Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Ryan Wolstat: Toronto Mike'd #422

Episode Date: January 14, 2019

Mike chats with Ryan Wolstat of The Toronto Sun about the Raps, TFC and 90s hip-hop.

Welcome to episode 422 of Toronto Mike's, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Propertyinthe6.com, KTM Canada, Palma Pasta, Fast Time Watch and Jewelry Repair, and our newest sponsor, Buckle, that's b-u-k-l i'm mike from torontomike.com and joining me is ryan walstat from the toronto sun welcome ryan what up mike what up mike you gotta do like ill vibe what up mike Do you have your own theme song? I do not. I should get one. Everyone should have their own theme song. I'm going to work on that.

And then when you enter a room, it just plays. That'd be sweet. I think a lot of people would be unhappy with that. Well, judging by your musical taste, I think I dig your theme song. But more on that very shortly. But firstly, Toronto Sun, Toronto Raptors, so much to cover here.

But were you in Washington for yesterday's game? I was not. I was not on this trip. We do go to, we're the last standing, you know, going to every game.

Who went then? Mike Ganter is my, my work brother, my partner on the beat. And we kind of alternate. And he was on this one. And I'll be going to, I think it's Houston and Indy coming up soon. So you missed out on this snowy Washington trip.

I'm not unhappy to miss that gong show of a game, double overtime that had no business going to double overtime, and hey, they pulled it out, but man, the only good thing is, and like anyone covering a game would say, a one o'clock start is the only time you want double overtime. That's a good point. That's a good point. Now, because I actually took my youngest to, not my youngest. Okay, lose track.

My four-year-old. That's my third born. Okay, so I took my four-year-old to the, now tell me the truth if you knew this team existed, the Brampton Beast. I've heard of them. Okay, so you knew they existed. Okay, so we existed. The Brampton Beast. I've heard of them. Okay, so you knew they existed. So we went to the Brampton. We were a listener of this program. A guy named Michael

Lang is a season's ticket holder for the Brampton Beast, and he was kind enough to offer me a couple of tickets. So I was going to go with my 17-year-old, who's a big puck head. He loves hockey. And I guess there was some confusion where my son thought it was an OHL team. He loves an OHL team. And thought it was an OHL team.

And then I explained to him it's ECHL, which is like, so Marley's. It's like the one below. The step below, yeah, the AHL, yeah. I think of it like AA. That's how I'm thinking it. Anyways, and suddenly my oldest decided he wanted to watch the Raptor game instead. So I lost him. So I grabbed the four-year-old who doesn't know the difference.

Like the Brampton Beast might as well have been the Maple Leafs. So anyway, I missed the entire Raptor game, but I followed it on Twitter. And it was one of those games where it looked like we were going to run away and hide. And then you're like, what's going on? And then you're up by 14 in the fourth. And we were lucky to win, right?

It was incredible. I mean, and I felt bad. I have some friends on the Wizards beat and they are going to, they're traveling to London, England, and the team had a 7 p.m. flight booked to go to London. And then this happens. And in the first quarter, my friends are tweeting, well, you know, they might as well just leave now.

I think they were down like 20 or 22 or something like that. Like, yeah, they might as well leave now. And then they're like, well, wait a second. It just looked over. But, you know, in the NBA in this day and age, very few leads are safe and sometimes the Raptors and every team let their foot off the gas a little bit

and with all these threes and everything. But Washington started hitting their shots. I think they set a franchise record for makes and that's the thing. If you're going to go crazy like that and hit everything, then you have a chance. Actually, I give them a lot of credit for, they could have said, hey, we're going to England.

That's a long flight. We can just, you know, let's chill out. Like a lot of, you know, athletes don't admit it, but, you know, a game in early January, it doesn't really matter. And they could have packed it in, but they kept going. So credit to them for fighting back. And they almost won.

They did. That must have been a rough flight to England, though, coming that close and fighting, using all that energy to get all the way back and then losing. So we're going to divide this. Listeners at home or wherever the heck you are listening right now, we're going to divide this episode into like three chunks, okay? We're going to do a chunk about the raps and TFC

because you cover TFC too. My second tour with them. Your second tour of duty with Toronto FC. And then we're going to do a chunk. I want to do a chunk on you and how you ended up in this very cool gig, working for The Sun, covering big league sports. You don't cover the Brampton Beast. Never, never have.

And then we're going to do a good chunk of this podcast, the ladder chunk, so those who can't stand rap have a chance to exit stage we put it last on purpose we're you describe it are we what are we kicking out exactly because we're not kicking out the jams we're kicking out very specific okay so it was it was impossible to select i love uh my 90s rap it says they're right on my twitter bio which you noticed um yeah like i lived it i loved it then and it's, it stayed with me. It's not to say I don't like other types of music and even some, a few of today's rap music.

Not a lot, but some. But I just always loved that thing, that era, that golden era of hip hop. And it was really tough picking tracks. So I ended up just actually narrowing it down to, I think I did 92 to 96 and that that was still impossible but it was a little bit easier so so we'll get to that these are essentially uh more or less your 10 favorite hip-hop jams from 1992 to 1996 pretty much yeah

and it was tough i mean and i wanted to stay with only one song for each artist. I might have had two Biggie songs that are my favorite, two Nas songs or something, but I only picked one. Now, Tyler Campbell's listening right now, and he meticulously maintains the Kick Out the Jam spreadsheet, so I need to inform Tyler right now that this is not

canon, because this is not your jams. These are not your ten favorite songs of all time. No, maybe another time. You never know. Right. So Tyler, no worries. You don't have to take notes here. This is not Canon.

We're not kicking out the jams. We're kicking out hip hop jams from 92 to 96. Yeah, we're off brand. We're going niche here today. I love breaking formats, man. My favorite episodes are when we break formats. So I'm glad. Speaking of episodes, you sent me favorite episodes are when we break formats. I'm glad. Speaking of episodes,

you sent me a note about the Tyler Stewart episode. So I have some inside knowledge that you're listening. You're not just... No, no, I'm a regular listener. Fan of the show. First time caller. I'm honored. Big fan.

That Tyler Stewart was awesome. I listen to the Barenaked Ladies. Like I said, it wasn't just rap back in the day. I listen to lots of stuff. And my family was really into them. And I guess still is Ladies. Like I said, it wasn't just rap back in the day. I listened to lots of stuff and my family was really into them and I guess still is. So I was listening to them for sure and I found that thing. I watched Super Dave too, so that was really cool.

Just remembering all that and listening to it and he seemed like an awesome dude. Tyler Stewart was tremendous. No pressure on you, Ryan. I'm not going to be able to follow that up. We're going to the minors here. No one could. We're not quite Brampton Beast here, but we're in the Marlies.

You're not getting invited back? By the way, I just wrapped it up. I thought it was a competitive game. I enjoyed it. My four-year-old thought he was at Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. He met the mascot. He still can't believe he got a puck. He got a hat. He had the best time. I had a great time. It's really competitive, fun hockey.

Really great. The only thing that kind of set me off a little bit is that I think the venue holds 5,000 people. And I was just a little concerned that my son and Michael Lang and his son, we were the only four people in the building. So it was a little less. You gotta go to Raptors 905.

I think that'd be cool. I don't know if you've been. That'd be a cool experience for the smaller ones as well. Yeah, that's Hershey Center, right? Yes Raptors 905. I think that'd be cool. I don't know if you've been. That'd be a cool experience for the smaller ones as well. Yeah, that's Hershey Center, right? Yes. Yeah, yeah. I do want to check that out.

That's actually a very good idea. Because as I hear on the radio a hundred times, ticket prices start at $9.05. $9.05. No, it's good. It's good basketball. Just below the NBA level. I mean, cool.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And yeah, there's a couple of guys who kind of come up and down, right? Chris, what's the Canadian's name? Yeah, Chris Boucher. I like him. He's got a chance, yeah, yeah. And yeah, there's a couple of guys who kind of come up and down, right? Chris, what's the Canadian's name? Chris Boucher. I like him. He's got a chance. Okay, good. Yeah, that's a great idea.

Actually, the four-year-old's mind will explode. He'll think he's in the NBA finals there. So yeah, so I'm not, I don't mean to trash the Brampton Beast. It was actually a really great game. They do need a bit of attendance assistance, but that's to be given when you're that close to Toronto

and it's like a double-A team. I can see that. We're always big league only, the Toronto mentality. I mean, it's like, if it's not the best, then the fans don't want to go. But how's the attendance figures

for 905? I think they don't do as well as they'd like to either. I mean, I think they do okay, but it's tough when you're in this market. If you look at the Marlies, not even they can get sellouts,

especially when they had those awesome teams and all the guys that were going to be leafs like yeah uh they had like uh did neilander play there was there for a while i mean uh hockey's not my forte but i think a lot of them did obviously like matthews didn't i don't think marner did but but neilander was definitely there a lot of the other guys that cappin in But I don't know. Yeah, it's like big league or bust here. Even the CFL gets the stigma. Well, it's not the NFL, so we're not going to go. No doubt. Go big or go home in this town.

So let me ask you, let's do the basketball and the TFC stuff off the top. So firstly, I want to ask you, I watched Vince Carter play his last game in Toronto. I think it's the third time I've watched him play his last game in Toronto. So what is your opinion of Vince Carter? his last game in Toronto. I think it's the third time I've watched him play his last game in Toronto. So what is, Ryan, what's your opinion of like Vince Carter? Like for a long time, my opinion was for a long time, I was really, really angry at Vince. Like he quit on the team. He forced a bad trade. I was really pissed. I remember he stopped, he stopped jumping.

Do you remember this? Like, of course you remember this. But I live this every game. And this superstar just quit on us. And that's the worst thing. And I hated him for a long time. And then through the years, I hated him less and less. And then at some point, I was at a game. It was like the first time he was playing his last game in Toronto. And I was there to say goodbye kind of deal. And I found myself cheering for him.

And all of a sudden, I realized my heart was full of forgiveness for Vince. Like I'd forgiven him. Is this a typical Toronto fan reaction or what say you? I think it's the most common probably. It's a very polarizing thing because of everything he did and represented. I actually wrote on this

after he was back. Was that last week? Two weeks ago? It was recent. I wrote on it talking about it. And that seems to be the most common reaction from people is, you know, they hated him. I mean, there's a segment that said, because he had done so much, they never hated him. They just said, whatever. Like, he put us on the back, right?

It was kind of nonsense that he left, but we're going to support him. And there was a whole ton of people who were like, screw that guy. I'm never supporting him again. He quit on the team. He might have been tipping plays. He did that nonsense. He told Barry Davis he's never dunking again. Like, he was just acting like, screw that guy. I'm never supporting him again. He quit on the team. He might've been tipping plays. He did that nonsense. He told Barry Davis, he's never dunking again. Like he was just acting like an idiot. Right. And he asked for a trade, even if he rescinded it at the last minute, he still asked for it. Uh, but I think the most common reaction these days is

it's people kind of softening on it and kind of, and you know, the time you forget everything that happens. So that's why, I mean, I don't, I like to tell it like it is and that's my style. And I think some people appreciate that. Some people don don't we'll probably get into that uh in a bit but real talk but yeah real talk that's exactly you say i like to be like that i think that that's the way you should be and so i mean the blog that i wrote last week it it got into it i think it's really it's always pissed me off that he never took any responsibility for any, his role in it. Like Richard Petty

and Rob Babcock were absolute disasters on the basketball side. There's no doubt about it and I can understand his frustration and it was horribly mismanaged once Grunwald was gone

and they had no clue what they were doing and I get why he was mad but he has never, he played a big role in this and he has never said a word about, like even like snapping on reporters saying, why are you bringing that up?

