell me to cut my hair, to do this, do that, boo me.

So I was just like the bad guy. I love supervillains. I love supervillains like Thanos. Yeah, Thanos. That's awesome. I love what's awesome. I love what he does. He has to play his role

and he plays it to a T. Amazing. Man, you're an interesting guy, Matt. Oh, I appreciate that. I've really enjoyed this interview. I've never heard anyone say they like supervillains or be as passionate about their like for super villains as you.

So I can I can appreciate that. I think I'm here to not be in the norm. I am I am unique and I'm glad that my wife can express in my family, too, because they give me all the power in the world to be like be who I am. So. I love it, man. Well, is there anything else you would like to add? they give me all the power in the world to be like, be who I am. I love it, man. Well, is there anything else you would like to add? I think I've taken up an hour of your time, so I don't want to take up too much more. I can keep going.

I honestly am just hanging out here. I ain't got nothing to do. I mean, it's real late. So, you know, if I got to say anything, definitely check out Iowa United. Definitely give everyone a like, a retweet, a favorite. Listen to your podcast. Make sure you're watching the videos, getting amped up. I think this team has a really great chance and has wonderful veteran players along with some young players. Also, I'm really excited to look at Nick Bear. Is that his name?

Nicholas Bear? He's exciting. I like him. He's kind of a – you kind of look at him on the basketball court and you're just like, you know, I'm going to go at him. But he responded really well. Like he is surprisingly like super athletic. You know, at the train of the eye, it's just like, you know,

people will like overlook him. And I think he's going to do wonders with his career because a lot of people aren't going to give him the benefit of the doubt and he moves well he plays defense phenomenally like you know that's he's another exciting player like he's he's legit I'm just going to keep it at that he's man that's funny so I'm actually talking to Nick tomorrow morning well by the time this airs it'll be a week ago this is going to air next week but my wife I'm hoping he doesn Nick tomorrow morning. Well, by the time this airs, it'll be a week ago because this is going to air next week. But my wife – I'm hoping he doesn't hear this part of it, but my wife said the same thing. She watched him.

We were watching college basketball and stuff, and she watched a couple games every once in a while. She saw Nick running down the court. She's like, who is that kid? Nick is one of the best players they've got. He is a guy who's going to do literally everything. He's going to get your steals, get your rebounds. He's going to drain threes. I mean, he's a versatile player who can play all over the place.

And you're absolutely right. You look at him, though, and you're like, that's the kid you're going to target. But you're going to get burned by it if you keep doing it. So I can respect that as well. I definitely agree. I've watched a few, you know, highlights of the Iowa games. He's just a glue guy man like you put him you can put him on any position and he he's gonna work his tail off and give you 100

all the time like i if i was his teammate and i would not question a single time when he goes in like i know he's gonna go in and he's gonna do damage like he's just that type of dude and especially all my all most of my good friends and went to iowa and they're you know there when he was uh what was he a walk-on or something like that correctly and they're just like they're hype about him. I was just like – you know, and for NCAA, it's like, you know, walk on. You just – you kind of get pushed to the side. But, man, if he did a walk on, then got his scholarship, man,

he did some damage and did some work. And that just one year alone to put him aside and propel his career to even to, you know, Iowa fans giving up standing ovation of, you know, when he last checked out, like that's, that's something special. Like if you're doing, if you're, you're doing something right. If that is happening, I tip my cap to him. That is, that is amazing. And he's, what is he from Bettendorf? I he's – what is he, from Bettendorf? I think he's from – is he from Bettendorf?

