Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Kayla Grey: Toronto Mike'd #273

Episode Date: October 20, 2017

Mike chats with TSN's Kayla Grey about her role at TSN, why people of colour in sports media shouldn't give up, Canada's diversity problem and how the Raptors will do this season.

Welcome to episode 273 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a fiercely independent brewery celebrating 30 years in the craft beer business. Visit GLB at 30 Queen Elizabeth Boulevard for $5 patio beers. And propertyinthesix.com, Toronto real estate done right. And our newest sponsor, PayTM, an app designed to manage all of your bills in one spot. Download the app today from paytm.ca. I'm Mike from torontomike.com and joining me this week is TSN broadcaster Kayla Gray. Welcome Kayla. Thanks for having me. Kayla is a very pretty name and I don't know a lot of Kayla's me neither actually in my lifetime

I've met quite a few but my mom actually named me after a missing person well missing and murdered person that's uh I Kayla so is this in Toronto yes Kayla Leduc I believe her last name was Kayla Kayla this is uh yes this was a big deal. Yeah. She was like around three, I believe. Big deal. Yeah. Huge Toronto story. And I remember I was like, maybe I was already a teenager or something, but this is like the King and Dufferin or something on King Street. Yeah. Kayla. That's right. You know, there's another Kayla on CP24. There's a Kayla Williams. My good friend, Kayla Williams. You're friends friends of kayla yeah i understand uh she was a professional volleyball player yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah in the philippines philippines and she had actually just came back from representing jamaica in dominican republic so

because she can represent three countries yeah she can represent canada she can represent the philippines and she can represent jamaica yeah represent the Philippines. And she can represent Jamaica. Yeah. Cool. Nice little melting pot. Yeah, absolutely. So there's two Kalas I know of. Well, three if we include the sadly kidnapped and murdered Kala.

Kala LaDuce, yeah. Way to start us off on a... I'm sorry, guys. Sad note. Well, actually, you know what? So I'm thinking just before you came in, I'm like, do I have any gray songs? Like songs like about gray or whatever. And funnily enough, I have a gray song that I close every episode of this podcast with.

So we'll hear it at the end. But it is Lowest of the Lows, Rosie and Gray. Which if you did a podcast or something with someone named Rosie, like I used to, I know a Rosie, your theme could be Rosie and Gray. Rosie and Gray. Perfect. But also this one here. I totally like scratched off the all shades of gray

off my list of names for podcasts. Yeah, actually, that's right. Because that would have been a great name until it was ruined. You have found something better. Because that would have been a great name until it was ruined. But you have found something better. Ah. The only, like when I was like growing up, I heard that the Grateful Dead were a really popular band.

But I didn't know any Grateful Dead songs. But I knew this song because they played this video on Much Music. It's called Touch of Grey. This could be your... I'm with it. I am with it, Mike, honestly. Okay, let's hear it a little bit here. I do a lot of these Kick Out the Jam episodes, so now I just like to listen to music on this podcast.

And that's the rest of the podcast. Just play the rest of the song. Which actually makes for a good podcast. You know, actually, it's a toe-tapper for sure. And the video, it's very appropriate for October because there's like skeletons on stage representing the band members in this video that I used to see.

So, like, it's funny because Grateful Dead are this great band with many wonderful songs, but only one hit, and this is it. They were not a hit-laden band. Well, I'm honored. Don't be too honored. Very honored. I know.

Except for the one-hit wonder part. I mean, I hope that anything with gray in it lasts long. A lot of tie-dye when you go see Grateful Dead. I have a question for you. Do you go to see movies in a movie theater? Yeah. By myself? No, you don't have to go by yourself. Do you go by yourself?

Sometimes with my partner also. Your partner? Or by yourself? But how often do you go to see a movie? Once every two weeks, which some people are going to get at me for because movies these days, I don't know if you know, are very expensive.

Oh, I know. And I'm very bougie at this point where it's like a VIP. Oh, yeah, you know, Queensway. So, always there. Islington and Queensway. Has a lot of movie theaters. Yep, yep. The VIP one. I was just, I's i saw blade runner

this is uh no this is a remake see i'm so out of touch but there's a remake yes was it good it's blade runner 2049 it was it was it was good it was three hours i fell asleep during the second woke back up in the third picked things right off are you i have to ask you are you independently wealthy are you rich i need to ask you this question. No, I know for me to just be going to movie theaters and taking naps. But VIP, like that must have cost you like 50 bucks or something.

And then you, you're falling asleep during this new release. The couches are comfy. I know, but that's an expensive nap. I know. That's just like, that's how I like have fun is I go to movie theaters.

Like I don't really go like bar hopping or really anything like that like i saw atomic blonde a few weeks before blade runner yeah so i guess i uh i realized like so when i was you know i guess i should also point out because people can't see you but you you're younger than me yeah i'm young maybe when i was young i think i remember going to the theater a lot. Like I used to see a lot of movies. But now I never go to the theater to see a movie. Really?

It's partly because it's expensive. And I'm not rich like you. So I have to see it at home or whatever. And then it's also because I just can't be bothered to go pay a lot of money to go sit somewhere and watch something for two hours. Like, I don't know what happened.

I just stopped going. But don't you think it's like, okay, a movie like Mad Max, for example, with all those, all the effects and like the shots, you have to see it

in a movie theater. You can't just like watch it on Netflix. Like, these aren't movies that you can just like, I thought Blade Runner was one of those things. Like, you have to see

But you're seeing a movie every two weeks. You're not just seeing these big have to see them. You've seen everything. This is true. I should probably tone this down.

This was actually an intervention. I still can't believe you go to movies by yourself. That's something I've never done. Yeah, movies aren't

a social thing. No, you're true. But yes, you're right of course because you have to be quiet during the movie so you might as well be alone but it's still uh like so you'll just i don't know like i don't know you'll on like a thursday afternoon or something that one creep in the back corner you know the ones those that's that's my spot and you sit in the back yeah so you go by yourself and you every two weeks, although sometimes with your partner. Mm-hmm.

And you sit in the back and you watch a movie. Watch a movie. Interesting. Mm-hmm. The last movie I saw in a movie theater was the Star Wars film that came out last December. That's almost a year ago. Jeez. Like, I don't know what to say. Like, also, I do have young kids and you can't take them to theaters.

Right. So that's partly my excuse. But I do have teenagers who, and they, here's the other thing. Here's what I think happens to parents. There's a period where you can't bring your kid to the movie because they're like young. Yeah. And I have two like that. But, and then you can take your kids to movies and then your kids don't want to go to the

movies with you. They want to go with their friends. Yeah. So I got two in that category. So I'm like between like kids I can bring to the movies and kids who want to go with their friends yeah so i got two in that category so i'm like between like kids i can bring to the movies and kids who want to be at the movies with me and you just stay at home i just stay at home and uh yeah and then i wait for these movies to just magically appear on my television at some point and then i'll watch it that's always a great thing netflix saved the

world i uh speaking of movies, and speaking of movies, I'm going to watch on my television in my living room. Tonight, CTV is airing the hip documentary, Long Time Running. And they're going to do it as they should. No commercials. And they're going to do it, yeah,

so ad-free and they're going to air it. So I will, I've already, so my wife's in Edmonton with my youngest. So I've already set up like I'm going to get the toddler to bed by 8. The teenagers are going to watch with me and we're going to watch this long time running tonight.

Are you going to watch? Yes, I will actually be at work. So we'll definitely have it on. Where do you work? At 1050. So I work at TSN in Agincourt. That's where we are. We're not at 299 anymore. So yeah, so I'm mostly on the radio side and I kind of do the updates here and there, tell people what's going on in the world of sports and yeah. Well, we'll dive in deeper to that because I have lots of questions about that. But I have the question. So here's a question for you.

Again, you're younger than me. Also, I'm going to tell people because they can't see you. Much like my wife, and this is all going to come together, but you're not a white person. No, I'm not. I need to let the listeners know that because that's going to actually be relevant to a question later, but also a question now. because that's going to actually be relevant to a question later, but also a question now. In the non-white community,

you must have some family in this community and friends maybe even. And is the passing of Gord Downie striking a chord in this community where it's like, is this a big deal in your universe? For me, I this a big deal in your universe? For me, I think the big deal, because my mom has always made it a point to make sure I know what's going on in Canada, was his relationship with the Aboriginal community. Like, that's where that struck me. That's a recent thing, right? Yeah, that was more of a recent thing. And kind of like, I can be like, okay, put the two together.

My mom definitely was emotional when he passed. But there are some family members of mine who don't really listen to Canadian music or Canadian bands. So it doesn't really strike the chord the same way. This is real talk. You can say it. White music. Yeah. They don't listen to this kind of music.

And I mean, sometimes I dibble and dabble in different genres. talk you can say it white music yeah they don't listen to this kind of music and um i mean sometimes i dibble dibble and dabble in different genres but that's just kind of like being a kid and who grew up in canada you're exposed to everything right but for like older family family members like i'm a first gen canadian so like my grandma wouldn't really listen to to the hip like it's not her thing. Right. But, um, they do understand the magnitude. And I think that that's also important. Now I ask that because, um,

my wife, who's a non white person, uh, she's all of her family is not white. And then she has a lot of friends who are also not white. And, uh, this,

when, when the, when the last show in Kingston, so that was like last August, I think August 20 or whatever like in I would show her like my Twitter

I would show her my Facebook basically and everybody was like united like this is this was this was the the Sidney Crosby

golden goal in Vancouver moment like we're all in this together all of us and it's so emotional and we're all there and then she showed me

her Facebook and everyone's like not everyone's doing other things going to the grocery store yeah like it's so emotional and we're all there. And then she showed me her Facebook. And everyone's like not going to the grocery store. I guess like they weren't going to like most of these people were not going to stop their lives. And it wasn't the same touchstone. And I had this moment because then the same road trip, the same road trip I had to go through Quebec

because this is all I should point out. This all happened on an East Coast road trip and we had to come to Quebec and we stayed in her French Canadian cousin's house. And I learned from conversations that night that French Canada didn't really care either. Yeah. So here's what I learned. OK, it's white English Canada that has this tragically hip connection. Right. There's exceptions, of course. And then I think we forget, like I forget sometimes, that that's not the whole country. Right.