Or just saying, I don't understand at all why anyone would bring that up. He plays dumb and says, I was treated. I didn't quit, I was treated. You played a role in this. You were averaging 16 points a game, and then you play with Jason Kidd, and you're averaging 28, and you're amazing again. And you're reverse dunking on the Raptors' heads and eliminating them from the playoffs. So you played a role in this.

As inept as they were, the organization gets full marks for being inept. Even if they have 70% or 80% of the blame, you still have 20%, 25%. And to never say a word, that's what's always bothered me. I think that's something that some people are always going to say,

no matter what he did, that's going to stick with them. But it seems like a lot more of like, whatever, either they weren't around when it happened or they've just forgotten about it. Time heals all wounds. I it seems like a lot more of like, whatever, either they weren't around when it happened or they've just forgotten about it. Time heals all wounds. I think this is a great example of that, right? But 100%, I agree with you.

And I saw his quote. It was something to the effect of like, I don't know why, he was just brushing it off. Like he was traded. It's called reinventing history, right? It's funny. I've had a couple of people come up to me

after that piece ran and they said, thank you for telling me like it is because most people aren't they're afraid to do it or they just don't want to it has been yeah we've sugar coated or glossed over a lot of that ugly stuff that happened just before he got traded my buddy Elvis still hates his guts

like they won't even like he can't and I told Elvis what I believe to be true which is that as soon as it's kind of possible like as soon as Vince retires, Toronto's going to retire that jersey number 15, I think. What do you think? They're going to do some kind of a...

I think they might do like a Ring of Honor type of thing at some point. That might make some sense. But I mean, Oklahoma just retired. They're going to retire Nick Collison's jersey. The guy averaged five points a game. It's crazy. So if that's the bar, if that's what we're doing now, I know he was a great guy and he played like 12, 15 years there

and he was the original Seattle to Oklahoma City guy, but come on, like that's like that. Yeah, that's a low bar. We're retiring jerseys now of guys that weren't even starters for after time there and like five points a game. So anything could happen. I think there's way more Raptor fans

that especially in the ticket buying segment that would support that. So I think it'll probably happen. Yeah, they'll do Carter and then Bosch. Yeah, I mean, it appeals. Their whole thing is they want to appeal to free agents and players. And the young guys in this day and age, they don't remember any of the nonsense that went on behind the scenes.

They just remember Vince was amazing in the dunk-off, and he put the Raptors on the map. So the Raptors are political, like every team. And I think they'll do it just because it'll make them look good to other players around the league. It's funny how Vince, who was tremendous, we were lucky to witness that, but it's funny how when we,

what's the thing you think of first is a slam dunk competition. That's a little bizarre, right? The guy's the best dunker ever. Jordan was great, and Dr. J's a little before my time, but I've seen highlights and stuff, and there's others, but that guy, and Dominic Wilkins I loved when I was a kid, Clyde Drexler. But Vince was next level. He combined Jordan and Dominique.

He was the best in-game dunker, bar none, in the history of basketball. So I think that's what everyone remembers. It was an event. Every game, you never knew what was going to happen. And in those early days where the Raptors really sucked, and David Stoudemire had left, and whatever, Marcus Camby. People wanted to see that and it really it was really exciting even for people who didn't like basketball every

day there was every game there was something worth tuning in because when he was fearless and young he would just do crazy things that we'd never seen before that's right that's right there's a listener named uh Elias Bernie there's a two-part question here, and I got some audio for the second part, but it says, things to ask Waz. So Waz, this is the name you're going with, Waz. I did not give myself that name. I mean, there's an origin story there. There's Waz, and I'm not sure

if Walsh that... So if we want to do the origin story really quickly, I had a sports editor back in the day at the Sun that maybe was mildly dyslexic or just forgetful or I don't know, or just wasn't paying a lot of attention to his night notes. Like this is when I was designing pages when I started at the Sun, not writing, laying out the paper, that sort of thing. So he would write the last name of all the people on

the desk and say, such and such has this page, such and such has this page. But instead of spelling my name properly, he kept writing Woseltat, W-O-S-L-T-A-T. So the other guys thought this was hilarious. And for a while, Wazzletat was like, but they were like, no, that's too long. Let's shorten it to Wazzle. And they did that for a while. And then they got even lazier.

And they're like, no, no, we're just going with Wazz. And people just think I gave it to myself. No, I would never just give myself a nickname and run with it. It actually was an organic thing. I was like, I'll play along, and people seemed to like it. I was like, maybe I can build my brand a bit with this and distinguish myself. Yeah, why not?

So I ran with it, and it's caught on. It's got a life of its own. Some people love it. Some people hate it, but it's like an alter ego now. Would Steve Simmons call you Waz? Oh, yeah. He goes, hey, Waz, what's up? Cool.

For sure. His listeners would be advised that Steve Simmons' son, Jeff Simmons, is actually going to be on this show in a couple of weeks. Very cool. Good guy. And I have pulled a clip. Oh, God. I can't even be more specific.

I guess you heard Tyler Stewart went at Simmons for the hot dog story. Oh, yeah. Lots of people do. And I get it. But because it was, you know, I love Steve. But Tyler is still holding that one. Like it's very easy. Remember, Stephen Page is Steve Simmons' cousin.

But no, I mean, I think the point of it, the general point was right. The execution was not. The point was you can't have an out of shape guy like Phil Kessel who doesn't care. And like Vince early on just skates by on this incredible naturalil kessel who doesn't care and like vince early on just skates by on this incredible natural athletic ability but doesn't want to do the hard work if that's your best player and he's setting the example for the room there's no way you're gonna

be successful which the leaves weren't they sucked then and i think that was the general point the hot dog the execution it wasn't right obviously kessel when he gets to with sydney crosby and malkin who are the leaders and take all the pressure off him he's great but in toronto i think the point was they were never going to go anywhere and that's why Shanahan wanted to get rid of him and proved right with it even if Kessel's done so well elsewhere it kind of worked out for everyone I really believe that if no matter how talented the guy is if he's not if your best players aren't going to put in either the most work or at least well above average you're not going to go anywhere I've seen it time and time again yeah good point uh did uh you listen

to the Scott Moore the Scott Moore okay so he when I mentioned Simmons and I was going to go anywhere i've seen it time and time again yeah good point uh did uh you listen to the scott moore the scott okay so he when i mentioned simmons and i was going to talk about like who's calling blue jays games that's where i was going there and uh but no once i said simmons name uh so that's the clip i've pulled uh because i want to talk about that but scott moore went off on steve simmons uh yes but you heard that but simmons you're uh i mean you're talking to a guy who's had him on a few times. I'm going to have him on again because I like Steve Simmons and I get a lot of flack for like...

Oh yeah, there's lots of people out there that hate him because... But part of that is he loves that. He revels in that. That's part of why he's successful and one of the greats of this industry is because he can get people talking. He can either get people saying,

yeah, I really agree, a great piece. And he does his homework and he has great contacts, but he can also, he knows how to rile people up and ruffle feathers and really piss people off. And he's great at it.

And sometimes it's too far. And I've even said in the past, like, nah, you probably shouldn't do this one. Like the Corey Joseph, Damari Carroll casino story. He asked me about it. We were on the road covering that series. And I kind of just said,

I don't think there's really enough here. These guys, they have crazy hours. Going out at two in the morning, or I don't even think it was. I think it was midnight. That's like us going out at seven. They have totally different hours. But he went with it.

You tried to talk him out of it? I tried to talk him out of it. I tried to talk some people out of stories in the past and it didn't work. Well, we're going to get to Damari Carroll in a moment but first, okay, so Elias Bernie says things to ask was

he once referred to the Lenny Wilkins coached Raptors as Lenny's country club. That's hilarious. So that's more of a comment. I mean, that was before my time but I'm obviously friends with all the people

that covered the team in those days, and they've told me some stories that Charles Oakley was the real coach, and he was very vocal in his displeasure for the way Lenny would let them not practice today or not do this, not do that, not work hard, not scrimmage, and Oakley hated it. A lot of players, a lot of people think,

you know, he was obviously a great coach in his time time but by then i think he was really cutting the check like rashid wallace style and i mean it did look like he was just going through the even worse like the knicks hired him and the knicks do a lot of stupid things they're the dumbest franchise maybe in all sports we're right up there right but i can't believe they hired him again and gave him like four million a year to do the same thing even more he mailed it even way more then. But yeah, I think maybe they could have gone further with someone, with a younger coach who was more engaged. I just let Oakley coach. Come on.

They could have done that. They kind of went downhill when he left. Yeah, I loved Oakley. Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? I love those guys. Okay, so he's bringing up an interesting story. He wants to know what your relationship was like with Damari Carroll. But actually, I have a clip. Okay, so let me play

the clip and then we'll speak to that. So here we go. My biggest thing is just to get out there and wrap it up. I just wanted to talk to you guys because there's a lot of speculations out there. Especially Ryan Wallstead, what's his name? Is he in here?

Okay, next time y'all see him, just tell him to call me next time if you want. But not to get it from whatever source he got it from. Thank you. Thanks, Marce. That's great. So what's he referring to specifically there? That's great. I think I wasn't there because I think we'd just gone back from the road or something.

And usually you're off if you've been away. The other guy will do it. Because I like to show up. That's one thing that I worked with a lot of really great reporters in my time. And they always say, you've got to show up. Especially if it's going to be a real talk. If you're going to tell the truth and not hold back, you need to show up. So it kind of sucked I wasn't there that day. But it was funny that he called me out.

It was all about, if you remember, he had a bunch of knee issues. And I had been told various things by people who knew what they were talking about that this was worse than, you know, that they're letting on. And maybe even when they signed him, maybe there were some things there that weren't kosher. I don't know exactly, but I don't want to get anyone in trouble. And I think the thing was, the story I came out with, 80% of it was bang on, and maybe 20% that he took offense with, maybe there was something specific about the injury

that wasn't quite right. And even though the rest of it was completely accurate, that part he didn't agree with and his agent or whoever uh his handlers didn't didn't like it getting out there and then of course he ended up getting shut down for the for almost the rest of the season after that but so in the end i was right about almost all of it but the one part i was wrong about he had an issue with but i did take his advice he said call him so i got his number and we ended up and we ended up having a really good relationship after that and it's funny because we were talking about Steve Simmons and he he gave me that advice

he said some of the best things some of my best relationships in sports with athletes or or general managers or coaches have come when we've had a huge disagreement and you talk it out and and you end up becoming friends he's he said he's had that a bunch of times and I've had that now a few times as well and especially with Damari who I just saw at the game last week. And we had a long chat and caught up. And we did that in Montreal when there was the exhibition game earlier this year. And now he's a friend of mine. And it's always good to see him. So it's kind of funny how that works because you go from this sort of beef and then you get tighter. And I got some good stories out of him after that. And then, you know, you get tighter.

And I got some good stories out of him after that. Oh, very, very cool. Now, I want to get to today's Raptors. But firstly, in your opinion, who's the greatest Raptor of all time? Kawhi Leonard is the best player they've ever had. All-around player. Vince would be second, but he wasn't the same defender as Kawhi. You know, they're very similar offensive players.

