“Hello friends.”
It’s a signature greeting from one of the top flight broadcasters in America, Jim Nantz. You’ve heard it coming from many different sports venues over the years, highlighting his versatility in sports broadcasting. Nantz’s opening phrase is more than just a throwaway line, it has deep meaning to him, which we’ll get into a little later in the column. Nantz is one of the busiest, “number ones” in the industry. Leading CBS’ coverage basically every sport they have, with the exception of college football. Oh and he’s hosted the Olympics as well.
Nantz’s CBS career started on September 14, 1985 when the legendary Brent Musburger who was live (or looking live) at Michigan Stadium threw it back to the studio and introduced the baby faced 26-year-old Nantz who was live in the studio alongside Pat Haden. Nantz remembered: “My pulse was racing in high gear; I had never encountered such a flash of tongue-tying anxiety before — not even during Mr. Applegate’s public-speaking class back in high school.”, he told CBS publicists. 35 years later he’s still going strong.
This is already shaping up to be an unusual year for Nantz. By now, he’d have already called the NCAA Championship Game and the Masters but the former was cancelled and the latter postponed. Will the Masters take precedent over the NFL? As Nantz told the Athletic, he knows already where he’ll be come November, “I don’t think there’s any doubt that I will be anywhere other than Augusta National,” Nantz said. “One of the great honors of my life is that I get reminded of The Masters virtually every day. That’s not an embellishment. So, do I think about the Masters from November 12-15? Oh, my goodness, yes.”
BEST KNOWN FOR:
This is going to be a very difficult “field” to narrow down. Nantz leads CBS’ coverage of PGA Tour Golf, the NCAA’s Final Four and the NFL, including Super Bowls. It’s tough to narrow things down, but I’ll give it a shot here.
AGUSTA NATIONAL
Let’s start in the shadows of Butler Cabin at the famed Augusta National Golf Course. I can think of three separate moments that made Nantz a national sensation. Golf is a tough enough sport to call, because of the pacing, the energy, the silence and the exuberance.
In 1986, Nantz was working his very first Masters at the age of 26. He was assigned the 16th hole at the famed course. Little did he know that 46-year old Jack Nicklaus would be on track to win the tournament for the 6th and final time. Nantz was a part of watching the “Golden Bear” shoot a 6-under par back nine which included a birdie in the young broadcaster’s view. This wasn’t the final hole, but the call showed the wit and ability for Nantz to capture a moment. When Nicklaus birdied, Nantz waited a second or two so the crowd could swell and then uttered, “The Bear…has come out of hibernation.”. He then laid out for a few seconds before the telecast cut to the next hole. While it wasn’t his greatest Master’s call ever, it showed viewers that were paying attention, that this guy gets what he’s doing.
Eleven years later, Nantz would once again be witness to history. This time it wasn’t a 46-year old mainstay winning the tournament, but a 21-year old by the name of Tiger Woods. The first major championship in the career of Woods was a thing of beauty. He won it by 12 strokes and set a record for the lowest score. It was capped off by a putt to end it, with Nantz uttering the now famous, “There it is, a win for the ages.”, then 40 seconds of silence. Pictures telling the story. A young golfer in a red shirt, pumping both fists in the air, hugging his caddie and seeking out his parents. The beauty of television and the beauty of a broadcaster that understands that there are no words you can say that will match what people are seeing at home.
Nothing put that philosophy on display more than Nantz’s work covering yet another Tiger Woods win. This was more improbable than the first one he witnessed 22 years prior. Woods had battled injuries and off the course issues and was starting to put things together, culminating in a 2019 Masters Championship. Nantz was right on in his commentary leading up to the final clinching putt, comparing the two events as basically night and day. Leading up to last putt, “this is the minute that millions around the world have waited for, waited for years, many doubted we’d ever see it, but here it is,” said Nantz, then Woods completed the tap-in to win it all, with Nantz exclaiming , “The return to glory!”, then nothing for 2 minutes and 42 seconds. That is a lifetime of silence for any broadcaster. The temptation to jump in, resisted by the professional Nantz let the moment speak for itself.
NFL
Nantz called his first Super Bowl in 2007, Super Bowl XLI with the Bears and Colts playing in the rain in Miami. This one was special not only because it was his first call of the big game in the booth, it started out in a historic way. Devin Hester became the first player in Super Bowl history to return the opening kick for a touchdown. “Gets past the first wave and here he goes, it’s Hester inside the 30, Hester’s going to take it all the way for a touchdown. No flags, 92 yards!” he described.
Not a bad way to start both of their Super Bowl careers huh?
The irony of it all, he was ready for it after talking to a broadcasting legend before the game. Nantz recalled, “Two things raced through my mind as Hester wove his way down the field. One of my broadcasting heroes, Jack Whitaker, had counseled me earlier in the week: ‘Just be prepared for the opening kickoff, Jimmy.’”, he remembered. Then another bit of irony, Nantz continued, “Then, I flashed back to the first NFL play I ever witnessed – my dad and I were standing in a smoky aisle in old Tulane Stadium in 1967, when John Gilliam ran back the opening kickoff of the first game in New Orleans Saints’ franchise history. So, there was a sense of ‘perfect symmetry’ to my first Super Bowl play-by-play call.” Nantz recalled the story to CBS.