And it was interesting to kind of see people on Twitter. I don't know if you saw certain tweets of like, Gord was what being a Canadian was all about. Yeah. So for someone who doesn't really listen, it's like, well, damn, what's a Canadian? And I guess I don't fit in in that if I don't listen or relate or connect. And, you know, much respect to Gord Downie. I'm not knocking or any kind of contribution.

But I think that it's not fair to say that everybody should know who he is. For example, Kyle Lowry put out a tweet saying he knew who he was. But DeMar DeRozan said, I don't even recognize who this he is. For example, Kyle Lowry put out a tweet saying he knew who he was, but DeMar DeRozan said, I don't even recognize who this guy is. Again, they're both Americans. But up here, I think you can expect the same with such a diverse community. Right. And I

you make a great point. Like, I think there was this sentiment like we're like, you know, he should be on our money and we should make a Mount Rushmore with Gord's face on it and everything. Right.

This is Canada. And then I feel like if somebody in their community, this is not, you know, of course, you always respect the man

and, you know, appreciate his talents and how he connects to it. But if you didn't have that same connection and that same love for the band and maybe you can't even name

more than a couple of like radio hits or whatever, that doesn't make you any less Canadian yeah and I feel like from what I've heard and learned about who he was as a man I don't think that being on a dollar bill was the end goal I feel like carrying on the legacy of trying to mend the aboriginal relationship that Canadians have as as well as looking into like, cause I know that he had a fund for cancer that affects children. Like I think that someone like that would want their legacy to be carried on that way.

We're going to get rid of this $5 bill and create a $5 coin. And we're going to call it the, the downy or the Gordy. Which one do you like better? I think I like the downy. Actually, you know what? Cause if you did the Gordy oh or the gordy which one do you like better i think i like the downy actually you know what because if you did the gordy could go either way with uh with the gordy it could be gordy how one on each side i like that idea and then of course uh hopefully he never dies but they already reported his death once but gord lightord Lightfoot. Oh. Should we wait? I mean, what does that do for someone's confidence?

Like when someone reports you dead. It's happened. And he said he was in his car and he heard it on the radio and he heard he had died. This is a true story. You got to call someone. No, still here, guys. Hi. Last note here on, I'm still kind of, as you can tell, I'm still processing the whole Gordownie thing.

Yeah. Because that's, you were really affected. So you tell me how I was affected. How do you know I was affected? Via Twitter. Mm-hmm. I went,

posts. You had a moment. I had a moment where actually it's the first time I think in my life where I bawled like a baby at the death of somebody I had never met. That was like me and Prince. Okay, good. So I'm not the only one who cries because I never met Gord Downie. Yeah.

But I'm crying like I lost a friend. Because it feels like a friend, I feel like. There's some music that just touches you in that sense where you're like, I'm here with you. And I think when an artist can achieve that, they're untouchable. And you cried when Prince died. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely cried.

I feel better now because I didn't know what to do. So I actually came down here and I recorded 26 minutes of like just off the cuff, like playing the songs and telling a few like hip stories. And then the next day, the day this is yesterday so yesterday i realized there was one story i forgot to tell i wanted to tell the story about uh gordon's hallelujah his cover of leonard cohen's hallelujah for saint ralph and i realized oh i didn't tell that story and i said i'm gonna do it again except this time I did it without crying. Yeah. I recorded seven minutes of me telling my Hallelujah story. And then I played Hallelujah. And all I did was I kind of added it to the podcast feed. So subscribers have it pushed to them. Right. And then what I did is I hit a little message in the description, which I had never done

before, just to see like, and I don't know, do you subscribe to podcasts? Yeah. Do you ever read the description? No. No. I literally just play the first five minutes. If I'm feeling it, I'm feeling it.

If not, it's a wrap. Like you can cherry pick on the title. Yeah. Or the subtitle. Yeah. Because you got three places when you, and I write this XML,

so I know I got a title, I got a subtitle, and I got a description. Right. I don't read the description either because I know from the title and subtitle if i want to listen but i buried a little message in there and i was pleasantly surprised how many people responded to the message in the description that only subscribers could possibly see which was kind of a neat little experiment. Yeah. Do you subscribe to Toronto Mic'd? Yes, I do.

Do you? Yes, I do. And what are your favorite episodes? I'm a new subscriber. I really like the podcast you did with Jay and Sophia. I like these people in real life, so. They're both great. Yeah.

Sophia, like super great. Like, I think she's amazing yeah i know i don't know her that well but you know sometimes you just see people in the industry you're like you know you're the friend in my head she is a free agent yeah so tsn could pick her up yeah do you know anyone there i know a lot of people there quite a few people people that probably that probably don't want me to keep bugging them. But you know what? Yeah, it's a pretty big community. And you know Jay? Do you know Jay is twice your height? Probably, yeah.

When they record their podcast, they have to come over to the radio side. So yeah, very tall. Should have played basketball. And very funny. But very good at this whole broadcasting thing, right? Because he's got a quick wit. And really all I'm looking for is either give me interesting stories or be funny.

Yeah. One or the other or both maybe if I'm lucky. But yeah, thank you for subscribing. And if you ever did look at the descriptions in that 7-Minute Hallelujah story, there's a little hidden message in there that people are responding to. Now, everyone listening at home, even if you don't subscribe,

because a lot of people don't subscribe, a lot of people just click the play button if they're hearing this at all. And if you're not hearing this, it doesn't matter because you won't hear this. But if you are hearing this, you could have subscribed or you could have just clicked play on the website or whatnot. But regardless, if you go to patreon.com

slash Toronto Mike and help crowdfund this operation, I would really appreciate it. So just give what you can. Keep this going so we can have more interesting conversations with people like

Kayla Gray. And hook a brother up is basically what Mike's trying to say. Okay. That's exactly. You said it much better than I did. Hook a brother up. Thank you. I'm kidding.

No, absolutely. Whatever you can, even a dollar a month, whatever, do that. And I'm going to mix it up. So forever. And by the way, Great Lakes Beer is a longtime sponsor of this show. And they were here they were here the owner was here

like two days ago to kick out the jams and later in this program you're going to kick out one jam because I'm going to have to talk you into coming back

at some point to kick out ten jams ooh we'll see how it goes okay have you ever heard a kick out the jam episode

never you need to try one okay try one you got to try jams. Ooh. We'll see how it goes. Okay. Have you ever heard of Kick Out the Jam episode? Never. You need to try one. Okay. Try one. You got to try it, Kick Out the Jam episode, and then you got to come back and do one. But they changed the script like a month ago. So I'm going back in my notes here, but it starts off like this. A weekly podcast about anything and everything proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a fiercely independent brewery celebrating 30 years in the craft beer business. But the old script was similar, but it said,

there's a brewery producing. That's right. So the old script would say, an independent brewery producing fresh craft beer. And it's like tattooed in my head. Yeah. Because I said it a thousand times. And now it says an independent brewery celebrating 30 years. And I'm telling you, I think I've done this maybe five times. Four out of the five times,

I screwed that up, including today. So yeah, just thank you for that change, Great Lakes Beer, because I screw it up every and i know i'm gonna screw it up so i've even in my notes i bolded the word celebrating highlight circle and i i think i've screwed it up every single time so it's ingrained in your brain ingrained in my brain so i'm gonna mix it up a bit i'm gonna talk about paytm now speaking about jams some uh pink floyd Speaking about jams, some Pink Floyd. Paytm.

Paytm is an app designed to manage all of your bills in one spot. You don't have to visit each separate website to make a payment. All of your bills are on the Paytm app. And the best part is that Paytm pays you to pay your bills. You receive 3% cash back on everyday goods like coffee at Tim Hortons and gas at Esso. So visit Paytm.ca and download the Paytm app free on your smartphone. And here's the important part. Please listen closely.

Use promo code Toronto Mike to get $10 off your first bill payment. That's free money. That's Toronto Mike, all one word. Just visit paytm.ca, download the app, and then use that promo code. Download the app and then use that promo code. $10 is yours and you can thank me later. Kayla, do you enjoy beer? I do. I'm more of a cider person, but... Get out of my podcast studio. I know.

You just shot me the dirtiest side eye. I'm going to come on your podcast and you mentioned your sponsor. Do you like Tim Hortons Donuts? I hate's donuts i hate tim hornan's actually like cider i know i'm terrible i'm sorry it's a gluten allergy thing k is oh they you should have just said that um okay so now you feel bad oh no now you feel bad okay cider okay so what's close that that uh pumpkin ale is kind of like that you like a flavored kind of thing or whatever so there's some pumpkin ale there and of like that. You like a flavored kind of thing or whatever. So there's some pumpkin ale there. And you mentioned when you go to movies with your partner. So this partner,

does that, this partner drink beer? Oh, Steve loves beer. Oh, he, wait, your partner is my brother,

Steve. What? Steven Fox? No, Steven Fox. Yeah, I know. Right.

What a good name. Great, great Canadians named Fox. Yeah. Speaking of great Canadians, Terry and Michael J. Yes. That's cool. Stephen Fox is a cool name.

Yeah, he lucked out with that one. Is he a fox? What do you mean? Like, eh. Is he foxy? Yeah. Even if he's not foxy, you should think he's foxy because he's your partner. Just very strong, foxy, woodworking guy.

Okay, is there an animal known as the gray fox? See, that's something we've been talking about. The hyphenation. Because if there is a gray fox... We're starting a new breed. Have you ever Googled gray fox? Does this exist? I think there is one.

I hope it's pretty. I want an ugly, like deformed looking animal. Or fierce. Yeah, exactly. Okay, so that beer, courtesy of Great Lakes Beer, that goes home with you. Thanks, guys. Share some with Steve, if you can. The Fox.

You don't have to, but maybe. No, he's good. He's good. I'll have this all to myself, especially the pumpkin one. That sounds's good. He's good. I'll have this all to myself, especially the pumpkin one. That sounds so good. And the other bottle you got is the Audrey Hotburn, which is my current favorite. It's really good. Nice play on words.

I asked the owner last episode if he's like, we're getting sued. And he says, bring it on. He's like, whatever. They'll stop if they get a cease and desist. Isn't it just amazing when owners just go like hard for their company? Well, they can only do that when they're like independent breweries. Screw it. I don't think Coors Molson does that.

