The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Legendary Ian Eagle Joins The Show Before Rockets vs Spurs & Texans vs Jags

Episode Date: November 7, 2025

Legendary Ian Eagle Joins The Show Before Rockets vs Spurs & Texans vs Jags

One of the great broadcasters of our generation, a superhuman being and a man who's going to be busy covering Houston sports. He'll be calling Amazon Prime coverage of the Rockets and the Spurs. He'll be also on the call Sunday for Jacksonville v. Houston. It is the Matt Thomas Show at Ross. We say hello to Ian Eagle, I believe it's probably four floors down on my hotel. Bert, how are you doing this afternoon? Good morning, yeah, yeah, getting ready for the Texas Tuesday. Great to be with you.

Are you going to get shuttle service? Or you're actually going to jump on a plane to head to our Fair City, Houston after the game. Thank you. Thank you for caring about the logistics of my life, Matt. Yeah. I will get there. It's that simple. Oh, that smells like a Kirk Herbstreet private jet moment.

I think that's very awesome. I mean, you are. Definitely not. You don't bring your dog with you, do? Forget it. We're moving on to other things. Hey, so Emmanuel Sharp is one of my favorite Houston Cougars. and I don't know if I have your talk since the championship game.

I went bounce back and forth between the Rockets and coming to San Antonio for the title game. You've called some amazing game winning shots. You've also in your life called some amazing, oh my gosh, moments. And I would have to say as among your all-timers, how that game between Houston and Florida ended up in San Antonio here this past April. Yeah, what I think is so unique as a play-by-play announcer, you can play over in your head how to prepare for a potential, game winning shot, the build-up, the stages of the call, you can't really prepare for not getting a

shot off. That's not normally in the play-by-play game book. So the fact that it happened that way, that could be the only time a national championship is decided by circumstances like that. So it really was unique. A raft saw it in real time and said he can't. He can't. He can't. He can't touch the ball and then time expires. It's over just like that. And then you have to shift into the mode of winners losers, which is Florida wins the title and Houston loses an absolute heartbreak. So very, very odd ending.

He's a terrific player. That whole team is fantastic. I just so enjoyed telling their story, not just this past year, but previous years with Kelvin Sampson. they're not going anywhere. He continues to pump out an incredible squad year in and year out. But that

one may take the cake in bizarre odd endings. Yeah, for sure. And hopefully you get a chance to call a different scenario this year. First of all, congratulations, you and Kevin being the main announcers on Amazon Prime, a no-brainer. Let me ask you, when you finally took the position

after, you know, working, you've been a Nets announcer for a long time, or you'll be doing less of that this year. Did you get a chance to say, hey, I'm an old school guy. I like what the NBA used to do in broadcasting. I've got a couple of nuances. I mean, you've also hired an amazingly talented crew of producers and behind the scenes books. But was Amazon ready to listen to some things about changing the way they broadcast games?

Completely, completely. They came in with an open mind of how to attack this. They have really good people behind the scenes, really smart people, too. So it was interesting for me to head out to the seminar that, that we did out on the West Coast and hear from them. But they also were really good listeners and I think leaned on both me and Kevin with all the years that we've worked the NBA.

My first real point that I made, which fortunately they listened to was, look, day one, when we go on the air, it's gotta look like the NBA, it's gotta sound like the NBA. Don't reinvent the wheel day one. People just wanna know that it's gonna feel really comfortable And it's going to be what they've come to expect when they turn on the television. And that's exactly what happened.

And now I think you'll start seeing some new wrinkles. They'll try some things, too, which I'm more than cool with. There has to be a period of trial and error and see what sticks. But I'm definitely inspired by the way that they viewed this, the way that they've tried to take the best of yesteryear, while also recognizing that there are places where maybe you can add to the coverage and find some new wrinkles. Ross with you as well, Ion, and I'm just curious, obviously, you somebody as a veteran of the broadcast world, and it being radio platforms and on TV and now to streaming platforms, just I guess your overall view of where this is going is,

do you think eventually everything will be on streaming platforms and just kind of the state of sports broadcasting in general? Well, I think there's a competitiveness now with trying to get eyeballs and trying to get content, which obviously is where we find ourselves in the streaming world, not just in sports, but on the entertainment side, the amount of shows and movies that are being produced that are going straight to streaming. And it's found an audience. It's not just out in the wilderness somewhere. So the sports side was the next thing to really hit because of all the live programming that you can do. This is the one where you have to watch in the moment. You can't just record it and go back and watch it three days later.

If you want to know what's going on in a game, you've got to be there. And I think that's why Amazon and Netflix and others have jumped on board and why the leagues have seen that it is a viable option. I have not necessarily found, at least in the early going, the first couple of of weeks hearing from people saying, yeah, I just can't find you. You can find it. It's going to be a little different for people. And I think muscle memory kicks in and they begin to figure out, all right, this is my routine. This is what I do. I don't know what you guys do in terms of your live TV. I've made some adjustments in my life. We moved. And with that, it opened up an opportunity to try something else, which has been working for our family. But I just know having kids,

they don't have cable. They don't have any designs on getting cable. It's just a new era when it comes to programming and how you consume it. Ion Eagle with us here on a sports talk 790 and talk real quick about the matchup tonight. Obviously, Victor Wimbunyama, one of the early stories in the NBA, but has slowed down his last couple of games. Just your thoughts on him and the way teams are going to defend him. Rockets are going to do the same thing. Try to get physical with him. Send a second and third defender.

