May 21, 2020
For this episode I (Chris Grosso) am joined by the great longtime voice of the Brooklyn Nets, NBA broadcaster for TNT, and NFL, NCAA basketball announcer for CBS, Ian Eagle. After Ian had sent me a text with an eagle emoji a few days ago we started out talking about the "Bird" nickname and how that originated (1:00). We then talk social distancing life and how he's staying occupied during this time (6:45), if he's kept in touch with Sarah Kustok, Richard Jefferson, Michael Grady and all the other YES personnel (9:30), and whether he thinks the NBA will return this season (11:08). I then ask the future of announcing which may include remote broadcasts from studios instead of being live at the game (15:05). We then talk some Nets as I ask if he thinks Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving will play if the season does resume (17:15), and the parting of ways between the Nets and Kenny Atkinson (24:50) and who he thinks they may look for in the next head coach (27:45) . I then ask him his thoughts on 'The Last Dance' (30:10). We then wrap up by talking about his career (42:40), he talked about his experience working at WFAN and being a producer on Mike and the Mad Dog (45:42), his connection with the Nets and their fan base (49:30), I ask about his word play and calls and how he picked up on some of that from Bill Raftery(53:40), and we conclude as I ask him about his son Noah who right out of college got a job with the LA Clippers and how much that means to him (57:10)