Both can take over and do whatever they want inside and outside. But Kawhi is one of the best defenders in the history of basketball, maybe the best perimeter defender since Scottie Pippen. So I give him the edge. Obviously, DeMar, if you're just saying what did they do and the dedication and work ethic and being a leader and connecting with the fans, I think DeRozan is, even though he didn't play any defense, which I think loses points in my mind and wouldn't shoot a three-pointer and kind of had all his playoff failures but in terms of the impact uh and just representing toronto and and

and wanting to be here i think damar gets a lot of props so it's kind of a it's kind of a cop-out answer but i mean i still vince is still the guy just for everything he did, but for DeMar's impact and loyalty and all that, he's got to be up there too. Even though I think Kyle Lowry is a better player, DeMar really embraced every facet of being a professional here.

If you had to put a couple of bucks on the line, does Kawhi re-up with us, or does he head west to L.A.? What happens to Kawhi after this season? What does your crystal ball tell you? Yeah, Raptor fans are real mad at me right now. If the Raptors make the finals,

I think there's a 70% chance he stays. If the Raptors do not make the finals, I think there's a 70% chance he leaves. And I think just people I've talked to, most people don't think he's going to come back, but it all depends. They always throw out the finals, I think there's a 70% chance he leaves. And I think just people I've talked to, most people don't think he's going to come back, but it all depends. They always throw out the caveat that if they keep winning, if they make it, if somehow they win the championship, obviously

he's going to come back. If they make the finals, there's a really good chance. But if they don't, the lure of LA and all of that, and the Lakers will still have the spotlight, so he won't have to be super in the spotlight. He be in la but the clippers are kind of the little brother that nobody pays attention to so he'll get all that and be close to home and get the weather so it's obviously a really good fit for him but i wouldn't count the raptors out it's just it's hard to

imagine but you just saw paul george stay in oklahoma city and he's playing at an mvp level this year so you never know it could happen it. It would be rare. It would be weird. But there's a chance. If I may speak on behalf of Raptor fans, I think we're all braced for it. I don't think any of us are going to be surprised or caught off guard. So I think we're all braced for it. So it won't

hurt. I just recommend just really enjoy this year because this guy, there might not be a better player. Like I said, he's the best player that's ever played because Olajuwon would have been, but he was washed up by the time he got here. Yeah, way washed up. But Kawhi is an insane talent. There's a few guys who

came here at the end for a couple of... I think Alonzo Mourning came here. Well, he didn't come. He didn't come at all. He gets back to Rob Babcock being... I can't get started on that. Don't get started on Babcock. So, yeah, don't get started on Papcock. So what we're going to do is, first I'm going to give you a couple of gifts

before we dive into today's Toronto Raptors. There's a six-pack of beer in front of you. Yes. That's courtesy of Great Lakes Brewery, a fiercely independent craft brewery located here in Etobicoke. I'm a big fan of them. Good, because that's all yours. And as you know, because you listen to Toronto Mike,

you know 99.9% of all Great Lakes beer remains here in Ontario. So it's all ridiculously fresh. There's a couple I haven't seen. Oh, you got that one? Eggnog Stout, I haven't seen that. That's like the Christmas one where like a dollar, every time they sell a can, a dollar goes to... Pompous ass fan of that one.

Dollar goes to charity. The name of the charity is on there. Shinny Pants. I haven't seen this one either. I'm excited about this. As I said, I like their beer. I drink their beers. There's a GLB from Cleveland that's very good too, but you've got to go with the Toronto one.

We talked about that Cleveland GLB. The episode recorded the same day as Tyler Stewart was Joel Goldberg. I'm worried he's getting overshadowed, like people are going to cherry-pick the Tyler one, but the Joel Goldberg episode is pretty fantastic. Oh, yeah, that was a good one, too, actually. So he's a Cleveland guy.

He talks about the other GLB. He's all the connection to the old-school Toronto rappers, too, which I appreciate. I wanted to throw some Toronto in my selections which we'll get to but I just couldn't

quite fit them in there's some honorable mentions well I want to hear about those Mishy Mee is booked for the show in early February

speaking of some old school Toronto rappers I almost said Toronto Raptors that was tough are we going to get a WNBA game who was it

who got asked that question I think it was Ashley Ashley Docky yeah are we going to get a WNBA game? Who was it who got asked that question? I think it was Ashley. Ashley Docky. Yeah. Are we going to get a WNBA game? I think it makes sense. Why not?

It makes sense. It's definitely the sport's growing like crazy. Like in Canada, everyone talks about the guys that are coming, obviously, like RJ Barrett and Dort from Montreal and all these amazing prospects every year and Shade Alexander this year. But there are a lot of awesome females coming up, and it would be cool to have a couple. I know it's different.

Most of the really good female players go overseas because there's way more money in it in Europe, so it's kind of a different system. But it would be cool. Yeah, definitely. I think there would be support. And anything that grows the game of basketball, system but it'd be cool yeah definitely i think um i think there'd be support and and anything that grows the game of basketball i love basketball i have for for you know 30 plus years now and

anything that grows it in toronto and kind of cuts the hockey domination down a little bit as cool as me yes absolutely uh so you've got yourself your beer everyone listening including you ryan can get ten dollars from paytm canada now. So Paytm is an app designed to manage all of your bills in one spot. I use Paytm to pay all of my bills. It's super convenient, costs me nothing, but they actually reward you for paying bills. So you can build points and redeem them. It's amazing. I have like enough points right now just from paying bills I had to pay anyways to get a $20 gift card from like a hundred different places you can pick where you get it from. But here's a way to get $10 right now that you could either

redeem for rewards like that, or you could use it towards another bill. But when you make your first bill payment with Paytm, use the promo code Toronto Mike, all one word, and they'll give you 10 bucks right away. So it's no brainer. I mean, I did it. I get everyone in my family to do it. They're just handing out $10 bills there. And once you get in there and start using Paytm, you'll thank me for introducing you to this fantastic app. So Paytm will give everyone $10. There's a large meat lasagna for you, Ryan, courtesy of Palma Pasta.

I'm a big fan of lasagna, too, and looking forward to trying this out. And now I finally figured out you've got to ask the guest if they need a vegetarian lasagna. I've had too many of those moments where you've got the meat lasagna and they're like, I don't eat meat. So you are a meat lasagna guy. Yeah, I could eat either, but I think meat for lasagna is better. Me too. I agree.

There's something with lasagna. I don't eat a lot of meat, but I like a meat lasagna. Palma Pasta. They have four locations in Mississauga and Oakville. They're Mississauga's best fresh pasta and Italian food. So go to palmapasta.com, find the location near you. They have the new Palma's Kitchen that is just opened up near Mavis and Burnham Thorpe, and it's fantastic. So enjoy your lasagna. Enjoy your beer. Everybody's got $10.

Will do. Let's listen to Brian Gerstein, who is a diehard Raptors fan. He's got a question for you about the Raps. Propertyinthe6.com Hi, Ryan. Brian Gerstein, a.k.a. Raptors devotee here, sales representative with PSR Brokerage and proud sponsor of Toronto Mic'd. Any first-time homebuyers out there in Toronto Mic'd land? Because if so, I'm teaming up with CIBC and one of their mortgage brokers Tuesday evening, January 29th from 6 to 8 p.m. at Young & York Mills and Wednesday, January 30th from 5.30 to 7.30pm in Liberty Village.

Space is limited, so call or text me at 416-873-0292 to reserve your spot. Ryan, Raptors are on track for 60 wins, an all-time high. Number of wins don't matter to me, but seedings do. Who do the Raptors match up best and worst against for the second and third rounds? Amongst the Bucks, Pacers, 76ers, and Celtics. do who do the raptors match up best and worst against for the second and third rounds amongst the bucks pacers 76ers and celtics i like that one it's tough like everyone makes fun of the east but those are some tough outs and even we saw last year washington was not an eighth seed and gave the raptors some trouble in the first round and i'm always worried about a team like milwaukee where kawaii is

suddenly not guaranteed to be the best player on the floor in the nba more than any other league obviously having the the best player on the floor makes a huge difference like if you have a lebron you're you're probably going to win until you run into a ridiculous team like the warriors but so i'd be i wouldn't want to match up with milwaukee in round two i think boston probably has the most overall talent in the East, but I think... You think Boston's got a better team than the Raptors? I think they have more talent,

but I don't think they have a better team because they don't know how to play together. I'd be scared of Kyrie Irving in the playoffs, but I think Kawhi's a better player because he does more things. Boston would be tough, but the Raptors have really done well. It's funny, they've never matched up

with them, obviously, in the playoffs, despite the rivalry. Whether it was Dwayne Casey or Nick Nurse coaching, they've played against Boston really well. Most of the time, you'd always be worried they'd put it all together and they'd be really tough, but I think I'd be more worried about what

Washington, or sorry, what Giannis and Milwaukee could do because they're really dangerous, and when they're hitting their threes, they're really tough to stop, and he's a one-man wrecking crew. They saw that in the playoffs, even when he wasn't as good as he is now.

Philly, it's similar to Boston. They've had a lot of success against Philly. I wouldn't be too afraid of them, although Embiid is just an awesome player. As long as you have Kawhi, Ben Simmons isn't Ben Simmons like we've seen in the past. Kawhi seems to get in his head and make life really difficult. And also Jimmy Butler is such a wild card and he kind of blows up every team he's on because he's just such an alpha.

Embiid's an alpha and Simmons is an alpha, so I don't know. Kind of like Boston, I don't get how it all works. So a long-winded way of answering that, I think Milwaukee's the team you don't want to see in round two. If you were going to guess what the conference final is going to be, do you guess it's going to be Raptors and Bucs?

I feel like one of those teams is going to not meet the expectations. I'm just not sure what. I feel like Boston's going to figure out a way to get there. Even though I don't like everything they've done and the way it doesn't really work out, I just think they have so many good players.

Eventually, Jason Tame's going to remember how to play basketball again. And, you know, they just have a lot. And Kyrie just turns into a different sort of animal once the postseason comes around. I covered the finals when Cleveland won, and he's just, you can't stop that guy late,

and that's a huge advantage for them to have. When did you join the Toronto Sun? That would be the spring of 2005, officially. I interned prior to that with them. So I guess, when you cover a team like this, like, does it just make your job more fun or are you indifferent to all that? Like, you're covering a team that, on paper anyways, and maybe on the court as well, is the greatest Raptor team of all time. Yeah, well, I didn't start covering the Raptors full-time until the end of the Jay Triano era and the beginning of Dwayne Casey.

So I covered some really bad teams, obviously, back then. I was part-time and around the year they played Vince, they let me do a couple games of the playoffs. And we didn't have a ton of basketball writers at the time, so I got to write and do different stuff. But I was still also, at the beginning, working on the desk, doing different stuff. And I used to cover the Toronto Rock when I was starting out.

And I guess we'll get into TFC. But definitely, yeah, covering. Well, there's two ways of looking at it. The really bad teams sometimes have better stories because there's just so much going on. Everyone's unhappy and who's going to get fired and who's going to get traded. So there's kind of better angles. I always found Lowry was better when they weren't very good. He was a better quote. It was more interesting.

