Ian Eagle’s Greatest Hits 2024 NCAA Tournament Edition (Thus Far)

A Nice Compilation of Clips and Podcasts Worth Checking Out

That dry sense of humor. The way he gets so excited, even after a rebound is something to behold. Whether it is doing football for CBS on Sunday afternoons and Westwood One radio every Thursday night, NBA basketball on TNT and the YES Network covering the Brooklyn Nets, and of course the handful of games working for CBS.

After 25 years, Ian (pronounced EYE un) got the promotion that fans have been waiting for–at least IMHO. Replacing the legendary Jim Nantz was no easy feat, but the Syracuse graduate has definitely earned more stripes than very few announcers today can possibly match.

While working with Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo on famed sports talker 660 WFAN in New York, CBS needed someone to fill in on college basketball while everyone else was half a world away in 1998 covering the network’s third and final Winter Olympics from Nagano, Japan.

Teaming up with former Duke and NBA player Jim Spanarkel, the pair became an instant hit. That partnership lasted more than a quarter century. And Ian still can recite the eight teams that he had to memorize where very few people watched in the Sacramento pod. The only two schools he did not recall in several interviews were Tennessee and South Alabama.

Which leads us to 2024.

Here are some of his interesting (and rather strange) calls, with one of them set up sideline reporter extraordinare Tracy Wolfson during the second round at the East Region in Brooklyn, New York.

First Round on Friday, March 22–Duke was having its’ way with the Dukes, from James Madison University that is:

From the second round on Sunday, March 24–the defending champions were slaughtering Northwestern.

Wait until hear this rather sexy phrase that I am certain many models on Reddit and OnlyFans can relate to:

Just to clarify ladies and gentlemen, it is a term when a ball gets stuck where the rim meets the glass. Hence, it is wedged.

Does that make sense?

I think so, I don’t know about you loyal readers–but please, let’s carry on to another interesting nugget from early in the game.

Check out what UConn Head Coach Dan Hurley does when picking out his clothes during tournament games. Here’s CBS/truTV sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson setting the scene:

Well Ian, here is the answer to your question:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=portable+washing+machine&crid=O3DGB2R67535&sprefix=portable+washi%2Caps%2C145&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_2_14

I didn’t realize they are similar in size to dehumidifiers, and cost about the same amount (minus shipping and taxes)–depending of course how much you have to pay for additional delivery fees if it is from a company that manufactures it (or dare I say from a foreign country where any DHL package seems to take forever…but a small chance that could be another topic for another blog.)

Here is an interview he did with Dan Patrick on Tuesday, where he talked about having that comfort level knowing he is working with a similar crew behind the scenes when he does the NFL games every Sunday in the fall:

On Wednesday, he was a guest on the One Shining Podcast with Tate Frasier from The Ringer.

His interview is from the 2:14 mark to around 32:31:

And here’s a real treat, from Monday, March 11 six days before the draw was released to the world. Normally, Jon Rothstein interviews coaches mostly from Power 5 schools (will become Power 4 when the Pac-12 dissolves on June 30, 2024).

College Hoops Today is here year-round, both in season and especially in my case the nearly seven month off-season.

The interview starts at around the 8:15 mark:

Finally, there will be a special article done by media critic Bryan Curtis which I am sure will be great weekend reading. The articles resemble that of The New Yorker or The Atlantic.

I will attach that link in a separate blog so you won’t get confused.

By the way, for the ladies in Southern California–there might be some tickets available starting as low as $52, if you want to check out the action at Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles.

I would first check Vivid Seats for all of the details and do your homework just in case if there are some seats available, because all four schools travel well, especially Arizona and North Carolina.

If you cannot get in, get there at least a few hours early so you can catch the bands and maybe get a few shots of the cheerleaders soaking up the 68 degree sun.

My kind of weather, if you asked me.

Here are the game times:

Game One, 4:09 p.m. Pacific–6 seeded Clemson vs. 2 seeded Arizona

Game Two, 6:39 p.m. Approximate–4 seeded Alabama vs. 1 seed North Carolina

The rest of the nation can watch the action on CBS and listen to the game on the free Varsity Network app.

I will be back with my Sweet 16 preview sometime in the afternoon for my online readers in the Eastern and Central time zones, and I might do a short podcast if my throat holds up.

Take care everybody and I will hope to see you then.

Leave a comment