And that's going to be something he's going to have to adjust to. Yeah. Let me approach you from two perspectives. First perspective is just a pure basketball perspective. He is just such a transcendent talent. And in year three of his career, as you turn on the TV or if you're fortunate enough to see him in person. I would imagine that this is what a lot of people felt when Will Chamberlain first started playing in the NBA. There have been other great players. There have been people that have

had Hall of Fame careers that have played the same position. But he's just doing it differently. There's something in his movements. There's something in his body type that is just incredibly unique. So from a basketball standpoint, it's scary for the rest of the to the NBA, this guy is getting better with each time you see him. He unleashes something a little bit new. And that leads to the second perspective, which is the play-by-play perspective. Matt, you can relate to this. When you're calling a game, the goal is to be on top of the action and you never want to be the one that misses something that's special or different in the moment because you're looking down at your notes or you're focused on the wrong thing and your priorities get out of whack.

every time this guy touches the ball, there's a chance he's going to do something that you just haven't seen before. And a lot of it has to do in a subtle manner that the angle in which he takes, the fact that we've grown so accustomed to someone going on the baseline, someone his size, and you recognize, well, he only has a couple options. Well, not this guy. He can take the baseline and what you would never see as a reverse layup being a possibility. he cannot just reverse layup it. He could dunk it with the offhand. So it really forces you to be on your P's and Q's as an announcer. And I'm just excited.

I think, you know, this rivalry is really hitting a fevered pitch with four meetings this year, first one, Emirates, NBA Cup. I just think every game there's going to be a lot of anticipation when the Rockets play the Spurs this year. I will call tonight's game Rockets and Spurs on Amazon Prime. We'll have it for you here on 790 with a 6.30 tip time. And then Sunday, it will be a lot of prep for I and for you for Logan Cook and Tommy Townsend conversation on that broadcast of the Texans and Jaguars.

So please have your stuff together. And I don't want to get into a super deep dive because, look, the Texans fans know they're beat up, backup quarterback, lots of injuries, disappointment. Let me get to your new partner. We knew JJ was headed for television stardom and whatever role he was going to be. and look, he reminds me of your counterpart of a counterpart of your other network and Greg Olson, studies the game, learns the game, trying to become a better broadcaster beyond this being an ex-football player.

I think your chemistry has been amazing, but take us through what you can give to a guy like JJ who's obviously very well recognized, but still has to learn the nuances of calling a sport on television week to week. Yeah, my whole approach when it comes to working with new partners has always been the same. Make them feel comfortable, comfortable.

off the air, usually translates to being comfortable on the air, let them know that I'm going to be with them every step of the way. I'm not going to put them in a bad position. I'm not going to lead them down a road that has no exit strategy on the air. I'm going to go to those places with them, alongside them. And that goes a long way. Obviously, if you can form a friendship, that helps greatly. JJ came to the table equipped with so many skills to be really good at this. The fact of the matter is he's incredibly comfortable on television. So that's the first thing that is either a neat to you or not innate. I don't know if I've worked with anybody just from an on-camera point of view that shows no hesitation whatsoever in whatever direction

we have to go in at any moment. And then the other part, which you don't don't know about someone until you're really around them every day. He's such a thorough person. He thinks things through. He has great questions. So if he doesn't know something, he will ask you. And he's not afraid to ask you. Some people would be afraid to ask because they don't want to come across as not knowing what they're supposed to know. He wants to learn it. His football knowledge is through the roof. His humor is elite. His self-deprecation, quote, which I find to be highly likable and relatable is also excellent. And then he's got great instincts. So, you know, we just hit the ground running.

It was really easy, which is not normally the case in television. Usually it takes a little time by week one, week two, week three. It felt like we had been working together for 10 years. Final question. Who is the best team in the AFC? Because I can't figure it out right now. Yeah, I can't figure it out either. I had Indianapolis last week.

Everybody was on the bandwagon. And I think they're really good, by the way. I'm not going to take the one loss and then just dismiss them. I think Denver's record is obviously probably not what it might show you in terms of who they are. I don't think there's a team in the AFC that would be against playing Denver right now in the postseason. So you are what your record says you are. I get that, but I think there's a caveat there just based on some of the limitations that I've seen. Kansas City, I'm not going to toss them aside just yet.

I think Buffalo has the most potential, but I find myself saying that year in and year out. And here we are in the AFC North, Baltimore is a sub-500 team, and everybody's picking them to win the division. So the whole thing just feels upside down. Well, I thank you for your time. Always appreciate you coming on the show. And the best part about folks, when you go to your Amazon account, if you drop Iron Eagle on the discount code, you get 10% off your next order. So congratulations.

10%. Yeah, 10%. Thank you, friend, for the time. We really appreciate it. We'll see it at the arena later this evening. Yep. And I do travel my parakeet. Thanks for asking.

What's a parakeet's name? Groucho. Groucho Eagle. Very good. Thank you, sir. We'll talk with you later. Thanks again. Awesome stuff. See you guys. The amazing Iron Eagle, as good of a broadcaster as as a person, period of end of story.