Episode 56: Jim Nantz says goodbye & Joe Davis says hello to big events

Just days before calling his first World Series game, Fox Sports’ Joe Davis joins the pod to talk about how his meteoric career took off. Davis, who replaced play-by-play legends Vin Scully on Dodgers games and Joe Buck on national games, takes listeners through how he approached the NLCS and what was going through his mind before Bryce Harper’s game-winning eighth-inning home run. He also discusses his accomplished family, including his Academy Award-winning brother, producer sister and his father, who works as a spotter on his NFL games.

Andrew Marchand and John Ourand open the pod by discussing two stories that they broke this week. The duo discuss Jim Nantz’ decision to step away as the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament’s main play-by-play announcer and CBS’s decision to replace Nantz with Ian Eagle. The two also discuss the NBA’s decision to mandate that regional sports network announcers travel to every game this season. Other topics include updates to the Big 12 and Pac-12 media rights negotiations and this weekend’s NWSL championship, which CBS will carry on its broadcast TV network in primetime.

Mentioned this week: Jim Nantz, Ian Eagle, Chris Russo, Joe Buck, Pedro Martinez, Marie Donoghue, Dan Marino, Breece Hall, Denzel Mims, Melvin Gordon, Brett Rypien, Courtland Sutton, Bill Koenig, Melinda Witmer, Matt Vasgersian, Gary Bettman, Eddy Cue, Anne Ourand, Chris Myers, Trevor Lawrence, Christian Kirk, Mark Schlereth, Noah Eagle, Finley Nantz, Jameson Nantz, Caroline Nantz, Verne Lundquist, Gus Johnson, Al Michaels, Mike Breen, Nate Smeltz, Jay Wright, Bill Raftery, Abe Madkour, Libby Davis, Charlotte Davis, Blake Davis, Theodore Orel Davis, Mike Puma, Paul Davis, Len Kasper, Vin Scully, Red Barber, Bryce Harper, Bob Melvin, Josh Hader, Rob Thomson, Zack Wheeler, John Smoltz, Sam A. Davis, Catherine Davis, Tom Brady, Jean Segura, Nick Castellanos, John Leo Ourand, Chris Mason, Acie Wyatt.