The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - People We Miss Hearing From - Jim Nantz

Episode Date: April 9, 2020

Hey, it's James Arden. What a pass. What a finish. Listen to your home of the rockets on your smart speaker, Jess ass. Hey, Google, play Sports Talk 790 on IHR radio. That is something else, folks. Welcome back to the Matt Thomas show here on Sports Talk 790, fellow Houston Cougar,

and one of the all-time broadcasting greats. Jim dance with us here on the show. Jim, first of all, nice to have you with us. Thanks for covering out some time. How surreal has it been for you? The last basketball game you called was where, it all started over on the campus of the University of Houston. March the 8th, I will never forget. Memphis against Houston and the loving embrace that

my Cougar Nation gave me that day, it was just, it was beyond words. And leaving the Petita Center that day, of course, we knew that things were brewing with this virus, but I would have never guessed that just a matter of days later is I was en route, making my way to the airport to fly the following a few days later to Indianapolis for the Big Ten tournament and the selection weekend, that all of a sudden there would be this shutdown, which thankfully there was. And, yeah, it's just all surreal. I mean, this is usually the most challenging and fulfilling time of this year, going

through the NCAA tournament doing 15 games in about a three-week span. we include the Big Ten tournament, semis, and championship through the Masters. It's tactic. It's chaotic, but it's exhilarating and rewarding. And then suddenly, not to have any of it, it's hard to put in the words. Yeah, I was going to ask as a follow-up, we all have routines and schedules, school and work and vacations and whatnot. But, Jim, for 35 years, give or take, your April has been on the calendar the exact same thing. So of all the times of the year for this to happen, when it's at your busiest,

I don't know if you're obviously spending more time with the kids and family and everything, but this is not where you're supposed to be right now. You're supposed to be finishing up the championship game and then flying to Augusta's fast as humanly possible to catch practice rounds in par threes. Yeah, that's the whirlwind really referring to because you do go from a high-energy vibe inside a 70,000 stadium, calling the championship and pushing your voice and energy, and then the next day you're on the beautiful grounds of Augusta. This year, of course, the Final Four was scheduled for Atlanta, and to make the move from Atlanta to Augusta was as easy and as convenient as it gets,

just 150 miles roughly door to tour. But I have to say this, man, I get so many phone calls and texts in a day from people wondering how, how are you getting through this and feeling sorry for me and wondering, you know, hey, how am I handling it? And, yeah, I miss it. Trust me, I miss NCAA tournament. Right now, the Masters, I know exactly where I would have been at any given moment.

And I love those events so much. But, you know, it's taken me a while. I'm just forthright about it here. It's taken me a good couple of weeks to get kind of with it mentally, be in the present and not be always longing, always wanting to know what I should be doing, what I'm accustomed to doing. And the sooner that you're able to get present with it, the more that you can make the most of that time. And this time is important.

My kids, my wife, they need this time. We all need to be comforted by those we love, and we need to be there for them. And they have to all these years adapt to my lifestyle. And nobody's feeling sorry for me or for them. But as far as like real quality, unrushed family time, it's always in short supply. I go from football to basketball to golf back to football. It's just to circle the calendar. You're on the treadmill all the time.

And then all of a sudden it's taken away from you. And, wow, you know, we're going to wake up and make something new and fresh about today with limited options. You're not really leaving your house other than that. take family walks and being fully aware of how devastating and how tragic these events are with thoughts and prayers to all those who have been so directly affected by it and every life that's been lost is a tragic story on its own. But I know there are people who are listening who have to look at their universe and what they're doing to make sure this goes away with their sheltering and their social distancing, their time at home. And inside of that little bubble

inside your home. You have to make the most of it. You have to be positive. You have to be prayerful. You have to be optimistic that things are going to get better. But, you know, my kids, I've got two young ones and an older daughter. I got a six and a four-year-old, my little Finley and Jameson or they're getting married at home without him being in a rush to go somewhere for the first time in their young lives. I'm usually coming home, unpacking a suitcase, and two days later, packing it up and marching off somewhere else again. And I'm, I'm, I'm treasuring inside of all of these bigger picture things the fact that I have a chance to even do some deeper and more meaningful bonding with my family. Well, I promised CBS that I would promote the Masters replays this weekend.

You have to help me out and tell CBS never to air North Carolina State, 83, and Albuquerque ever again. Can we make that promise to me and not my audience? I actually watch that. Matt, you're too young to even, I think. I was 12 years old. I was 12. Okay. You know, I knew you were a young lad. I was in the stand that day in the pit. And a story, you know, I had hosted Guy Lewis's TV show when I was a student.

It aired on Channel 2, KPRC back in the day. And I was a public address announcer, you know, for all the games in Hawfeynes Pavilion. I was close to that basketball program. That was my launching pads of my career, was through U of H basketball. So a year out of school, I went to Salt Lake City. to work for the CBS affiliate. And now here we are playing in Albuquerque. I had to work and put shows on the air,

sports broadcasts on the new shows on that Saturday when Houston Big Louisville. But there was no way I was missing Monday. So I flew short flight, really, Salt Lake to Albuquerque. But I called in advance to Guy V and some of the people that really help manage the basketball programs travel. And I got a room at the Houston Hotel. I stayed at our hotel. I actually rode into the arena to the pit that Monday night on the team bus, which of course meant you got there a couple of hours early.

