Sept. 17, 2024

Ian Eagle on the Power of Teamwork, Mentorship, and Family in Broadcasting (part 2)

Ian Eagle on the Power of Teamwork, Mentorship, and Family in Broadcasting (part 2)
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Season 5

In this second part of our conversation with beloved sports broadcaster Ian Eagle, we dive deeper into his journey from breaking into the industry to solidifying his place as one of the most respected voices in sports. Ian reflects on the importance of teamwork in broadcasting, how listening shapes his style, and the role that relationships play in building a successful career.

We also explore a new chapter in the Eagle family legacy, as Ian shares the pride and emotions of watching his son, Noah Eagle, follow in his footsteps as a rising star in sports broadcasting. Throughout this episode, Ian offers invaluable advice for aspiring broadcasters, covering the skills, mindset, and perseverance needed to succeed in such a competitive field.

What you’ll gain by listening:

  • Insight into how Ian developed his signature broadcasting style and why being a good listener is crucial.
  • Lessons on teamwork and collaboration that are applicable both on and off the field.
  • A behind-the-scenes look at the next generation of Eagles in sports media, with Noah Eagle carving his own path.
  • Practical tips and career advice for young professionals hoping to break into the broadcasting industry.

Tune in to this inspiring episode of No Wrong Choices, where Ian Eagle continues to share the lessons learned from a remarkable career filled with opportunity, mentorship, and family legacy.


To discover more episodes or connect with us:


Chapters

00:02 - Career Journey of Broadcaster Ian Eagle

15:31 - Unique Life Experiences and Broadcasting Insights

27:01 - Family, Broadcasting, and Passing the Torch

41:21 - Insights on Broadcasting and Career Success

Transcript
WEBVTT

00:00:02.904 --> 00:00:13.212
Hello and thank you for joining no Wrong Choices, the podcast that explores the career journeys of interesting and accomplished people in pursuit of great stories and actionable insights.

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I'm Larry Samuel, soon to be joined by my co-hosts, Tushar Saxena and Larry Shea, but before we kick off, I have a very important request to make.

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Please support the work we're doing by following no Wrong Choices on your favorite podcast platform, such as Apple, Spotify and YouTube, and by giving us a good review.

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We also ask that you connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram Threads and X, and by visiting our website at norongchoicescom, where you can learn more about us and the show while signing up to become a member of our community.

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Your support enables us to bring these great journey stories to light.

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Now let's get started.

00:00:53.085 --> 00:00:59.145
This episode is part two of our conversation with the highly respected play-by-play commentator, Ian Eagle.

00:00:59.145 --> 00:01:07.611
Ian is known for his work as the lead voice of the NCAA men's college basketball tournament on CBS and coverage of the NFL and NBA.

00:01:07.611 --> 00:01:15.471
In episode one, we explored the evolution of Ian's career dreams, his creative family roots and how he broke into the business.

00:01:15.471 --> 00:01:26.213
Now we'll dig into how he hit the big time, the importance of teamwork and the emergence of the Eagle family legacy, as his son, Noah, is a rising star in the business as well.

00:01:26.213 --> 00:01:31.512
Ian also provides great advice for any young broadcaster hoping to break into the business.

00:01:31.512 --> 00:01:42.072
We'll pick things up with Larry Shea asking Ian about the importance of being a good listener, which proves to be a perfect setup for the Ian Eagle that I love to hear on a broadcast.

00:01:42.680 --> 00:01:51.921
I often think about an announcer what are they going to say Whereas I think it might be more important to listen to your partner and working with them, in a way.

00:01:51.921 --> 00:01:54.186
How important is the listening aspect?

00:01:54.186 --> 00:02:05.248
Because you're the king of working off of something they say, whether it be innocuous or not, and making it hilarious or interesting or sarcastic, like you said.

00:02:05.248 --> 00:02:09.205
So how important is that aspect of it rather than what am I going to say next?

00:02:11.087 --> 00:02:14.473
I'm sorry, larry, I didn't hear your question.

00:02:14.473 --> 00:02:16.295
And there it is.

00:02:16.336 --> 00:02:17.276
Well done.

00:02:20.402 --> 00:02:23.591
No, it's the secret sauce to all of this.

00:02:23.591 --> 00:02:26.022
No, it's the secret sauce to all of this.

00:02:26.022 --> 00:02:37.256
I think when I started working with partners I did hearken back to Mike and the Mad Dog in many ways and their ability to have natural chemistry.

00:02:37.256 --> 00:02:40.288
Their styles just worked.

00:02:40.288 --> 00:02:43.662
There was a yin and yang to what they were doing.

00:02:43.662 --> 00:02:58.431
In addition, their ability on a mundane Wednesday afternoon to find something, some grain of gold, that then they turned into a masterpiece of radio.

00:02:58.450 --> 00:03:09.097
That year, 1992, being intimately involved, I also was Chris's chauffeur for the year because I lived on the Upper East Side.

00:03:09.097 --> 00:03:10.098
He lived midtown.

00:03:10.098 --> 00:03:33.593
I drove him home every day for a year someone an extra 35 minutes at the end of your day, going over the 59th Street Bridge and shooting the breeze and getting into personal stuff, not just radio but real personal.

00:03:33.593 --> 00:03:36.907
So I got to know the human and Mike was great to me as well.

00:03:36.907 --> 00:03:47.734
I got to know him on a human level and I do think it played a role in how I ended up working with analysts.

00:03:47.734 --> 00:03:53.556
I had a eureka moment when I got that jet job.

00:03:53.575 --> 00:03:54.860
So it's 1993.

00:03:54.860 --> 00:03:56.626
I'm 24 years old.

00:03:56.626 --> 00:04:17.528
I've been handed the keys to a very important new part of the radio station, which is New York Jets football, and I'm told that my co-host for the pre and post game will be Freeman McNeil, the former Jets running back, who, just as an aside, was my favorite Jet growing up.

00:04:17.528 --> 00:04:21.134
So you just have that in and of itself.

00:04:21.134 --> 00:04:32.726
In and of itself, by the way, I did a show called Friday Night Hoops the year before for FAN, and my co-host was Bernard King.

00:04:32.726 --> 00:04:35.612
Happened to be my favorite basketball player growing up I remember that.

00:04:35.672 --> 00:04:36.593
Yes, Incredible moments.

00:04:37.079 --> 00:05:00.180
So when you're put in these positions at a young age and they are the neophytes in radio and they're leaning on you, I realized very quickly that I had to take on an ownership role in the relationship.

00:05:00.180 --> 00:05:04.802
But that also meant making them look good.

00:05:04.802 --> 00:05:07.144
So I'm going to clean up the story.

00:05:07.144 --> 00:05:16.732
But Freeman McNeil the first time I meet him is the first pregame that we're doing for the preseason, so it's the first broadcast.

00:05:16.732 --> 00:05:18.713
He comes to the studio, the Jets are on the road.

00:05:18.713 --> 00:05:26.665
He comes to the studio two hours before the game, so we have about an hour to get to know one another and we just chat.

00:05:26.665 --> 00:05:32.632
We have a lovely conversation about his wife, his kids, about his post-playing career.

00:05:32.632 --> 00:05:35.004
Couldn't have gone any better.

00:05:35.004 --> 00:05:37.867
After about an hour I excuse myself.

00:05:37.867 --> 00:05:41.971
I tell him hey, I need to go in the other room just prepare some notes for the show.

00:05:41.971 --> 00:05:45.209
I'll come and get you when we're about 15 minutes out, great.

00:05:45.209 --> 00:05:47.404
So I leave Freeman McNeil in the back.

00:05:47.404 --> 00:05:48.769
I go, do my stuff.

00:05:48.769 --> 00:05:50.593
I grab him.

00:05:50.593 --> 00:05:52.560
We now go into the main studio.

00:05:52.560 --> 00:05:53.603
We're sitting there.

00:05:53.603 --> 00:05:55.507
It's 10 minutes to the top of the hour.