But when it's a good team, obviously, more people are paying attention. It's easier to do your job. It's easier to get things approved and all that. And it's more fun than covering a winning team, because you don't really know how far it's going to go and what's going to happen. And you just get bored.

If they're too good every year, eventually you get bored of that. And if they're too terrible every year, you get bored of that. So it's nice. This era has been really cool, especially because nobody expected it. They were supposed to trade Rudy Gay and Tank for Andrew Wiggins and ended up, and they almost traded Lowry, if the Knicks would have said yes. It just wasn't supposed to be this way. DeRozan wasn't supposed to

keep getting better. So it's kind of cool. And now you add a Kawhi Leonard and have a legit shot of competing for a title for really, probably the first time since the heyday of the Vince Carter era. And so, yeah. It is awfully nice as a Raptors fan to know that LeBron's

in the other conference. So yeah, that's not even... We don't have to worry about that. And, yeah, just your best advice was earlier we talked about Kawhi and this might be a one-year window with him. Just enjoy. Just soak it in and enjoy. Yeah, it sucks that he might go, but just try

to enjoy and see what happens and live in this year, live in this moment and appreciate that these guys don't come around that often. And let's see what we do, man. I mean, think about, like, other than the Jays in 92 and 93, which is not that, I don't know, to me it's like yesterday. I guess that is a long time ago now, especially if you've got your age, that's a long time ago.

But 92, 93, we win the World Series. Other than that, in my lifetime, those are the only championships, those are the only finals appearances for the big three teams in this city in my entire lifetime are those two years so it's just kind of exciting to have an opportunity to make an NBA I mean I'm honestly I'd be fine Golden State can

beat us in five or whatever like I'd be okay just let's play in a finals man like it's been a long time it's about time you know the Leafs haven't done it since 67, and the Raptors never been. They should have gone that year against Philly if maybe Vince didn't go to his graduation and hit that shot. Obviously, they could have

beaten the Bucs in the next round. I'll never understand why Vince went to that ceremony. He could have just done it in the summer. It's just taking you out of your game day. Of all the days I do it, right? It's game seven of the conference semifinals

and you can beat Milwaukee in the next round. You're a better team than them. It's mind-boggling. Now, if you win that game, it's all good, but losing that game, and I know he put up the three to win. It's still a decent game, but it takes you out of your routine.

You miss shoot around. You're flying. You're not getting the proper sleep. And it gives people something to blame. Yeah, exactly. There's more pressure. Why do that? I don't know. Guys like that will bring it up in a podcast years later.

Okay, so TFC, actually, no, before we even get back to the raps in TFC. So can you tell me the origin story? Like when you realized you wanted to be in sports media and how you ended up at the Sun? Give me the whole story. Like when you realized you wanted to be in sports media and how you ended up at the Sun. Like give me the whole thing. Okay, so I'll try not to bore the audience to death with it. I'll do the condensed version. Basically, I went to the University of Guelph for four years

and I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do. Forestry, that's what guys like. Yeah, a lot of that. Or veterinarian. Veterinarians or's what guys like to call it. Yeah, a lot. Or Moo-Yoo. Veterinarians or the Aggies, the agriculture stuff. It's Moo-Yoo and all that. But my mom and my stepdad were both in the business of journalism. My mom got out of it eventually, but she used to work for Canada AM.

They actually met at Ryerson in the post-grad program. My mom went back to school as a mature student. And so she worked at Canada AM for a while before she realized she had two kids and needed to get, you know, she couldn't be doing these crazy morning show hours and needed a more stable job and eventually got out of the business

and worked for the government. But my stepdad was a great magazine editor. Outdoor Canada, he was the editor-in-chief and Explorer Magazine, which was kind of it's kind of like you know like an indie band it it got huge critical acclaim and every year at the magazine awards they would clean up and win the most golds but it never really caught on and in the mainstream that sort of thing but he was really good so i had that in in my blood and and you know in my home so i always had the itch and i always loved sports we got the papers and i would i would devour the

sports section every morning and I just knew everything. I would memorize all these crazy stats and obscure stuff and I just always knew I was good at writing and I liked it and I loved sports. You're living in Toronto? In Toronto, yeah. What was your paper of choice back then?

I think we got the Star and the Globe, but my dad, a lot of times, at his place, he had The Sun, so I would read that as well. So I kind of read a lot. Probably more The Star and the Globe just because I was home all the time. But when I was elsewhere, there was a lot of Sun. And obviously their sports today is still great.

But back then, it was the same deal. It was like the sports paper. So I kind of read everything. I was really into it. This was before the internet because I'm old. I'm older. Remember that. But even when the internet started, I was still reading stuff online. I'm older. Remember that. But even when the

internet started, I was still reading stuff online and really into it. So I always liked it. And basically, my fourth year at school, I was like, you know, I don't know what the hell I want to do, but I have this passion for journalism. It runs in the family and maybe I'll pursue it. So I started covering the soccer and basketball teams at Guelph and writing for the paper there and got started with that. And then when I was done, the internet was kind of taking off a bit. I just asked some basketball sites and hockey sites if I could write for them for free. I did that for a bit. I interned at my stepdad's magazine, learning kind of the ins and outs of the magazine business. And I used all of that and somehow got into Ryerson's two-year JRAD program, which has got a great reputation.

A lot of people warned me, including my parents, don't do it, there's no jobs in journalism, it's crazy. But I wouldn't hear it, and I was just like, this is what I want to do, and I'm going to make it happen. It takes a lot of luck, and you've got to show something when you get the chance, and be persistent. I just kind of did that. I used the clippings that I had generated in the past to get into Ryerson. And once I was there,

I got really lucky. A friend of mine, I think actually my friend Rachel Brady was on the show a while ago with Christina. She mentioned this friend because she ended up working with her at CBC, Katie Rook. She had a friend at the National Post who was like an assistant to the editor-in-chief or something. And she just called her up and said uh hey can I come in like intern in news and this person's like I'll check and so my friend got in interning at news just just by calling up and I said well hey I wonder I said to my friend what do you what do you think about sports do you think they need someone in sports and she asked and they're like sure come in and then it was just like, wow. It was a huge break. I got there.

The section at that time was incredible. Cam Cole was in Toronto. Bruce Arthur was there. Sean Fitzgerald. Joe O'Connor, most people don't know. He's one of the best writers in Canada. He doesn't do sports anymore, but I think him and Carl Kelly

are probably the best two technical writers in this country. Jeremy Sander. There's a lot of other people there. It was just an incredible experience to learn. And then I went back to school and eventually I used all that and some contacts I had at the Sun to bug the Sun enough to get an internship as part of the second year of the program at Ryerson so I interned at Sun Sports and that was when the hockey lockout was going on and they were desperate to fill space like we were we had so little going on that we would do a dice league because there's no nhl games they would roll dice and simulate the

games and have the standings and like it was crazy so they're like just go out and you know i would i would locate people they did all these where are they now like searching for alan bester or bill wennington or mike schmreck all these people ex blue jays like i would i would have to call them up and this was like you couldn't just find everything on the internet back then. You'd have to track them down. It was a really cool experience. Got to do a lot of stuff. They liked the way I wrote.

I got a lot of great feedback, both of the post and the sun, and got better. It really got me out and doing everything. Who would have thought they'd end up in the same building? Exactly. That's crazy. It's funny. I started at the post and then they bought us but it's kind of funny but yeah just uh getting the experience covering the toronto rock really helped me because it was kind of a hybrid

of basketball and hockey and you had to learn different things and and it was very similar and it was on the fly there were so many goals that really helped me as a young journalist because it was just like crazy like right every game came down to the wire and it really that helped me as a young journalist because it was just like crazy. Every game came down to the wire. And it really helped me so much to become an NBA writer because obviously there's so many lead changes and crazy things happen at the end of games. And you've got to write on deadline to be ready for it. And lacrosse really helped me.

And there's a team that actually won championships. Yeah, they did. I missed the heyday, but I did cover one of their championships. Cool. Yeah. And you covered, I guess you're getting this in a moment, but did you cover the TFC championship, the MLS Cup? Well, so I covered TFC when they were terrible.

Not when they first started and everyone was excited. I wasn't around for that. I was more doing the rock and that sort of thing. We had TFC people, but eventually we had no more TFC people, so they threw me on even though I didn't really know anything about soccer. I had to learn pretty quickly and I covered some just disasters like Precky was a real, we called him

Pricky. He just wanted no part of dealing with the media and Mo Johnston was like on the end of his time here and just they had no clue what they were doing. They were a complete gong show. This is around when David Miller made his big... Yeah, yeah, yeah, 2009, 2010 I was doing it. And then we brought Kurt Larson on board

and he's a soccer fanatic. He played in the States. So he knew what he was doing and we kind of shared it for a little bit. And so I covered the first year when they lost on penalties. In Seattle. Yeah, but by the time they actually won i wasn't

doing it anymore he had taken over full like and didn't need my help i think simmons helped him that year so i missed the championship year and then but kurt took a job with the new canadian premier league which is starting up soccer league and left and because we've lost so many people over the years there wasn't really they're like well you did it before so how about you just do that on top of uh okay so and figure it out so they threw it on but so how about you just do that on top of Raptors and figure it out. They threw it on. So, okay. So basically your two things you do are the basketball beat and the TFC?

Those are mostly. I'll fill in like all of us kind of because we don't have the staff we once did. Everyone kind of fills in everywhere. You might do some Argos here or there. You might do some Jays. I do a few series every year of Jays. But for the most part, basketball is the main thing. And then TFC as well. And as you mentioned, you're still sending people to road games and you're the last, outside of the playoffs, you're the last newspaper doing that. Yeah, it's, it's, it's a great thing. I think there's still a huge advantage of doing it if

you do it right. And if you take advantage of it, I mean, if you do it right and if you take advantage of it i mean if you mail it in obviously it doesn't make a lot of sense but but there's still a huge benefit to being around the players see around the management the coaches they know you're you know you're there all the time and i think there's a huge benefit of that and you pick up all kinds of stuff you just don't pick up at home like there's more access though the players are maybe more honest they're more willing to talk and it's just it There's still a huge value to it. Is TFC going to bounce back? Last season was so disappointing

following the MLS Cup year where we won everything. Is they going to bounce back? I think so. It all depends on health. Last year, obviously, everything fell apart because it was just a record run of injuries. It's an aging team.

They're not getting any younger. They're still an older group. They added another veteran player. It's all going record run of injuries. And it's an aging team. They're not getting any younger. They're still an older group. They added another veteran player. So it's all going to depend on injuries. If they stay healthy, they're going to be one of the best teams in the league and they'll have a chance to be right back in the mix. But if a couple guys go down,

there's not a lot of depth, especially up front. I think defense, they've kind of strengthened that a little bit. But up front, if you lose a Jovinko or an Altidore like you usually do, it's a little dicey. up front, if you lose a Jovinko or an Altidore like you usually do, it's

a little dicey. Let's hope they bounce back. I'm kind of a bandwagon TFC guy. I'll jump on when they're doing well, and I enjoy watching the playoff games on TV. Last season, I just sort of... I think I went to one game live, but

otherwise, I just sort of tapped out. I didn't follow any of it. I wanted to win that thing in Mexico. That was the last time. Yeah, that would have been good. That was right before I took over. So Larson was there for that. So they were calling me the jinx for a while just because, you know, things went south.

