It’s the phrase you hear whenever CBS’s Jim Nantz comes on the air, whether it’s for men’s NCAA tournament action in March — although he’s calling his last tourney in 2023 — NFL games, the Masters, or other golf events: “Hello, friends.”
But have you ever stopped and wondered what the story was behind it?
Nantz spoke about it back in 2022 in an interview. He explained he had written the legendary Jim McKay, who told Nantz to speak to one person when looking into the camera.
That one person he speaks to when he utters the phrase? His late father. Back in 2017, he told Dan Patrick about how his dad was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease in the early 2000s and “Hello, friends” was a message to him.
You can see both those interviews below:
"For that little millisecond, I will think about my dad and my universe will be in a good place."
Jim Nantz tells the story of how he coined 'Hello Friends' 20 years ago at the PGA Championship pic.twitter.com/qtlzcyN7xB
— Omaha Productions (@OmahaProd) May 21, 2022