No, no, no, no, no. They clear everything through a thousand lawyers first. But enjoy your beer. Thank you. Support independent companies. Do it. Always for it. Speaking of independent companies, Brian Gerstein,

he is the gentleman behind propertyinthesix.com and he would like you to take home that property in the six pint glass. Ooh. Thanks, Brian. I come here to get presents? What? Why didn't we do this sooner?

Oh my goodness. Here's the racket, okay? Because you mentioned you like the Jay Onright episode. What? Why didn't we do this sooner? Oh my goodness. Here's the racket, okay? Because you mentioned you like the Jay Onright episode. So he's coming back really soon to kick out the jams, probably for another six pack of beer and another pint glass. You got to stop giving people things. They just show up. But can I have the beer first?

You can have the beer. No, next time I go. You have another six pack next time. Next time people show up, they'll be like, yeah, but what about that beer? Those questions, they sound great, but I mean, I was really just here for the beer. That's fine with me. As long as I get my dose of real talk and some good stories, you can come here just for the beer. I'm cool like that.

So make sure you pour the beer into the pint glass, though, and break up the CO2. Just something you're supposed to do and brian would like to tell us uh in his own words why you should call him today here's brian brian gerstein here proud sponsor of toronto Mike and sales representative with PSR Brokerage. PSR specializes in new condominium sales with the hottest projects in the city. Contact me at 416-873-0292 for more information on two new exciting condo projects, King Lee in the King West neighborhood and The One Residences at One Bloor West. That's 416-873-0292 to learn more about these exclusive projects.

That's a toe-tapper right there. Yes. To all the other brokerage firms, estate agents step your game up okay that is how you promote yourself thank you okay just would like to say thank you you just redeemed yourself for crapping on the beer i'm sorry i love the beer i'll make good with the beer well See, wait. Okay. Speaking of real estate, real quick, you mentioned that you will frequent the Islington and Queensway Theater. So whereabouts, what neighborhood do you live in?

Leslieville. So what are you doing? I know. What are you doing here? And you're working in an aging court. I know. The DVP is really close. We're at Dennis and Carlos.

The DVP is very close to get to. And then the Gardner is very close to get to. So you just make your way west to Islington? We get around. As much as I can like avoid the downtown core, I'm happy. But yeah, yeah. I know, right? Maybe there's less big theaters than there used to be.

Is that possible? I don't know. Because you have the Scotiabank thing. Scotiabank, but the escalator is always out of service. But you're so fit. Like, don't you want to take the stairs? Isn't that your thing? Nope.

Later, I was on your website. I think you're fit. Yeah, but I ain't doing no stairs at like a 10 o'clock movie. Nope. Especially those steep stairs too. Nope. And it really is. You're not kidding. The escalators really are always broken they're always broken so you know what i go to the more accessible one at the queensway good for you parking free yeah vip parking closer i mean i think i like my setup

and sometimes you need a you need a nap so why not go spend 50 bucks on a nice couch? In St. Louis, Queens. Warmed up by the previous person that was there. Jim Van Horn. Oh. Do you know Jim Van Horn? Yeah, I do. We were actually out for breakfast the other day.

Is that right? Yeah. Isn't that random? Well, I mean, it's kind of random and kind of not. Only that I'm saying the name Jim Van Horn not randomly, but because he was teaching at the College of Sports Media. Yeah. Because he kicked out the jams.

Why don't you do this? Jim! Listen to the Jim Van Horn kicks out the jams episode, just so you get a taste of what it's like. Yeah. That's a good one. Since you had brunch with the guy or whatever. He's the best.

Did he pay for the brunch? He did. That's a good man. Because that's just who he is. Like Jim is probably one of the best people that I've ever met heading into this industry and heading into like life. Just someone who like just genuinely cares

about your well-being first and then, you know, what you want to do as a broadcaster and journalist second and i think that that's so important as a teacher and yeah and it's fair to say he's also has one of the greatest mustaches yes he does i think he shaved it okay not last time i saw him but that was maybe two months ago yeah he had the mustache two months was gone now i think it's gone if i remember breaking news different jim did look different it's funny you're like you're with someone something's different and then something's that's a big change you don't even know what's different i know right i was

just so excited to like bump into him and see him well i'm still getting over the loss of uh gino retta's mustache oh yeah gino g fabulous, too. Do you ever cross paths with him? Yeah. He's always on the Scott MacArthur show at like around three o'clock. Look at me promoting people's shows. You should do that. And so, yeah.

Nicest guy. Says hi to everyone. Craig Button's also like that, too. There are people you meet in this industry and you're just like, you are just a good person. I'm going to say this and people

something's like oh i have no like bias towards any bell media property like tsn or rogers property like what's the other one called sports or whatever yeah nothing like i can't tell you i've never worked for either i'm so indifferent to both of them so i can tell you and this is not a knock against rogers because a lot of them have been fantastic too but these tsn people that come over here uh be it james duthie or gina retta or um rod smith or vick router you mentioned uh jay on right i can keep going like a bunch of them honestly salt of the earth kind souls souls. Just genuinely nice people. People that just don't walk into a room of interns and not say hi. Can you please

tell me the assholes at TSN who don't say hi to the interns? I see you. I know who you are. No, I'm kidding. Is it true? Is it Dutchie? Is that who you want to know? No! He's awesome too. I've never met him. Dutchie says hi to everybody, starts conversation with everyone.

And you know what's funny? I noticed, He's awesome too. I've never met him. He says hi to everybody, starts conversation with everyone. Okay, I hear him. And you know what's funny is I notice, like I pay attention to these things, but I might not talk to these people a lot. But that to me just means a lot to see that, right? Because there are some people that have established themselves in this business and they don't need to say hi. Or, you know, they don't need to go out of their way.

And it's just nice when you see people who aren't, that don't feel like they're too need to say hi or, you know, they don't need to go out of their way. And it's just nice when you see people who aren't that don't feel like they're too big to do so. Do you find the former professional athletes maybe are a little colder in that regard? Yeah, absolutely. And it's not a knock at them. There's I mean, Dave Pullen's like the best in the world. And he's listen, if Dave could say hi to anybody and he's Dave, then I'm not giving anyone a blight. But I think that a lot of it has to do with trust. You have to remember these athletes, some have either been wronged or have invited wrong people in their circle or their circle is very tight. So when you ask them to kind of come on as a broadcaster, a lot of them, it's not that they don't realize, but they them to kind of come on as a broadcaster a lot of them it's not that they

don't realize but um they don't kind of understand that there's so many different layers to broadcasting you're not only meeting the producer you're meeting your co-host you're meeting the people that cut your audio you're meeting the people that are shooting things that are your makeup there's just so much and it's not that they don't want to be nice i truly don't believe that anyone just wants to be an evil person at core, at their core, but it takes a while for them to break out of their shell. Right.

And I only say that I've actually never had, and this is episode two. What did I say? It was two 73 or something like that. I've never had a former professional athlete on this show yet. Even like these current broadcasters. Yeah. I don't know how that's part of it's just, I got denied by O-Dog.

Okay. He shot me down the shortest little shoot down ever. But anyway, that's so so I've created this. I thought in my head that maybe they are a bit more guarded because of their professional sports past or whatever. Yeah. Whereas like a Vic Router, I don't think he's been a professional athlete. You know, he can be himself, which genuinely Canadians are very humble, kind people, generally speaking.

I'm off a little, I got to bring us back to College of Sports Media though. So Jim Van Horn, did he, he was a teacher of yours? Yeah, he was my teacher. Were there any other like people there?

I'm going to ask you a little bit about this College of Sports Media, because I've had Faisal Khamisa. Faisal. Was he a colleague of yours? No, he was a year before me. But like, we were actually just texting. Like, he's good people. He's in the club, the College of Sports Media club.

And also, speaking of good TSN people, Bob McKenzie is a good TSN guy. Yeah, great. His son was there. His son, Sean. Right? Sean's a good dude, too. I remember when I first moved out to Winnipeg

to work with Global. That was someone I emailed. And he's like, here's what I got. He looks like a good dude too. I remember when I first moved out to Winnipeg to work with Global, that was someone I emailed and he's like, here's what I got. He looks like his dad too. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yeah. He looks exactly like his dad. So other than Jim Van Horn, were there any other like notable people at College of Sports Media that helped you?

And then can you maybe just succinctly tell me like, how did your experience at College of Sports Media help you land a gig at tsn which is you know for somebody i think that's a big effing deal right yeah um anthony jachoni was really good um who else norma wick she was great in terms of like her experience and and and uh expertise and guidance david amber was also a teacher there so it was kind of like neat to like see someone kind of still doing it as well and then ray williams um he is also a teacher there so he was doing mostly radio uh and roge roger lejoie the roge the roge who will let you know how many world Series he's been to, how many playoff games he's been to. How many shifts he's had at the Fan 590.

Raj is keeping count. So, I mean, you definitely meet a lot of personalities. And I think the blessing about that school is you have so many different perspectives and so many stories. And, you know, you're kind of preparing yourself to get advice that you would normally ask when you're in this industry. You're always supposed to ask for feedback and yeah, it was a good experience, I thought. All right. And you don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but is it like a super expensive place to go to?

Yeah. I think now it is. When I went, it was kind of a push like I definitely it was a little stretch but like I mean I might get in trouble for saying it but it is what it is like it is what it is like it is what it is you can look up the tuition and and look at other tuitions and see that yeah it's a little bit higher but I think if you put in the work and and you go there and get what you're looking for out of it you're not just there to waste money and chill because it's not one of those environments those the groups are a lot smaller than you can find the kind of find that you know you did get your worth out of it and you so how did you tell me coming out of college of sports media how do you end up at TSN?

Like maybe walk me through like. Yes. Walk me through that. So I first actually did my internship set up by College of Sports Media with Sportsnet. So I was working on Hockey Central and then I was doing cutting highlights as well. And then so that was like about a month. And then right out of that internship i had gotten a position with global winnipeg um and then i was doing like writing and stuff and i'd fill

in for weather with them but you moved to winnipeg yeah because you're from here yeah i moved to the peg do they get movies there at the same time we get them here i never went to a movie in winnipeg. Good. I want people to know I'm joking. Of course. Yeah, they do, guys. But I never went to Winnipeg, like out to Winnipeg movie theaters.