We always need to scapegoat somebody. Do you own an automobile, Ryan? No, I got rid of mine. Okay, no car for you. If there are car owners listening, I mine. Okay, no car for you. If there are car owners listening, I got some cool, cool advice for you. Introduce yourself to Buckle. Buckle is B-U-K-L dot C-O. So go to B-U-K-L dot C-O, and then you enter your car information, like what's your make model and a year. And then what service you need for your car.

And you get instant quotes from shops in your area. And then you can book the appointment right away. And just, you just bring in your car, you get it serviced and you drive away. You're automatically charged. It's completely seamless. Like it's the coolest.

I'm actually now anxiously waiting for an issue of my car. I'm sure it'll happen any day now. Uh, that's a 99 car, uh, in the coolest. I'm actually now anxiously waiting for an issue of my car. I'm sure it'll happen any day now. That's a 99 car in the driveway. So there's always something breaking on it. But I can't wait to check it out. Bukl.co. I urge all listeners to check it out. That's buckle.

And of course, let's not forget. Time has come today. Time has come today. Time. Ryan, we're going to be kicking out some hip hop jams, but let's go back a little further. On this day, 30 years ago, so 30 years ago today, the number one song on the Billboard Hot 100 was this. Feel free to sing along. Not exactly my jam. Not your jam? Might be the furthest thing from the 90s hip-hop that you're going to play, but this is, of course, Poison's Every Rose Has Its Thorn.

It's okay, but it's not GNR. I'm a GNR guy, not Poison. Man, I wish they were number one on this date. I love GNR too. I'd say this is a guilty pleasure. It's all right. The chorus is all right. It's dawn. Just like every cowboy sings a sad, sad song. Every rose has its thorn.

Just today I was talking online, DM. I was DMing with Mark Weisblot from 1236, and he tells me Stu Jeffries, when Stu Jeffries on Boom 97.3 right? Right. Stu Jeffries is a morning show host there. When he plays Sweet Caroline by he sings along to Sweet Caroline

like he sings to it. The whole thing? Yeah, like I guess so. So if you're in your car or whatever listening to Sweet Caroline, you're hearing Stu singing along with it, right? So this is like at first the program director was like, is like, at first, the program director was like, I saw this on Reddit,

the program director chimed in. At first, he's like, what the fuck? Don't do that. Don't do that. But then,

I guess, people responded positively, like, this is a morning show host guy having a good time. It would be like

if Stu played this and he sang along to it. I was just singing along to this jam. I'm like, I don't know, he's doing it and it's working or whatever. I was just singing along to this jam. I'm like, I don't know. He's doing it and it's working or whatever. I have Stu coming in to kick out the jam.

So I'm going to ask him about it. But I just learned about that. But yeah, Poisons, Every Rose Has Its Thorn. Good jam. Number one on this day, 30 years ago. And remember, the time is brought to you by Fast Time Watch Jewelry Repair. They've been doing quality watch and jewelry repairs for over 30 years because they were the watch repair place in Sears

when you got your watch repaired done or your watch battery replaced at Sears. It was these guys, Fast Time Watch and Jewelry Repair. So please go to FastTimeWatchRepair.com for a location near you. And if you mention that you heard about them on Toronto Mike's, you get 15% off any regular priced watch battery installation. Milan tells me he

never does that. Take advantage because this doesn't happen. It's 15% off the watch battery installation. Milan, by the way, Ryan, I don't know if you heard this yet, but he came over on Friday, and he joined Brian Gerstein and Mark Hebbshire, and we did like a, I don't know,

did we do two and a half hours, maybe, about just talking about sports media. So I don't know if you caught that one. Yeah, I caught part of it. I wanted to actually weigh in on part of it. Milan and Brian kind of were talking about something we hear about a lot um kind of like the idea that well why does why do the american the big shot american writers and reporters get all the the juicy stories and that sort of thing and and that's kind of a complicated thing and also there's some merit to. And basically that is based on in this day and age,

agents and players and stuff, they don't really care about what the local people are saying anymore. It used to be a huge deal. But in this day and age, they just don't see the benefit. It's not getting out to enough people. So they seek out the ESPNs and the Sports Illustrateds and all that because they know the reach is going to be further. And sometimes it bothers me.

Like when Kyle Lowry does it, when i've covered him for eight years and he's a good interview but all of a sudden he hasn't been good for a few years because he just doesn't want to talk to us he doesn't want to give us anything good but he'll seek out a mark spears when he's in town or michael lee or a woj or a zach low or whatever and they're all you know i like them they're friends of mine they're great at what they do but it's kind of like insulting that we do this every day and he'll seek them out and not... He'll seek out the wars, not the... Well, that's why I called him out recently because Kyle is much better after a loss, as I've kind of talked about, than a win.

And he played really badly and they lost the game and he didn't talk to the media. And I kind of wanted to know, well, what's going on? Are you hurt? And it ends up, you know, like the Namari Carroll thing, he ends up being hurt, and he's out for a month after that. I wanted to talk to him before, and he blew us off, didn't talk. So I said it was a bad look, and people got really mad at me. Because I think in this day and age, a lot of people, they just don't want to see the bad.

They don't want the real talk. They don't want, and I'm getting off topic here, but a lot of people just want the fan perspective. No, that's what we do. Get off topic. They just want, you know, these guys are infallible. They can do no wrong. Don't you dare challenge them or ask anything tough or do any of that. I don't like that.

So I just wanted him to talk. So we're kind of, you know, we got to repair our relationship a little bit. But I'd like it if they talked to us more. And even DeMar, like, he loved Doug Smith. They had a great relationship. But he wasn't,'t you know going to him for he did sometimes but a lot of times he would go to the big american outlets for the story instead of the people he's developed a relationship with so i just i think that's not great but in terms of us not breaking stuff that's not true we break stuff a lot of us break stuff all the time uh my buddy josh loonberg broke a whole

he had a great summer doing a lot breaking a lot of really interesting things that got him in some trouble with various people. Again, because it's real talk. And in the past, I've broken plenty of stuff, as have other people on the beat. So it does happen. I just think people pay more attention to the woes, just getting everything. And of course, the huge stuff, it goes to them.

That's just the way it's developed. Do you feel you have more license to deliver the real talk because you don't get a paycheck from a company that owns any of the teams that you guys cover? Nobody that works for any of the companies that own the teams has ever told me

that, oh, I can't say this or that. But you have to think that there is some sort of a filter because there might be a pushback from who knows. Like I know people at MLSC have gotten mad at me. But I'm like, well, I'm not going to, unless I did something wrong, like really wrong, I'm not going to change the way I do it.

But I think definitely, yeah, I think there's more freedom for someone at the Sun that doesn't have an affiliation. I know some people have affiliations with TSN, but that doesn't really stop Steve Simmons from speaking his mind. But that's what pissed off Scott Moore. He considered Steve Simmons a TSN guy and felt it was the TSN-Sportsnet rivalry.

But Steve's first and foremost a Sun guy. He's been there since, what, 1988 or whatever, 30 years, since Poison was number one. He probably would have enjoyed that Every Rose Has Its Thorn. Exactly. But yeah, no, I think whatever, 30 years, since Poison was number one. He probably would have enjoyed that Every Rose Has Its Thorn. I think maybe there's something to it. I definitely don't feel like I need to hold anything back. There's a few things you need to hold back for the sake

of relationships, and you're covering the team every day. You can't go off every single day and piss people off, but you can do it once in a while, definitely, as long as you're fair. And that's my huge thing. I hate that Fox kind of co-opt fair and balanced, but that i try to be i know i ruin that that's i try to be as long as you're fair and that's one thing lowry said to he met my editor-in-chief once and and they were talking about me he said oh he's fair and i you know i think that's a good compliment

that's what you want to be in this business yeah no no, no doubt. You ever had any inkling that your credentials could be denied or anything like that? Because Mark Hebbshire was on that same episode we're talking about, and he said several times, and he did have to cover the Harold Ballard leave. Yeah, that's a different animal.

I mean, no, I've had talkings too from various people, a couple of general managers. But did it work? Because, again, that same episode... Coaches, definitely. Family members, people have said, hey, what hey did vince's mom ever uh no i see her at that game and i'm like she's not aging ain't like i feel like she looks exactly the same that's why it's kind of weird eh yeah but no people have said you can't do this and like what are you doing or that was

private or it's pretty rare for that to happen there was one time i got in a bit of trouble and it was actually a really big story uh i'm not going to get into what it was. Come on, that's what you're here for. Let's go. I got recognized and a lot of people liked it and it was up for an award. But you don't want to remind me? No, it was just about the backstory of Serge Ibaka coming to Toronto

and how it all happened and how it set up. Some people at the organization weren't happy with the depth that I got into because they felt some of the stuff was private. But there were some gray areas on it. I didn't think they were. But anyway. It is a different time.

Part of the issue I have is that all the teams are owned by the same people. Yeah, it makes it. It just makes it tougher, I think, to, I don't know. i get real talk that you know is real yeah i find that i think for me it'd be really really hard commenting on the blue jays if if i was a columnist i think there's guys that do a great job uh and i like again i don't really see that bias but i think it'd be tough to really speak your mind and go hard if you're worried about you're owned by the same people. And I mean, Milan and Brian both jumped at this in that episode.

But, you know, that shot across the bow that Wilner took when he was covering Seagull Gaston, that gets referenced a lot. It's like that was like and I and I actually consider it like when we lost our we lost our innocence. we lost our innocence. You know what I'm saying? It's like, oh yeah, there's real incentive to play ball, no pun intended, with the company that cuts your check.

I can't say how I would act if I think it. Well, there's not a lot of jobs. It's not like you have a lot of jobs. Yeah, and I get why people have to do that if they do do it. And again, I haven't really seen much evidence of that or any, but I get why maybe they would think that way and maybe I would act differently

and not piss off so many people as I seem to do all the time, but not to a Simmons level, but, uh, or Fez Chuck level. They're, they're, they're both awesome, but, uh, yeah, they're in the big league of, uh, polarization. They're instigators, but yeah, they're good. But so I instigate once in a while, but like I said, I try to be fair. I don't go out trying to instigate. I want to be, you know, I just want to tell it like it is and and show what's going on and sometimes it's not um sunshine and roses that everyone wants yeah it's not all motherhood and apple pie like it's not all sunshine and roses like you said uh yeah there's some of it even at sir shabaka and i now know what you're referring to yeah like that's kind of that is kind of the i hate to use the term again but that is the real talk like like this this

is the reality and sometimes it's not pretty like you know what i mean yeah or there's stuff being done there's stuff behind the scenes you don't know about or there's this and that and relationships and whatever there's there's connections and yeah hip-hop okay hip-hop so this is where everyone who hates hip-hop tunes out i guess parental advisory as we talk about these jams, you will probably reveal more about yourself and there will be different tangents and anecdotes. I always think people make a mistake when they bail. I think it would be a big mistake bailing. I'm sure if my friend,

one of my mentors, Bob Elliott, he hates rap. He's the best. He helped get me hired by the Sun. Did he? Ryan doesn't have a longer version. It's not like you're Ryan L or something Robert Ryan L

okay no yeah I know he's there's some people that aren't fans although his his old friend Richard Griffin

is surprisingly a huge hip hop fan when Kyle Kelly told me that he said oh you guys will get along you both love rap I'm like what

actually I didn't know this I'm like Griff and he like would have rap magazines like XXL like in his bag when he was traveling I'm guessing he goes back to the 80 have rap magazines, like XXL, in his bag when he's traveling. I'm guessing he goes back to the 80s, right?

