Want Gus Johnson To Replace Jim Nantz? Dream On

With the Super Bowl now behind us, sports fans are turning their attention to the next great spectacle in sports: March Madness. And over the past year, no topic aside tournament expansion has been debated more among college basketball fans than replacing Jim Nantz on the Final Four broadcast with cult hero Gus Johnson. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it’ll never happen. Here’s why. – Jim Weber

There was a time when Gus Johnson was seen as a nuisance to announcing, a Stuart Scott clone that used his microphone to broadcast himself instead of the games he was covering.

But at some point over the last decade, the public perception of Johnson changed as he put together a highlight reel of calls that has defined some of the greatest sporting events in recent history – especially NCAA Tournament games. In an era where sports announcers are always searching for the next great sound byte and one-liner, Johnson never fails to provide a call that fits the moment perfectly and seems completely off-the-cuff. People are often left wondering how Johnson always ends up being a part of the most exciting moments in sports, when in fact Johnson is part of what makes moments like these so memorable with his exhilarating calls.

With the rise of YouTube and the blogosphere, a cult following has been established that worships Johnson and paid homage to him with a hilarious soundboard, endless YouTube compilations of his greatest calls and Facebook groups for him.

Over the last year, Johnson’s followers have turned into an angry mob that wants to see him replace Jim Nantz as the play-by-play announcer of the Final Four. And they’ve only been empowered by the fact that unpopular curmudgeon Billy Packer was axed as the color man of the broadcasts in 2008, giving fans a sense that their voices were being heard.

They now turned all their attention – and criticism – to Nantz.

Johnson’s fans bemoan the fact that Nantz never displays excitement during his March Madness broadcasts, that he’s better suited to be calling golf than hoops and that his hokey style doesn’t connect with young viewers that tune in for the tournament.

I can’t disagree with any of those.

In particular, when watching the last 30 seconds of last year’s epic national title game, you never would have known a national championship was on the line when listening to Nantz’s call of the action. And yes, the man was born to broadcast golf, particularly the weekend after the Final Four in Augusta, GA. In fact, I often wonder if that’s Nantz playing The Masters piano music in the background of telecasts. And lastly, his trademarked intro of “Hello, friends” and victory calls like “Duke is the king of the dance 2010” come off as contrived and hollow.

And I’ll be the first to admit that nothing gets me pumped up for March Madness like listening to Johnson’s soundboard or YouTube clips which always give me goose bumps (Johnson’s 2006 UCLA-Gonzaga “Heartbreak City” call is my favorite).

That being said, as someone that worked at CBS College Sports for two years, you should know that Johnson will never replace Nantz at the Final Four.

Let me count the reasons why.

#1: The decision is not a popular vote, it’s the decision of the brass at CBS Sports – most especially president Sean McManus – and they love Nantz. You can call them old fashioned and stuck in the past if you want, but the suits at CBS Sports care about public cries for flashier broadcasts and opinion polls as much as Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.

#2: To understand their love of Nantz, you must first know that he is the Golden Boy of CBS Sports. He was the prodigy that was hired by the network at the age of 25 and tabbed to replace Brent Musburger as lead voice of the network in 1990 at the age of just 30. While people have recently bashed Nantz for an ugly divorce in which allegations of cheating with a woman 20 years his junior surfaced (the two are now engaged to be married), he is beloved within the sports industry. When his memoir climbed the national bestseller list in 2008, the Washington Post’s Leonard Shapiro wrote it was “proof positive that nice guys can finish first.” In the eyes of CBS, Nantz can do no wrong.

#3: While you and I want more enthusiasm in our broadcasts, the higher-ups at CBS love Nantz’s soothing voice and the way he takes a back seat to the action instead of becoming a spectacle himself. Sports fans love to joke about Johnson’s crazy antics like saying Chris Johnson has “gettin’-away-from-the-cops speed”, but those at CBS certainly weren’t laughing when Johnson said that. If something like that was said during the Final Four, McManus might have a heart attack.

#4: There’s a perception that Nantz just strolls into March Madness between his other duties as lead CBS Sports voice for NFL and PGA coverage, but the public doesn’t realize that Nantz’s work ethic is legendary. There’s a reason he was hired by CBS at the age of 25. Even though he only does college hoops broadcasts for about a month leading up to the tournament, you would never know that by listening to him in March. On the flip side, Johnson’s work ethic is questioned inside the industry and he’s seen as someone that doesn’t do his homework before his calls. Johnson is still living down his 2008 MMA call on CBS when he declared Seth Petruzelli’s knockout of the vastly overrated Kimbo Slice in a mere 14 seconds, “the greatest upset in the history of MMA.”

