Speaker 1: One of the great broadcasters of our generation, a superhuman
being and a man who's gonna be busy covering Houston sports.
He'll be calling Amazon Prime coverage of the Rockets and
the Spurs. He'll be also on the call Sunday for
Jacksonville versus Houston. It is the Matt Thomas Showood Ross,
we say hello to Aron Engelo. I believe it's probably
four floors down in my hotel Bert. How are you
doing this afternoon?
Speaker 2: Good morning? Yeah? Yeah, getting ready for the Texas two stack.
Great to be with you.
Speaker 1: Are you gonna get shuttle service? You're actually gonna jump
on a plane to head to our fair city Houston
at the game?
Speaker 2: Thank you? Thank you for caring about the logistics of
my life. Matt. Yeah, I will get there. It's that simple.
Speaker 1: Oh that's that sounds like a kirk Herbstreet private jet moment.
I think that's very I mean, you are you are?
For you don't bring your dog with you? Due, I forget.
We're moving on other things.
Speaker 2: Hey.
Speaker 1: So, uh, Emmanuel Sharp is one of my favorite Houston
Cougars and I don't know you've I have you talk
since the championship game. I went bounced back and forth
between the Rockets and coming to San Antonio for the
title game. You've called some amazing game winning shots. You've
also in your life called some amazing, oh my gosh moments.
And I would have to say, as among your all timers,
that how that game between the Houston and Florida ended
up in San Antonio here this past April.
Speaker 2: Yeah, what I think is so unique. As a play
by play announcer, you can play over in your head
how to prepare for a potential game winning shot, to
build up the stages of the call. You can't really
prepare for not getting a shot off. That's not normally
in the play by play m book. So the fact
that it happened that way, that that could be the
only time a national championship is decided by circumstances like that.
So it really was unique. A Raft saw it in
real time and said he can't touch the ball, and
then time expires. It's over just like that, And then
you have to shift into the mode of winners losers,
which is Florida wins the title and Houston loses. An
absolute heartbreak, so very very odd ending. He's a terrific
player that whole team is fantastic. I just so enjoyed
telling their story, not just this fast year, previous years
with Kelvin Sampson, and you know they're not going anywhere.
He continues to pump out an incredible squad year in
a year out, But that one may take the cake
in bizarre odd endings.
Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure, and hopefully you get a chance to
call a different scenario this year. First of all, congratulations
you and Kevin being the man announcers on Amazon Prime
A note brainer. Let me ask you when you finally
took the position, after you know working you've been an
NETS announcer for a long time. You'll be doing less
of that this year. Did you get a chance to say, Hey,
I'm an old school guy. I like what the NBA
used to do in broadcasting. I've got a couple of nuances.
I mean, you've also hired an amazing talent and crew
of producers and behind the scenes looks. But was Amazon
ready to listen to some things about changing the way
they broadcast.
Speaker 2: Games completely completely? They came in with an open mind
of how to attack this. They have really good people
behind the scenes, really smart people too, so it was
interesting for me to head out to the seminar that
we did out on the West Coast and hear from them.
But they also were really good listeners and I think
leaned on both me and Kevin with all the years
that we've worked the NBA. My first real point that
I made, which fortunately they listened to, was look, day one,
when we go on the air, it's got to look
like the NBA, it's got to sound like the NBA.
Don't reinvent the wheel day one. People just want to
know that it's going to feel really comfortable and it's
going to be what they've come to when they turn
on the television. And that's exactly what happened. And now
I think you'll start seeing some new wrinkles. They'll try
some things too, which I'm more than cool with. There
has to be a period of trial and error and
see what sticks. But I'm definitely inspired by the way
that they viewed this, the way that they've tried to
take the best of yesteryear while also recognizing that there
are places where maybe you can add to the coverage
and find some new wrinkles.
Speaker 3: Ross with you as well. I I'm just curious, obviously
you somebody as a veteran of the broadcast world and
it being radio platforms and on TV and now to
streaming platforms. I guess your overall view of where this
is going is, do you think eventually everything will be
on streaming platforms and just kind of the state of
sports broadcasting in general.