He likes all, he loves Eminem. Okay. I think Jay-Z. No, that's amazing. I had no clue, but that's, I mean, I'm trying to get him in here anyways. And that's another topic to discuss. Are you kidding me? It'd be great.

I'm looking forward to hearing, not so much, your jams are great, but I want to hear you kind of talk about your jams. So let's kick out, so hip hop, again with again 94 to 97 what were the years again i think i did 92 ish to 96 like i tried to do five years 92 93 94 and 5 96 yeah five years 92 to 96 because that was like really formulative for me it was you know early high early to mid high school years or end of high school and i just love these things and they've stayed with me it really uh i don't know influenced me and just i just love i love that period of rap it was just so good musically and lyrically and everything it just it's something that's always stayed with me and like i said i still listen to it all the

time it's great stuff. Including right now. Here we go. Take this for example, young brothers want rep Cause in the life they're living, you can't have step It starts with the young ones doing crowns for fun And if you wink down, you'll get played out, son So let's get a car you know I fly with Get a dent, pull a screwdriver, and be off quick With a dope ride, yeah, and a rowdy crew

We could bag us a Benz and an Audi too Even a Jeep or van, goddamn, we're getting ours, yo We'll be right back. Code of the Streets, Gangstar. Yes. To me, DJ Premier is the best producer. He's got a lot of competition, but he's the best producer in hip-hop history. He's got his unique style. When a Primo track comes on you know it's him like there aren't that many i mean dre probably dr dre you'll know it's him but primo

you'll know every time this is the guy he's just got that that style and what a combo gangsta guru i never met but i have a funny story about guru the thing about them is they're just so unique he got one of the best producers ever, the guy who mastered scratching and mixing it into his music and Guru who had a voice like almost probably no one else in the history of rap. People even today still talk about him

and he had the song, The Voice. So I was watching back in the day when I lived at home, Guru was on Off The Record, Michael Landsberg and I was watching it. And my stepdad made a comment about him, like, what's that thing he's wearing on his head? And he just noticed him. And I'm like, oh, he's a gangsta.

I'm going to his show in a couple of days because I think he was playing at, what was that place? On Queen's Quay, the government. Yeah. Yeah. So they were playing anyway. So I said, yeah, this guy's great. I'm a big fan.

And the next day, I went to work or whatever. And when I came home, my stepdad's like, oh, I met Guru. I'm like, what? What do you mean you met Guru? Apparently, they were driving downtown on Yonge Street. And they see this guy. And they recognize his do-rag or whatever he was wearing. And he goes to my mom

like no joke I think that's Guru oh it's amazing and he's like I gotta go like it's like pulled over they followed him in

my stepdad followed him into like some restaurant or something and got his autograph so I have his autograph to Ryan much love peace and respect

from Guru and now unfortunately he passed away like 10 years ago and yeah I got his autograph it's amazing that's amazing

that's the only good story I have about any of these guys I got his autograph. It's amazing. That's amazing. That's the only good story I have about any of these guys, I think. So you know that your stepdad is a reporter. Because he took that in his phone and he filed it away and he recalled it. He was a reporter. He won awards. He worked for the Star before he was in magazines. But he wasn't into the crime reporting. Which is funny because eventually, at some point, I was on the news side.

I was doing crime reporting and it was not for me at all. I didn't want to talk to people whose kids had just died or cover these crime scenes. It was not for me. So I was on the news side. I was doing crime reporting, and it was not for me at all. I didn't want to talk to people who's like, kids had just died or cover these crime scenes. It was not for me. So I was really happy. I covered a bit of Rob Ford. Sports is a lot. Yeah, Rob Ford was fun. You know why?

Rob Ford and pandas. Yeah, I did. When they got those pandas from China at the zoo, I covered him in pandas. And that was hilarious, but it was just not for me. What I like about sports is it's like live and die. And then when you lose, it's like, ah, it's just sports. They call it the toy not for me. What I like about sports is it's like live and die and then when you lose, it's like, ah, it's just sports. Exactly.

They call it the toy department for a reason. It's not reality. It's like a distraction from reality. It's fun and everything to analyze and cover. But it feels like the most important thing in the world

and then if it doesn't go your way, you kind of have that perspective where you're like, ah, it's just a game. Yeah, it feels like life and death in the moment, but it's not actually. So I don't want to actually

be covering life and death. That's not cool. It's not my thing. Let's kick out another jam. Oh, yeah. Love these guys. Check this out. The Conchanto House. So what was it? Check this out.

The Conchanto of the Desperado. R-O-O-T-S, check the flow. If you don't like I know, then you know the motto. That's all the foreign shit gots to go. Yo, in the glow of the moon over the melancholy metro. My poetry is still like a UFO. The maestro delivered this concerto. My physical play the role of a vessel The level of my lyrics law manifesto

My thoughts wrestle and attack With the killer instincts Of a gorilla stronger than Samson Without the lila my soliloquy profess My ability to jest Stimulate you like the best Cisimilla The half-life of Illa del Alpino

Filler for sea Hither is my death flower Blow your tower to smithere Reigns the fiends Catch another fine river Deeper than the meditations The half-life of Illa Del Al, Pino Filippici Hither is my death flower, blow your top with a smither Reads the fiends, catch another rhyme, live a deeper than the meditations of a Hindu worshipper An orthodox hip-hop minister Then a serengeti cheater, my thoughts swifter You lose your balance when the sound hits ya So check for the fifth militia

A poet's under pressure, stressing that you get the picture Even if it means you gotta hang over the banister I pull a microphone on any pistol brandish and take advantage of your crew cause you amateur styles gonna down your sound man and manager what this how we do it in the air for nine six with this deliberate attack on pointless rap shit breaking them c's down to flat shunt tell your squadron it's time to go to war we spawn the act the gun concerto of the desperado. R-O-O-T-S.

Check the flow. If you don't like I know, then you know the motto. And that's the fake shit gots to go. Hey, yo. It's the concerto of the desperado. R-O-O-T-S. Check the flow. If you don't like I know, then you know the motto.

That's all the bullshit gots to go. The fake shit gots to go. Concerto of the desperadoado, The Roots. I love The Roots. They're the best live band in the history of rap. One of the best live shows you'll ever see in any genre of music. Just incredible. I'm really happy they're having all kinds of success being on The Tonight Show because they deserve it.

They grinded. Just incredible. I've seen them three or four times live they're amazing quest loves the genius this track they got an opera singer on in the background like it's like sounds good in the headphones oh it sounds amazing it's black thought i think is maybe the most underrated mc in the history of rap malik be an awesome rapper too uh they're just just a great group. This is from their 96 album. For some reason I'm having a brain cramp right now, but my favorite Roots album.

Just filled with lots of stuff. I had a hard time choosing just one. Illidel Half-Life, that's the album. I had a really hard time choosing the album, but as you'll see from these jams, the boom bap rap light that's the album i was i had a really hard time choosing the album but as you'll see from these jams like the boom bap rap that's really my thing and this is their least not that i don't like their jazzy stuff but this is like their most like real gritty 90s rap album and it's just it's a it's great I'd highly recommend it if they tour a lot again

if they come back to Canada go see them they're really good I've seen them in Ottawa I've seen them in Toronto a couple times good times here's the best group ever. We are the one, too. See you next time. We'll be right back. do that, do that, that, that. I'm bugging out, but let me get back, cause I'm wetting niggas. So, run and tell the others, cause we all the brothers. I learned how to build lights

in my workshop class. So, give me the sword, and let's not make it the last. Award tour, Tribe Called Quest. They're just, you know, they're the greatest. they're my all-time favorite rappers midnight marauders is my all-time favorite album not that low end theory isn't far behind i was gonna have a debate with you maybe it's our age though because uh i'm a low end theory guy i love low end theory it's amazing and uh you know i have i debate it with my best friends too because some of them like uh i think one of them likes best friends too because some of them like I think one of them likes

Low End Theory better one of them likes Midnight Marauders better but I just It reminds me of guys a little like guys my age we do the It Takes a Nation of Millions

to Hold Us Back versus Fear of a Black Planet so it's the same kind of debate It's tough like Low End Theory is amazing and has Scenario which probably would have been on but it was before 92

so I couldn't put it on It might be my brother's favorite rap song. He doesn't seem to listen to any of them. Something about Midnight Marauders, I've purchased it four different times in my life. I think I bought it and sold it and bought it again in tape, CD, whatever, vinyl I have now.

A lot of these I have on vinyl. And the cover had that cover where you could turn it and it changed the image? No, no, it was the one with all the faces. So is it the low-end theory cover that if you... I know I'm doing this

like people can see me but only you can see me. I think it... But you changed the angle of the cover and it changed the... It had the character like the Tribe Called Quest

character. Okay, I remember maybe it's a special edition I bought. I don't know. Okay. But it... I don't know.

I just think Q-Tip is one of the best ever. Not only just on the mic but he produced a lot of classic stuff for Mobb Deep and different people. And I don't think, I don't know, might be a controversial statement, maybe not. No, no, no, I think because they blended that jazz with the...

Yeah, they blended it so well. I don't think any two MCs have ever complimented each other as well as Q-Tip and Phife Thug, on this album especially. Low End Theory, they were starting to get it, but on this one, it was just perfection. I don't know. I don't think a lot of people on the planet think Midnight Marauders is the best album ever, even by Tribe.

But I just love it. The tour guide that we're hearing now, just taking you through the album. It's just such a great album. You can just listen to the whole thing. You can't skip anything. Just musically, it's just amazing. Maraud means to loot.

In this case, we maraud your ears. just musically, it's just amazing. Maraud your ears. Everyone knows this one. Had to do it though. The Infamous, you heard of us Official Queensbridge murderers Tomorrow comes a quick put warfare Beware of my crime family who got enough shots to share For all those who wanna profile and pose Rock you in your face, stab your brain with your nose bone You all alone in these streets, cousin Every man for they self in his land We be gunning and keep them shook crews running

Like they supposed to They come around but they never come close to I can see it inside your face You're in the wrong place Cowards like you just get their whole body laced up With bullet holes and such Speak the wrong words man and you will get touched You can put your whole army against my team

And I guarantee you it'll be your very last time breathing Your simple words just don't move me You're minor, we major You're all up in the game and don't deserve to be a player Don't make me have to call your name out, we cool as featherweight My gunshots will make you levitate I'm only 19, but my mind is old And when the things get for real, my warm heart turns cold

Another nigga deceased, another story is told It ain't nothing really, and yo, done sparked a Philly So I can get my mind off these yellowback niggas While they still alive, I don't know, go figure Meanwhile, back in Queens, the realness and foundation foundation if i die i couldn't choose a better location when the slugs penetrate you feel a burning sensation getting closer to god in a tight situation now take these words home and think it through or the next rhyme i write might be about you this ain't no such thing as halfway crossoks Scared to death and scared to look This ain't no such thing as halfway crooks

Scared to death and scared to look Living the life that is diamonds and guns There's numerous ways you can choose the earth ones Some get shot, locked down, and turned nuns Cowardly hearts and straight up shook ones Shook ones Shook ones part two, Mobb Deep. Toronto might be the center of hip-hop today,

but in the mid-90s, we were trying to be New York. Everything was New York, especially after, you know, I could have picked Snoop and Dre for this list. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it because I'm just, I love the music from Queens, New York, and Brooklyn. As you'll see, it's heavily, you know, we just did back-to-back Queens artists, Tribe and Mobb Deep. Just this is havoc. This is arguably the best beat in rap history, and Prodigy is one of the best MCs ever.