Really? Beautiful spot, though. Like, you know, when you go down to like the Portage and like the Red River is pretty cool. Is that how you say it? Portage? Because I didn't call it Portage in Maine. The Portage in Maine. I don't know.

I think it's Portage. Some didn't call it a portage the portage in maine i don't know i think it's portage some people say portage portage probably gonna get tons of like mentions about me how long did you live in winnipeg so that was about three months actually and what season was it um summer so i was really you're lucky really Yeah, so I think I started June, left in like September, and then I was really figuring out that I wanted to do more on air type thing, really honing my craft as a reporter. So I went to CFDK TV News, which is a Bell Media affiliate, in Prince Rupert, British Columbia. Your girl has traveled.

Okay, and Prince Rupert is not near vancouver nope it's eight hours away and north but it was such a good experience like you edit everything you voice everything there was like opportunity to jump on as like um the news anchor so yeah it was a pretty good experience and from there though i i've always been looking I think you always have to keep your eyes open. And I've connected with a couple of people and said, Hey, this, like, I'm looking to come back to Toronto. It doesn't have to be now. It doesn't have to be a year. Like I'm still kind of learning. And then it just so happened that there was something that was open. I came back and yeah. But what was open? Oh oh so there was a producer role open at um 10 50 and then when i had talked to one of the managers at the time um he's like well yeah we could also get you in to do

like the updates and i was like oh that's great so i came back did an audition for that um got in some producing gigs and then the position opened up for updates and then that's yeah that's how it kind of all came to be it's weird how like everything works out well goodbye prince rupert see ya did you go to a movie in prince rupert no i didn't but prince rupert honestly for anyone who wants to travel northern bc it's beautiful lots of bears did you see bears no i mean it's the first time i actually went hiking and was scared. I've never been scared hiking here, obviously. But like out there, I was fearful.

We have nasty chipmunks sometimes. And pigeons. Oh, yeah. I was like fearful, but it was like a cool fearful. It was like, you know, we're really like out in this. And it's like the deers would just like kind of like walk into town whenever they wanted and stare at you like, what the heck are you doing here um yeah the fish was fresh like oh i yeah if i could go back just on vacation and i think i will eight hours but it's it was yeah the location was perfect what's the closest like bigger city that people might know to Prince Rupert. Prince Albert? What's the biggest city close to Prince Albert?

Vancouver. Yeah. So 88 hours. So Vancouver. Yeah. Gotcha. Gotcha. Very cool.

That's a good experience. And then you ended up with this producer role at TSN. Yeah. So, you know, you mentioned Roger Lajoie. His secret to the secret to his longevity. Oh,

the three P's? The three P's. Five 90. I don't know the three p's oh but i know real talk here that his secret is that he was he never became a permanent full-time employee like he is a pay-as-you-go resource yes who sends an invoice you know that freelance life right that's his secret okay so um tell me, when you got the gig at TSN, did you become like, you became a permanent full-time Bell Media employee?

No, like it's like freelance, totally. So you're still freelance. See, that's the stuff I don't know. That's very interesting to me. So, okay. So for TSN, you basically invoice them for like hours served or do you just got like a, you know, if it's too personal, you don't have to tell. just got like a yeah like it's like a regular it's like a regular like kind of like pay system right but like you know there is still like

a contract involved like obviously you don't go to your competitors well that was my first question so yeah so could you could you do some work for sports net at the same time no no i don't know i think that and it's i mean listen i think that people need to get over and this is one of the problems i have with the industry where it's like sort of like pick your line in the sand and stay there and pledge your allegiance it's just like this is where i'm at if i sign a contract that says i can't go to a competitive thing then that's what i'm going to do because you know bills need to get paid and you know when you get a good opportunity to build yourself and to continue getting your

reps and you're working with a pretty good staff, you do it. And the VIP movie tickets are expensive. Yeah. So, I mean, I have like a little budget that I set for them. So it's not so bad. No, I'm just, I'm just busting your chops on that. Come on. Steve Fox is obviously, he's in. Obviously's he's covering everything no so tsn now i need you to be a little specific here because i'm personal i don't care if the listeners are interested because i'm really interested so what does this entail this production work at 10 50 so uh tell me like what specifically what are you doing to produce a radio show so for me i don't do the producing anymore.

But when I had done the producing, I mean, there's a lot that goes into it for producers. They're booking guests. They're making sure that their rundowns are right. They're kind of picking the topics for the days. They're dealing with the host. It's a lot that producers have to do. And I don't think they get enough respect. Like, it's a lot that producers have to do,

and I don't think they get enough respect. For myself, I basically am the voice that comes in to say, hey, pretty big game going on. Like, Austin Matthews just scored his sixth goal in the season. Like, you know, and you do that every half hour. And, of course, you're dealing with breaking news if that happens. You're grabbing, like, audio and you're playing it like you got to hear what Babcock said or you got to hear what DeRozan said. Like, that's the kind of stuff.

Do you do your own audio editing? Yeah. Cool. That would be interesting to me to get your hands dirty. You're not just the nice voice. More than that. Yeah. So you're just basically reporting.

And of course, that's the home base for me. But the last Raptor season, I was doing a lot of digital reporting for them. And yeah. Which is easy for you because you're a big basketball fan huge basketball fan okay i got basketball questions coming don't yeah um now uh what are the hours you're on the air right now for tsn like would you have a shift so for radio it would probably be like around seven till one a.m okay pretty good i love it because i'm watching the games anyways so it's not like it's like well what else are you doing right um but is there a sport you have to cover

that you actually dislike or do you you like them all um like where it feels like work because oh my like i'll make it up but oh i gotta watch football and i hate football no yeah no honestly there is no sport and if for example like golf has never been my strongest suit i'm sorry to anyone out there i just never grew up playing watching the only connection the reason why my family made me care was tiger woods okay that's the only reason i started watching let's just be honest here yeah and so i mean if there's like cool storylines and stuff like i'll definitely follow i think the big the big four you have to watch just because you never know what can happen right but um yeah it doesn't i don't know if it feels like work yet for me yet and i've been there for like over two years now no it's very good yeah do you uh ever see like for example would you ever see a

laura dyken yeah like they they we all kind of are near the same hubs like we're all going to the bathroom you might see some of the girls there so i only bring up laura because her dad lives across the street oh really parked in front of his house i'm so sorry sorry i totally rocked their Sorry. I totally blocked their driveway. Yeah, and I forgot at the time when I saw you rudely blocking that driveway. I was like, you know, you work with his daughter. Maybe we should put that on the windshield. Lord, don't kill me,

please. Okay, cool, cool. And television-wise, do you do anything for the TV? Yeah, so I appear on your morning every Thursday, which is CTV based. So it's still kind of like in the Bell Media. That's the Ben Mulroney one. Yes. Ben. Love Ben and Anne.

So, yeah, every Thursday I kind of go up there and be like, these are the stories you need to be paying attention to. I love the early mornings for some reason. I don't know. I just like starting my day off right with that. But on the Wednesday, are you doing the shift to 1am on the radio? And then you're, yes, I am. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, so for example, yesterday was pretty crazy because so on the Wednesday I had gotten home at around one 30, went to bed at two 30 because I was looking over my notes for your morning, woke up at four, went to go film. And then I had shoot around to go to, and then I had to go back to do a hit for CP two,

four. And then I did a hit for CTV news channel, went back to the ACC, did a hit for CTV news channel there. And then yeah, film a couple of stuff after. Wow. Yeah.

It's busy. It sounds like really hectic and crazy. But I think when you're in it and you like love to do it, like, I don't know, you just. I'm still stuck on the went to bed at 2.30, woke up at 4. Because if you do the math on that. That ain't no sleep. That's a nap. That's 90 minutes.

That's a nap. You should have gone to a movie. I just stay on the couch. I'm just like, you know what? I know exactly right. But I think you couch. I'm just like, you know what? I know exactly, right? But I think you fit in your naps like where you can. At least now. You know, now hearing you, you know, name drop those properties.

I realize, of course, that because you're in the Bell Media family, even though you're freelance, you're in the door. There's a million different outlets there. Like they control so much. And I know this because i i had this uh maybe i shouldn't tell you this story but uh i had an issue with uh somebody a decision maker at 10 10 who stopped a guest from coming on my show this happened i know that's a bell media property yeah and i had this moment of like i it would suck if like some blanket ban or whatever like i don't know why.

Right. I treat these guests so respectfully. You having a good time? Yeah. You got beer? Oh, yeah, I got beer. I'm good. Right.

So, like, there's no, to me, there's no logical, sensible reason why, you know, and Jay Onright went to PR for approval. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The guy came or whatever, and it was fine. But anyway, so I had this situation with 1010, and it still kind of irks me. Because the John Morey episode would have been fantastic. And he really wanted to come on. But somebody didn't want it to happen. But so many Bell Media properties.

Like from CP24 to CTV to the CTV Newsnet. Is that what it's called? Newsnet? Like the news channel. Whatever the news channel is. Yeah, the news channel. Right, news channel. To like radio stations, right? And it's not just 10-50, which is the obvious one because it's sports. Whatever the news channel. Yeah, the news channel. Right, news channel. To like radio stations, right?

And it's not just T1050, which is the obvious one because it's sports. But you got Chum FM. You got Remind Me. Well, CFRB we mentioned. Is there another FM station or is it just? Virgin. Virgin. That's the one.

Yeah, we have a huge umbrella. And like it's not like Toot the Horn that I work at. But like it's not like toot the horn that i work at but like it's it's a pretty solid roster and if you look across the board i feel like there's just so much talent that yeah it's bells in good hands and if you uh what's uh their streaming service called please remind me i heard chrome tv no oh bell 5 crave tv crave yes, yes, yes. There should be a Kayla Gray show. Yes. Hello. Why not, right? Yeah. Even if it's just a, it could be a basketball show or it could be a lifestyle show. I would love that. So just, I'll see what I can do. The TSN guys have always been good to me. Yeah. TSN folks are great. So you're working, you're busting your hump,

trying to get airtime i suppose that's the goal so i need to ask you as somebody trying to get airtime on 10 50 what's your reaction when you learn dark guy gets a two-hour show on a saturday i mean you know what i know a lot of people kind of like are upset and this and that but you have to kind of like look at it from like a brand perspective is dark guy does bring in a ton of fans of his and um yeah I mean for me like I've always been a believer of like if someone gets something or if someone if an opportunity happens for somebody and you're upset about it, which I'm not because I'm doing my own thing, you have to figure out like, okay, well, what didn't you do? Do you know what I'm saying?

