I took a little risk, send lawyers guns and money, dead, get me out of this, ha!

Welcome everybody to episode 76 of the Matt Jones podcast. I realized that I've been saying one number behind what they have been for the last few. So I'm catching up. So if you're just listening straight, you'd be like, oh, there was no 75. That's because I actually screwed up. But nevertheless, it's the seventh since we restarted this. And I'm happy to be joined by someone that's become a very good friend of mine. He is a college basketball writer for ESPN. He's also the co-host with me of the Sunday morning

NFL countdown to kickoff show on the ESPN radio. Myron Metcalf. Myron also, by the way, lives in Minnesota. So he's got a lot of stuff going on. Myron, how are you? I'm good, man. How you doing? I'm doing all right. I want to get to all the Minnesota stuff in a minute. But let's just start with this. So for years ago, you were doing college basketball. And I knew you kind of on the periphery didn't really know you. I mean, we'd talk occasionally if we saw each other or whatever. But I think like we weren't. We weren't like

friends. Yeah. And I do think that you were part of the collective college basketball media group that sort of thought I was a spawn of Satan. And first of all, am I right in that? And secondly, when you found that you were going to be doing this show with me, what was your thought on that? I didn't get a spawn of Satan. I just knew, you know, if there's one name I knew before my first trip to Lexington, those Matt Jones. You know, there might talk about Matt Jones.

The good thing is I came from the local level, right? So I was a local guy in Minneapolis. And then I became a national reporter. So like, I didn't know much, you know, I was sort of green. But yeah, man, but we have to know each other. And I don't think you and I we you and I we know I did. Okay. So people who know who listen to me know, like I went through a period of time where I just sort of was middle fingers up and punching everyone on earth that I thought was had any importance, which is not the way to work.

I was able to build a career, but it's what I did. But I don't feel like I did that to you. Did I or am I mistaken? No, I don't think we had, I don't think we ever had any like running moments like that. I remember we had like a fiery debate about something before a game. I don't remember what it was.

Like sitting at the, you know, the pregame in Kentucky. Am I sitting at those like white tables. Yeah, yeah. I remember us like the pregame meal having some sort of conversation. That was like, it was nothing. But we made it into more than it should have been back in the day. That used to back in the day. That used to be a awesome place for people who don't know backstage. They'd have these tables.

And during pregame dinner, like media dinner, like everybody would sit there and you could, that's how I got to know almost everyone in the business because everybody would sit there. Well, now it's changed. You have to go upstairs and get your food and so people don't do it anymore.

But that was really, there was a time you could look, especially when cow was rolling those first couple years and we were the story. Like every all these national people would be like, there'd be like there'd be will bonds sitting right there. And you're like, what's going on? You know, that was a cool, a cool time.

Yeah, I think I spent, I don't know if anybody went to more Kentucky games as a national reporter than I did for that 2015 team. Like I was there twice in the summer. And then pre get pre like the preseason.

I went to a bunch of regular season games and then I followed them from the SEC tournament all the way through. You know, so did you like those guys? Did you like that group of dudes? I love those guys. Did you like them?

I mean, as a reporter, the benefit of Kentucky is that it's very NBA like so like they bring out the players. You get that access. You get someone who cow who always gives you a story. So like as a reporter, you know, it's going to be interesting. You have a story to tell. So I mean, I always love.

And that was a good group of talkers. That was good. I mean, Willie was a great talker. Carl Towns was a great talker.

Carl, I remember he had like an alter ego. And like they beat Florida. And Carl didn't feel like he played well.

And he was talking about, I think Carlito was like his alter ego. I forgot about Carlito. He was like, he was so mad about like Carlito. He was talking about it. We were all like, wait, what is this dude talking about?

Well, Carl's weird. I mean, like, and you know, you're, I guess you deal with him now in Minnesota. Like he's a weird dude. I mean, people listen to this know the story. But long story short, Kentucky went to the Bahamas before that season. The entire team.

One night, they were all one day. They had a day off. They were all at this really nice pool hanging out. And a dude bought a round of drinks for the whole team, which most people weren't 21. But in the Bahamas, you have to be 18, Martin. So it's okay. Right.

So there. So everybody's like about to take a shot for the team. And Carl doesn't drink. And remember now Carl's brand new. Like he's just gotten there. And he takes a shot glass of and like doesn't put anything in it. And when the team takes a shot, he takes a shot of air.

And I was like, Carl, what are you doing? And he was like, I just don't want to miss time with my brothers. So I'll just drink air.

And he had. So like, is the team take shots, Carl takes shots of air. And I always feel like that's a good description kind of who he is.

I think that's a perfect way to describe Carl Anthony Tiles. But I could definitely see that he was super young too, right? Like he wasn't even. He had just turned 18.

Yeah. Yeah, man. That dude was. He's an interesting guy, man. He had a hell of a player too. Yeah, but yeah, that was fun. That was fun. Right.

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