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ScriptOhio
Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
Jim Nantz's dream 32-year Final Four run wraps as iconic voice of March Madness soaks in final moments
Nantz became a legend because of his start in college basketball and his 36-year connection to the NCAA Tournament
www.cbssports.com
Jim Nantz's dream 32-year Final Four run wraps as iconic voice of March Madness soaks in final moments
Nantz became a legend because of his start in college basketball and his 36-year connection to the NCAA Tournament
In early January 1986, a 26-year-old with joyful ambition and bottomless optimism took a flight out to Seattle to call a men's basketball game.It wound up being the formal initiation of a legendary broadcasting career.
Jim Nantz's first play-by-play assignment for CBS was a USC-Washington affair on January 11 of that year, working the game alongside former Kentucky standout Larry Conley.
One week later: a proper introduction to a lifelong friendship. Nantz catty-cornered to Coral Gables, Florida, to call Arizona at Miami. As fate would have it, he was partnered with the one and only Bill Raftery. An eager-to-please Nantz got taken out to an extravagant Miami Beach dinner, and as is Raftery's wont, young Jim got more than he bargained for that night.
"You walk out of one dinner with Raft and you feel like you've known him for 37 years, which is the actual case now," Nantz told CBS Sports in his final sit-down interview before his final basketball call after 37 years and 354 NCAA Tournament broadcasts.
On Monday night, Nantz will toss on the headset for one final basketball call next to Raftery, working CBS' broadcast with Grant Hill and Tracy Wolfson. It's No. 4 UConn vs. No. 5 San Diego State — a national title game almost nobody saw coming as recently as two weeks ago.
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ScriptOhio
Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
Who do you want to win tonight? I'll watch the game and be thinking it's too bad both teams can't lose; however, I'll be rooting for UConn. SDSU has too much of a scUM connection:
Thirty years ago, a group of disrupters with baggy shorts and black socks changed college basketball as we know it, and took a good slice of American culture along for the ride.
Those freshmen known as the Fab Five ended up one win short of the title, which is exactly where San Diego State — a team coached by a former Fab Five assistant, Brian Dutcher — finds itself in 2023 during another transformative period in college hoops.
The Aztecs (32-6) themselves certainly aren't trying to deliver change to the game or the culture when they face UConn (30-8) in the title game Monday.
But the fact that they're here — a team with Michigan bloodlines that was forged quickly through the newly liberated transfer portal and enriched by opportunities that have sprung from name, image and likeness deals — speaks volumes about where those Fab Five superstars were trying to take the game three decades ago.
“We got to college and started understanding the hypocrisy in the game, with the schools making millions and us sitting around poor as hell,” said Fab Five guard Ray Jackson. “We wanted to change the dynamics of that, get the athletes feeling empowered a little more.”
One of the greatest ironies is that the coach who essentially built the 21st-century version of San Diego State is Dutcher's longtime boss at both Michigan and SDSU, Steve Fisher. Fisher made his way to the West Coast after losing his job at Michigan in the wake of one of the most complex and sordid illicit-benefits scandals in NCAA history.
In essence, the coach, who retired and handed over the SDSU reins to Dutcher in 2017, got caught up in a series of events that, frankly, wouldn’t be frowned upon nearly as harshly today. Back then, it was a shady booster with gambling ties trying to funnel money to players. These days, sports gambling is legal in many states (the NCAA brought the Sweet 16 to Las Vegas for the first time last week), while everyone from car dealers to social media conglomerates pay players in the open.
Fisher is in Houston this week, hanging with his son, Mark, a special assistant for the fifth-seeded Aztecs who has ALS.
San Diego State's Brian Dutcher brings Fab Five legacy to title game
Brian Dutcher, a former Michigan assistant coach, has seen both ends of the transformative era of college basketball.
www.detroitnews.com
San Diego State's Brian Dutcher brings Fab Five legacy to title game
Thirty years ago, a group of disrupters with baggy shorts and black socks changed college basketball as we know it, and took a good slice of American culture along for the ride.
Those freshmen known as the Fab Five ended up one win short of the title, which is exactly where San Diego State — a team coached by a former Fab Five assistant, Brian Dutcher — finds itself in 2023 during another transformative period in college hoops.
The Aztecs (32-6) themselves certainly aren't trying to deliver change to the game or the culture when they face UConn (30-8) in the title game Monday.
But the fact that they're here — a team with Michigan bloodlines that was forged quickly through the newly liberated transfer portal and enriched by opportunities that have sprung from name, image and likeness deals — speaks volumes about where those Fab Five superstars were trying to take the game three decades ago.
“We got to college and started understanding the hypocrisy in the game, with the schools making millions and us sitting around poor as hell,” said Fab Five guard Ray Jackson. “We wanted to change the dynamics of that, get the athletes feeling empowered a little more.”
One of the greatest ironies is that the coach who essentially built the 21st-century version of San Diego State is Dutcher's longtime boss at both Michigan and SDSU, Steve Fisher. Fisher made his way to the West Coast after losing his job at Michigan in the wake of one of the most complex and sordid illicit-benefits scandals in NCAA history.
In essence, the coach, who retired and handed over the SDSU reins to Dutcher in 2017, got caught up in a series of events that, frankly, wouldn’t be frowned upon nearly as harshly today. Back then, it was a shady booster with gambling ties trying to funnel money to players. These days, sports gambling is legal in many states (the NCAA brought the Sweet 16 to Las Vegas for the first time last week), while everyone from car dealers to social media conglomerates pay players in the open.
Fisher is in Houston this week, hanging with his son, Mark, a special assistant for the fifth-seeded Aztecs who has ALS.
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OHSportsFan
Fan of Ohio Sports in Indy
One team has elite defense. One team has elite defense and offense.
UConn can grind out a win just fine by doing a little more during these “scoring droughts”.
UConn can grind out a win just fine by doing a little more during these “scoring droughts”.
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OHSportsFan
Fan of Ohio Sports in Indy
Not sure I’ve seen a team hurt the backboard and rim’s feelings more that SDSU. When they miss, they clank hard. Not rim outs.
Matt Bradley in particular has such a heavy shot. Remarkable they are playing for a title.
2 points in who knows how long. That is Buckeye level basketball.
Matt Bradley in particular has such a heavy shot. Remarkable they are playing for a title.
2 points in who knows how long. That is Buckeye level basketball.
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OHSportsFan
Fan of Ohio Sports in Indy
Pretty much expecting this. And it’s where I laid my money (-7.5).
I know the Aztecs have some fight but 1) hard to go back to back emotionally, we’ve seen this in sports all the time 2) I mean, uh…come on. Nice run and all but not a title worthy team compared to the Huskies.
We’ll see if they keep it interesting.
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AuTX Buckeye
Founder & Pres of the Flemming/Holtmann Fan Club
Yahoo Pickem Champ
Former Game Champion
Ucon can't miss.... wonder if they will stay this hot for the entire game... the fact it's not 20+ already is amazing...
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