#5: Here’s another misperception: People think that Nantz couldn’t care less about college basketball and that Johnson lives and breaths the game. If anything, the opposite is true. Nantz loves the college game and his history with it goes back to the days of being the Houston Cougars PA announcer where urban myth has it he coined “Phi Slama Jama” and Clyde “The Glide” Drexler. Johnson is actually a huge NBA fan that grew up idolizing Isiah Thomas and the Detroit Pistons while being raised in the Motor City. Yes, Johnson just doubled his duty for the Big Ten Network’s basketball coverage this year, but it’s not because of his love of the game; it’s because he was let go of MSG’s coverage of the New York Knicks.

As I said, I’m a Gus Johnson fan myself and hope to see another network give him a chance to broadcast higher profile games in the near future. But sorry sports fans, it won’t be CBS.

Jim Weber is the president and founder of LostLettermen.com. His column appears each Monday.

2:50 PM on 2/7/2011

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TC

Gus Johnson can make paint drying on a barn sound like the most exciting spectable in the world. This guy is awesome!
TC

Ooops… *Spectacle
H. Barnhorse II

CBS is blind when it comes to the downside of JN.
I agree with your assessment (of CBS and JN).
Great piece.

H. Barnhorse II
jim joyce

Gus is the best. Imported from Detroit.
Ranall Robinson

Gus Johnson’s calls are one to the things I look forward to about the NCAA tourney. He is way out there and fun to listen too! That’s hard to say about most play by play guys. He was born to do college basketball with that delivery.
BTN

The more I listen to Gus on Big Ten Net is does show that he is often unprepared for his daily work. He does not bring his A game and to be honest any announcer can be excited during a big play, Brent Musburger for one. I like Gus a bunch during his CBS action but I do believe that he is in right spot and Kevin Harlan would be better in #1 slot if Nantz were to go.
Vinny B.

If Johnson were white, he would have replaced Nantz already. The white guy can never do wrong. Look at Marv Albert and all he has done yet is still where he is. Gus is a victim of pure racism.
bill kuennen

everytime I hear Jim Nantz broadcast ncaa basketball or NFL football I wonder……did Mr. & Mrs. Nantz have any kids that lived?
Tommy

All you need to do is look at the overall culture of CBS to understand why they can’t take a little of the starch out of their collars. This is a network that takes ZERO risks (and sadly, is largely rewarded for it when it comes to ratings).

This is the network that plays FIVE police procedural shows a week.

This is the network that still requires every one of its comedies to have a laugh track because they don’t want to take a chance that their viewers won’t know when they’re supposed to laugh.

Really, any of the other networks would be a better broadcaster for the needs of the NCAA tournament, since CBS has no real cable presence to show multiple games. Fans complain a lot about ESPN, and most of it is warranted. But they do have the ability to show four live games nationwide simultaneously. CBS had to create a convoluted deal with Turner to do that (TruTV? Has anyone ever heard of that channel?)

Gus, you gotta get out of there, man. It’s a death trap for your style.
Torge

Big Bill Raftery and Gus Johnson would be ideal
Mike

I don’t care much for Gus Johnson for NCAA games. As you stated he doesn’t do his homework and talks out of his backside at times. Though his sound bytes may be all the rage, that duty is for the color commentator. On the flip side, Brent Mussberger is painful to listen to on play by play. Though Bob Knight IS teaching the game to him after all these years. Both Brent and Gus will tend to act as if the game is a blowout and talk of how the team on a small run is nailing the coffin shut with an 8 point lead mid way through the first half. When the most excited person in the gym is the play by play man, somethings wrong. Then again, maybe I’m just getting old.
Dennis

Your Stuart Scott reference is right on the money. Notice you don’t see much of Scott on espn anymore!!! He became overbearing after awhile with his ” The greatist of all time ” crowns he gave to any athlete of the day on his braodcasts. Real fans watch the game and are broadcasting within themselves and pay little attention to the on air experts.
robbie48

jn is finished Gus Johnson can make a Texans game exciting
John Haber

Gus just embodies college basketball. He brings a level of energy that is just amazing. His pleasantness translates through the TV which is really hard to do. Everyone I know just tunes in to anything he does. Nantz is definitely a golf guy. In fact Aikman and Buck were so awful that I get the feeling they will be axed. You do a poll of 100 people who saw the Superbowl and they will agree in a landslide.
Tom Craig

If you are going to pen an article, please use correct English. You said “People think that Nantz could care less about college basketball and that Johnson lives and breaths the game.” The proper term is “couldn’t care less”, which is how I feel about this article.
OldTerp

Gus Johnson sucks !

Just after Maryland won the NCAA title in 02

idiot Johnson thought it was a good idea to ask Juan Dixon about his parents who died of AIDS

Completely inappropriate time.