And this song, this whole album, it's right up there with Midnight Marauders for me. The Infamous album is a masterpiece. It set the tone for what was coming the rest of the 90s in rap. This song, yeah, it's probably one of the most ten famous rap songs in history, I'd argue. It just had to be on the list. I wish I knew who. Maybe I'll search it during the next jam. But Somebody Kicked This Out is one of their 10 jams, for sure.

I don't know if it was Steve Stone. I can't remember. Maybe it was Ill Vibe? I can't remember, man. I've got to check into that. And my boy, my almost 17-year-old, loves this song. Yeah, he's a big Mobb Deep guy. He listens to mainly current stuff, but he loves this. Yeah, I wish I would have seen them. Unfortunately, a lot of these, like half of these groups,

half the people in these groups have passed away or whatever, but I did get to see Phife Dawg thanks to the Raptors. They had him out at halftime a while ago, maybe eight years ago, so I'm glad I got to see him. Otherwise, I would never have seen Tribe. Would have liked to have seen Maude. Although those shows, they were always insane. Those were like, wow.

Whenever they came to toronto it was well i mean yeah that's some aggressive music so the crowds the crowds are always nice right I took a picture when I was in Queens visiting the MLS. No, it was the NBA 2K Studios where they have their eSports studio, and it was in Queens. So I took a picture of the 41st Street because, you know, Queens Bridge, they always talk about it so much. I had to take a picture and send it to my friends. All right.

For sure, for sure. Here I am. All right. Now we're going south from another flawless album. up at the ceiling watching ceiling fans go round trying to catch that feeling off instrumental had my pencil and plus my paper we caught the 86 lot on your head at two decatur writing rhymes trying to find i was spot off in that light light off in that spot knowing that we could rock doing a hole in the wall club this shit here must stop like freeze we making the crowd move but we not making no g's and that's a no no a one two dope niggas in the Cadillac. They call us, went from Plagueis ball to ball. So putting us off up on the map.

It's like Little Rock to Bangin'. Niggas say, motherfucker, that Plaguein'. They payin'. We stayin'. Layin' vocals. No cows done. Made it with them big boys up in this industry. Outcast.

Yeah, them niggas, they makin' big noise. Over a million so to this day. Niggas, they take it like they 96. Gon' be that year that all y'all Plagueis hitters can bite me. Me and this bitch. Your mama and your cussin' too. Outcast Elevators There's a debate Amongst Outkast fans too Like the low end theory

Midnight Marauders debate About the first album Southern Play Listed Cadillac Funky music Maybe the longest name For a title In rap history

Or ATLians Or Equemini Which for a title in rap history or ATLians or Equemini which is a great album too, I love ATLians and Elevators this was everywhere and how could you not like that track, it's just, it's amazing and we talked about Phife Dawg and Q-Tip having great chemistry but Big Boi

and Andre 3000 or just Andre back then great, great chemistry as well and like they said in the song putting the south up on the map that's what they did they they started that you know for good or for bad they started that craze outcast is most responsible for for bringing the south into the picture when it was all east west before that and i just you can't go wrong with, it was tough

narrowing it down to one outcast track, but this one, one out. Are you watching that Hip Hop Evolution series? Yeah,

I'm just starting to get into it because my buddies are saying, you gotta watch this. It's excellent, yeah, yeah. I know it's like

a Toronto, I mean, Shad hosts it, I think it's a Canadian company that put this together, whatever, but the seasons

are really short, which is kind of sucky because you get into it and you want more. But yeah, they need to do an OutKast episode. I don't think they've done an OutKast episode yet.

I haven't seen it. They should, yeah. I mean, Goody Mob and everything that was coming up and then later T.I. But OutKast, they were... Actually, CeeLo was supposed

to be part of the group. CeeLo became famous for the, you know, Gnarls Barkley and Crazy, all those songs. He was supposed to be part of the group CeeLo became famous for the you know, Niles Barkley Crazy, all those songs he was supposed to be the third member and for some reason he wasn't, although he's on a bunch of their songs and he became the main guy on Goodymaw, so there's some

hip-hop trivia for the listeners there who are still still with us. No, listen the ones who are with us need to be rewarded to drop more of that, are you kidding me? Listen, the ones who are with us need to be rewarded to drop more of that. Are you kidding me? Am I the only guy? Let's say there's a genre I don't like.

I don't care for Latin music, okay? I don't care at all. But if somebody was going to come play their 10 favorite songs and explain why they like songs, I would still tune in to hear their perspective on this genre that I don't particularly think. It's not my cup of tea. So I don't understand the people who are like, I don't do rap. The whole genre is out. Maybe if you just came on and were like, yeah, I like it.

I nod my head to it. You don't explain why you like it at all. I just hear why somebody loves it the way you love, I don't know, the White Album or whatever. Midnight Marauders is your White Album. I guess it is. Let's hear about it. We're going west. Midnight Marauders is your white album. It is. I guess it is. Let's hear about it. Hey, what's up?

This is Tajay of the Mighty South. We're going all over the place. East, South, West. And right now, we're just maxing in the studios. We're hailing from East Oakland, California. And sometimes it gets a little hectic out there. But right now, we're going up you on how we just chill. Thank you. The flick's at 8, so get straight You look great, let's grub now A rubdown sounds flavorless Later there's the theater

We in the gut, the cinema What's mediocre? Take it to the crib so I can stroke him Kids get broke, but this skin's what I am Close range, I throw game at your dip Like handball, cause the man's all that All that I'm Leader Chill from 93.2

Yeah, this is how we chill from 93.2 This is how we chill from 93.2 This is how we chill from 93.2 This is how we chill from 93 to. This is how we chill from 93 to. This is how we chill from 93 to. This is how we chill from 93 to. This is how we chill from 93 to. This is how we chill from 93 to. This is how we chill from 93 to.

My black gems do me well. 93 to infinity. Souls of Mischief. Part of the hieroglyphics imperium which uh dell the funky homo sapien casual lots of uh

underground dell the funky homo sapien is ice cube's cousin see this one I knew this one I knew um mr. dabalina mr. bob dabalina

exactly awesome just a different sound coming out of the west uh at the time. It was just, it was so different. Really cool collective.

I don't know. And I like the message like 93 to infinity on that Tribe album. The Mini Marauders, they say like, Q-Tip says something about all the engineers

that don't mention the year or you're not supposed to mention the year, but they do. Anyways, in this song, it's just talking about 93 to infinity

and it's true. I'm still, all these years later, I'm still'm still loving it all these tracks so i don't know it's just it was just something different i like it when songs mention the year like it helps you remember the year it came out like some people say don't do it but they're like no 93 till infinity and maestro was just here for 416 and uh in that he's like uh it's 89 y'all not beethoven's fifth or sixth i'm like i always know that. It was 1989. That really got me into rap,

actually. I owe Maestro a lot because at the time, I was way more into sports and the J's and everything and the Leafs a little bit. Obviously, the Raptors were non-existent

and finding anything basketball was impossible in Toronto. So, basketball fans today should, this is a little diatribe, but they should really appreciate how good they have it because back then,

it was impossible. It's true. I adopted the Bulls. I had family in Chicago, so I was a huge Bulls fan. Jordan got me into basketball. But yeah, if you wanted to pay attention, you got the NBA on NBC triple headers. Or you got, like TSM was brand new. They were all hockey, so they had barely any basketball. Sportsnet didn't exist.

And maybe you listen to CNN, or you watch CNN for a couple minutes, Vannerl Wright and Fred Hickman or whatever. They give you two minutes on the NBA, and that's all you got. Absolutely. Those guys were here. And Hebsey, yeah. Hebsey and Jim Tagg. Yeah, I watched that all the time.

But even they didn't have much basketball. It was really hard to get your hoops fixed. So I hope people appreciate it. That's so true, man. Look at us old guys talking to the kids today. I don't want to say, like, you're damn millennials, but it's just so easy.

You get anywhere. In fact, it was hard. You had to really be into it. It's true. You'd read your Sports Illustrated or Sport Magazine, or I'd buy all those almanacs every year that had all the players.

That's what you had to do. Yeah, Sports Illustrated was a big deal. That's why we all subscribed and read it every week. That's like how you got your,

yeah, your Pro Basketball Handbook and it had all the players and all their stats and info. That's what you had. We might be getting to the track that I cheated the rules a little bit on Because I couldn't pick just one

Between the two most famous rappers ever So I kind of cheated that it's not a I don't know if it's coming up next or not Well they're your rules so you can break them Yeah I broke them It was recorded in 94 so it fits that parameter But it was remixed by Eminem much later You can bring them. Yeah, I broke it. It was recorded in 94, so it fits that parameter, but it was remixed by Eminem much later.

Not this one. It'll be the one after that. I wonder can you save me? Illuminati on my mind, soul in my body Can you keep me still? God, I wonder can you save me? I can't die, I can't die, I can't die Yeah, this shit is wicked on these mean streets None of my friends speak, we all trying to win But then again, maybe it's for the best though Cause when they seeing too much, you know they trying to get you touched Whoever said illegal was the easy way out

Couldn't understand the mechanics and the workings of the underworld Granted, nine to five is how you survive I ain't tryna survive, I'm tryna live it to the limit And love it a lot Life ills, poison my body And used to say, fuck my skills I never prayed to God, I prayed to God That's right, it's wicked, that's life

I live it, ain't askin' for forgiveness For my sins, ends, I break bread With the lay hands Picking they brains for angles And all the evils that the game will do It gets dangerous Money and power is changing us And now we're lethal, infected with the evils

It's real, gone, I wonder can you save me Illuminati on my mind, soul in my body It's real, gone, I wonder can you save me It's real society, trying to keep it down It's real, gone, I wonder can you save me The Evils, Jay-Z. Yeah, just lyrically, very few could match Jay-Z, especially on Reasonable Doubt, which I still think is his best album ever. A lot of times the first album is the best, especially in rap, but you can't touch Reasonable Doubt. It was an incredible album. This song produced by DJ Premier, who we talked about earlier, Genius, samples Snoop.

So I kind of got him in my top 10 here a little bit which is cool so i'm a snoop fan uh but just the metaphors and just the way the storytelling like jay-z just way way ahead of almost everybody in those regards and you could see why he's been really good at marketing and all that sort of thing and that's why he's so rich at everything but definitely one of the great talents ever in rap and this song is one of my favorites it was tough to pick a jay-z song i love the black album uh some of the other ones life and times but i think reasonable doubt is top believe it or not i uh i recorded an episode of Hebsey on Sports this morning

before you got here, and we played Snoop. Oh, the hockey thing. Yeah, he called that hockey thing. Don'tie, don'tie, don'tie. I asked Hebsey what's his favorite Snoop song. He had an answer. I can't remember. I was surprised.

Jenny Juice? No, there was nothing that's... But Snoop, I know he owns, he markets some cannabis product called Leaf. I'm sure more than one. Yeah, but he calls it Leaf. Okay. No, Leafs. He calls it Leafs.

