Jim Nantz bids a fond farewell to March Madness

HOUSTON (AP) — Certainly, Jim Nantz could fillan evening weaving tales of the great games and buzzer-beaters he’shad the privilege to see, and call, over a storytelling career thatmade his the voice of March Madness for nearly four decades.

But when asked about his favorite moments as he prepared for the354th and final game of that journey — Monday’s title game — hebrought up Delaware State.

The Hornets were a 16 seed when they made what is still theironly NCAA appearance back in 2005. They were going against Duke ina first-round game hardly anyone remembers now. Nantz was certainhe’d see those Duke players again.

“But those Delaware State kids, they’re on CBS, and I envisionedthat someday, they’re going to have the VHS tape to be able to showtheir grandchildren and say ‘I played in the NCAA Tournament,‘”Nantz said during a courtside conversation with The AssociatedPress the day before the start of his last Final Four. “Thistournament is their ‘forever.’ I always wanted to make sure that Ido justice to their story.”

The 63-year-old traces his own path to the announcer’s table towhen he was 9 and living in New Orleans. His dad took him to hisfirst college basketball game.

Working the sideline was a bear of a coach who had a red,polka-dotted towel draped across his shoulder. About 10 yearslater, that coach, Guy Lewis of the Houston Cougars, would giveNantz, who played golf at the school, a job as the public-addressguy for home games at Hofheinz Pavillion. A year after that, Nantzwas still living in the dorms at UH when Lewis asked him to hosthis coach’s show.

Nantz’s might very well be the voice American sports fans knowbest. He has guided them through six Super Bowls on CBS and walkedwith them among the towering pines at the Masters since 1986, whenJack Nicklaus won his sixth green jacket. He’ll continue on thoseassignments for the foreseeable future, but this 37th run throughMarch Madness will be his last.

Some said it might have been perfect if his alma mater, whichcame into the tournament as a No. 1 seed, was playing in itshometown in the final game of Nantz’s basketball journey. Thatdidn’t happen, but Nantz believes there’s something fitting about aFinal Four that came out of the blue like this, with three schoolsthat had never been this far before, and no team seeded better thanNo. 4 UConn.

He has always loved the underdog tales.

“Storytelling paradise,” Nantz called it.

It’s been wild, emotional and a little awkward for a man whoconcedes he likes to tell the stories, not be part of them.

He got a key to the city Friday. Two streets on an intersectionoutside the stadium were renamed “Jim Nantz Way” and “Hello FriendsBoulevard.”

“Hello Friends” is the comfy-as-a-slipper welcome he coinedabout 20 years ago. It gives Nantz a moment to connect with theaudience and think of his dad, who passed away in 2008 after a longbout with Alzheimer’s. The Nantz National Alzheimer’s Center isbased in Houston.

Nantz’s welcome-in message to the telecasts might be planned.Other things aren’t.

His call of Saturday’s buzzer-beating shot by San Diego State’sLamont Butler in the semifinals — Nantz estimates he’s had20-something such last-second winners over his years in thetournament — plays back like a master class in what his job shouldbe: simple, urgent, much more about the moment than the persontalking about it.

“It’s Butler. With two seconds. He’s gotta put it up. Aaand. Hewins it! He wins it! With the jumper!” Then, five seconds ofsilence, followed by, “A San Diego State miracle!”

Speaking of miracles, there’s another announcer who made a namefor himself by talking about one. Shortly after this interview wasover and Nantz had started talking to some well-wishers, he liftedup his phone and smiled as he showed it to a few folks standingnearby: Al Michaels was calling.

Though many might consider Nantz and the 78-year-old Michaels ascontemporaries, there was a sense of the unfiltered excitementNantz felt about receiving that call. And it gave a glimpse as towhy, even after all this time, he has such a strong bond with themillions of people who tune in. In some ways, he’s just likeus.

Moments earlier, Nantz had recalled hosting the Final Fourstudio show from the Kingdome in Seattle in 1989 when Magic Johnsonpopped by for a visit on the set. As Magic and Nantz, both 30 atthe time, sat in the corner of the arena, watching the finalseconds of the Michigan-Seton Hall title game tick down, theannouncer asked Johnson if he ever stopped to soak in everythingand reflect on the wonder of all he’d been part of.

“He nods and just says, ‘All the time,’” Nantz said. “And today,I think about that. I’ve had the best seat in the house at theSuper Bowl or the Masters or here for my whole career. And I’venever gotten over the fact that I’m the one who’s blessed with thechance to lend a voice to it, and to tell the story.”