And I walked in with the players, the managers, and the basketball program, and the coaches walked into the pit through the ramp. And once I got into the arena, I was on my own. I wasn't going to be in the locker room or anything like that. I didn't have that kind of access. Nor should I have. But the agreement was I was going to get in an arena and I had right back with a team after the game. So I walked into the arena, the pit. They didn't have seats. They had bench

seating with numbers on top of the benches like high school centers do. And I looked around and I saw the CBS set. It was in the same corner of the court where the Houston bench was. So I marched over and saw that Brent Musburger was hosting the coverage. She wasn't doing play-by-play that Gary Bender was. And Brent was running through the elements of the show for that night. He was rehearsing his opening and rehearsing halftime. Well, you know, I was in awe seeing Brent there live and in person. And I took the seat at the end of the bench that was nestled up right next to the CBS set. I could have, the set was just a little bit above me. I was basically right on eye level with Musburger's shoes. If he needed someone to like shine his shoes at that very moment, I would have been able to

just reach out with my right hand. And I could have shined of shoes. And I would have. Yeah, sure. It was an hog of Musperger. And I sat there for the whole game. Again, the bench, this Houston bench was just on the other side of the set, the end of the Houston bench. And Charles Lorenzo made the dunk, the game winning shot at the other end of the floor. But anyway, I got to sit that night and watch Brent post the show, watched him, studied him when he wasn't on, just still sitting on the set, turning his chair around and watching the action. I never said hello. I never made an introduction.

But two years, two and a half years later, I was hired by CBS, and Brent was introducing me to the nation on the pregame show to a Notre Dame Michigan football game. And three years later from Albuquerque, Brent was now calling the games with Billy doing the game call. Right. And I was sitting on that same set. Now, I was the host. Amazing, amazing story. Yeah. Last question, because I've got, I have 50 questions for you, but I know your time is available.

I want to get NFL in quickly. Two things on Tony. Tell me about the screen test, because obviously the biggest media news of this offseason has been that he's going to stay with your network. So tell me about the screen test, and did you know from the moment that you worked together for the very first time you had a special chemistry? And then fast forwarding to the divisional playoff game, of all the games you have called, obviously years and years of the NFL, did you see a 180 contest ever before, like you did before the Texans and Chiefs game in Kansas City? I'll start there, never seen anything like that before because it was 24 to nothing and early in the second quarter. And, you know, Houston, the Texas had the football inside the 15 and failed to convert on third and short.

And Coach O'Brien elected to go field goal, which was the right thing. But you look back and always wonder, one play, what difference could have made. Had they kept that drive going and make it 28 to nothing, you still know Mahomes has the ability to bring them back. But it could have, who knows, it could have been a killer shot. could have converted on third down. I've never seen a turnaround like that in any game to that level. But as far as Tony's screen test, we never auditioned him. He got the job before he had ever been in a booth to be auditioned.

Did I know the chemistry was there? I mean, my goodness, he started in 2017. I'll go back to 2011 when he and Kansas got married. I was invited to their wedding. We were friends. We had a great friendship. We bonded over golf, his love of golf. And, of course, I was calling occasionally Cowboy Games once or twice a year.

And he was a huge follower of everything CBS Golf did. He would even come out on occasion when we were in town to do the Byron Nelson or the colonial tournament. He would come out and sit in the booth, not be on the air, but he would sit in the booth off to the side. So we had a friendship and a chemistry that was real and it had time and space to it. It wasn't a new friendship. And that helps because oftentimes when you get a new partner in broadcasting and everybody can say this, whatever the sport might be. They're trying to become friends fast and create chemistry like they really like one another,

but a network has arranged the marriage. They don't really know each other. Well, Tony and I, we knew each other. But the first time we ever went into the booth was in May of 2017, went to the CBS Broadcast Center and did our first practice game together. And within, I don't know, really the first or second series of the game, I can still remember. We were calling a Raiders Carolina game from the previous fall.

And Tony was exactly what I thought he was going to be. His personality was there instantly. And it was good enough. It's going to sound crazy. The first time we ever put the headset on, it was good enough to be on the air right on the spot. But to play off of one another, to ease into situations, out of situations, to finish each other's sentences, that was there from the beginning. And that was there because we had history together. And still to this day you do.

And congratulations on that quick adjustment. Because, again, I loved you and Phil together. And to see you and Tony thriving is amazing. Jim, thank you for the time. I hope CBS always pencils in a Houston Cougar game in early March. So you can always make a yearly trip here. Take Raff out to a great dinner somewhere around town. Thank you for the opportunity.

Continued success to you and your family. And we appreciate you spending some time on the show today. I appreciate you, man. I'm proud of you. and you make the Cougars proud. And I would take that right now every year one game down in Houston. Wouldn't that be sweet? But I'm grateful for the one we had this year.

You take care of yourself and everybody out there, keep doing what you're supposed to do. Please keep your distance, stay home, and things are going to get better real soon. I'm optimistic and have a lot of hope and faith that it's going to be getting better here in the short term. The great Jim Nance from CBS joining us here on the program. Remember CBS Sports will have.