I totally get what you're saying, but you alluded to it, but there are some people in positions like yours, people who went to school for this. Right. And we're working hard at stations to get airtime who feel like, you know, why? I don't know what you spent at college of sports media, but let's pretend, let's pretend I'm going to make up a number. I don't know the number. Yeah.

40,000 a year. I'm just making up a number. Okay. I spent 40,000 a year on getting training and education. And I've been interning. I had to go to Port Rupert. I had to go to Winnipeg. Yeah.

Okay. And I'm here waking up at 4 a.m for you even though you had me work until one in the morning like i'm now getting angry and i wasn't even angry but this dark guy by the way dark guy i have nothing against dark guy right seems like a nice guy to give it like a fair shot dark guy here's your two-hour program with todd shapiro but it's the dark guy show at least that's the way the press release read with With co-host Todd Shapiro. Two hours on a Saturday. Where's my opportunity?

Right. You make your own opportunities. You know, I have so much belief in our brand. And I just believe that for those out there that feel as though this opportunity has been taken away from them you know I just feel like this industry is in such a interesting time right now where we're now we now have a lot you know with podcasts with digital channels with other outlets you got to make your own yet you got to say yes to yourself in my career i've

done that a ton i've had to push my way and say i'm no oh i'm not i'm gonna do this you know and so when i look and see other people getting shows it's kind of like all right well you were on your grind then you hustled to get that do you know know what I'm saying? It's not... Some people might say that he hasn't done anything. He painted his face and he went to a Leaf playoff game in Washington. Right, but isn't there persistency in kind of setting yourself up for a show? It's not like he just said,

okay, I got famous in this one instance and now I'm just going to go away and do nothing with it. You got to give the guy credit and respect for that and the fact that he's he made something of what some people would think was nothing yeah he took his 15 minutes like good on him because he had this 15 minutes which really should have ended when the leafs lost in game six and here we are the next season and he's got the two-hour block and he's still around which cool he's still here still standing but i i did and i even tweeted this at the time is i do feel

like i always wondered like how it would feel to be somebody not you because you're not upset about this but somebody like you who went to school went to went what's it called in port rupert prince prince rupert right yeah port rupert went to Winnipeg, you know, and put it, you know, went to bed at 2.30, woke up at 4, you know, and hey, you know, where's my opportunity? But I think this is the world we're in now. We have, we, the United States has a celebrity as a president. And I have this feeling every president from now on is going to be like a celebrity. Like, I don't know if it'll be The Rock. Oh, no. I think it's always going to be like a celebrity. Yeah. You know what I mean? That's what I think. I think it's famous people.

Not politicians or public servants, whatever. Not like a Barack Obama, but like a Dwayne Johnson. That's what we're going to have. Okay. The Leaf... What's his name? Leaf? Dartman? Is that what you decided on? Dartguy. dark guy is a

celebrity uh-huh because of that picture we all fell in love with uh during that game so i think now the same thing is like that's that's what's got the value now it's not the you know working hard at the craft like you are it's that that person's famous and that 15 minutes now is worth a lot more for some reason but we also don't know behind the scenes what who knows how long he made a may have wanted to do this maybe before even and I think people need to just sort of take a step back and give him a fair shot and for anyone out there who is you know upset don't be because if you know yourself and you know, upset, don't be. Because if you know yourself and you know your work, your moment will come.

Your time will always come when you put in the work and you're taking time away from your work when you're worrying about somebody else. It's just my opinion. No, that's what I'm looking for. I want to hear Kayla Gray's opinion. That's exactly what I'm looking for. And speaking of Kayla Gray's opinion,

so I follow you on Twitter. I know I have a lot of opinions on there. should probably stop i get myself in trouble has anyone but has anybody uh yeah you're not really a permanent full-time i wonder if they even touch that but i mean you know i still look to you know bosses and managers and and people i don't think you tweeted anything where i've ever said oh i think it's uh refreshing actually that you put some honesty on your twitter account yeah I and that's sort of like a take it or leave it Kayla Gray and then my mom's always taught me when you know when sometimes when you're too scared to say something say it because maybe that there's truth in that um and of course you know realizing and and you know maybe I am going

to have to go through these lessons is, is realizing that you still represent something. It doesn't matter what contract you're on. Still people associate you to TSN. Um, and you do have to be mindful in those ways. And I don't think that I've ever crossed the line and disrespecting anybody or I'll let you know, I'll send you a DM if you cross the line. Okay. Please tell me because you know what? Sometimes you just don't know. And I think with Twitter and your phone just being right there, a lot of people just tweet, tweet,

tweet, tweet, tweet. And they're just, they never take a moment to step like, and that's why people get into problems is they just kind of react. And it's great to see instant reaction and instant, um,

you know, it's organic, but at the same time, sometimes you kind of want things a little bit more informed and with proper thought in there. So that's one, you know, it's one of those things that I'm also learning is to sometimes you bite your tongue on certain things. And yeah. The early in this program, when we were talking about the tragically hip, I pointed out that you're not white. Yeah. So now I'm going to point out, be more specific.

You are a person of color. And I use that term because you tweeted that term. Yeah. I'm going to read your tweet and then I'm going to ask you about it. Your tweet that I read with great interest was this. People of color in this industry, please don't give up. Yes. And I'll stand by that always.

Well, you didn't delete it. So I figured that's the sign of understanding. I delete my tweets. Nope. So can you elaborate now that you have more characters to speak? Yeah, I know. I've never... Sadly, I haven't been granted the 240 characters that Twitter is handing out to people.

But I think that we are in an interesting time where, you know, you look around the landscape and I do think that there is room for diversity. And I do feel as though it's not to say that this is like everyone's so white because they're not. And there are people like Nabil Kareem out there eric thomas out there um that are doing it and basil and you know a lot of other people and let's not discount them but i think that i just sometimes especially with now how i think we are crossing politics and sports and yes people that is a thing people are not just going to stick to sports anymore good i think it it would just be nice in canada if we had some other voices to to give

their perspective on things and that's just like across the board i mean it's not to say like let's have tokens in there you know it's to say hire people because they're good. And, you know, as much as ESPN might be under fire or whatever, however you might feel about the mothership, as people call it, you look at their roster of talent and it's pretty diverse. And I think how they achieved that was they just found people that were good, period, because they've been doing it with the Mike Wilbons for a very very long time it wasn't just new that all of a sudden um they've had a staff that kind of reflects what American people look like and um you know up here I just think that there's still room for that

there's still room for for that growth there and it's not to say that the talent here is terrible it's just to say hey we could add to this the sports media industry by adding a couple of voices and and underground talent that we might not have paid attention to because we have our views of what a traditional anchor looks like or a traditional sports reporter looks like in Canada. Do you know Bubba O'Neill? Yes. C-H. Yes. Bubba was on the show and he was very blunt about the fact that as a black man, he said he had to work, and I hope I don't misquote him. I believe it was something like 10 times as hard. Is it true that you think that maybe there's more opportunities that would present themselves to i don't know a kate burness versus a kayla gray um i think well first of all kate burness is just awesome she was all over that raptors yeah yeah she was um i think growing up black

your parents always tell you you have to work twice as hard so I've kind of always had that mentality um and I do but you know that's not fair it's not fair life is not fair honestly I've learned in years that like I could put in as much work on something and I'll never get you know noticed or whatever or or you won't get an opportunity. And I think that's across the board for anyone. How many times has anyone heard the word no? I think what defines us as people is how many times you hear no and do something with it. You know, when do you turn those no's into your yes? And I think that that's something that I've learned in this industry. And I wouldn't change anything, any of my experiences, any negative, thing for the world because it's made me a better person.

I do think that when it comes to this industry, because a lot of it is, as you know, who you know. Well, if you are kind of around the same type of people, it's not to say like white people are all the same but like when you're when you're just kind of like around the same kind of environment and stuff it's hard to kind of make bring something that you might not be so familiar with because it's uncomfortable you i think what you're saying here is a problem my buddy elvis once explained in the hr world where basically the people who have shared experiences as yourself yeah they're the people you end up promoting or give the opportunity because it's like a reflection of your own.

Like, and it's almost like that tragically hip talk off the top where I thought this, no one can see this. It's a podcast, but I thought this was Canada. Yeah. Right.

But that's actually just, I'm a, I happen to be, I'm a 40 something year old white guy and that's my Canada. And I think, you know, me and the prime minister, I think we're all bawling yesterday. You know, I'm a 40-something-year-old white guy, and that's my Canada. And I think, you know, me and the prime minister, I think we're all bawling yesterday. You know, I was like, tears. So you're like, everybody in Canada,

pass the tissues around. And then I realized there are actually some people who are like, oh, I'm sorry he died so young. That's terrible. You don't wish brain cancer on your worst enemy. And a lot of people liked him. I'm sorry to hear that, which is, you know, how I plan to react when if Dave Matthews should ever pass away, I plan to be like that. Like, I'm sorry worst enemy and a lot of people like them. I'm sorry to hear that. Which is, you know, how I plan to react when,

if Dave Matthews should ever pass away, I plan to be like that. Like, I'm sorry he passed. That's terrible news, but I'm not going to cry. But this is the problem in HR and people, PDs, if you will. I don't know who the PD for 1050 is and I know I've never met him

and I don't know his name and I'm not casting any judgments at all on this gentleman. Because I'm hired. I'm happier there but like i can look at the roster uh for 10 50 and i've done this with the fan and i've called out like steven brunt and damian coggs on this so uh but i know that other than andy petrillo there's a bunch of white guys am i may you correct me if i'm wrong because you know it better than i am but we have uh one non-white guy who is a white woman. We should see, I think we should have a reflection of the city of Toronto.