Gus will always be a loser like Jim Gray to me.
Lapdog

Gus’ “got it!” call is legendary. You wait for one of those calls at the end of a tourney game. He brings all that excitement and mayhem right in to your living room. I like Nantz, but Gus Johnson is the NCAA Tourney.
Clarence37

Gus Johnson sounds like he is really high on something. I can’t stand that screaming and yelling he does after every score. He’s annoying. I do agree though that Jim Nantz is not a agood fit for college basketball. Stick to golf. Tiger Woods needs you.
Troy

This is the first I’ve heard of Jim’s divorce and the reason for it. Had I known he was not the faithful type I would have let him know I was available.
Chris H

Just a correction: the term “Phi Slama Jama” was not coined by Nantz. It was coined by a writer from the now-defunct Houston Post named Tommy Bonk. Even Drexler will tell you that.
Darren Linville

I would love for Gus to call the Final Four in the near future. 2011 In The Big Easy would be awesome. I heard him during the Southeast Regional. He did awesome. I like Gus. He makes the games more fun to watch, His sideline humore and ways he calls the games in very important to the fan base of College Basketball. Give the man a chance. He makes the games worth it for all to see and hear.
Chuck

Gus Johnson is very annoying to listen to. All these people who are saying he is “the best ever” just feel like the Red Bull-drinking, over-hyped generation we have now that gets high on WWE-style broadcasts. That is where Johnson fits best, with his overdone shouting and screaming and gurgling noises….in something like professional wrestling. I am not an old-guy either, only 41, but I have heard enough broadcasters to know the difference.

There is nothing wrong with showing excitement during a broadcast, but a truly great announcer has some control over his voice. Johnson lacks self-control and it seems like he is trying to be the show instead of letting the game be the show. If you need to hear a screaming announcer to be interested in a game, then maybe you should be watching something else or go outside and get some fresh air.

Someone brought up the racial issue….as always. That is a bunch of garbage in this day and age. There are more minority announcers now than ever before and many are very good….Mike Tirico and John Saunders to name two. The difference is that they show actual respect for their audience and don’t try to upstage the game itself by being a loudmouth. There are some very annoying white announcers too, such as Dick Vitale and Marv Albert, in my opinion.

It takes more than some blood-curdling screams and a few clever one-liners to be a great announcer. Do you really believe Johnson should be mentioned with the all-time greats such as Pat Summerall, Vin Scully, Jack Buck, Harry Kalas, Keith Jackson, etc?? Give me a break!!
Dan

Jim Nantz needs to stick to Golf. He can call the Masters perfectly, but I despise having to listen to him call hoops and football. There have been numerous times where he and his colleague talk for two minutes about someone’s family and move on to what he thinks is pop culture, while the two teams have played a very exciting up and down game that totaled 30 points in two minutes. He doesn’t criticize any calls and steers clear of any controversy.
chill

I am so glad that Gus Johnson is NOT doing the Final Four. I cannot stand to listen to him call a D-1 bball game. The sound of his voice and the way he can go from a low pitch to a high pitch in a sec. is soooooooooooooooo irritating! Give me Marv Albert and Steve Kerr and I’m happy.
Jay

“When his memoir climbed the national bestseller list in 2008, the Washington Post’s Leonard Shapiro wrote it was “proof positive that nice guys can finish first.” In the eyes of CBS, Nantz can do no wrong.”

Nantz is not a nice guy no more, since he cheated on his wife. Had to be said, had too!

Anyways, there is no doubt in my mind that Gus Johnson runs circles around Nantz, when it come to broadcasting. Any idiot should see that. I agree with one of the commenters from above (because I say this all the time) Gus Johnson and Bill Rafferty would be the best broadcasting duo today, if not ever!!!! CBS executives, please put these two together. Show me that you have brains!
ralph

for you to knock mr. johnson,you should talk about all the others,who cover all the games.that talk about everything other than the game,mark jackson even talk about chewing gum during a game.mr.jackson is apleasant voice compare to ALL the others,so if you write about mr.jackson first check all of the others
ivan

I don’t care who calls the game cause i can digest whoever calls I’m into to the intricate of the game itself,the embodiment of the played game innermost!
john

he is annoying as hell!!!! i turned down the volume when he calls games!! i wanna watch the game, not have some cheerleader try to drama up what is a game!! stuart scott sucks too!
Anonymous

“On the flip side, Johnson’s work ethic is questioned inside the industry and he’s seen as someone that doesn’t do his homework before his calls.”–really? This is a serious allegation that basically screams “Johnson’s lazy”? I hope you also realize there’s a racial overtone to this statement since Black men are always accused of being lazy and of not having the same “work ethic” as the white guys. This is bull.

Want Gus Johnson To Replace Jim Nantz? Dream On

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