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ALBANY – It certainly would have been a great homecoming for former NewsChannel 13 (WNYT) sports anchor/reporter Andrew Catalon to call the NCAA men’s basketball tournament first- and second-round games at MVP Arena for CBS and the family Warner Bros. Discovery Sports networks (TBS, TNT and truTV) this weekend.
Alas, it’s not happening.
Catalon, along with analyst Steve Lappas and sideline reporter Jamie Erdahl, was assigned to call the first- and second-round games being played in Columbus, Ohio, Friday and Sunday.
Catalon, who will be calling his ninth NCAA tournament, talked about his years covering many sporting events for NewsChannel 13 at the downtown Albany arena.
“There’s no doubt I have a ton of great memories, not only from Albany, but specifically in that building,” Catalon said during a telephone interview Monday. “I can’t imagine how many games I covered. It’s got to be over 100 in that building. But at the same time, I didn’t want to get my hopes up because I’m just happy to get to any site. This is such a fun week for all of us, and to be one of the guys that CBS and Turner trust to call its games, I’m really excited about our matchups in Columbus.
“And I’ll just have to come back to the track [Saratoga Race Course] in the summer, and that’ll make up for missing the tournament at Albany.”
Catalon will be calling four games both Friday and Sunday with little time for a break. It’s a pace that he has gotten used to since he began calling NCAA tournament games in 2014.
“Thankfully, I kind of know the rhythm and cadence of the week and what to expect,” Catalon said. “That doesn’t make it any easier. You’re really diving into teams that you haven’t even watched the whole year. For me, I got a little lucky. I’ve seen two of the eight teams that I’ve called, I did a Michigan State game last month, and I had Marquette in January. And that really helps me out.
“But it’s a scramble, there’s no doubt. Not only just getting a flight, but then trying to process all the information, I still hand write my boards, so that is a little time consuming, but I just find I retain the information a little bit better. And I also like to watch the games, to see who the players are and kind of the way their offense or defense work. So it’s a mad scramble these days, but I’m used to it now. And I think I have a pretty good system down to get me ready.”
Catalon is a rising star at CBS. Besides calling college basketball, Catalon calls NFL games and is the No. 2 announcer on the network’s PGA coverage. When No. 1 announcer Jim Nantz takes some time off from the PGA coverage, Catalon slides into the 18th tower to be the main announcer.
The way Catalon is doing his job is getting noticed.
“I’m a big fan of Andrew,” CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus said during a video call last week. “[He] works incredibly hard, always prepared, unselfish, doesn’t mind his analyst being the star. And he’s just a wonderful human being also. He’s the kind of person you want on your roster.
“He’s going to get bigger and better assignments, as he grows older and he’s with us longer.”
Nantz joined McManus in praising Catalon.
“I’m a huge fan of Andrew’s, and I think every single person that’s on our production team will say the same thing,” Nantz said. “He’s a pro’s pro. I’ve loved watching his games, his broadcasts, his career. He’s fantastic.”
Catalon is appreciative of what McManus and Nantz said about him.
“That means a lot to me,” Catalon said. “I have to say the utmost respect for Sean and Jim. And in terms of [my] role. I just kind of feel like the play-by-play guy is the point guard out there, and he’s directing the traffic and he’s making the analysts look good. When a big moment comes, you try to hit it. That’s always the way I’ve kind of seen my role.”
UNFAMILIAR BUILDING, NO PROBLEM
This is just the third NCAA men’s basketball tournament to be played in Albany, so it’s not a familiar venue for the CBS production crew.
But that doesn’t concern McManus.
“We do dozens of games on [the] CBS broadcast network and CBS Sports Network,” McManus said. “So going into an arena that we haven’t necessarily been to before … our technical team is so practiced and so adapted that I don’t see that being a problem in any way, shape, or form. And I think the atmosphere there is going to be spectacular.”
RECALLING MUSBURGER’S FIRING
This will be Nantz’s final year of calling the Final Four. Ian Eagle will take over next season.
Nantz first called the Final Four in 1991, after serving as the host of the tournament. The year before, CBS stunned the country on the off day between the semifinals and championship game in Denver when it announced the firing of Brent Musburger, who had been calling the Final Four since 1984 and who had been host of “The NFL Today.”
Nantz recalled that fateful day, which was April Fools Day, in 1990. It was no joke.
“After the Saturday games. Brent, [analyst] Billy Packer and I were asked to attend a CBS sales function,” Nantz said. “We all stood up and spoke. We’ve been on the air for a while, so the remarks were limited and our time was brief. We went back to the hotel together, and when we got into the lobby, Brent was intercepted for a moment by Jimmy Tubbs, who was his personal assistant, and he was told that [CBS Sports President] Neal Pilson was looking for him and went upstairs. The next morning, that’s when the news broke that Brent and CBS were parting ways.”
Musburger called the championship game between UNLV and Duke, and then it was time for him to say farewell.
“Brent said his goodbyes, and I was asked to tag it after he finished saying his final words, and I thanked him on behalf of the network, which was very surreal. Brent was and remains a hero to me, and I tried to wrap up what he had meant to CBS. His contribution was just immeasurable. … That was a tough time for all of us.”
Contact Ken Schott by email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @slapschotts.
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