Right. And that it would make sense that there be a non-white person on the roster. Or two, maybe. Dare we be so courageous. But do you agree with that? I agree that I think in every workspace there should be diversity. I also think that, you know, when you're looking for talent, like for myself, I think 1050 is like a little bit different because like I have a job. And it's not to say that I was hired because of the way that i look i think i was hired because they saw something in

me otherwise someone else would have had the job and it could have been not to split hairs all white staff it could have been sure it could have been right and it's not because you're on staff yeah exactly and it's not to say that nobody scouts to find like, oh, let's add a black person here or an Asian person here. Like no one does that. I think that first comes fit. And, you know, sometimes there are some things where, you know, as a person of color and you're seeing things come together, it could be, you know, at any space. You're just like, well, this this person wouldn't person would have been a good fit but that's also from my perspective right because i am a person of color that's thinking like you know who would have been a great person to talk about the kaepernick thing

a black person right um but that's just sort of like your perspective right it's not it's not a knock at the people that hire the people that are doing their jobs i think that overall in the sports media industry there is there should be more um different faces i believe and um you know uh not to take like the competitors thing but united by sport truly and really and truly like we really are in canada We all come from different backgrounds. Like basketball was my thing growing up. There's, I have like my best friend hockey was like his thing. Like, you know, a lot of people going to the TFC games, they're not, they're first gen Canadians. Like that I think is what encompasses who we are as Canadians in terms of our sport.

Hockey is not our sport overall overall but there's different callings for it and um you know I think it's also on the fans demand as well um as to like what coverage we're doing and some people have asked like where's where's the basketball coverage where's the where's the footy coverage where's this coverage and i don't know if it's because of what's making the big bucks right now for companies in general if that's why there's that holdout but yeah i do think that there should be there should be a change it's a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy too because if all the opinions and perspectives are and now i'm thinking more of the 590 but also 1050 but uh if it's a white male, middle-aged white male perspective, that's what the listener hears that.

And if a listener can't relate, because that's not my perspective, that's not where I'm from, maybe they stop listening. And then it's sort of like you're self-fulfilling and feeding this tragically hip hockey consuming base or whatever. And then that becomes there's no, you know, you know, do you need to add some diversity to appease the people who have already tuned you out because they haven't heard it forever? You're also like recollect, like trying to be like, no, come back. Wait, wait, we've got someone for you. back wait wait we've got someone for you um i but you also have to think like how many times have you listened to like a show where you've automatically disagreed with an opinion oh yeah you know what i'm saying like people are gonna have their opinions here or there there's like you know i listen to like overdrive and like i love those guys they're also all white it's not

like i'm like tuning them out because they're like not white like they're not black it's just you like what you like um and it's also the only food on the menu yeah like it's not like you know what i mean like it's not like oh there's a restaurant down the street where they're right you know yeah but i think like you know they like their producers fabulous i think that they're pretty cool guys and maybe it's just more of a personal thing because like i do work with them and i do see them um that like i would go out of my way to like tune in to like hear odog's like rambunctious stories and like crazy like reflections and and what haze has to say and um but i think it just all boils down to taste and it's, and again, like, I think one thing I want to say is it's not to, to knock anything that exists. That's not what I'm about. Like,

it's not to say this is trash because it's not, let's add that's it's just add, not take away, not cancel, not knock anything that exists because it exists for a reason and a lot of it's good it's just let's add let's add some more faces let's add some more voices let's add you know yeah so with my tweet I think that it was more so for people that kind of you know see things a certain way in the industry and feel as though like, oh, we're not getting the opportunity or not. Our voices aren't being heard. There's nothing that caters to us. Let's be like be that like let's be what caters to people of color that is just good, first of all. But also like don't give up in a sense of like you know what i just feel change is coming and

i do feel like there is a place for us in this industry and maybe the canadian market hasn't tapped into it yet but when it does that thing's gonna be fire because so don't give up do not give don't there's don't leave the industry to sell software. Yes, stay. No, because it's just like, you know, well, it's like if you're going after the same job, whoever you are, or you're going after a role or position or promotion and you're just like, oh, can't get it, can't get it. That means I'm not good enough. And, you know, you go through those things as a person. It means I'm not good enough for this or I just don't belong. What's wrong with me and then you start kind of breaking oh it was was the way my hair looked was it my skin my eyes and

then it's just sort of like you get into a defeated mindset and then you don't realize like okay well that's taking away from the work that you need to do so do not give up there's a reason why you're here. Just keep showing and proving why you're here. Now I'm going to change channels here. You won't be on the hot seat anymore to speak for people of color. If I don't have a job next week. Oh my gosh. I'm kidding. Now we're going to speak to your gender.

Let's change the channel. Okay. I know. I feel like sometimes people think like they're like oh you have like two strikes against you well that well i i would say i i i can see in my mind sports media people uh-huh who are people of color they're all men like i yeah i mean we mentioned we mentioned we mentioned kayla williams other than a couple of kaylas i I'm trying to think, and you tell me, and this is, I was going to go to the Cam Newton thing in a second here, but before I get to

Cam Newton, other than the Kalas, can you name me a woman, a black woman? Because, you know, Hazel May, of course, you do see known white people. Yeah, Hazel May, Nikki Reyes, Carly Agro. Carly Agro? Isn't she Italian? She's not black, but she's Italian. Oh, she's Italian. I've had Carly on the show. That is a white woman. Sorry, Carly.ro. Carly Agro? Isn't she Italian? She's not black, but... She's Italian. Oh, she's Italian.

I've had Carly on the show. That is a white woman. Sorry, Carly. She might be trying to pass. No, no, no. She's a white woman. I wouldn't think... I thought that she might have been something else.

Well, you know what? I shouldn't speak for her. Yeah. How she identifies. Let's ask Carly how she identifies. I'll ask Carly. I honestly thought... That's news to me,

but I think that'd be news to a lot of viewers too. Hazel May, Nikki Ray. But people of color are not Asians. Okay, so let's talk. Is there a woman of color

not named Kayla in sports media? Asians are people of color, I believe. You think so? Really? Yes. See, I don't know that.

I'm married to an Asian. I never thought of her as a person of color. Like Filipino? Yeah. Yeah. I would say so. This is it. So i have a couple of black children you know you don't have black children but i would say like yeah like they're they're they're they're of color okay i that's a whole different debate i don't i personally don't think so okay i i think brown and black are your color right but this is a whole like, like, we're not supposed to see colors anymore,

but unfortunately, it's relevant in this quick discussion here. No, don't say it. See, that's the pet peeve I have. I don't see color. Well, all episodes have been seeing color, so please. Yeah, no, no, I'm kidding. I see color. But yeah, women of color.

Is there anyone in sports media in Canada who is a woman of, you know, of color. Not named Kayla. Kayla passes for all races. Yeah. Yep. Yep. Drawn a blank. So how do you have a role model, a hero? Like, how do you look up?

You just have to look up to a man, I guess. I always look to the States. Is that terrible to say? No, it's the truth. I did. I've watched, like, you know, know, a lot of like highlight shows and stuff up here. But like I've always been like a PTI person. Like Jemele Hill was someone that I like always look to. I know I love her. And then like, but I also look to like DB, Doris Burke.

Like it just sort of like was like an array array of wow, I want to be like that. It's sad to me that you don't have anyone in this country to look up to. No, there's mentors. There are mentors here that I have. But it's just sort of like, I don't know, when I was growing up, I just didn't really watch

Canadian television. I'm going to tweet at you later today. Please don't give up. Because I think that's what happens. I think people are, a woman of color will give up in the sports industry in Canada because they don't see any examples of success. The greatest success story we have is a young woman named Kayla Gray. And that's not going to be the only success story we have.

I think one thing, like when you look at other people like Doris Burke, who opens the door and looks back to make sure that other people are coming in there as well like that's like the kind of person that i want to be and it's not just that i'm gonna be the first because i'm sure there's probably some i just slip of the mind and i apologize to those women but yeah well i didn't and that's not in my notes that's i was just now picturing in my head and i realize i can think of a lot of men, especially covering like CFL or the Raptors.

I see a lot of men of color covering these sports. I don't see any women of color other than you. Don't worry. We're coming. Cam Newton. Do you know who Cam Newton is? Yeah. Oh, yeah.

I know Cam. So really quickly, this is a recent thing. So I've got to get the reporter's name right. I think it's Jordan Rodrigue. Rodrigue. Rodrigue. Rodrigue. Yeah.

Okay. Asked him a question, and this is his quote. He said, it's funny to hear a female talk about roots like that. It's funny. This is Cam Newton's reply. How did it feel as a woman in sports media to hear Cam Newton say that to Jordan? I mean, you just got to roll your eyes to it because it's just so stupid. Like what's where I'm sorry, I'm just trying to find the joke.

Like it's no, there's no joke. Yeah. And like it's unfortunate. And the fact that you have to like go out of your way to say that. I don't know. It's just one of those things where you just, like, shake your head because it's like you realize how far we've come,

but still yet how far we have to go as women in the industry. And, you know, it's not the players because, you know, I'm around players all the time. And they're hella respectful. So you've never had a player uh be disrespectful to you because of your gender like how can you know sports you're a woman this doesn't no i think i think what they look for as players is you got to come correct with the question

period if you're just there to be like oh tell me about your shoes today or this and that like you know male or female you're not getting any kind of like you're talking like kyle lowry's basketball iq like you're not questioning him about like anything stupid and thinking that like he's just gonna like take it and run you ask good questions i felt and that's that was a problem i had with cam is she asked a fair, good question. Right. And yet, instead of showing that you as a quarterback couldn't digest what she was saying and properly respond, you had to show something, another side to you personally that I just thought wasn't called for. She did her job. Yes.

And he disrespected it because of her gender. Yeah. That's what happened there. That's exactly what happened. And it's like a guy, I can see though, like he's probably had, I'm going to make up, like 50 people from the time he was like five years old till now, 50 different coaches.

Coaches. Of some nature talking roots to him or whatever. Yeah. And all 50 were men. Well, even coming to the league, people were saying, well, would he be able to? Like, would he be able to like would he be able to read systems like he's like was what they thought was a one-trick pony so i mean that was an

opportunity for you to show and prove and again some like i remember um amir johnson when he played here i asked him a question about oh forget it it's still up on the internet actually and he's like wow like you really know your stuff and like he didn't say it in like a weird rude way because he went on and answered the question and then after like broke down things further like he's a very great great guy yeah um but sometimes as athletes and as humans you just wow that's a great that's a good question or except there's not a not a chance he says that if you are a man. Like, he's not going to say that's a great question if you're a man. He's saying that's a great question because you're a woman.