With that broadcast Nantz joined Curt Gowdy, Kevin Harlan and Dick Enberg as the only play-by-play announcers to ever call both a Super Bowl and an NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Game.
NCAA Tournament
He’s called so many memorable games in this tournament, but a few recent calls stuck out to me as I was compiling my list.
The 2016 NCAA Championship game won by Villanova on a buzzer beater. Building the drama was Nantz, “Villanova trying to go the length of the court, with Arcidiacono. Three seconds at midcourt! Gives it to Jenkins! [Jenkins shoots, time expires] For the championship… YES!” Nantz continued, “OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Villanova! Phenomenal! The national champions, with Jenkins hitting the winner at the buzzer!” It can be so tough with a three-man booth, but Nantz commanded the situation and made the call, nailing it just like Jenkins’ buzzer beater.
Just last year, in the 2019 NCAA Championship game, Virginia avenged a first round loss the year before to UMBC, the first 16 seed to beat a number one in history. The Cavaliers were dribbling out the clock and Nantz exclaimed, “And Virginia, with the all-time turnaround title!” Pretty simple and pretty darn to the point.
There were so many more moments to choose from, I know I left a bunch out.
WHY IS HE SO GOOD?
The answer is variety. Nantz is like a chameleon with his ability to adapt to the many different sports he calls. His pacing, timing and energy are all based upon the moment and based upon what he’s calling. You can’t be energetic all the time in golf. You have to be energetic all the time in football and college hoops. Nantz knows when and how to use that energy, effectively and in the right spots.
I enjoy most everything he calls, but to me the golf is where Nantz really shines. His voice is soothing and relaxed. It’s measured in its pacing, matching the pictures and emotions on screen. Some of his crowning moments as a broadcaster have come on the PGA Tour, having been around for the beginning of “Tiger Mania”, watching the tail end of the “Golden Bear” era.
He’s got that perfect tone for the tower on 18. Nantz has the ability to paint a picture with his words, even though you can see those pictures on your television. That’s not easy to do. He sets scenes at the beginning of each day’s golf coverage and it almost sounds like a song. It’s on the melodious side and ear pleasing as well.
It doesn’t matter who he’s working with, Grant Hill, Bill Rafferty, Tony Romo or Nick Faldo, it’s a seamless broadcast. Nantz has a way of bringing out the best in all of these guys, especially his newest partner Romo.
It’s no accident that Romo is a star on the rise, you need to look no further than to his side and Nantz. It’s an art form as a play-by-play announcer to make your analyst the star without even intending to do so. That’s what you’re seeing. It’s Nantz’s professionalism that is the underlying current.
Nantz keeps up his high-level play-by-play, despite being one of the busiest guys in network television. His schedule is going to be even more crazy as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Normally he’s pretty busy with a little down time, but not this year. How’s this for a workload?
2020 Masters — Nov. 12-15
NFL football — every Sunday through Jan. 24
Farmers Insurance Open — Jan. 28-31
Super Bowl — Feb. 7
PGA Tour golf — Feb. 14-21
NCAA Tournament — March – Early April
2021 Masters — April 5-11
PGA Tour golf — April 18-May 16
PGA Championship — May 20-23
As mentioned Nantz is known for a couple of signature lines, but one is unmistakable. “Hello friends,” the iconic greeting you get at the start of each and every broadcast he does. If you’ve ever wondered why, the story surrounding the origin is a touching one.
Believe it or not, the tradition only began in 2002. At the time, Nantz’s father had Alzheimer’s and Jim wanted to do something under the radar to send his dad a special message during the PGA Championship.
Last year, Nantz explained the origin on “The Dan Patrick Show”, “My father was deep in the throes of his battle that he would lose in ’08 to Alzheimer’s, and he had faint recognition of his son. The last thing I said to him earlier in the week in Houston was, ‘I’m going to say a little cryptic message to you on the air this weekend, and it’s ‘Hello, friends.” Because my dad had nothing but friends in his life,” Nantz recalled.
While it began as a one-time thing, one of Nantz’s friends suggested that he repeat it during Sunday’s final round. He did and has continued the tradition since. “I love it because for that little moment I connect with my dad and I feel like I’m talking to him,” Nantz said. “It’s a calming effect every time I come on the air.”
Pretty cool tradition by any standard.
Andy Masur is a columnist for BSM and works for WGN Radio as an anchor and play-by-play announcer. He also teaches broadcasting at the Illinois Media School. During his career he has called games for the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres and Chicago White Sox. He can be found on Twitter @Andy_Masur1 or you can reach him by email at Andy@Andy-Masur.com.
