"Hello Friends."
I spent an evening with Jim Nantz last night. Interesting guy. Great storyteller. At age 11, he wrote a letter to Jim McKay from Wide World of Sports and said he wanted to be a sports announcer. He got occasional letters from McKay, who then invited Nantz to come to New York and play golf with him when he graduated. They became friends. He gave the eulogy at Jim's funeral.
He gave the eulogy at Arnold Palmer's funeral too.
In college, around 1980, Nantz had a roomie. The roomie was named Fred Couples. Once in a while, they would pretend. They rehearsed a day when Couples would win the Masters, and Nantz would call it. It happened for real in 1992.
Nantz golfed with four presidents. Had dinner with Queen Elizabeth. (George Bush invited him to keep the conversation going.)
In 2019, he was calling Tiger's comeback at The Masters and had already decided what he would say: Nothing. He and Nick Faldo let 2:38 go by without saying a word after Nantz said "A return to glory."
Nantz used the proceeds from his bestselling book about his father to found a center to find a cure for Alzheimers in Houston. They are making breakthroughs. He said when he dies he wants to know they beat the opponent who beat his dad.
Nantz wrote a check for $25,000 for a local charity. He also donated the CBS jacket he was wearing when he called the 2024 Super Bowl for auction. He said it was the most watched telecast in history.
He will be calling the Memorial this weekend in Columbus.