I don't know. And I love Amir. Yeah. It should be a good question. Like, I wasn't, like, offended by it. Right. It was just one of those things where I think he was caught off guard because it was also one of the first questions out of the gate.

And it was one of those off days where it wasn't... You could have kind of went in there and been more casual. And so I didn't take any disrespect towards it because I genuinely think there's reactions like that and then there's reactions like Cam's. I think that Jameer's was more so like, oh, that's a good question. There's some people that literally will say,

good question to guys as well. She keeps trying to protect all these players and whatever. But listen, I never hear those two words from my guests. Good question. Like, it's not. It's not me trying to protect. It's just in the experience that I've had. And, you know, sometimes people are just like downright disrespectful.

And you know the difference, I feel like. At least I do, I think. I spent some time on KaylaGray.com. Oh, you did? That needs some updating. It's a nice site. It's stylish. Yeah.

Under, there's a main menu item that says the word podcasts. And then I click it and it says coming soon. Still coming, I know. So what can you share since you're now speaking to podcast listeners? Uh-huh. Do you have a podcast coming soon? Yeah. So this was supposed to start months back,

but then things got really hectic with the Raptor season. And like I just decided I want to always be there. And so what the podcast was supposed to be was just sort of like i'd be like main host and just sort of having like people who are coming into the industry kind of come on and like have their go at at kind of like playing the analyst role um as well as people that are in the industry and just kind of like cycling through that and and talking and dwelling into sports um and so yeah that was like one of my ideas. But you'd only,

you'd only be allowed to, you would not be allowed to speak to Rogers people. Is that correct? Yeah. Jeff Merrick had a podcast. Uh-huh. Wyshynski? Am I saying Greg Wyshynski?

Anyways, he's known as Puck Daddy. Yeah. But they had a podcast and Rogers told Merrick to cease and desist because Wysh signed with espn and i know and i don't know is there a relationship between espn and tsn yeah okay so there's for so basically it got into that whole corporate crap that bugs me back in the day this is really because back in the day i listened to a lot of before there was a 1050 i listened to a lot of 590 often a tsn personality could come would come on the fan 590 and there was a moment and i don't even know who the last person who was able to cross over but there was a magic moment when it just completely like it became a rule on

both sides like you can only do bell media properties and you can only do rogers and what i like about what i'm doing right now is you can like mix whatever because you yeah. I don't like that. It's just can't we all we all do the same thing like these two big conglomerates that sell me, you know, phone packages and cable packages like it just to me that irks me. I know. I think as a consumer, it's like, oh, but I would love to hear like so and so and so and so together. I totally get it from a corporate standpoint where you don't want to send the wrong message. Say something gets said that's off the cuff and does not represent the views of the person that's employing you.

I sound really corporate right now. But it is. If you're going to work for TSN, you have to be a corporate animal. Yeah, absolutely. You you kind of have to just know your bounds and know your boundaries. As mentioned, Basil is my friend. It's never a thing. No, you're allowed to be friends. You just can't do public projects right but like you know that's just sort of what comes with with doing what you love to do and if it means not being able to jump on a show then hey that's what it is right

luckily bell media owns so many things you have a lot of other options but uh yeah i think and that's one thing like that i will say about like bell is i've been very fortunate like in my growth period like with your morning and them kind of and at cp24 where they're just like yo we'd like love to have you like you know it's it's like a genuine thing it's not like oh fine we'll have her on it's just sort of like we see something here and let's delve into it like it's yeah they've been like amazing with me. And I read the other day that the CP24 Breakfast, which is the Steve Anthony show, I believe they were reporting they beat Breakfast Television in the ratings. Yeah. So there's a lot of eyeballs on this CP24.

I wake up to CP24. Gurdeep, who used to be like fully at TSN, is, you know, anchoring there. And I just love it. I think that they're fun. They're fresh, young, speak to different audiences. They don't take their jobs too seriously when they don't have to, but when they have to boggle down and get to the news, they get to it. Yeah, I think it's just amazing programming.

Cool. And we have agreed that when you start this podcast, which sounds really cool, by the way, it will be called touch of gray is that correct yes because the 40 shades of gray has been ruined no we're done with the 40 shades of gray touch of gray thank you uh i also on the website that you do a lot of like influencer work or pr work do you mind speaking just a little bit because yeah um so if i because like if i use my blog or my instagram for social media um there's opportunities there for me to work with different companies who i feel like hey my audience would be very interested in this for example like i like makeup and that's

totally fine to say um so like if i use like a certain product they'll be like hey like we notice that you keep using this product like would you want us to like either like send you a couple of things or you know hook you up with like a whole makeup look that you might not have thought of and you share it with your viewers I'm like yeah you know what they would be very interested in that so like that's like kind of kind of where that comes in and like i've done um i wouldn't say it's like influencer work but like i've worked a ton with like nike and stuff because there is that like never heard of them there is that sports affiliation and i think that they they've done an amazing job of sourcing and scouting um talent who are young and speak to the people that they're trying to target.

And so, yeah, that's kind of like how the two have come together. So like they've we've gone to New York to do an interview with Draymond Green. And then I was in L.A. this summer or no, September to do. That was like last month. I know. Right. And this is all expenses paid yeah not bad i know just for being like a social media influencer i i think that um wow they value the stories that i tell which is which is like a huge boost that someone does and um so yeah we

were down in la to do uh the jersey launch with Nike for the NBA season. And yeah, like that was fantastic. You know, one thing that I will say about that company is they do know how to put on a show and I can imagine. Oh, yeah. They they they do everything to attend. The other week they did the NBA season launch and then they had the game going and they had Gary Payton there. Like it was, yeah, they have, they have great events and stuff. And it's definitely a brand

that stems more than the shoe. I think that they try to connect with consumer as much as they possibly can. And that's why I like, I respect them. Now I know a little bit about this world. So what I, what I've learned in my experience, and I don't think I'm half the influencer you are. I'm not influential. But these people will put on a big show, Nike or whatever, Ford Canada, whatever, you name it. They put on a big show. There's lots of swag for you. What doesn't seem to materialize is money like at some point like so uh you know you can't pay your mortgage with like sweaters and hats and shoes and things like our experiences which are all very amazing so is have you know have you experienced that as well like where hey

here's our product we want you to write about it and hey here's a party you can go to we want you to write about it but there's no like checks being cut. Yeah. I mean, yeah, like some companies, they understand that, you know, some people just kind of they benefit more from like getting the product and being able to share things. Because right now with studies, it shows that if you are a broadcaster or not a broadcaster, rather, if you're a social media influencer, it be blogging tv personality um instagram like famous people are more inclined to buy something when they see that you have it like they when they see that it's just kind of like right there it's like when kate writes about this mattress that she's enjoying or whatever like we want the mattress kate yeah because you have because i mean anything kate bernice does you should probably want to get and i'm kidding um but if you you know because and it could be anyone like if you see someone that you respect enjoy their presence on your social media you're kind of like

huh well if they thought that that worked for them like you know there's some media people that i look at or um you know youtube stars or this and that and i. Like, you know, there's some media people that I look at or, um, you know, YouTube stars or this and that. And I'm like, Oh, you know, their skin looks great. I wonder what, what they're wearing or those shoes look great. Where are they from? That skirt would be great for a professional setting. Where is it from? Um, and so like, I think that companies really think that that's kind of like where we're moving in terms of like ads and kind of shoving ads in your face when you're on when you're watching television and when you're on the Internet now and when you're seeing all those always being marketed to always being marketed to. So I think that's just like their new way of doing it. Gotcha. Now, last night was the first Raptors game of the season.

Yes. And you were there. Yeah. I want to hear. I don't do this a lot. Like usually I want to just talk about the person and their experiences. But because the first game was last night, which we won handedly, I would like to hear a little bit about how you think this season will go for the Toronto Raptors.

I mean, the Bulls were trash. It was hard to watch that game and tell if we were any good or if it was horrible. I made a joke. I'm like, oh, the Raptors just improved to 4-2 on the preseason. The Bulls were not in good shape at all. So, I mean, it's not fair to totally look at this one team. It wasn't a good test of how we're going to be. You have to kind of wait for the next one.

But I think one thing that Dwayne Casey was looking for was some kind of productiveness from his second unit, and he definitely got that with OG Anobi, with his debut. Great, great debut for him. DeLon Wright and how he was able to move with this

new high-octane pace that the Raptors are trying to implement in their system. And it's amazing to have a guy like CJ miles on your coming off the bench. It was fantastic last night. Oh, he was and quickly a fan favorite. Yeah. One thing about Toronto media fans is they love newcomers because they're

just like, all right, great. Let's embrace you. And I think that players really love that. But yeah, just to have that kind of guidance on the court, coming off the bench with a much younger second unit,

I think that that's a huge plus. And DeMar and Kyle only combined for like 23 points. But hey, that's exactly what they're looking for, the nights that Kyle and DeMar can kind of take it a little bit easier and the second unit can kind of take over. You couldn't have asked for a better game from the second unit. Absolutely, because now your stars get their rest. And, you know, it's kind of like a win-win.

You know, they want the second unit to be able to take leads, to bring back games, to take over games. So I think that from that standpoint, they're definitely trending in the right direction. Again, game one. Right, right. Small sample size. But I mean, Kayla, I love the Raptors. I was watching last night.

I watch every chance I can get. My oldest son is a big, even my oldest daughter is a pretty big Raptors fan of her We the North hat. She likes the Raptors too. But I feel like the season is fun and I'm going to watch, but it doesn't matter because it's going to, I feel like it's going to be a Cavaliers Warriors final and nothing's going to stop that. So, you know,

barring some catastrophic injury to LeBron James or something like that, we have our final. If I believed in that, I'd be knocking now. Yeah. But, uh, I believe that this,

that will be the final for, what is that? The third year in a row. And all this is just kind of like fun. So no one else should show up then? Well, this is a sad but true fact, which is they should show up. But the results, I mean, we could play this back. Yeah.