00:05:55.507 --> 00:05:57.841
It's five minutes to the top of the hour.

00:05:57.841 --> 00:05:59.146
I'm nodding at him.

00:05:59.146 --> 00:05:59.487
He's not.

00:05:59.487 --> 00:06:01.312
He has zero experience.

00:06:01.312 --> 00:06:02.918
He has never done anything in media.

00:06:02.918 --> 00:06:07.819
Zero experience, he has never done anything in media.

00:06:09.879 --> 00:06:11.747
It's now one minute until the top of the hour when the show is going to start.

00:06:11.747 --> 00:06:16.266
It's my first show, as well as the host of Jets pre and post game and again I'm just going to clean it up.

00:06:16.266 --> 00:06:18.704
I said you good?

00:06:18.704 --> 00:06:20.586
He said yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:06:20.586 --> 00:06:21.442
He said hey.

00:06:21.442 --> 00:06:26.225
One thing I said yeah, Board op says 45 seconds.

00:06:26.225 --> 00:06:32.307
He says don't screw me here Cleaning it up.

00:06:32.307 --> 00:06:36.935
I said what he said you know, don't screw me here.

00:06:36.935 --> 00:06:42.471
I said no, no, no, freeman, I'm not going to screw you, I'm going to make you look good.

00:06:42.471 --> 00:06:43.723
And he smiled.

00:06:43.723 --> 00:06:47.172
I said we're going to do really well here.

00:06:47.172 --> 00:06:51.350
I said everything that we were doing in the other room we're going to do here.

00:06:51.350 --> 00:06:55.711
He went okay, yeah, yeah, perfect, and that was it.

00:06:55.711 --> 00:07:06.701
And I realized in that moment this is a guy that played in the Rose Bowl in the NFL high level in front of 75,000 people, 100,000 people, in his college days.

00:07:06.701 --> 00:07:13.637
But in this moment, 30 seconds before going on air, he was uncomfortable.

00:07:14.100 --> 00:07:14.199
Yeah.

00:07:15.422 --> 00:07:24.874
And it was my job to make him comfortable and that really hit home for me and I've taken that with me for the rest of my career.

00:07:24.874 --> 00:07:31.127
When I'm working with new partners, old partners, that's the job.

00:07:31.127 --> 00:07:37.944
The job is to make that person comfortable so they can do their best work, and it's your job to be malleable.

00:07:37.944 --> 00:07:48.656
I can't force someone to go along with the humor if they're not humorous, so pull back, don't do that.

00:07:48.656 --> 00:07:51.788
I can't force someone to talk strategy.

00:07:51.788 --> 00:07:56.821
If they're not comfortable talking strategy, fine, we'll find another way.

00:07:56.821 --> 00:08:08.076
X's and O's player backgrounds, biography If they're not into it, it's not my job to force them.

00:08:08.076 --> 00:08:15.630
It's my job to find what they are comfortable with and really highlight that part of their personality.

00:08:16.279 --> 00:08:26.738
You know, when I think about Freeman being nervous going into that first broadcast, it made me think about your first broadcast with the Nets doing play-by-play.

00:08:26.738 --> 00:08:28.023
That moment.

00:08:28.023 --> 00:08:33.354
What were your emotions walking into that building that day?

00:08:33.941 --> 00:08:38.972
The game was in Houston and the Rockets were getting their championship rings.

00:08:38.972 --> 00:08:47.277
I was working with Michael Corrin, who could not have been a nicer human being and a better person to work with.

00:08:47.717 --> 00:08:48.700
Great analyst Terrific.

00:08:48.700 --> 00:08:55.754
He was just as perfect a partner as I could have been possibly paired with in that time.

00:08:55.754 --> 00:08:58.629
He was a former net, played a little bit with the Washington Bullets.

00:08:58.629 --> 00:09:09.969
He was a star at North Carolina, new Jersey, guy from Jersey City, through and through and, by his own admission, not a polished media guy, but he was himself and he came through.

00:09:09.969 --> 00:09:16.768
So we sit down now we're going to call the game in Houston and we've got an engineer.

00:09:16.768 --> 00:09:30.706
He's got really old equipment and I put the headset on and it's not comfortable and I just reminded myself hey, this is what you've worked towards, this is your opportunity.

00:09:30.706 --> 00:09:33.688
I'm doing this in relative anonymity.

00:09:33.688 --> 00:09:40.812
The Nets were certainly not getting big ratings and on radio at that time I'm not sure people even knew where to find them.

00:09:40.812 --> 00:09:48.073
They were on 1560 AM, if I remember correctly.

00:09:48.073 --> 00:09:48.562
Wow.

00:09:48.926 --> 00:09:50.399
Were you on WPAT at the time.

00:09:50.460 --> 00:09:56.490
I think it was also on selected radio stations throughout New Jersey.

00:09:56.490 --> 00:09:58.274
Wpat was one of those.

00:09:58.274 --> 00:10:04.946
There was the station out in the Rutgers area.

00:10:04.946 --> 00:10:08.589
I have the information back here.

00:10:08.589 --> 00:10:09.929
In fact I could get it right now.

00:10:09.929 --> 00:10:10.769
I have it framed.

00:10:10.769 --> 00:10:16.075
I'm not joking of the press release that came out with an ad so I could give the whole radio network.

00:10:16.075 --> 00:10:24.437
It was five in New Jersey, so New Brunswick was one of them.

00:10:24.437 --> 00:10:32.206
And I just reminded myself hey, do your thing, you're, you're going to be able to to pull this off.

00:10:32.206 --> 00:10:38.246
And we're about five minutes from air and I realized they're going to do the ceremony now and we have a pregame show that we have to do.

00:10:38.246 --> 00:10:41.841
David Stern is there and I turned to the engineer.

00:10:41.841 --> 00:10:47.730
I said hey, we're going to need you to pot up PA, the public address announcer.

00:10:47.730 --> 00:10:49.653
He goes, pa, this is in Houston.

00:10:49.653 --> 00:10:51.422
I said yeah, yeah, pa, he goes.

00:10:51.422 --> 00:10:52.385
Oh, we don't have PA.

00:10:54.320 --> 00:10:56.067
I said so you don't have PA.

00:10:56.581 --> 00:10:57.907
He goes we don't have PA.

00:10:57.907 --> 00:11:02.919
I said, okay, is there a way to get PA?

00:11:02.919 --> 00:11:04.807
He goes, can't get you the PA.

00:11:04.807 --> 00:11:09.509
So I look at Mike and Mike okay, is there a way to get PA?

00:11:09.509 --> 00:11:10.152
He goes, can't get you the PA.

00:11:10.152 --> 00:11:10.292
No.

00:11:10.292 --> 00:11:15.427
So I look at Mike and Mike says don't worry, well, no, meanwhile we're talking and it's all happening.

00:11:15.427 --> 00:11:17.311
Thunderous applause.

00:11:17.311 --> 00:11:24.128
They're getting their rings Hakeem Olajuwon, sam Cassell, robert Ory and I can't hear myself.

00:11:24.128 --> 00:11:25.363
I can't hear Mike.

00:11:25.363 --> 00:11:28.381
I'm leading to sound that they fire at the studio.

00:11:28.381 --> 00:11:29.927
I can't hear that.

00:11:29.927 --> 00:11:34.000
This is the worst possible way to start my play by play career.

00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:36.725
In addition, now I don't sweat normally in life.

00:11:36.725 --> 00:11:40.653
I start feeling myself like flop sweat.

00:11:40.653 --> 00:11:52.787
And because the headsets are so decrepit and old, the material on the earpiece of the headset is cracking and it's black.

00:11:53.948 --> 00:11:54.711
You know what I'm talking about.

00:11:54.951 --> 00:11:58.203
I'm trying to describe yeah, your ears are black.

00:11:58.203 --> 00:11:58.945
Yes, and it's.

00:11:58.945 --> 00:12:01.288
It's like there's a film to it.

