Jim Nantz, sports’ greatest narrator, bids farewell to NCAA basketball 

Nantz still providing shining moments for CBS at Masters, PGA golf, Super Bowls and NFL games

Never mind one. Jim Nantz has had — and given us — so many shining moments as lead play-by-play voice for CBS-TV, who could possibly count them all up? 

Ian Eagle takes over next year. 

Nantz had been calling tournament games for CBS for 37 years, and took over from Brent Musburger on play-by-play for Final Four games starting in 1990-91. What a run. 

But Nantz isn’t retiring from everything. 

He remains lead play-by-play voice for CBS on NFL games and occasional Super Bowls, a job he has held since 2004, as well as for PGA golf tournaments. 

Nantz’s trademark introduction on sports telecasts has been the simple but welcoming, “Hello, friends.” 

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In wrapping up Monday night’s NCAA basketball telecast, Nantz said, “One thing I’ve learned through all of this: Everybody has a dream everybody has a story to tell. Just try to find that story. Be kind. 

“We’ll try to play off, ‘Hello, friends.’ But to you, everybody in the college game, the CBS family, my family, the viewers: Thank you for being my friend.” 

Nantz worked his first Masters tournament for CBS-TV in 1986, at age 26, when he was assigned to call action at the Par 3 16th hole. And what action. There, late on a Sunday afternoon iconic even by Masters standards, Nantz — with the help of golf great Tom Weiskopf — set up, then described, Jack Nicklaus’ memorable iron shot off the tee. Nantz did so with seeming ease, and with ample, but not too much, historical perspective to make you believe he’d been covering Nicklaus and the Masters for decades.  

After Nicklaus’ tee shot bounced once, then trickled down the green’s slope to within a few feet of the flag — to set up an easy birdie putt that raised Nicklaus into a first-place tie, on his way to his record sixth Masters victory — Nantz famously observed: 

“There’s no doubt about it: ‘The Bear’ has come out of hibernation.” 

For me, Nantz’s shiningest moment of all occurred at the top of Sunday’s telecast of the Masters in 1998.  

Nicklaus, at age 58, and a year after Tiger Woods’ sport-shattering, runaway first of five wins at Augusta National, had moved himself by Saturday night into only long-shot distance of final-round contention. 

But somehow, Nicklaus — limping around the course all week on a bum hip that required surgery months later — burned up the front nine, holing four birdies and triggering ovations of such piercing volume and thunder as to compel normally staid “patrons” (the official Masters term for on-hand fans) to literally sprint from all corners of the course, to join the fast-growing throng around the Golden Bear. 

As a few of those fans told Toronto Sun correspondents on hand, there could be no other reason for such uncommon noise other than Jack must be off to an insane start so, under that presumption, off they ran. 

Elsewhere that Sunday afternoon, I, along with millions of other Nicklaus fans — in the pre-smartphone age, when modem internet access was far from ubiquitous — for hours nervously waited for the start of that day’s CBS telecast, then at 4 p.m. EDT. Knowing Nantz’s appreciation of Nicklaus, and love of the event’s rich history, I was convinced that in the unlikely chance Nicklaus had begun his round on a run, and only if, would Nantz lead off with it. 

Such an occurrence would mean even more to me, as I’d been a huge fan of Nicklaus since 1976 — the year after he’d won his last Masters to that point — and a work assignment had prevented me from enjoying any of his epochal 1986 triumph. I’d felt cheated.  

Just once more, I’d hoped, Nicklaus would go a Sunday run at the Masters and I’d be able to catch it this time. 

Well, this is how Nantz began that final-round telecast in 1998, over a taped, fade-from-black shot of Nicklaus cranking a fairway iron on the second hole: “Welcome … to the final round of the Masters, and you are not going to believe what you are about to see.” 

I practically crumbled in front of my TV.  

Nantz continued, as the trademark Masters soundtrack of tinkling piano, strings and acoustic guitar played softly in the background. 

“Jack Nicklaus, with his second shot to the Par 5 second. The greatest champion this tournament has ever seen, a six-time winner of the green jacket, started today five shots back … This for eagle at 2 (which just missed). A wonderful stroke netting birdie at the second.” 

Great! … But? … 

“But the Nicklaus heroics were only beginning.” 

Come. On. 

Nantz then dramatically described Nicklaus’ chip-in birdie on 3 — over a crowd roar so deafening that the broadcast audio’s crackling, red-lining over-modulation surely shorted out something in the CBS truck. 

Then, after showing two more Nicklaus birdies before a cup-kissing miss for another on 8, Nantz teed up the day’s action with this: 

“Everyone but Jack thought, coming into the week, there was no chance for the great champion. He’s making one more run at a green jacket, folks! Only three behind, in the final round.” 

What a setup. 

In the end, Nicklaus couldn’t catch eventual winner Mark O’Meara, finishing four strokes back, in a tie for sixth. 

That was exactly 25 years ago — a shining career moment for Jack, who never was as good again, but especially for Jim, the greatest sports narrator of our generation. 

JoKryk@postmedia.com 

@JohnKryk 

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