Whoa - Jim Nantz Is Calling His Last Final Four This Year, Will Be Replaced By Ian Eagle

[Post] - After more than three decades as the voice of the Final Four, Jim Nantz will call his last NCAA Men’s Tournament this March, and then Ian Eagle will succeed him as the lead play-by-player on CBS and Turner Sports’ coverage of the tournament, The Post has learned.

Nantz will continue with Tony Romo on CBS’ lead NFL team and as the face of CBS’ golf coverage, including the Masters.

Houston will be his 32nd Final Four and Championship game. He first began covering the tournament in 1986 as a play-by-player and a studio host. He replaced Brent Musburger, let go after a contract dispute, for the 1991 Final Four.

I gotta admit, I fucking hate this. Nothing against Ian Eagle, but Jim Nantz has that big game voice. You KNOW it's the Final Four when you hear that 'hello, friends' on that Saturday/Monday. You know you're about to hear some gems as he's partnered with Bill Raftery (Grant Hill is there too, but that's not the point here). Nantz is all I know as the Final Four play-by-play guy. It's really an end of an era. He took over when I was 4 and that means the Final Four is Nantz. Nantz is the Final Four.

Probably why he does this: 

Luckily we still have this from Nantz: 

Nantz plans to return each year to handle the trophy presentation.

“I would like to sit in the stands for the great majority of the game with my kids,” Nantz said. “And tell them that their dad used to call this game. ‘Now, if you’ll excuse me for a few minutes, I’ve got to go down to the floor and give the trophy away.’ That will be a lot of fun.

Love that he's still going to be part of the trophy presentation. 'Good job, Ian. Now get out of the way. I got a trophy and tie to give out.' So perfect for Nantz. 

That said, Eagle was the logical pick. I went and double checked who was on the call for last year's Tournament and it has to be Eagle. Harlan has an awesome voice obviously, but Eagle is a guy who makes sense in this scenario. It still pisses me off that we don't have Gus. We deserve to cut Grant Hill and get Gus and Raft at the Final Four. Let me listen to some pals and have a good time. 

I'm going to look forward to hear what Nantz has for the title call. He always has that one-liner and this year being in Houston, where he went to school, you know he's going to deliver. I hope it's as cliche and somewhat corny as one can expect. Still going to be weird in 2024 hearing someone else's voice for the first time. 

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