Tag: Ian Eagle

Why Ian Eagle and not Jim Nantz is calling 2024 March Madness games with Bill Raftery and Grant Hill

Here’s the answer.

If you’re tuning in to 2024 NCAA men’s tournament and you hear the familiar voices of Bill Raftery and Grant Hill on a broadcast, you know it’s truly March Madness.

But the play-by-play man isn’t longtime CBS legend Jim Nantz. Nope, that would be fellow basketball announcing legend Ian Eagle.

Why is that? You’ve come to the right place for the answer.

As you may remember, Nantz decided to step away from calling the tournament after one final tournament call in Houston in 2023. He signed off with an emotional message after the national title game.

He’s still working for CBS, but now Ian Eagle is on the lead team.

There you have it!

Noah Eagle’s sharp announcing during Texans-Browns drew rave reviews from NFL fans

It was a joy listening to Noah Eagle call the Texans’ playoff win.

In the absence of the legendary Al Michaels, we heard a relatively new voice call the Houston Texans’ resounding 45-14 win over the Cleveland Browns on Saturday afternoon. It was young play-by-play commentator Noah Eagle — son of Ian, CBS’s No. 2 NFL announcer — who got the booth with partner Todd Blackledge.

And in the aftermath, the general consensus seems to be that Eagle did quite well while setting up a fantastic moment for the city of Houston.

For one, there was this excellent call after a second Texans’ pick-six to ice the victory:

There was also this reference to Houston offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik as a “young man.” Note: Eagle is 26.

Eagle will be NBC’s No. 2 playoff announcer this postseason. Judging by the early returns, the network made a smart decision to give the mic to the rising announcer.

Ian Eagle gave a brilliant play-by-play breakdown of Travis Scott spilling his drink on himself

Ian Eagle: “I don’t know if I’ve seen celebrity spillage to that effect.”

While sitting courtside at Barclays Center to watch the Nets, a loose ball went out of bounds and knocked directly into rapper Travis Scott.

Ian Eagle, a longtime broadcaster who was just named the best announcer of the year by Awful Announcing, was ready with a perfect summary of exactly what happened.

As noted by Eagle, the ball came off Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley and made its way directly toward Scott’s drink. Eagle had some terrific calls as it happened.

Here are some of the highlights:

  • “BANG! Right there. Oh wow. That’s a geyser.”
  • “Look at that. I don’t know if I’ve seen celebrity spillage to that effect.”
  • “Oh. He’s just going to open up another can. When you’re Travis Scott, you just go to the next can.”
  • “Think about where this has to hit. Right there and then boom: an eruption. That’s like lava.”
  • “The man just wanted to have a drink.”

This was just brilliant work by Eagle, who is considered one of the best in the business for a reason.

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Ian Eagle found the smoothest way to narrate a wayward James Harden pass landing in his lap

Ian Eagle is one of the best for a reason.

Sports broadcaster Ian Eagle showed why he’s the consummate professional on Wednesday night when a wayward pass from Los Angeles Clippers star James Harden landed right in his lap.

Indeed, while Eagle was helping call the Clippers road game against the Brooklyn Nets, Harden’s pass went flying right into his possession, and Eagle provided moment-by-moment commentary of the entire moment.

Eagle joked that his call might’ve been the best in NBA history and added that the ball hit some tea that spilled all over his lap.

Hey, at least the longtime broadcaster had a sterling sense of humor about the on-court snafu.

We commend Eagle for finding a way to make it through having a ball fly his way, as this shows why he’s one of the best in the business.

Dealing with the unexpected is part of the job, and Eagle played this hilarious moment as well as anybody could’ve.

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Jaguars vs. Steelers broadcast map: Where will the game be on TV?

What areas will have the Jaguars vs. Steelers on their local TV station?

The Sunday contest between the 5-2 Jacksonville Jaguars and 4-2 Pittsburgh Steelers is one of only two games in Week 8 between teams with winning records.

For the Jaguars, it’s a chance to hit their Week 9 bye with their best start through eight games since the turn of the century. For Pittsburgh, it’s an opportunity to earn some respect as back-to-back wins over the Baltimore Ravens and Los Angeles Rams hasn’t convinced many that the Steelers are a real contender.

The road game for the Jaguars at Acrisure Stadium on Sunday is set to kick off at 1 p.m. ET with coverage on CBS. In-market fans will have the game on their local CBS affiliate and can stream the game on fuboTV.

Ian Eagle will be on play-by-play coverage in the booth with Charles Davis providing analysis.

Fans in the red area on the map below will have the Jaguars vs. Steelers game on their local CBS station, according to 506sports.com:

It’s not often that the Jaguars are the team in the national spotlight during the 1 p.m. slate, but only a few pockets in the country will be watching something else on CBS.

