The night before, Nantz was able to have a final conversation with him. Packer, hospitalized the last three weeks of his life, died of kidney failure on Jan. His family wasn’t sure if it was stroke-related. No one knew for sure what it was, but he had fallen in his garage. “I did know since November that the likelihood of him being able to travel was diminishing by the day. “I never had a chance to make that call,” Nantz said. The plan at some point was to call his old friend and colleague to invite him. “Deep in my heart is just an abundance of gratitude for the relationships I’ve had on this 37-year journey.” “I had this dream where Billy would be there and I’d be able to give him a hug walking off the court,” he said. Back when he chose this as his final tournament, Nantz envisioned Packer being there for his send-off. Love you, brother.’ And that’s how they were. While sorting through his brother’s keepsakes, Marty found a birthday card to Pat from Nantz and his voice caught with emotions as he read the inscription: “ ‘You are one the finest guys I’ll ever know. Meanwhile, Marty McGrath - Pat’s brother - will attend the Final Four along with his wife and daughter as guests of Nantz.
He was genius.”Įthan Cooperson, who was trained by McGrath, will be crunching numbers for Nantz at the tournament, just as he already does during the NFL season. “Pat had that sixth sense and he was fast. It’s got to be scratched out and sent over to me. Things are happening so fast, I don’t have time for a guy to give you a piece of calligraphy. “He had very good penmanship even in haste,” Nantz said. McGrath would quickly jot his observations and calculations on a steady stream of notecards and hand them to Nantz. “They’re inputting data - rebounds, shots, turnovers, assists, points scored - and I’m looking at how a team’s moving the ball down the court and who’s scoring. “Guys like Pat are computers,” Nantz said. McGrath, a Chicagoan with a brilliant math mind, would sit to the immediate right of Nantz and communicate on a headset to broadcast associates in graphics and someone compiling stats in the production truck. 12 after another heartbreaking loss to Gonzaga, but they brought toughness and pride back to a storied program. UCLA Sports Analysis: Even without raising a banner, UCLA’s seniors restored blue-blood fabric of the program “He had the best seat in the house who no one knew about,” said Nantz, noting that McGrath was always impeccably dressed in a coat and tie at games and carried an old-school leather attaché case, seasoned by decades of life on the road. By his count, he worked alongside 120 different play-by-play announcers, among them Jack and Joe Buck, Dick Enberg, Bryant Gumbel, Marv Albert. McGrath, while virtually unknown to the outside world, was revered in sports broadcasting, working football, baseball and basketball games throughout a career that spanned half a century. Millions of Americans know Nantz, whose voice is synonymous with some of the biggest events in sports, among them the Super Bowl, Masters and Final Four. He and CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus decided two years ago that this would be his final tournament as top announcer. He and his wife, Courtney, have a 7-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter, and going from NFL games to March Madness to the Masters is a relentless - albeit glorious - stretch. He wants to spend more time with his family. This isn’t the end of the road for Nantz in broadcasting, just calling college basketball games. As a student at the University of Houston, he started as the public-address announcer for the school’s basketball team and host of coach Guy Lewis’ television show. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.Nantz, whose crew now consists of Bill Raftery and Grant Hill, will sign off his basketball coverage in the city where it began. Celebrate this historic win at the end of a wild tournament with UConn Championship Gear. The Connecticut Huskies have won their fifth men's basketball national championship and the first since 2014. UConn 2023 Championship gear now available And, of course, the final moments of Dan Hurley and UConn celebrating the title.
Lamont Butler's epic game-winner against FAU in San Diego State's Final Four win.Markquis Nowell's alley-oop to Kayontae Johnson in Kansas State's epic overtime Sweet 16 win against Michigan State in Madison Square Garden.The even rarer 16-over-1 upset with highlights of Fairleigh Dickinson's epic win against top-seeded Purdue on a Friday night in the first round.The postgame elation of Princeton after taking down Arizona in the rare 15-over-2 upset.Pegues hitting the 3-pointer off a turnover in the game's final seconds. Furman knocking off Virginia on the first Thursday of the tournament with J.P.
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