SMOOTHEST FLIGHT
CBS transition from Nantz to Eagle a good one
That Ian (The Bird) Eagle would deliver in a big way as CBS Sports’ new voice of the Final Four was the safest bet anyone could make during the tournament. Precise. Entertaining. Likeable. All the essentials bringing him to this moment in what has already been a star-shine career, were on display throughout the event known as March Madness.
Still, there was nothing maddening about the way CBS Sports, under the direction of its boss, Sean McManus, who will slip into retirement after Sunday’s scheduled final round of The Masters, handled the transition from Jim Nantz, the longtime play-by-play impresario of the NCAA men’s hoops fiesta and face of CBS Sports, to Eagle.
The move from Nantz to Eagle, first announced in 2022, was clean, efficient and, from the outside looking in, drama free. It was the smoothest, marquee transition in the history of TV sports. Or at least in our many moons of commenting on a business where anxiety flows freely and participants eyes are often trained to look over their shoulders.
Yes, history offers plenty of examples of big moves pitted with giant potholes filled with bad blood. One came in April 1990 on the eve of NCAA tourney championship game. With his five-year contract ($2 million per) at CBS Sports expiring, and his demands for even more power increasing, the suits cut Brent Musburger off at the pass, announcing the Sunday before Monday’s Championship Game between UNLV and Duke, that they would not renew his contract. It was a stunning development. Nonetheless CBS Sports brass still allowed Musburger, the prototypical Anchor Monster, to call the title tilt in Denver with his partner Billy Packer. No surprise the story of CBS’ Musburger machinations overshadowed the game, sucking up plenty of media attention.
One of the bumpiest, and bizarre, transition rides involved The Great Minimalist, Pat Summerall. Along with John Madden, he formed what still is the gold standard for NFL broadcast teams. Summerall and Madden were working at Fox Sports in 1999, their sixth year together at Murdoch Tech.
The Foxies were not happy with Summerall’s performance that season. They concocted a plan: The Foxies would convince Summerall to agree to retire after the Fox-produced 2002 Super Bowl, which would mark his 50th season of being associated with the NFL as a player and broadcaster. Summerall would be replaced by Joe Buck.
It was set for Summerall to announce all this at a hotel press conference in 2000. The night before the gathering it was leaked to the press that Summerall would be announcing his retirement. Fox suits believed they had Summerall boxed in. But at the press conference, Summerall, a tough SOB, reversed field. He told the gathering of notebooks and cameras he WASN’T retiring and “hoped to be working with John Madden in the years to come.”
An awkward moment. Embarrassing? To say the least. The questions about Summerall’s future continued for over a year. Before Super Bowl week in 2002, in a conference call set up by his agent, Summerall finally agreed to step down after the Supe telecast
There was no such fumbling the handoff from Nantz to Eagle. Not even close. If Nantz did have any reservations losing such a marquee assignment, it had to be tempered by the fact he still is the voice of The Masters and CBS No. 1 NFL playby-play voice.
Which must be thrilling for Nantz, considering he still gets to partner with Tony Romo.
COACHING CRITICISM
Bill Raftery had an excellent tournament for CBS/TBS.
At least he dared, on national TV, to indicate that UConn coach Danny Hurley, who the college hoops media deifies, isn’t perfect.
Raftery was critical of Hurley’s sideline demeanor. And CBS/TBS cameras gave the Huskies coach plenty of facetime to capture his “personality.”
While Raf is generally coach-friendly, he does have a history of punching up.
His most memorable bit of analysis was directed at the late John Thompson. Raftery created a firestorm when he criticized the coach for Georgetown’s rough style of play.
QUOTABLE STEPHEN A.
There were some unexpected benefits of the eclipse.
Like Stephen A. Smith’s play-byplay of the phenomenon.
It was definitely one of a kind with lines from SAS, like:
“It’s giving me a headache actually looking up there.”
“It’s not a full blockage of the sun, but you know, I mean it reminds you how marvelous science is.”
“It was everything I thought it would be because I didn’t think anything about it.”
And finally. The line explaining it all to friend and foe alike.
“It’s the solar eclipse. Stephen A. style.”
SURREAL CONVERSATION
Even with rule changes that speed up the game, baseball broadcasters still have plenty of time to fill.
This leads to some unusual (some might think the chats are a waste of time) conversations.
Like the one Michael Kay and Paul O’Neill had on YES during the (April 5) Jays-Yankees game. For reasons known only to them, the two voices thought a discussion about the use of the word “surreal” was fascinating.
They tried to figure out if the word was overused. Nonetheless, we would have rather heard Kay (as he has on his radio show) explain why he’s so angry over Shohei Ohtani not answering reporters’ questions concerning the alleged gambling fiasco. Wonder what O’Neill has to say about that?
AROUND THE DIAL
Never been a fan of three-person booths. If it’s hard to get right on TV, it’s a bigger challenge to pull it off on radio where, for obvious reasons, the play-by-play voice gloms most of the airtime. For its Final Four radiocasts, Westwood One went three-man (play-by-play voice Kevin Kugler and analysts Clark Kellogg and Jim Jackson). The mouths brought insight but there was one too many voices, the presentation was, at times, awkward. And that’s being kind. … ESPN’s women’s hoops studio operation for most of the tournament was smooth. Yet when it got to the Final Four, the Bristol Faculty decided to roll with a cast of thousands (it seemed that way). This was a great example of overkill. … The iconic Stugotz, aka Jon Weiner, made a wise/brilliant decision to stay put in Florida with Dan Le Batard and turndown the Program Director gig at Radio Norman, aka WFAN. The station has too many headaches and not enough cash to pay for the aspirin.