Leafs, okay. And there's a trademark, there's something before the quartz from MLSC. So you're leading me into another story, unintentionally. I remember when, this is when we were following not just New York but California too. Just we wanted to like Toronto wanted to be cool especially when you're a teenager you're like,

oh, they like us. So Snoop Dogg, Snoop Doggy Dogg back then, this is 92 or 93, shows up on the Arsenio Hall show wearing a Leaf jersey. I was watching. And we're like, what?

Yeah. Like, wow, that's amazing. I was watching, man. Absolutely. You're right. We, and I i i made this point in a recent episode but like when the americans noticed us like we all got like like i made us i don't know what that is that's some insecurity complex man that's what happens when you uh share

uh a border with the uh largest uh power in the in the world man man. Insecurity, for sure. We sleep next to a giant, as they say. Between you and Biggie, it was like, who's gonna, who's gonna, who rules the nigga kingdom and shit, basically, you know what I'm saying? I was like, this is like a fucking election. It is that.

You know what I'm saying? Me and Biggie's situation is smaller than that. Me and Biggie's situation is like That's really kind of black. I'm like, wait. I'm saying? Me and Biggie's situation is smaller than that. Me and Biggie's situation is like... That's really kind of black and white. I want to be a man. Too much. Too much. Too much. There ain't more things inside it Why am I trying to give in? And no one else can try Why am I trying to live?

I'm destroying it Check it, I grew up a fucking screw up Got introduced to the game, got a ounce of fucking blood Chopping rocks overnight The nigga Biggie Smalls tryna turn into the black Frank White We had the real dredge to change our description Two coxas on the milk box missing Showed they toes, you know they got stepped on A fist full of bullets, a chest full of test

log Run from the police, picture that Nigga, I'm too fat I fuck around and catch an asthma attack That's why I bust back it don't phase me when he drop take his clock and i'm swayzing celebrate my escape solar clock bought some weight lay back i got some money to make running dying to live tupac and biggie tupac's on later um i cheated a bit here as i said because it was recorded in 94 i think the only time they recorded together they were friends before the whole beef thing um it was tupac coming in but I brought it up I wanted to hear a little

about Tupac but he's continued so Eminem so I cheated a little bit getting Eminem in and also one of the greats ever

he produces very underrated producer he produced a lot of Eminem in and also one of the greats ever. He produces, very underrated producer. He produced a lot of good stuff. Obviously, he's one of the best rappers ever, but he's also a very talented producer. So he took the verses and remixed it later on after they were both gone. So I think this was a cool one to put on because it's impossible. You can't pick one Biggie. Biggie to me is the best rapper ever. And Tupac's probably the most influential.

So to pick one from each of them, it would be taken away away from my other 10 and it was just easier to do it this way you can't just pick one especially Biggie like that guy it's too bad there aren't that many songs because almost all of them are classics it really is too bad that they both died at like 24, 25 I realize Because I know Tupac recorded a lot more music That came out later But we lost a lot not having more Biggie albums And even more like prime Tupac

The whole reason I started to kick out the jams Was I want like sports media personalities i wanted like let's forget sports like let's talk music like that's the way and listening to you like you have such passion and deep knowledge of this this genre like i would subscribe to the hip-hop podcast i've kicked it around with a few people i'd like to do it uh there's some people that are interested. I don't know if there's enough, but, you know, C.J. Miles on the rafters

is a real hip-hop head. I did a story on him last year. I couldn't really incorporate the rap stuff, but he has similar tastes as me, and I thought it would be amazing to get him, or to do a show with him, but I think it would be too hard to work out, but it would be awesome for sure.

I would be your first subscriber. There you go. I should say that. What the heck? Nice rap, Rook. Ever. Oh, you know, I like P.E. too, so I don't know. But Wu-Tang's right up there. I smoke all the mic like smoking Joe Frazier The hellraiser, raising hell with the flavor

Terrorize the jam like troops in Pakistan Swinging through your town like your neighborhood Spider-Man So I'll tick-tock and keep ticking While I get you flipping off the shit that I'm kicking The Lone Ranger, co-ed, danger Deep in the dark with the art To rip the charts apart, the vandal Too hot to handle your battle

You're saying goodbye like to be careful Ruckneck, inspect your text on the set The rebel, I make more noise than heavy metal The way I make the crowd go wild Sit back, relax, won't smile Ray got it going on, pal Call me the rap assassinator Rhymes rugged and built like Schwarzenegger

And I'ma get mad deep like a threat Blow up your project Then take all your assets Cause I came to shake the frame in half With the thoughts that bomb Shit like math So if you wanna try to flip Yo, flip on the next man

Cause I'll grab the clip and Hit you with 16 shots and more I got Going to war with the melt if I hop It's the method man for short Mr. Mav Move it on your left And set it off Get it off, let it off like a gat I wanna break through, cop me back Small change, they putting shame in the game the best. I don't want to break it down. I just want to listen.

But Protect Your Neck, Wu-Tang Clan. Whole 30 bastard coming in. The most unique person in the history of rap first things first man you're fucking with the worst i'll be sticking pins in your head nobody like him before this any nigga who's slacking his mat come fully packed with the fat brother stack same on you when you step through to the old dirty bastard straight from the brooklyn zoo And I'll be damned if I let any man Come to my center You enter the winter Straight up and down

That shit is pat cam You can't slam Don't let me get fooled on the man The old dirty bastard Is dirty and stinking With the night of the creeps Niggas be rolling Winter stas ain't saying gas

Bite my style I'll bite your motherfucking ass So yeah, that's the Wu-Tang's first big hit i remember a friend of mine had the tape the single i think we went to like Sam the Record man downtown to grab it and it's just like wow what is this like and it kind of introduced you to all of them like they all got on and did their thing and you'd never seen like this many people you'd seen like posse cuts or whatever but this is all the same group are you like scenario like yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah this is just like wow these guys and they're all so different these crazy

voices all dirty bastards like what the hell is that like you're just like first time hearing that guy your brain explodes but like method man all of them it's just you know RZA on right now his beats just another guy who's one of the best musicians ever we love you Rakim

yeah exactly like wow yeah that's before that's what they were him and the GZA they had these other things that didn't catch on

and I like that the throwback there oh we love you Rakim I'll still throw that in the mix and the GZA had some terrible single before, but they went back to the well and they decided they would do this.

And it hit. And just business-wise, really cool the way they did it. They're like, no, we're all going to sign deals as solo artists as well, and you get your money from that, and the group thing will be different, and we'll do the clothing, and we'll do this and that. And they just built the whole brand and the whole thing into an empire

and you never really seen that in rap before they're just like we're doing this differently and and obviously classic after classic after classic after classic and this whole album it's just you can just go front to back and it's another one of those timeless things I think a lot of these are just timeless and that's why they made the list and Wu Tang you could have you know you could have picked 10 different tracks but i like this one that it really it's the one that set it off it was their first their first big hit and set the tone for what was coming you know even though this one didn't really do the combo of the the the kung fu movies they didn't really join it as much that came a little later

but no just they were they were different and let's say the method man of course i got to point out man method man is cheese that's right cheese cheese wag staff right because he was uh related randy was uh i think that's the good actor too yeah like you know he was great in there there's a this is for Prop Joe yeah there's a movie called The Whackness that not a lot of people have seen

but it was right up my alley and I think it'll be right up your alley too Mike like it's just about the mid 90s and Method Man is actually playing a character and they actually play a song

the only guest appearance on Biggie's first album is Method Man and they actually play the track so it's kind of meta because like Method Man's not playing himself

but they play the track and they're like because it's set in 95 or 93 and they're like oh who is this guy biggie smalls up but it's it's really cool that's a cool movie no sounds cool all right you ready for your final jam let's do it It ain't hard to tell I excel, then prevail The mic is contacted, I attract clientele My mic check is like the depth Breathing a sniper's breath, I exhale The yellow smoke of Buddha through righteous steps

Deep like the shining, sparkle like a diamond Sneaker Uzi on an island and my army jacket lining Hit the earth like a comet, invasion Nazis like the Afro-Sidic Asian Half man, half amazing Cause in my physical, I can't express through song. Delete stress like more trend than extend strong. I drink my wet with

Medusa. Give us shotguns and hell from the split that I lived in in hell. It ain't hard to tell. It ain't hard to tell, Nas. Most people's pick as the best rap album ever is Illmatic, even though it's only 10 tracks. And it's very hard to pick one. I think Michael Jackson's the best entertainer ever,

and they sample him, obviously, on this. So I like that little touch. And just Nas him obviously on this so i like that little touch and just nas's flow on this is just i don't know if anyone's ever matched it just one of the best lyricists ever best flow nas has it all rakim was great too and he took stuff from everyone but ilmatic arguably the best ever and this track one the best ever, so it's a good one to finish on, I thought. For sure, you're right, man. Anytime you have one of those lists, Illmatic is always, yeah,

always perennial number one, or at least really close, for sure. Well, because it's, I mean, there's no filler. It's just all great greatness and great production. I think Human Nature they sample here, the Michael Jackson. That's right. Right there.

I won't sing my Michael Jackson. Yeah, New York or the East Coast was really, they took it back. Like the West had been huge. And this was like NOS really. They're like, wow, what is this? This was like mind blowing. You're right. They took it back because the NWA blows up.

NWA. Ice Cube comes in there. And even Ice T. Ice T, yeah. They were huge, massive. Cypress Hill after that. But the East started coming back hard with Nos and Biggie and everything. You know, I love Common, too.

I'm kind of sad I couldn't work him in Chicago. He's from the Midwest. Huge Common fan, but just couldn't make it work. What about Mos Def? Mos Def. Love Mos Def. He was a little later. I almost did a De La. De La later. I almost did a De La Soul.

His introduction was with De La Soul. Big Brother Beat. I thought about using that. Stakes is high. Like I love De La. They're the same sort of mold as Tribe Called Quest. No, absolutely. Yeah, yeah.

So I like that sound obviously, but... Bringing in the jazz. But the gritty stuff too. I like the jazz and the gritty and kind of a mix. And Outkast is just so soulful and everything. And just different. Like you could tell it's from somewhere different than the jazz. But the gritty stuff too. I like the jazz and the gritty and kind of a mix. And Outkast is just so soulful and everything and just different. Like you could tell

it's from somewhere different than the rest. You know, like I said, it was three chunks. We're going to learn about like how you got into sports media. We're going to talk some mainly raps

because for obvious reasons but a little TFC but mainly raps and do the hip hop, man. I don't know which chunk I enjoyed the most, but I think it's hard to beat that kicking out those hip-hop jams.

Yeah, that was a lot of fun. Let me do something different. Talking sports is great all the time, but to indulge one of my other passions and just something I love, maybe I'll hold you to that podcast idea. Heck, you can do it here if you want. But I think when the

raps make the finals, right, if there's any spare couple of hours one morning while the raps are in the finals and you want to come in here and set it up, we can talk about the

raps in the finals and then you can kick out the jams, like all the jams. All genres. All genres. So you come back, right?

For sure. Thanks for having me. It was a lot of fun. And that brings us to the end of our 420 second show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Ryan is at Wallstat Sun.

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See you all next week. And your smile is fine and it's just like mine And it won't go away Cause everything is rosy and green Well you've been under my skin for more than eight years It's been eight years of laughter and eight years of tears