00:12:02.070 --> 00:12:04.394
So we get through the pre-game.

00:12:04.394 --> 00:12:05.235
I start calling.

00:12:05.235 --> 00:12:06.898
The game is really fast.

00:12:06.898 --> 00:12:12.467
I'm realizing quickly like oh boy, and I'm just trying to keep up.

00:12:12.467 --> 00:12:18.462
And we get to the first break and mike says hey, you know you're doing well, just you know lock in.

00:12:18.462 --> 00:12:20.905
And it gets better as the game goes on.

00:12:20.905 --> 00:12:33.546
Halftime hits and I see Mike like clearing some stuff like truck, because he looked at me and he's, he's doing this, but I don't put two and two together.

00:12:34.562 --> 00:12:39.365
So we finished the game not memorable by any stretch, but I get through it.

00:12:39.365 --> 00:12:43.311
And now we're flying from there to Dallas.

00:12:43.311 --> 00:12:49.636
There's a storm in Texas like the state has never seen.

00:12:49.636 --> 00:12:54.586
What should be an up and down 40 minutes is not.

00:12:54.586 --> 00:12:57.952
We are circling for hours.

00:12:57.952 --> 00:13:00.322
It feels like it's like a two-hour ordeal.

00:13:00.322 --> 00:13:08.721
And we're up dropping up Grown menba players are shrieking and I'm just sitting in my seat.

00:13:08.721 --> 00:13:10.663
What the hell is going on?

00:13:10.663 --> 00:13:14.971
We land, we get to the hotel, I get to my room.

00:13:14.971 --> 00:13:28.792
Finally, I just want to get out of these clothes, sweat, soaked, and I look in the mirror and my ears are caked with this black substance.

00:13:28.792 --> 00:13:34.400
It's in my ear, it's behind my lobe.

00:13:34.400 --> 00:13:36.086
I'm like, oh, my and my.

00:13:36.086 --> 00:13:37.809
And finally, the next day I meet mike for less.

00:13:37.809 --> 00:13:40.222
I go, dude, why didn't you tell me he goes?

00:13:40.222 --> 00:13:42.768
You were having a rough enough night.

00:13:42.768 --> 00:13:43.870
I don't want to.

00:13:43.929 --> 00:13:44.912
I don't want to.

00:13:44.912 --> 00:13:46.514
He was entertaining himself.

00:13:48.980 --> 00:13:51.888
Oh my God, the second broadcast was much better.

00:13:51.888 --> 00:13:54.187
The third broadcast was even better than that.

00:13:55.399 --> 00:13:56.001
Did they find the?

00:13:56.042 --> 00:13:56.783
PA eventually.

00:13:56.783 --> 00:13:57.024
No, no.

00:13:57.043 --> 00:13:57.365
PA.

00:13:57.365 --> 00:13:57.966
We don't have PA.

00:13:57.966 --> 00:13:58.668
That's brilliant.

00:13:58.668 --> 00:14:07.289
So, Ian, just to give folks an idea, how many people have you worked with play-by-play analysts in your career?

00:14:07.451 --> 00:14:14.225
at this point, I think I'm at 171, I believe I got to check the latest numbers.

00:14:14.225 --> 00:14:15.288
I do keep a running list.

00:14:15.288 --> 00:14:20.392
It's funny Bill Raftery and I worked together for so many years and that meant a lot of lunches with him.

00:14:20.392 --> 00:14:23.690
It also meant a lot of beers and a lot of wine and Sambuca.

00:14:23.690 --> 00:14:27.464
And we were at lunch in Milwaukee one day, just me and him.

00:14:27.464 --> 00:14:28.206
And I asked him.

00:14:28.206 --> 00:14:30.491
I said hey, how many partners have you had?

00:14:30.491 --> 00:14:33.086
He goes oh, that's a great question, bird.

00:14:33.086 --> 00:14:39.408
And he takes out the napkin and he's writing on the napkin and he starts writing names down on the napkins.

00:14:39.408 --> 00:14:46.220
He gets about 10 deep and he goes ah, there's too many.

00:14:46.220 --> 00:14:47.480
And he just crumbles up the napkin and he throws it away.

00:14:47.500 --> 00:14:55.788
And it hit me in that moment if I get into a similar situation I'm talking about this my second year doing it, so it's probably 1996.

00:14:55.788 --> 00:15:04.354
If I get into a similar situation, I'm going to keep a running list and I have and it's pretty wild to look back on.

00:15:04.354 --> 00:15:08.216
So I think I'm somewhere in that neighborhood about 171.

00:15:08.216 --> 00:15:30.744
That means a lot of and being a good partner.

00:15:30.744 --> 00:15:44.110
So I can look back on my youth being put in very unique circumstances based on my parents and what they did for a living based on their situation.

00:15:44.110 --> 00:16:00.552
Flying cross country by myself at the age of eight and now having to fend for yourself and being plopped next to some person on the flight and that person chatting with you and having the ability.

00:16:00.552 --> 00:16:02.267
I sat next to a blind man.

00:16:02.267 --> 00:16:08.263
I remember this quite vividly, and we spoke for five consecutive hours.

00:16:08.263 --> 00:16:21.226
I don't know if he had any idea how old I was truly until the end, when he said how old are you?

00:16:21.226 --> 00:16:22.989
By the way, I said I'm eight.

00:16:23.188 --> 00:16:28.875
And he asked which I probably shouldn't have given, but he was really a nice man.

00:16:28.875 --> 00:16:31.448
He said well, what's your name?

00:16:31.448 --> 00:16:36.448
And I gave him my name and he said you know where do you live?

00:16:36.448 --> 00:16:37.960
And I said Forest.

00:16:37.960 --> 00:16:59.216
I didn't give my address and he ended up sending a letter to my parents and it detailed just how impressed he was by someone that could carry say truly interested, and then being interesting in your own right.

00:16:59.216 --> 00:17:20.155
Do you have something to say?

00:17:20.155 --> 00:17:21.614
Do you have a point of view?

00:17:21.614 --> 00:17:22.616
Are you well read?

00:17:22.616 --> 00:17:23.780
Are you learned?

00:17:23.780 --> 00:17:29.561
What else other than sports occupies your time?

00:17:29.561 --> 00:17:33.877
I think it served me well.

00:17:33.877 --> 00:17:59.943
I didn't realize it at the time, but I can look back now and see all of these different experiences that played a role in having that confidence to A do this job and then B do it with others that were at the top of their respective fields as athletes or coaches, and still find a level playing field in which to operate.

00:18:00.911 --> 00:18:10.569
I obviously know you as the voice of the NFL, or one of the voices of the NFL, one of the voices of the NBA, but my particular favorite of yours is as the voice of the NCAA.

00:18:10.569 --> 00:18:18.940
You, to me, have so many great calls from your time calling college basketball, whether it be regular season, but especially the tournament.

00:18:18.940 --> 00:18:26.463
If you had to rank out your favorite times of the year, your favorite sports to call, which would they be?

00:18:27.289 --> 00:18:30.731
The college basketball part of it was very unexpected.

00:18:30.731 --> 00:18:42.200
This was not something that I anticipated in my career and certainly didn't go into this thinking one day that I could do the final four.

00:18:42.200 --> 00:18:46.103
That was not even on my radar.

00:18:46.103 --> 00:18:52.708
To be perfectly frank, I get the job in 1998 in an almost excuse me fashion.

00:18:52.708 --> 00:19:07.309
Cbs was doing the Winter Olympics in Nagano and they needed three play-by-play announcers for that weekend just before the Olympics started, because all of their announcers were in Japan.

00:19:07.309 --> 00:19:18.576
And I got a call and it happened to be all-star weekend in the NBA and I did Vanderbilt at Arkansas on February 7th 1998.

00:19:18.576 --> 00:19:26.049
And nothing of note took place in that game, nothing.

00:19:26.049 --> 00:19:28.711
It was a typical SEC game.

00:19:28.711 --> 00:19:30.012
Arkansas was really good.

00:19:30.012 --> 00:19:33.075
It came down to the wire.

00:19:33.075 --> 00:19:37.217
Arkansas pulled away one by eight or nine points in the end.

00:19:37.217 --> 00:19:55.067
But my agent got a call from Terry Ewert who was taking over as the executive producer of CBS Sports once the Olympics ended and he said I was very impressed with how Ian handled the traffic.

00:19:55.067 --> 00:19:59.419
You don't know, terry Ewert, but that's an excellent impression.

00:20:00.371 --> 00:20:01.375
Was he at NBC?

00:20:01.375 --> 00:20:03.271
I think I may have met him, he was.

00:20:03.271 --> 00:20:04.654
He was, yes, terry was at NBC.

00:20:04.714 --> 00:20:10.296
Yes, terry was a very good guy and actually lived not far from me in New Jersey.

00:20:10.296 --> 00:20:18.193
And my agent then calls me and said did you like help get the cars out after the game?

00:20:18.193 --> 00:20:19.455
I said no, I did not.

00:20:19.455 --> 00:20:20.919
I said why.

00:20:20.919 --> 00:20:24.545
He said well, he was very impressed by how you handled the traffic.

00:20:28.574 --> 00:20:33.289
I said yes, the traffic of the broadcast, I think, is what he means and this is your question yeah, well, Did you fire him Eventually?

00:20:33.289 --> 00:20:34.601
Yes, what do you think I do for a living buddy?

00:20:35.451 --> 00:20:36.316
For a different reason.

00:20:36.316 --> 00:20:39.239
That's probably a whole other podcast in and of itself.

00:20:39.239 --> 00:20:52.000
So I said, great, they end up calling me to see if I was available for a Syracuse-Georgetown game on February 21st.

00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:53.442
I was not.

00:20:53.442 --> 00:20:55.265
I had a net pacer game.

00:20:55.265 --> 00:20:57.833
I had nothing in my deal that let me out of these games.

00:20:57.833 --> 00:21:01.380
I had to turn it down, which was crushing.

00:21:01.380 --> 00:21:05.035
That was a dream, to maybe one day do Syracuse-Georgetown.

00:21:05.736 --> 00:21:08.892
And the woman on the phone, maddie Hetzel, who worked at CBS for many years.

00:21:08.892 --> 00:21:10.354
She said, oh well, that's a shame.

00:21:10.354 --> 00:21:17.651
She said I'll let you know when our tournament seminar is and you'll block out the dates for that.

00:21:17.651 --> 00:21:23.801
I said, okay, I'm thinking she doesn't know.

00:21:23.801 --> 00:21:29.834
She's just saying, because I was maybe supposed to do this game, that I was doing the tournament.

00:21:29.834 --> 00:21:34.183
So I call my agent, the same one that thought I was directing traffic out of the game.

00:21:34.183 --> 00:21:41.098
I said, hey, just check, maybe with Terry Ewert Am I doing the tournament?

00:21:41.098 --> 00:21:45.381
And my agent said, no, I don't think so I'll check.

00:21:45.381 --> 00:21:46.892
Calls me.

00:21:46.892 --> 00:21:47.536
Two hours later.

00:21:47.536 --> 00:21:52.122
He said yeah, you are doing the NCAA tournament.

00:21:52.830 --> 00:21:57.982
So then I had to actually call my bosses at MSG, that's who oversaw the Nets production at the time.

00:21:57.982 --> 00:22:05.104
It was all under the cable vision umbrella and get permission, which Mike McCarthy was my boss.

00:22:05.104 --> 00:22:08.696
He did give me permission to take two Nets games off.

00:22:08.696 --> 00:22:09.839
I flew to Sacramento.

00:22:09.839 --> 00:22:11.042
I did the NCAA tournament.

00:22:11.042 --> 00:22:20.924
I was at the seminar and that just happened to be when CBS got the rights to the NFL, literally that week.

00:22:20.924 --> 00:22:24.557
Usa, did you remember when the USA Today used to come to your hotel room?

00:22:24.577 --> 00:22:26.241
door just sitting there, absolutely.

00:22:26.450 --> 00:22:27.152
And you know I was.

00:22:27.152 --> 00:22:32.340
I'd read the red and then I'd look at the purple section and then I'd look at the map.

00:22:32.541 --> 00:22:34.023
Maybe on the main section.

00:22:34.023 --> 00:22:36.597
Main section I'd throw away.

00:22:37.230 --> 00:22:48.545
I don't care about the green section, and in the red section Rudy Marski had a column and the headline CBS gets the rights to the AFC package and that was it.

00:22:48.545 --> 00:22:50.837
I was in the right place, right time.

00:22:50.837 --> 00:22:59.096
I did well at the tournament and then I had been doing the Talk about the difference between the sports, you know.

00:23:11.809 --> 00:23:19.040
I mean NCAA, nba is very different Basketball flow, different energy, different, everything compared to NFL.

00:23:19.040 --> 00:23:25.912
I mean I want to take this conversation and talk about my UConn Huskies and how amazing they are, but we'll stay away from that for a minute, Larry.

00:23:25.932 --> 00:23:28.794
We'll stay away from that Juggernaut.

00:23:28.794 --> 00:23:31.395
Yeah, I mean they have a chance to three-peat.

00:23:31.395 --> 00:23:32.477
I mean, what are the you know?

00:23:32.477 --> 00:23:40.122
But I want you to talk about the rhythm and how you prepare for three various, very different energetic sports.

00:23:40.122 --> 00:23:43.163
I mean, people think NCAA and NBA are the same.

00:23:43.163 --> 00:23:45.545
It's such different energy, I think, isn't it?

00:23:46.006 --> 00:23:48.547
Yeah, oh, you nailed it and we'll start there.

00:23:48.547 --> 00:23:54.373
Nba is very highlight driven.

00:23:54.373 --> 00:23:54.934
It's very high energy.

00:23:54.934 --> 00:24:00.874
Don't look at your notes because you could miss the dunk of the year at any moment of any game.

00:24:00.874 --> 00:24:03.420
And I learned that the hard way.

00:24:03.420 --> 00:24:08.414
When you start and you look down at your notes and now miss the dunk of the year.

00:24:08.414 --> 00:24:10.358
So that happens once.

00:24:10.358 --> 00:24:12.363
You don't let that happen again.

00:24:13.490 --> 00:24:21.582
The difference, I would say, is pacing and the level of play.

00:24:21.582 --> 00:24:27.295
Nba a two-on-one break there's a 95% chance they're going to finish.

00:24:27.295 --> 00:24:29.759
Lay up, dunk, what have you?

00:24:29.759 --> 00:24:33.471
Two-on-one break college basketball lower that number.

00:24:33.471 --> 00:24:35.915
That's now 55%.

00:24:35.915 --> 00:24:39.222
Let's say so as a play-by-play announcer.

00:24:39.222 --> 00:24:45.300
Nba your mind is working in a manner to anticipate what's going to happen.

00:24:45.300 --> 00:24:50.376
A three-pointer on the way in the NBA 40% chance it's going in.

00:24:50.376 --> 00:24:53.782
So you have to be ready for that call.

00:24:53.782 --> 00:24:55.772
You have to be ready to deliver.

00:24:55.772 --> 00:24:58.798
College basketball percentage isn't as high.

00:24:58.798 --> 00:25:00.763
You have to be ready for that.

00:25:00.763 --> 00:25:04.711
So what I learned was pacing was very different.

00:25:04.711 --> 00:25:08.115
And then atmosphere ambiance is very different.

00:25:08.115 --> 00:25:09.776
Atmosphere, ambiance is very different.

00:25:10.876 --> 00:25:12.538
You do a game at UConn.

00:25:12.538 --> 00:25:17.582
At Gampel regular season game, uconn goes on a 12-0 run.

00:25:17.582 --> 00:25:19.624
I had it this past year against Seton Hall.

00:25:19.624 --> 00:25:22.846
It was, I think a more extended run even than that.

00:25:22.846 --> 00:25:33.090
They tended to do that Crazy.

00:25:33.090 --> 00:25:33.791
Yes, the place is going crazy.

00:25:33.791 --> 00:25:34.575
You can barely hear yourself on air.

00:25:34.575 --> 00:25:38.444
You're trying your best to cut through and get in before the crowd erupts.

00:25:38.444 --> 00:25:41.417
Nba game 12-0 run.

00:25:41.417 --> 00:25:49.583
Yeah, crowd's into it, but game 38 of 82, there's not going to be the same fervor.

00:25:49.583 --> 00:25:56.739
So that's just being a smart broadcaster that's recognizing that situations are different.

00:25:56.739 --> 00:25:58.777
You can't call it the same way.

00:25:58.777 --> 00:26:02.780
You can't apply your approach in the same manner.

00:26:02.780 --> 00:26:05.198
You've got to attack it differently.

00:26:05.369 --> 00:26:13.239
Final four completely different Huge, cavernous venue in Phoenix.

00:26:13.239 --> 00:26:16.365
My setup is different.

00:26:16.365 --> 00:26:18.874
The floor is elevated.

00:26:18.874 --> 00:26:28.175
Your sight lines are not what they are normally when you're calling a game where you're above it, the table.

00:26:28.175 --> 00:26:35.266
They gave us higher chairs, so it's just a little different feel, but your angle is different.

00:26:35.266 --> 00:26:39.040
So things that are automatic where your eyes go.

00:26:39.040 --> 00:26:44.459
I had to adjust that first few minutes of the first game of the final four, of oh wait, a second.

00:26:44.459 --> 00:26:46.256
Normally I look this way.

00:26:46.256 --> 00:26:50.769
I'm going to have to make a change here and you do adjust.

00:26:50.769 --> 00:26:56.821
I've called literally thousands of basketball games Adjust, figure it out, problem solve.

00:26:56.821 --> 00:27:00.411
So those are some fundamental differences.

00:27:01.353 --> 00:27:04.638
Football to me is an analyst sport on television.

00:27:04.638 --> 00:27:06.142
It really is.

00:27:06.142 --> 00:27:13.723
It's set up for the analyst, it's play, it's replay one look, two look and then get back into the next play.

00:27:13.723 --> 00:27:26.346
I do my best to be efficient in my calls and not be verbose when it comes to football.

00:27:27.151 --> 00:27:35.291
Try to just highlight the best moment of what you just saw and pick out the most important and pivotal part of that play.

00:27:35.291 --> 00:27:44.516
Time and time again, if it's a cut, if it's a juke move, if it's a dive, if it's a snag, how can you describe it?

00:27:44.516 --> 00:28:07.714
How can you pick the perfect word in that moment, as all these words are flying through your head and that's probably the essence of this where you hope to get to a place, when you're calling play-by-play, where you feel like you're in it and not hovering above it, and that's a really fine line.

00:28:07.714 --> 00:28:42.563
There are plenty of excellent announcers that probably never feel that comfortable where they're in it, where the play is happening and it's automatic of what it is you want to say how you want to say it, and if you're hovering above it, it's more reactionary and you're, you're tagging as opposed to calling, and there is a nuance to it, no doubt about it.

00:28:42.583 --> 00:28:43.547
All right, let's talk a little bit about um.

00:28:43.547 --> 00:28:46.355
Let's talk a little bit about your family life and meaning.

00:28:46.355 --> 00:28:47.258
You know you.

00:28:47.258 --> 00:28:50.394
You mentioned at the beginning about how you've kind of raised yourself.

00:28:50.394 --> 00:28:55.083
Your father was on the road a good portion of the year, home, maybe a hundred days a year.

00:28:55.083 --> 00:28:57.692
It's kind of come full circle in that sense.

00:28:57.692 --> 00:29:01.161
Right, because you are on the road a good time a good portion of the year.

00:29:01.161 --> 00:29:04.823
I mean to have you now for this much time has really been.

00:29:04.823 --> 00:29:05.263
Look it was.

00:29:05.263 --> 00:29:12.359
It was the yalta conference trying to get people, trying to get you to agree, agree to this was great, because to get this much time with you is such.

00:29:12.359 --> 00:29:16.915
I know how precious your time is, your free time is, how under, and I know your wife.

00:29:16.915 --> 00:29:18.299
I've known your wife for a little while.

00:29:18.299 --> 00:29:20.919
She's unbelievably understanding and she's the best.

00:29:20.919 --> 00:29:22.816
Your kid's extremely talented.

00:29:22.816 --> 00:29:34.069
How do they deal with their dad not being around, you know, let's say, for six or seven months of the year, not being around, you know, let's say, for six or seven months of the year.

00:29:42.430 --> 00:29:45.421
Yeah, the way I view it is, I did not see what my childhood was like as a realistic possibility for my kid's childhood.

00:29:45.421 --> 00:29:46.044
There was no way.

00:29:46.044 --> 00:29:48.030
You know, unfortunately, my dad he went to one little league game.

00:29:48.030 --> 00:29:49.717
My mom went to zero.

00:29:49.717 --> 00:29:51.584
That's just how it was.

00:29:51.584 --> 00:29:55.715
It wasn't because they didn't want to be there, it was because they couldn't.

00:29:55.715 --> 00:29:58.382
I was a tennis player growing up.

00:29:58.382 --> 00:30:04.621
My father went to zero matches of my high school career, zero Mother, same deal.

00:30:04.621 --> 00:30:19.809
So you have one of two choices you can either get really angry and bitter about it and then that is something you carry with you for the rest of your life, or you can try to peel it away and understand the situation.

00:30:19.809 --> 00:30:32.726
This is what my parents needed to do in order to fulfill their life and make money and be creative and be happy.

00:30:34.551 --> 00:31:01.122
Hell put food on the table, right For me yes, the career took me in this direction and it required a great deal of time on the road, but it didn't take away my ability to connect with my kids, to be involved in their lives and to do everything in my power to get back home every chance that I had.

00:31:01.122 --> 00:31:10.232
So, if there were opportunities, even though logic would tell you, well, you can't, you can't fly home in between, right, yeah, I can and I will.

00:31:10.232 --> 00:31:13.057
And that went a long way.

00:31:13.057 --> 00:31:16.884
Both my kids knew that when they had me there, they had my full attention.

00:31:16.884 --> 00:31:26.192
I wasn't yesing them, I wasn't nodding, I wasn't disinterested.

00:31:26.192 --> 00:31:26.632
It was the opposite.

00:31:26.632 --> 00:31:55.979
I was engaged, I cared about their lives, I cared about them as people and the lessons they were learning from me were also very valuable that I loved my work, that anyone I met I was kind to didn't matter the situation and I think a lot of that rubbed off on them is a rock star and was so instrumental in keeping them grounded and reminding them of what was important and priorities in life.

00:31:56.230 --> 00:32:00.501
And what you put into situations is hopefully what you'll get out.

00:32:00.501 --> 00:32:02.557
But don't put it in just to get it out.

00:32:02.557 --> 00:32:13.363
Put it in because it's the right thing to do, and Noah and Aaron are two really well-adjusted and wonderful people.

00:32:13.363 --> 00:32:19.942
More than anything else, you could put them in any situation and they will get by.

00:32:19.942 --> 00:32:27.522
Not just get by but thrive, because they have that sense of what life is supposed to be.

00:32:27.522 --> 00:32:35.023
So really proud of them and what they took away from this upbringing.

00:32:35.023 --> 00:32:37.051
And look, there were a lot of laughs.

00:32:37.051 --> 00:32:38.153
It was very fun.

00:32:38.153 --> 00:32:57.445
I think they saw real love and joy between their parents and that goes a long way in shaping happiness and you just hope that they get to do the things that they want to do.

00:32:57.445 --> 00:33:02.903
That's really what it comes down to when you're trying to pass it on and pay it forward.

00:33:02.903 --> 00:33:09.423
You can't shield them from everything in life, but you can help show them the way.

00:33:10.631 --> 00:33:14.510
Looking from the outside, as a father of a five-year-old.

00:33:14.510 --> 00:33:15.712
So I have a lot of work to do.

00:33:15.712 --> 00:33:29.763
Still, I aspire to pass some of my passions and some of my loves onto my son, and you're an inspiration in that regard.

00:33:29.763 --> 00:33:45.262
Knowing that your son just called the Olympics, I mean, talk to us a little bit about how it feels to know that you were able to inspire your son in such a way that he's, in a way, carrying a family tradition forward.

00:33:46.230 --> 00:33:55.619
It's the ultimate compliment, but it didn't have to be this way and I think that's why it has worked.

00:33:55.619 --> 00:34:19.226
He was never pushed towards this, he was never urged to do this and not me or my wife wanting him to do this.

00:34:19.226 --> 00:34:27.753
So once you get to that place, then it's real, it's authentic, it's not.

00:34:27.753 --> 00:34:29.338
Hey, you should maybe think about this.

00:34:29.338 --> 00:34:34.217
I think the other part too, thinking about you know your five-year-old.

00:34:34.217 --> 00:34:53.804
There's one school of thought of, hey, I'm going to teach you everything that I know and yes, of course that's that's what you want, but it's not in a lecture form, of course, it's in living, yep, and watching, showing them and them observing.

00:34:53.804 --> 00:34:56.074
That's the part I knew.

00:34:56.134 --> 00:35:10.945
My son was very observant, it from a very young age you could tell he was taking all of it in all the time, perceptive, sometimes to a fault where you can see too much.

00:35:11.085 --> 00:35:37.349
And then that affects your experience, because you think one thing, based on something that you noticed in a situation, the part that I didn't quite realize until now, as I look back all of the, the work that I was doing, the way in which I did it, the way in which I conducted myself when he joined me in the broadcast booth, the fact that I knew people's names.

00:35:37.349 --> 00:35:41.280
I knew their wives' names or their husbands' names or their kids' names.

00:35:41.280 --> 00:35:46.237
I never told him hey, by the way, this is what you should do in life.

00:35:46.237 --> 00:35:49.824
He just watched, he just took it in.

00:35:49.824 --> 00:36:03.510
He saw that that's the better way, that's the right way to take real interest in another human being.

00:36:03.510 --> 00:36:24.925
So, yeah, as we get inundated with, becoming so caught up in texting and emails and direct messages, there is still something about the human condition that people respond to real, true admiration and respect.

00:36:24.925 --> 00:36:33.014
And that's the part that both of my kids, I think, saw more than anything else Amidst any successes.

00:36:33.014 --> 00:36:37.784
That's what really rang true for them.

00:36:38.469 --> 00:36:41.820
How did it feel watching your son call the Olympics?

00:36:41.820 --> 00:36:43.577
What were those emotions?

00:36:45.050 --> 00:36:46.617
Incredibly surreal.

00:36:46.617 --> 00:36:59.478
My wife and I looked at one another countless times during the Olympics and thought how, how did this happen?

00:36:59.478 --> 00:37:04.594
How it was a thrill.

00:37:04.594 --> 00:37:20.570
It was very much a proud moment for our family watching the game because the games were so thrilling and dramatic.

00:37:20.570 --> 00:37:42.175
And then I was nervous as a father, watching my son call the Olympics and knowing that there were a lot of people that were locked in on this and the women's championship in particular, because it was the last thing that happened, the final call.

00:37:42.175 --> 00:37:49.405
I just know way too much as a play-by-play announcer where your head can go, where your eyes could go.

00:37:49.405 --> 00:38:07.822
So the player from France made her move down by three, took the final shot, stepped just inside the three-point line, banked it in the fact that Noah called it a two-pointer as he saw it in the air.

00:38:08.751 --> 00:38:17.824
Proud moment yeah, Recognized in that moment that the US was going to win the gold and continued with his call.

00:38:17.824 --> 00:38:19.125
Gold and continued with his call.

00:38:19.125 --> 00:38:26.148
That's the stuff that it can easily go sideways easily for any play-by-play announcer.

00:38:26.148 --> 00:38:34.103
So that was really something for me to see him handle that in the way that he did.

00:38:34.103 --> 00:38:36.677
It was pretty wild, pretty amazing.

00:38:37.179 --> 00:38:38.061
So I have a couple of things there.

00:38:38.061 --> 00:38:46.190
That one I know why you and your wife were sitting around saying how and why because, like anyone who's in the business, we never want our kids to go in the business.

00:38:46.190 --> 00:38:51.021
So it's like we did a bad job and making sure, making sure our kids had like a real job.

00:38:51.021 --> 00:39:02.635
But two, um, I remember texting with you a little bit during during the, during the, during the Olympics, and asking you you, hey, aren't you, are you in france?

00:39:02.635 --> 00:39:03.177
And I did this.

00:39:03.177 --> 00:39:08.974
When you said no, I was like I did this because hearing noah call games, I was like how is it?

00:39:08.974 --> 00:39:12.101
Just, it sounded like you, it sounded like iron eagle calling games.

00:39:12.101 --> 00:39:15.757
Then, when you tell me no, noah's doing the tournament, I couldn't believe it.

00:39:15.757 --> 00:39:21.557
And yes, you're right, his calls on the women's game, uh, the women's championship game unbelievable.

00:39:21.557 --> 00:39:32.871
But I guarantee you, and I'm telling you, telling you this now we will be hearing noah eagle's calls of that men's champion, of both the serbia game and especially the france championship game.

00:39:32.871 --> 00:39:39.563
They, they will, they will be on parts of highlight reels for the olympics, forever, forever.

00:39:40.545 --> 00:39:55.032
And there are, there were moments in there where I was laughing to myself, saying this is exactly like the way he was able to weave in so many, uh, so many, um, uh, let's say, modern day references or pop culture references, which something you do a great deal.

00:39:55.032 --> 00:39:57.916
You know weaving in steph curry is inevitable.

00:39:57.916 --> 00:40:00.041
You know weaving in Steph Curry is inevitable.

00:40:00.041 --> 00:40:01.864
You know, from the Avengers, the other thing is is inevitable.

00:40:01.864 --> 00:40:17.021
Hearing that made me maybe just realize hey look, my friend has has taught this as he's learned from, he's learned from one of the feet, from the feet of the master, and I am proud of your son.

00:40:17.021 --> 00:40:20.699
I know you're, you're extremely proud of your son, but I am proud of your son too.

00:40:20.699 --> 00:40:34.338
Thank you, because I can remember the tournament that you actually interviewed your son when he was going to do his first game of the tournament for Syracuse, syracuse, miami, you interviewed him in a pregame against Miami.

00:40:34.378 --> 00:40:35.300
I write Syracuse, miami.

00:40:35.300 --> 00:40:43.278
You interviewed him for Westwood one and it was because it was such a unique experience, father and son calling the game um.

00:40:43.278 --> 00:40:47.092
I don't know if I really have a question, except to say I appreciate everything you said.

00:40:47.092 --> 00:40:50.320
Trust me I don't know if no, it means a lot.

00:40:50.320 --> 00:41:02.402
It means a lot thank you guys, truly appreciate it except to say at this point you know, obviously you have given, your son has learned at your feet and so the advice you've given him maybe it's very little, but he has obviously.

00:41:02.672 --> 00:41:10.724
No, there's a lot of advice there, and it's not in the form that people would assume with a laundry list of criticisms after a game.

00:41:11.947 --> 00:41:12.407
Absolutely.

00:41:12.407 --> 00:41:13.070
You're not critiquing.

00:41:13.150 --> 00:41:17.541
No, it's done in a completely different manner and it's in the flow of conversation.

00:41:17.541 --> 00:41:21.231
And it's in the flow of conversation.

00:41:21.231 --> 00:41:34.391
It might pop up when we're talking about something else and something that I noticed from a previous game or previous broadcast might be a question that he has, but there's a clear separation between church and state, but there's also an open line of communication.

00:41:34.391 --> 00:41:48.523
He knows that at any moment, any day, any hour, he can ask me something in regards to what he's doing and know that I've probably done it and had to do it, and can explain approach.

00:41:48.523 --> 00:42:05.505
Certainly, when he started doing play-by-play, there were a lot of questions as to how to prepare and how to get your thoughts organized and then how to deliver.

00:42:05.505 --> 00:42:13.456
In the moment, he's watched more of my stuff than any human being out there.

00:42:13.456 --> 00:42:37.106
So, yes, it's not shocking that his style might be similar and congruent to mine and in some way it's just in him, literally the genes, and then in his brain, because he's just he's viewed so many of my games from his adolescence to now.

00:42:37.931 --> 00:42:42.672
We said it before, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree right, so that makes a lot of sense.

00:42:42.672 --> 00:42:47.583
I can't imagine the pride you feel with that and how special that is.

00:42:47.583 --> 00:42:59.643
Let's face it, there's 100 questions I'm never going to get to here, but I have to ask this one as we come close to winding down here, which is you know, it's a different age now.

00:42:59.643 --> 00:43:00.403
It's a different era.

00:43:00.403 --> 00:43:11.603
You know, how much more deliberate or careful do you have to be, because your calls ride that razor's edge of pop culture and sarcasm, et cetera.

00:43:11.603 --> 00:43:12.364
We've talked about it.

00:43:12.364 --> 00:43:17.302
How much more deliberate do you have to be than, say, howard Cosell during his time?

00:43:17.302 --> 00:43:19.951
I mean, people are ready to pounce, right, they are.

00:43:20.251 --> 00:43:24.804
They are, and I think everyone recognizes that.

00:43:24.804 --> 00:43:27.954
There are people out there that are looking for the gotcha moment.

00:43:27.954 --> 00:43:34.429
So I think it's one of those things that's hard to describe.

00:43:34.429 --> 00:43:44.364
But you really have to trust your instincts in situations and in my case my instincts have led me to a really good place.

00:43:44.364 --> 00:44:03.382
But that doesn't mean that the next broadcast you have your instincts fail you, you didn't get as much sleep as you would have liked, or you misheard what your producer said, or you misinterpreted something that you saw and, boom in a flash, you can get yourself into some serious trouble.

00:44:05.510 --> 00:44:11.043
I just fall back on my main tenets of doing this job.

00:44:11.043 --> 00:44:14.661
I'm never going to say anything about somebody that I wouldn't say to their face.

00:44:14.661 --> 00:44:25.704
So mocking someone, trying to make someone the butt of a joke when they shouldn't be the butt of a joke to me that's off limits.

00:44:25.704 --> 00:44:35.083
By play with analysts, you know the dynamic that you have and you know where the boundaries are.

00:44:35.083 --> 00:44:40.619
You've got to follow them and you've got to be smart and prudent in relation to it.

00:44:40.619 --> 00:44:50.385
And then a cute line here, a clever saying there you better be sure.

00:44:51.327 --> 00:44:53.090
yeah I do take some chances?

00:44:53.431 --> 00:45:07.998
yes, I do, but I feel like I've got, you know the the animal house proverbial, one on one shoulder the angel and the devil.

00:45:07.998 --> 00:45:12.976
The devil can chime in occasionally, but you can't go full devil.

00:45:14.074 --> 00:45:17.851
I think he was talking to Lawrence in that scene too, right, Larry?

00:45:17.992 --> 00:45:19.759
Larry Lawrence, I like the theme here.

00:45:19.759 --> 00:45:23.601
So as we wrap up each of our shows in that scene too, right, I believe so, larry.

00:45:23.601 --> 00:45:25.387
Larry Lawrence, I like the theme here, yes, yes.

00:45:25.387 --> 00:45:34.396
So as we wrap up each of our shows, the underlying theme here is to help younger people who are starting on a path to potentially get through that path a little bit faster.

00:45:34.396 --> 00:45:49.724
So in today's world, with media proliferation being as wide as it is, there are probably a lot of opportunities for folks to practice and to develop some chops.

00:45:49.724 --> 00:45:58.824
What advice do you have for a young person who wants to break into this business and take a swing at becoming a play-by-play guy?

00:45:59.489 --> 00:46:03.315
The positive is there are more places to do it than ever before.

00:46:03.315 --> 00:46:07.550
The negative is that there are more people that want to do it than ever before.

00:46:07.550 --> 00:46:16.514
So you have to go in eyes wide open that this is a very competitive field the part that I've always believed in.

00:46:16.514 --> 00:46:18.577
That, I think, is still true today.

00:46:18.577 --> 00:46:26.000
Maybe the mechanism in which you share this is different, but the basic essence of it is the same.

00:46:26.000 --> 00:46:31.695
The tape doesn't lie, and I'm a true believer in that.

00:46:31.695 --> 00:46:41.614
You can record play-by-play, you can record a sportscast, you can record an opening monologue, you can record an interview, you can record any of these things.

00:46:41.614 --> 00:46:51.840
And when you play it back for somebody, if someone is really good at this and stands out, the tape will not lie.

00:46:51.840 --> 00:46:56.143
You will know TV, radio, podcast, it doesn't matter.

00:46:56.143 --> 00:46:58.445
So that's the first step.

00:46:58.445 --> 00:47:06.061
If you're ultra talented, you will do something in this business.

00:47:06.061 --> 00:47:07.164
How you handle it?

00:47:07.164 --> 00:47:10.175
I don't know how you navigate through relationships.

00:47:10.175 --> 00:47:12.344
I don't know how you handle success.

00:47:12.344 --> 00:47:15.492
I don't know how you handle failure all of that is unknown.

00:47:15.492 --> 00:47:21.641
But if the talent is there, there will be a place for you to do it.

00:47:23.704 --> 00:47:29.601
The second part, which I think most people fall into the category, is all right.

00:47:29.601 --> 00:47:30.722
Well, how do you get started?

00:47:30.722 --> 00:47:40.137
Well, it requires you to come out of your shell and do it.

00:47:40.137 --> 00:47:44.740
Don't talk about doing it, don't ponder doing it.

00:47:44.740 --> 00:47:51.365
You have to do it In this day and age, with a laptop, with a phone, with a microphone.

00:47:51.806 --> 00:47:59.818
It's all there, it's all available, you have all the tools in which to do it, but you have to go, do it.

00:47:59.818 --> 00:48:17.684
And then, by the way, you have to then do it for somebody else, so not just for yourself, but now you have to venture into that other area of the world, which is other humans, and try to connect with people, try to network with people.

00:48:17.684 --> 00:48:24.793
Take any opportunity that comes about, If it gets you in that place, even if it's not the job that you ultimately want.

00:48:24.793 --> 00:48:31.157
Get there, osmosis, observe, be in the background.

00:48:31.157 --> 00:48:39.322
You've got to see it, you've got to understand it, and only then can you visualize yourself doing it.

00:48:39.322 --> 00:48:41.402
And only then can you visualize yourself doing it.

00:48:41.402 --> 00:48:45.164
But first step is taking the bull by the horns and doing it.

00:48:45.905 --> 00:48:48.547
Ian, you've been extremely generous with your time for us.

00:48:48.586 --> 00:48:49.027
You got it guys.

00:48:49.027 --> 00:48:49.987
I really really appreciate it.

00:48:50.831 --> 00:48:59.396
But I'm going to tell you that I'll say it again, guys, that there are lots of times I tell people that in this industry you get jaded with the people you meet.

00:48:59.396 --> 00:49:00.641
You meet a lot of folks.

