Click here to listen to Wisconsin On Demand, including Scalzo & Brust’s interview with Jim Nantz.
The lead voice of CBS Sports…has no sports to be a voice for.
Jim Nantz, that network’s top commentator, would have announced the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four and The Masters golf tournament in a matter of days, while preparing for another NFL season with Wisconsin native Tony Romo in the booth – an assignment which he hopes will become reality.
In the meantime, he joined ESPN Madison’s Scalzo & Brust to discuss numerous topics, including:
How much he loves calling March Madness & the Masters, and how much he missed it:
“This is a wonderful time of the year on most occasions, but it was certainly difficult to sit on the sideline for the NCAA Tournament and the Masters. I love them both. It’s hard to say one over the other, but I guess if you press me, deep in my heart, the Masters tournament was the inspiration for me to want to carve out a career in broadcasting, but I don’t take either one of them for granted.”
“I love them both like I love my kids (in the sense that) you can’t say which one of your children you love the most.”
The truncated nature of the rescheduled sports world in 2020, should COVID-19 be brought under control and the sports world re-opened:
“Hopefully, we get this world back on its axis and long before that, but man, does the fall set up to be, all things being put in perspectve…much lower priority…but I would love to think this fall the convergence of the major championships in golf, the grand slam events in tennis, the startup of the NFL and college football seasons. The week of the Masters is the week of the start of the regular season in college basketball.”
“I can only hope we’ll be living in that space.”
Tony Romo, the Burlington, Wis. native who has revolutionized NFL color commentary:
“Tony is a wonderful guy. We just finished a zoom conference call…he’s doing just fine, sheltered at home down in Dallas as I am in California.
“His emergence as the best analyst in the business has been a fascinating thing to see, but I can’t say that I’m shocked.”
“I saw in Tony, when he was a player, his ability to express himself, and a magnetism, a passion, a great sense of humor that I really thought could one day translate to television. I’m just so happy that he ended up coming to CBS.”
“We’ve had a ball.”
A possible broadcast future for Aaron Rodgers after his Packers career ends:
“Aaron Rodgers, if he ever wants to entertain that as a possible second career, he’s an insightful, deep-thinking guy who has a wry sense of humor. I think he could be really good on television.”