You know, you can come back and kick out the jams in May. Remember when you told me it was going to be Warriors-Cavs? Well, but that's how I feel. And some people, I mean, I kind of resigned. Like, OKC looks good. The Spurs are Spurs-ing. Yeah, they all look good. They're not going to beat the Warriors, though,

like barring some catastrophic injuries. This is just me talking. I'm not a basketball analyst like you. In the East, and I know all the good players in the West not named lebron but if we talk about the east uh it really does look like the cavaliers to lose and then we have already got a big injury to the celtics which maybe knocks them down a little bit or whatever but they still look like the second best team in the conference i don't know who the third best team is i'm hoping it's the raptors right i don't know what you think about i definitely think so but this is like we are going to play our ass

off for third and maybe second. And I'm not talking regular season because sometimes the Cavs take their foot off the accelerator. Oh, especially towards the end. They did last year anyway. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I mean, it looks like if LeBron's healthy that they'll end up marching. And that'll be what? His

seventh year in a row or something like that? Yeah. But that guy's a beast. He's crazy. It's incredible to think how much time he's spent and how many people hate on what he's been able to do. Why do people hate on him? Because he gets better with time. I find him so likable. He gets better with time and it's just hard. I'm sure

a lot of people hated on Jordan before he... Who are those people? Knicks fans, maybe. I think a lot of people hated on Jordan before he called it a career and then or a guy like kobe and then they leave and you're like i didn't like kobe that much but can i ask you there's a quote i read uh-huh did you say alan iverson's better than jordan or just more you liked him better than jordan i like him better than jordan but you're not saying he was better than jordan when did i say that but you did say that somewhere. I will stand by the AI.

It's just because of, like, I'm very young. I won't say how young I am. But for people to... Can I guess? No. But for people to be my age and to say that they, like, remember Jordan, it's kind of, like, weird. You remember the Washington Jordan? Yeah. Was he a wizard then?

Yeah, that was wizards, not a bullet. Like, I don't, I don't, yeah. Like, I, my mom's crazy. Like, she'll play back games and stuff. Like, we'll watch and whatever. And, like, I've gone back into the archive and watched previous games. But, like, AI was more my dude.

So, I think there's so much there about having witnessed it, if you will, in real time. Yeah. Like, so much there. having witnessed it if you will in real time so much there because you ask a guy like a 60 year old guy who the greatest hockey player of all time is and he usually says Bobby Orr okay this is usually the answer you ask let's say a 40 year old guy

they all say Gretzky it's funny it's just because I personally never I can't even visualize I've seen some footage here and there, but I can't visualize Bobby Orr. But Michael Jordan, that was my prime time. I watched the flu game. I watched him do the six, three in a row and then go play baseball and do three in a row.

I saw this. MJ. But I will say this. I believe LeBron James is the greatest basketball player of all time. Oh, man. Woo! That's a hot take. Everyone wants to call everything a hot take.

Nope, nope. That's a hot take. And I thought that 18 months ago, and I feel it more now than ever. And I don't know how hot a take that even is except that's what I believe having seen the entire Jordan career and the entire LeBron James career right but both are better than Allen Iverson I just want you to know oh yeah well like even what even um I think for me it was more like AI the attitude the cornrows the practice practice oh just we're talking about practice there's something there

was something just there for me that just you know i never get starstruck ever and then i remember when all-star break was here in toronto he did something for rewalk and it was like 20 questions with ai and he talked about stepping over tyloo and crossing over mj and and i'm just there like oh my god like that's the one person i think that i would ever like get starstruck by but even like going back to your point like you know if like for young kids even going into the nhl and they say like wayne gretzky was like their favorite player and i'm just like how that is that is weird because he retired in 99 1999 wouldn't it be sydney crosby you're right you think because like in the nba like some of the players like who's your favorite player they're

like lebron james and i'm like damn you that young like okay so like it's like with some with some players it's like well how could you say like jordan like you're 18 like you're 19 like what like how could that be maybe it's because they're wearing him on their shoes maybe that's how he yes i mean what space jam was that good that he's your favorite player the website's still intact yeah oh gosh so i mean like ai for me kobe for me like those were people i like remember for sure remember like playing um and then yeah everyone else it's just sort of yeah jordan is a little bit outside my time but i obviously respect the guy as like one of the greatest to do to ever do it he would murder his own grandmother to win a ring don't say that it's true uh i i mentioned kick out the jams because i'm in love with this whole series.

I'm a little biased because I invented it and I host them, but I love the Kick Out the Jam series, and I'm hoping you will one day come back and kick out the jams. I will. But let's do a little teaser here. I'm going to play... So I asked you for your favorite song of all time, and that's not a fair question because maybe... It's so hard. Very hard. But you gave me a song, and I'm going to play a bit of it

and then I'll fade it down and we'll chat a little bit about why you love this song. Kayla Gray's Jam. It's a big tune. It's just all the elements oh my gosh you can really talk this up and hit the post. I know. You could say a lot of things.

The weather, the traffic. It's just like a good, feel-good song. Sing it. I love it. I know. I have like the biggest smile on my face. I don't know. So imagine doing this 10 times.

I would't know. So imagine doing this 10 times. I would do it. I don't know. It's just like the elements, everything. Oh. Gotta get to the chorus here. For those who don't know, Luther... I'm like more than... Bandros. Is it Bandros or Bandros?

Bandros. Bandros. Hello, Bandros. I don't know. Luther we'll call him. Luther. Never too much tell me why you love this jam

because it's also my mother Elaine Gray's favorite song and like we just always used to play it I don't know there's just something about like I don't know just brings back so much memory that's the beauty of music.

I know. It's a time machine. Yes. And like I can play this in like 15 years and I'll still like be so giddy over it. You ever see videos of like

an elderly person in a home or whatever who can barely like speak and they put the headphones on him and he's back? Doing splits on the dance floor like what? It's magic.

Yeah, Luther Randolph is amazing. I am winning. A thousand kisses from you is never enough Never too much, never too much, never too much I just don't wanna say So you grew up in Toronto. Yeah. So where the hell on our radio would you ever hear this? Like your mom introduced you to this song.

I feel like CHFI played this song. You think CHFI was playing Luther? I used to listen to a lot of CHFI. Yeah, I don't know. My mom just had the tapes. Michael Jackson's, Luther's, Marvin's. Everything. And I still listen to it to this day.

Bee Gees gets multiple plays in my car. More than a woman. I was going to say that that was like one of my favorite songs. Save that one for the kick out the jams episode. Earth, Wind and Fire. Oh, just the... You're going to be good at this. I can already tell.

I feel like, I know everyone's like, wow, like, how do you like, what's wrong with you? I'm like, this is music. Like this to me, that's like the real, not the repetitive crap you're hearing. Did you cry when Luther died? No, no, I didn't. No, just Prince. Just Prince. What's your favorite Prince song?

Oh my gosh, when doves cry. You know what? That's my favorite Prince song. Yeah. That's a great song. I mean, Purple Rain always could get a good tune. That gets you a little emotional. Absolutely.

Yeah. Somebody did. I think my buddy Elvis had purple rain on his jam list but luther is a series by the way uh yes out of england you've seen it of course i've seen it so there's a dvd box out of the wire right there so idris elba was stringer bell on the wire the woman in that series who, I can't remember the actress's name. That sucks. I can't remember her name.

But she went on to do an American series called The Affair. Oh. The Affair. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What's the affair? HBO with... West.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Who played McNulty on The Wire. On The Wire. And in The Wire, as you know, there's a lot of Stringer Bell versus Jimmy McNulty. And yes, I think that's an interesting coincidence.

Luther. How do you know about the BBC Luther? I watched it on Netflix. The entire thing. And remember, I'm already a Stringer Bell freak. So knowing Idris Elba is in it made me watch it and it was fantastic. I love that man. Not like that, but you know what I'm already a Stringer Bell freak. So knowing Idris Elba is in it made me watch it. And it was fantastic. I love that man. Not like that,

but you know what I'm saying? Like, um, what is it? The mountain between us that's coming out. I don't know, but I know every time I see him in something, uh,

he's playing Mandela or whatever he's playing. He's fantastic. It's crazy to me. Like how well English people can do like a Northern American, like accent. Well, yeah. Cause McNulty is English too.

Yeah. And they're all doing these Baltimore accents. Yes. I know. It's just like, then you hear it. You're like, Whoa,

I just watched the series from the BBC called, I think it's in the BBC. It was called, uh, the night manager. It's a six part mini series and it stars the guy from house. Who's also a Brit. Oh my God.

Like he's a Brit. Um, what's that one you have to watch i think it's the doctor or something with daniel redcliffe and some other guy i'm so yeah with john john ham yeah i saw it i saw it it was on it's there used to be this thing that was on my tv called show me from the competitors it disappeared but they had it there and i watched it there yeah yeah it was the doctor's handbook yeah yeah yeah so good yeah, yeah. So good. Yeah, that was good. And I like all the Jon Hamm stuff too. Well, I gotta say, we're gonna

close out with a song that has the word grey in it spelled G-R-E-Y. Yes! You could close the... It was actually supposed to be spelled G-R-A-Y but they messed up my mom's like papers coming here. Interesting.

Some people spell gray that way. Named after a missing person, rest in peace. And my last name was definitely botched. Isn't that something? This is why I like this podcast because those are the things you don't learn about hearing you on 1050. Yeah, I know, right?

I like these things. Hopefully they don't get me in trouble. You did not say anything. I have a good nose for this. I've had a few episodes where it ended and they said, oh, don't get me in trouble. You did not say anything. I have a good nose for this. I've had a few episodes where it ended and I said, well, that person could get in trouble. I don't have that spidey sense right now. And you are going to come back? I'm going to put you on the record?

Yes, yes, yes. And if you see Laura, say hi for me. I will. Oh, gosh. I hope I don't have a ticket. I hope my car is still there. No, you're good till midnight. Okay, good.

Okay, good. Unless Laura's dad came out and just hammered it or whatever. He's been knowing to do that. Slash the tires. And that brings us to the end of our 273rd show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Kayla is at Kayla underscore Gray, G-R-E-Y.

Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. Propertyinthe6.com is at Brian Gerstein. And PayTM is at PayTM Canada. See you all next week. We'll be right back.