Those who aren’t in an area highlighted red will need NFL Sunday Ticket, now offered by YouTube, to watch the Jaguars as an out-of-market game.

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NFL Week 2 Awards: Not even Sean Payton could fix the eternally broken Broncos

Sean Payton is already falling flat on his face trying to rebuild the Broncos.

The Denver Broncos thought Sean Payton would, at the very least, bandage up their fatal flaws. But no coach, regardless of their track record, can help fix a team with a semi-washed-up quarterback (Russell Wilson), an offensive line that can’t block, and a defense letting inexperienced quarterbacks (Sam Howell) cut it up.

And so, after an offseason of promise and platitudes, Payton’s Broncos are 0-2 with two losses at home against two traditionally moribund teams, the Las Vegas Raiders and Washington Commanders. Denver hasn’t played any of the AFC’s heavyweights yet and must already dig itself out of a hole. Brutal, in every sense of the word.

It is, indeed, just two games. But this is precisely the nightmare start the Broncos needed to avoid if Payton was going to “fix” them. Now, they’ll be fighting uphill for a little while, trying to get a breath. The good news? They must visit the high-flying Miami Dolphins in hot South Florida next week. Wait. Wait, no. Wait, that’s bad news.

Not everyone had a poor Week 2. Geno Smith showed us we shouldn’t doubt him so readily. Meanwhile, Brandon Staley is starting to feel the heat amid another terrible Chargers’ start.

Let’s hand out some awards after another wacky Sunday.

Ian Eagle worked those Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce dating rumors into a perfect touchdown call

Ian Eagle knew EXACTLY what he was doing with this reference.

The Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift rumors are slowly burning, and Ian Eagle just helped fan the flames.

With Kelce returning to the Kansas City Chiefs lineup against the Jacksonville Jaguars, he made an immediate impact on their offense. Early in the third quarter, the Chiefs found themselves trying to pull away from Jacksonville in the red zone. They went to Kelce, who the Jaguars curiously left uncovered for one of the easiest touchdowns he’ll ever score.

And as Kelce celebrated hitting pay dirt, Eagle dropped a perfect line about the superstar tight end finding a “blank space” in the end zone. Ha, get it?

Oh, you get it.

The exact nature of Kelce and Swift’s dynamic is still unclear. But this was quite a deft way by Eagle to work a reference in.

Noah Eagle to fill in on NBC play-by-play for Notre Dame-Navy

Prepare for a different sound Saturday.

There has been much criticism about the Notre Dame NBC broadcasting team of Jac Collinsworth and Jason Garrett. Many Irish fans would rather new blood had been brought in this season, and they were disappointed to find out nothing had changed. Well, the broadcasting team will in fact be slightly different for at least one game. Chicago Sun-Times sports media columnist Jeff Agrest has tweeted the following regarding the broadcast for the game against Navy:

Noah Eagle, the son of Ian Eagle, is one of the most talented young broadcasters in the industry. Having previously called both the NFL and college football for Fox, CBS and even Nickelodeon, NBC scooped him up for its new Big Ten Saturday night broadcasts. He also does radio radio play-by-play for the Los Angeles Clippers.

If Irish fans want to keep watching college football after Irish games during the day, this will be a nice preview of what they can expect, at least on NBC.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Vikings draw CBS’s second-best broadcast team

The Vikings will have excellent announcers on Sunday afternoon

When the Minnesota Vikings face off against the New York Jets on Sunday, it will be their second game in the last three weeks on CBS. They are rewarded with the network’s second-best broadcast team.

The Pioneer Press’ Chris Tomasson reported that Ian Eagle, Charles Davis and Evan Washburn will be calling the game.

Tomasson also reported that this will be Davis’ first game with CBS and that he last called a Vikings game back in 2019.

The game will be the national game in the noon slot with the Kansas City Chiefs taking on the Cincinnati Bengals in the primetime slot. They will be getting the top broadcasting team of Jim Nantz, Tony Romo and Tracy Wolfson.

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Mind-blowing facts about Jim Nantz and Billy Packer, part of Final Four and college hoops history

Jim Nantz will no longer do play-by-play at the Final Four after 2023. It’s the end of a long era in college basketball, leaving behind lots of truly remarkable facts.

It’s the end of an era in college basketball television.

Jim Nantz, the voice of the Final Four on network television since 1991, will step down from his college basketball play-by-play role at CBS Sports after the 2023 Final Four in Houston. Nantz attended the University of Houston, so next year’s Final Four offers Nantz a chance to leave his coveted seat in a city which means a lot to him. Ian Eagle will replace him at the 2024 Final Four, becoming the new lead voice for CBS-Turner’s NCAA Tournament coverage.

There’s a lot to unpack, and a lot of history to note for the record, in the wake of Nantz’s big decision: