Earlier in the week, The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences revealed the nominees across 47 categories for the Sports Emmy Awards, which are going to be held next month in New York City. Within the outstanding personality category among play-by-play announcers, there are several professionals up for the award, including Mike Breen, Joe Davis and Mike Tirico. Yet the other two names within this group happen to be Ian Eagle and his son, Noah, both of whom have called national and regional games across various sports in the last year. Being the first time the family members are facing one another in the category, Zach Gelb was curious to hear what Ian thought about the situation.
“Is it strange that my wife is rooting hard for Joe Davis,” Eagle said during an appearance on the Infinity Sports Network show on Wednesday afternoon. Gelb admitted that he was going to hit Eagle with the big question later in the interview rather than to begin, but he changed course when the topic came up in the discussion. Eagle admitted that he is not sure how to feel about the occurrence regarding whether or not he should be rooting for himself or for his son to win it.
“I don’t know – I’ve got to wrestle with these feelings,” Eagle said. “I’ve got to process it. It’s still very raw.”
Eagle recently called the Florida victory within the National Championship Game of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament and was flying back from San Antonio, Texas when he learned of the news. Gelb opined that Noah Eagle is an unbelievable play-by-play announcer but that he has a lot of time to win the award. Elucidating that he was not trying to insinuate that Ian Eagle is an older man, he expressed how it was now his time to win. In fact, if his son does end up winning the award, Gelb conveyed that Ian should punish him and send him to his room.
“I was thinking about just grounding him that day so then he can’t even go and he can’t win,” Eagle said. “Is that wrong?”
Later in the segment, Eagle discussed how incredible the last year has been watching Noah flourish in the industry and call basketball matchups within the Olympic Games. Gelb also shot down the premise of nepotism, averring that patients do not usually ask their doctors whether they had a father in the business and subsequently making a judgment. While the winner will remain unknown until the awards ceremony, Eagle and his son receiving the accolades is something for which he is grateful.
“It’s just really an amazing thing, and you can relate, as you know, with your dad and following radio as you have,” Eagle said to Gelb. “This was a dream, and that’s what this has been. It’s all felt like a dream.”
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