It might be Dubuque. Let me check. I'll find out. I mean, you know, for him to come out of Bettendorf, or I think it was Bettendorf, but for him to come out and represent the city well, I think he's got a lot of fans still still to come it's beddendorf yeah that's my bad well no you're all good i was just making sure i got my facts right yeah but i i

think he he's gained a lot of popularity throughout his four maybe five years i don't know how many years i mean yeah he's a huge addition i think to the team and a guy who. I don't know how many years he's there. Yeah, he's a huge addition, I think, to the team. And a guy who people who don't watch Iowa Hawkeye basketball probably don't realize how important he is. I feel like you two could probably bond over that just because I think you're going to be a huge asset to the team. Someone that people don't realize is going to be a guy who can pull in a ton of rebounds,

who's going to play fantastic defense, and you can pop out and shoot the three if you have any big guys kind of covering you. And I think Nick can provide that same type of scoring prowess with also the defensive skills and whatnot. I think that's what makes Iowa United a really special team. You have a ton of three-point shooting people, but you also bring that defensive intensity, and you bring guys like yourself, like Nick, who have that chip on their shoulder,

who play aggressive, who play with energy at every single time. And that's what I'm most excited about watching with the Iowa United, is seeing that group, you know, your group of guys all come together and, to be honest, kick some ass. Yeah, honestly, that's the only goal is just to represent the four schools and the state well. For the veterans also, we want to represent them well. And, you know, we have some gritty guys, you know, people that, you know, really had come-ups

in, you know, in blossoming years after high school, if it was junior college, if it was walk-on opportunities, if it was getting overlooked by big schools and having to, you know, settle out of mid-major like me. You know, I'm playing – McGee was out here for a few months and getting to talk to him out in Turkey. And he's just a wonderful guy and can play, can shoot well. And, you know, for European basketball, you know, it changes you because, you know, sometimes in America it's like I'm going to get mine. Like I don't care about my team.

My team will be 0 and 30, and I'm going to go out there. I'm going to score 20. And, you know, it's just like wrong mentalities that, you know, some people may have in the States. And then you come out to europe and you're really humbled by uh you're scoring 10 points you get six rebounds in 20 some minutes of action but those 10 points are like the equal to like a 20 point game in in america those six is like a double double and like. And, like, if you're really – like, the biggest thing is being efficient

with your minutes. And, you know, Bear, I mean, he pads the stats. Like, you know what I'm saying? But that's just because he hustles. And, you know, I can't speak on anybody else because I haven't really watched their game, you know, exclusively like him because i follow iowa basketball iowa football and you know all the good things about the state um but i think the the european experience and being able with some of these guys that you know they put their egos aside

get humbled really quickly because you'll come out here and nobody knows you. And but they know the Turkish big guy that has been playing here has gone to the NBA, came back, you know what I'm saying? And they've been it or whatever. And that's like all the hype. And then they're just like, who's this American guy? Like, is he going to fit well with our team? Is he going to do this or that

and you know it's more the fact like you gotta like really release yourself to be minded with the team trying to reach the common goal which is always being in playoffs uh if you're you know not fortunate to be on a better team it's just you know not getting relegated to the second division yeah and you know every place that i've been to bottom teams no matter what that there's a bunch of fighters out here and there's a bunch of good players out here and the opportunities that some of these young guys like mcglynn i think his name nick mcglynn he's a beast correctly he's a great asset dude he's he's exactly like uh you and nick bear man the hustle guy guy who's gonna get the eight boards and 20 points but he's gonna do it the right way exactly and with a bunch of these

guys on the team they did it the right way you know not to say that others haven't done the right way uh you washburn you know go he's a kid in my class and he goes to a big school in tennessee and they kind of just put him on the back burner which you know is silly because he's a phenomenal athlete can play in guard and you know if you if a five man gets swished on, that's one of the people that you don't want to see because he will literally fight you to the ground. He can jump through the roof too. Yeah. Oh yeah. It's ridiculous how much athleticism that guy has. He's very well talented and, and you know, all these guys, I mean,

all the guys are talented. It's just the matter of fact that they have pieced it together and you know, all these guys, I mean, all the guys are talented. It's just the matter of fact that they have pieced it together. And, you know, with Jake Sullivan coming in and coaching all of us, I think it will be a great ride to be a part of Iowa United. And I think the fans will get excited after, you know, just the first five minutes of the tip-off. I think that, you know, if you're not on board, I think you'll get on board. And that's kind of how it is in life.

