It might disappoint some to learn that Ian Eagle never sat down his son, Noah, for a heart-to-heart talk about broadcasting. There wasn’t a moment when Ian bequeathed the family microphone or handed down his book of broadcasting to Noah.
That isn’t to say Ian, the renowned basketball and football broadcaster for CBS, TNT and YES, didn’t impart his wisdom to Noah. He just let his son find his own path. And when Noah was around 13 years old, he foresaw that path to be in broadcasting.
Now 26, Eagle already has been the radio voice of the Clippers, has called college football (Fox and CBS) and basketball (FS1) and has broadcast three-on-three Olympic basketball for NBC. He also has called NFL games on Nickelodeon, and he’ll call the Super Bowl for the kids channel this season.
Until then, he’ll be calling “Big Ten Saturday Night” football games on NBC and Peacock. But this Saturday, he’ll be on the mic for an NBC crossover game between No. 6 Ohio State and No. 9 Notre Dame in South Bend with analyst Todd Blackledge and sideline reporter Kathryn Tappen (6:30 p.m., NBC 5, Peacock, 780-AM).
Though his father didn’t direct him one way or another, Eagle acknowledged his influence as a kid.
“Once I got into it,” Eagle said this week, “I started to recognize that all the years of sitting in his office and sifting through media guides or going with him to the events he was calling – I tried to tag along as much as I possibly could – and just watching him, through osmosis is how I got a lot of the knowledge.”
What struck Eagle most had nothing to do with broadcasting. He saw the camaraderie his father built within his crew and how he interacted with everyone – his partner, the producer, the security guard and other broadcasters.
“That’s something that I’ve really tried to make a concerted effort myself,” Eagle said, “going and saying hello to all the broadcasters from these schools and saying hello if they’re student broadcasters. I think it makes a difference.”
There was one piece of advice that Eagle’s father imparted and continues to:
“Just to always be myself, never try to conform to anything other than me,” Eagle said, though, naturally, his father’s sound pops out on occasion. “Knowing that being me has gotten me to this point, just continue it. Be genuine, and that’ll always come through.”
Eagle and his NBC mates are growing comfortable with each other in the first year of a seven-year agreement to air Big Ten football in prime time. NBC also has the rights to Notre Dame home games, which makes the game Saturday an allowable form of double-dipping.
Eagle has been particularly enamored with former ESPN analyst Blackledge, 62, who’s in his 30th year as a network analyst. When his contract was up, NBC pursued him, wanting to pair his experience and credibility with the ascending Eagle.
“I knew how good Todd Blackledge was,” Eagle said, “but when you’re standing next to him and then especially when I watch back the broadcast and I listen to just how much better he can make me, it’s amazing. It’s astounding, quite honestly, how well he sees the game.
“He sees things happening before they happen, and so it allows me then to set him up better because he’ll point it out before he’s going to say it. Then I can know where to take the ship from there.”
Despite their age difference, the pairing is working well on and off the air. Eagle said their first broadcast together, the West Virginia-Penn State game Sept. 2, went about as smoothly as possible.
Now their attention turns to the Buckeyes (3-0) and Fighting Irish (4-0), who lost the teams’ meeting last year in Columbus 21-10. This year, the Irish have scored more than 40 points in every game. The Buckeyes have allowed only 20 points total.
“The defensive front of Ohio State against this offensive line of Notre Dame that’s been so dominant, that matchup in the trenches is where this game is probably going to be won,” said Eagle, who filled in for an ill Jac Collinsworth on the Irish’s season-opening victory against Navy in Dublin. “We’ll probably keep track of that as much as possible.”
After the season, Eagle will return to the NBA – he ended his four-year run with the Clippers when NBC called – filling in on Nets broadcasts for YES. Ian is entering his 30th season with the team, and the network asked Noah to fill in when his father and No. 2 announcer Ryan Ruocco have scheduling conflicts. It’s a job that’s close to Noah’s heart.
“From a personal standpoint, 13-year-old me is definitely freaking out,” Eagle said, “and I would say present-day me is equally freaking out. It’s a special one, no doubt. I’m going to enjoy it.”
As part of his deal with NBC, Eagle also will call many Big Ten basketball games that will appear exclusively on Peacock beginning in October.
Remote patrol
Caley Chelios will appear on NBC Sports Chicago’s Blackhawks game broadcasts as an analyst and will be the regular backup for lead analyst Darren Pang when he’s working for TNT. Chris Vosters returns as the play-by-play voice. On radio, analyst Troy Murray will be in the WGN booth full-time with John Wiedeman.
NBCSCH is revamping its studio cast, which will include Chelios, her father, Chris, Tony Granato, John Scott and Denis Savard. Pat Boyle returns as host.
- My50 (WPWR-TV) will air 30 Wolves home games this season, beginning with the season opener Oct. 14 against the Milwaukee Admirals. Play-by-play voice Jason Shaver and analyst Bill Gardner return for their 16th season in the Wolves’ booth.
- NFL games airing Sunday afternoon in the Chicago market: Patriots at Jets, noon, CBS 2 (Jim Nantz, Tony Romo); Saints at Packers, noon, Fox 32 (Kenny Albert, Jonathan Vilma); Bears at Chiefs, 3:25 p.m., Fox 32 (Kevin Burkhardt, Greg Olsen).