00:49:00.641 --> 00:49:17.436
But the one thing I am always proud to say, always proud to say, that I am a friend of Ian Eagle and I know Ian Eagle because you know, very, very few people in this, in this industry, are what you would call really good guys, and this is the salt of the earth.

00:49:17.436 --> 00:49:27.797
I mean, you know, and I really appreciate it, my friendship is very important to us, very, very important to us, and I'm, you know, I'm unhappy and I'm extremely happy to once again call you a colleague.

00:49:27.797 --> 00:49:29.184
We're both over yeah it's great.

00:49:29.666 --> 00:49:32.034
So I mean, I'm extremely happy to call you a colleague.

00:49:32.034 --> 00:49:33.318
I'm sorry, what's your name again?

00:49:36.257 --> 00:49:51.623
perfect way to end every episode should end with Tushar getting roasted yes we're gonna make a best of episode of that alone thank you, thank you so much, really appreciate it.

00:49:51.623 --> 00:49:59.599
Again, I really appreciate it so that marks the conclusion of our incredible conversation with Ian Eagle Tushar.

00:49:59.599 --> 00:50:02.483
Thank you so much for bringing him forward.

00:50:02.869 --> 00:50:04.476
Well, I knew we'd have a great time with Ian.

00:50:04.476 --> 00:50:09.461
I mean what we experienced through these two episodes.

00:50:09.461 --> 00:50:16.559
I was lucky enough to experience, for you know, years at WFAN and then obviously further on down the line.

00:50:16.559 --> 00:50:22.876
You know he is obviously one of the most compassionate, one of the nicest, one of the nicest, one of the friendliest people I've ever known.

00:50:23.278 --> 00:50:34.039
You know, what really struck me throughout this entire interview after hearing it back, even for us is it because, you know, obviously when we're in it we don't always really get to, we don't really observe what's happening in it.

00:50:34.039 --> 00:50:38.561
But as I had a chance to kind of listen back to this interview, we laughed a lot.

00:50:38.561 --> 00:50:44.759
We laughed a whole lot because and that really is to me like that epitomizes who iron eagle is.

00:50:44.759 --> 00:51:01.041
He's one of the funniest people I know as well and he's so, he's so good at making everyone feel at ease, feel calm and like we're, like we've all been friends forever, right, just sitting down at a table and then talking to him about his career, talking to him about life, and that is what Iron Eagle is to a T.

00:51:01.610 --> 00:51:04.076
Yeah, he really gave a lot of advice too right.

00:51:04.076 --> 00:51:10.958
He really showed you and told you how to get into this business and how to succeed in this business.

00:51:10.958 --> 00:51:15.253
I mean the ability to be interested and interesting.

00:51:15.253 --> 00:51:17.077
I'm just like fascinated with that.

00:51:17.077 --> 00:51:19.043
And you hear that when what a great line.

00:51:19.043 --> 00:51:22.313
Yeah, just like when he's doing his calls.

00:51:22.313 --> 00:51:23.958
I mean just the wittiness, the, the.

00:51:23.978 --> 00:51:33.260
You know he doesn't talk above you, he talks to you but it's like things you didn't think about and he brings perspectives that you didn't realize were there, that could be touched upon.

00:51:33.260 --> 00:51:39.340
But the advice, you know how do you get started and we really hope a lot of people take his advice.

00:51:39.340 --> 00:51:40.943
You know the tape doesn't lie.

00:51:40.943 --> 00:51:46.490
You got to just do it.

00:51:46.490 --> 00:51:52.762
You know, get yourself in front of a microphone All the tools are available to everybody and just really let your life kind of be put on that tape.

00:51:52.762 --> 00:52:14.474
And you hear that when you hear Ian Eagle's calls, you know, take the bull by the horns, Take any opportunity that comes your way, even if you don't want to do it in the moment, because it's going to give you experience and you could see how a lifetime of those opportunities have led to Ian Eagle being at the top of his field and a great listen for any broadcast look it's.

00:52:14.695 --> 00:52:20.577
It's okay to not be good when you start out, because no one's born being able to do this stuff right.

00:52:20.577 --> 00:52:25.277
I mean even I am being able to do anything exactly no one's born.

00:52:25.338 --> 00:52:25.579
I was.

00:52:25.579 --> 00:52:27.822
I wasn't born to do talk radio.

00:52:27.822 --> 00:52:31.336
I wasn't born to do, you know, to do the career, that path that I was.

00:52:31.336 --> 00:52:33.891
But we all have to learn it some way or another.

00:52:33.891 --> 00:52:42.077
And and you know I'm with great advice there, right, you know, sometimes what you need to do is basically take the bull by the horns, as you you said, chase and just do it right.

00:52:42.077 --> 00:52:44.043
So practice makes perfect.

00:52:44.043 --> 00:52:49.842
And if it doesn't make perfect, it at least brings you further closer to that notion of perfection.

00:52:49.842 --> 00:52:53.878
And the more you get used to doing it, the more comfortable you get in.

00:52:53.878 --> 00:52:57.273
Doing it over and over and over, it's like working out right.

00:52:57.273 --> 00:52:58.414
You got to flex that muscle.

00:52:58.434 --> 00:53:14.532
The more you flex that muscle, the easier it gets to do Absolutely, and for me, one of the key takeaways was his ability to create genuine relationships, his ability to listen and his ability to connect with others.

00:53:15.032 --> 00:53:23.164
He talked about the fact that he's worked with 171 partners throughout his career, and everybody's different.

00:53:23.164 --> 00:53:26.119
Somebody's an analyst, somebody's a joker.

00:53:26.119 --> 00:53:27.885
Somebody can't make a joke.

00:53:27.885 --> 00:53:43.023
To save their lives, he needs to be able to take a step back and understand who he's with, and his job is to make that other person look good and to set them up for success, and that's his primary objective every time.

00:53:43.023 --> 00:53:45.800
So I thought that was pretty compelling.

00:53:45.800 --> 00:54:17.336
And going back to the Mike Tirico story that he told about when he was back at Syracuse way back, when you need to say hi, introduce yourself, make a connection, keep that connection, grow that connection, and Ayan is somebody who clearly is good at that and, based upon everything I've learned about him through my network, through Tushar and others, this is a guy that people love because it's real, it's genuine, he keeps it, he protects those relationships and they endure.

00:54:17.577 --> 00:54:28.902
You know, and you said it just a moment ago, the idea that you know going up to someone and saying hi, we say it all the time here is that you know, sometimes networking and getting that next job or getting that first job.

00:54:28.902 --> 00:54:30.909
Sometimes this is a contact sport.

00:54:30.909 --> 00:54:43.384
It's about going out and saying hello and making yourself open to rejection, if it sometimes will be the case, but also the notion of hey, you know what, if you make that first relationship, it can lead to better things down the line.

00:54:43.384 --> 00:54:46.380
And you said about 170 partners he's dealt with over the years.

00:54:46.380 --> 00:54:49.559
That's also 170 friends, that's exactly right.

00:54:49.759 --> 00:54:50.621
That's exactly right.

00:54:50.621 --> 00:54:54.001
Well, I now consider him to be a friend of ours.

00:54:54.001 --> 00:54:58.878
I'm incredibly thankful that he was willing to spend all that time with us.

00:54:58.878 --> 00:55:08.117
He was so gracious, so generous and this really has been one of my favorite conversations that we've had here on this show.

00:55:08.117 --> 00:55:13.422
So, ian Eagle, thank you so much for joining this episode of no Wrong Choices.

00:55:13.422 --> 00:55:21.371
On behalf of Tushar Saxena, larry Shea and me, larry Samuels, thank you for joining this episode of no Wrong Choices.

00:55:21.371 --> 00:55:31.146
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00:55:31.146 --> 00:55:41.681
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00:55:41.681 --> 00:55:51.532
Thanks again for tuning in and always remember there are no wrong choices on the path to success, only opportunities, because we learn from every experience.

00:55:51.532 --> 00:56:17.005
Thank you.