If you're not on board, you better get on because, you know, the bus, the train, plane, whatever, it's going. And, you know, you'll get left behind. You'll still be on the tarmac, man. I love it, man. Well, I'm super excited to watch you guys play. I'm going to try to make it out to some of your games. Hopefully you guys can go pretty far,

and I'll be able to watch a few more of those games. But I appreciate you jumping on the show, Matt. Obviously you gave me a ton of your time, answered a lot of the questions. The cat one I think was one of my favorites, and also the school one was just a great one to get some clarification on in general. But I'm excited to watch you play, buddy. Obviously, it'll be fun to watch your team kind of come together. I think you're

absolutely right. You hit it spot on with the team that you're kind of bringing together. It's not just guys who want to get theirs. It's guys who want to play team basketball, and I think Matt did a really great job of putting together a collection of very talented athletes from the four schools plus the state who can shoot, who can rebound, to play defense that kind of thing so matt well thank

you again for jumping on the show like i said this will be airing uh hopefully over the next week or so especially with your play introduction week and maybe we'll have you back on right before we jump into the tournament as well to get some of your thoughts on the team yeah i would love to i mean shoot i i would be a welcome, hopefully a welcome guest from here on out. And whatever questions you have, like I've been reiterating, I can talk basketball and whatever for,

you know, days. It's just, you know, it's what my family and I have surrounded, you know, our lives too. And really excited about Iowa United. i thank you for letting me be on the podcast and uh hearing what i have to say about my cats and uh you know everything that is in between and uh it was a very fun day and you know for the iowa united the last thing i'm going to say is that uh when you play in Iowa, it's just a little bit different.

You know, it's a bunch of guys that are going to go to work. And, you know, it's hard work. Hot summers, really long winters. Shoot, I heard it was snowing last week. So, you know, just keep everybody out there. And, you know, summer's coming and i hopefully i can bring some warm weather and some and some good winds coming here uh when i get back in a few weeks but i i appreciate everything and i appreciate you uh reaching out to me i you know

i just love to be a part of uh anything iowa related and uh you know like we said before it's a it's a pride thing and you know sean orbert i mean that that boy really started it for everyone to you know be like okay a pellet this small town pellet kit can make it you know it really good to all of us i love it man well thank you very much all right we are back and that is the conclusion of our conversation with Matt Tybee. I really hope you've enjoyed this three-part series. I hope you enjoyed the Nicholas Bayer interview last week. Obviously, we've enjoyed having these guys on, talking to you about basketball, talking to you about the state of Iowa, talking to you about Iowa Hawkeyes,

and talking to you about the Iowa United, which is a fantastic team. I'm really excited to watch them play. They're obviously playing for a great cause for the veterans. And it's just going to be a lot of fun to watch all four universities plus Tybee come together and play in the basketball tournament. It's going to be a lot of fun. I think it's going to bring the state together as we kind of root for those guys we grew up watching or we, you know, really enjoyed watching recently. I mean, you have Nick McGlynn who just graduated. You have Nick Bayer who just graduated.

But some of those other guys, you know, Josh Young, Marcus Fizer, those guys haven't played collegiate basketball in a while, and it's been a long time since we've seen them. I was talking to a guy the other day, and we're really excited to see Josh Young play. You know, being Drake grads, it's been a long time. So it'll be a lot of fun watching the Iowa United play this summer. Make sure to go support them on thetournament.com. Give them a like.

All the likes help them get into the tournament. So they're not officially in yet, which is why we need you to help out with that. And again, big shout out to Matt Tybee for joining us on the show. Very busy guy playing professionally overseas and Turkey. I really enjoyed having him on the show. So if you liked what you heard,

make sure to go like and subscribe our podcast wherever you downloaded it at. Make sure to follow us on Twitter at Lockdown Iowa and follow the Iowa United on Twitter at Iowa TBT. And we're going to have a few more episodes. Maybe not this week. It's been kind of a busy week. Obviously getting this interview up and going. But we'll maybe have an episode on Friday and then we'll be back the following week with some great content.

So make sure to tune in on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Part of the Lockdown Sports Network. I appreciate, part of the Locked On Sports Network. I appreciate you all listening today and listening in the past, and please continue to do so going forward. So again, have a great Wednesday, and go Hawks! We'll see you next time.