Speaker 2: Well, I think there's a competitiveness now. We're trying to
get eyeballs and trying to get which obviously is where
we find ourselves in the streaming world, not just in sports,
but on the entertainment side. The amount of shows and
movies that are being produced that are going straight to
streaming and it's found an audience. It's not just out
in the wilderness somewhere. So the sports side was the
next thing to really hit because of all the live
programming that you can do, this is the one where
you have to watch in the moment. You can't just
record it and go back and watch it three days later.
If you want to know what's going on in a game,
you got to be there. And I think that's why
Amazon and Netflix and others have jumped on board, and
why the leagues have seen that it is a viable option.
I have not necessarily found at least in the early going,
the first couple of weeks hearing from people saying I
just can't find you. You can find it. It's going
to be a little different for people, and I think
muscle memory kicks in and they begin to figure out,
all right, this is my routine, this is what I do.
I don't know what you guys do in terms of
your live TV. I've made some adjustments in my life.
We moved and with that it opened up an opportunity
to try something else, which has been working for our family.
But I just know having kids, they don't don't have cable,
they don't have any designs on getting cable. It's just
a new era when it comes to programming and how
you consume it.
Speaker 3: II an eagle with us here on Sports Talk seven
ninety and talk real quick about the matchup tonight. Obviously,
Victor Winmbinyama one of the early stories in the NBA,
but has slowed down his last couple of games. Just
your thoughts on him and the way teams are going
to defend him. Rockets are going to do the same thing,
try to get physical with him, send a second and
third defender, and that's going to be something he's going
to have to adjust to.
Speaker 2: Yeah, let me approach it from two perspectives. First perspective
is just a pure basketball perspective. He is just such
a transcendent talent, and in year three of his career,
as you turn on the TV or if you're fortunate
enough to see him in person, I would imagine that
this is what a lot of people felt when Wilt
Chamberlain first started playing in the NBA. There have been
other great players, there have been people that have had
Hall of Fame careers that have played the same position,
but he's just doing it differently. There's something in his movements,
there's something in his body type that is just incredibly unique.
So from a basketball standpoint, it's scary for the rest
of the NBA. This guy is getting better with each
time you see him, he unleashes something a little bit new,
and that leads to the second perspective, which is the
play by play perspective. Matt, you can relate to this.
When you're calling a game. The goal is to be
on top of the action, and you never want to
be the one that misses something that's special or different
in the moment because you're looking down at your notes,
or you're focused on the wrong thing and your priorities
get out of whack. Every time this guy touches the ball,
there's a chance he's going to do something that you
just haven't seen before. And a lot of it has
to do, in a subtle manner that the angle in
which he takes the fact that we've grown so accustomed
to someone going on the baseline, someone his size, and
you recognize, well, he only has a couple options. Well,
not this guy. He can take the baseline and what
you would never see as a reverse layup being a possibility.
He cannot just reverse layup it. He could dunk it
with the offhand. So it really forces you to be
on your p's and q's as an announcer. And I'm
just excited. I think, you know, this rivalry is is
really hitting a fevered pitch. With four meetings this year,
first one Emirates NBA Cup, I just think every game
there's going to be a lot of anticipation with the
Rockets play the Spurs this year.
Speaker 1: I will call tonight's game Rockets and Spurs, and Amazon
Prime will have it for you here on seven ninety
with its six thirty tip time and then Sunday it
will be a lot of prep for Iron for you,
for Logan Cook and Tommy Townshend conversation on that broadcast
of the Texans and Jaguars. So please have your stuff together.
And I don't want to get into a super deep
dive of because look, the Texans fan know they're beat up,
backup quarterback, lots of injuries, disappointment. Let me get to
your new partner. We knew JJ was headed for television
stardom and whatever ole he was going to be. And look,
he reminds me of your counterpart at your other network
and Greg Olsen studies the game, learns the game, trying
to become a better broadcaster beyond this being an X
football player. I think your chemistry has been amazing. But
take us through what you can give to a guy
like JJ who's obviously very well recognized but still has
to learn the nuances of calling a sport on television
week two week.
Speaker 2: Yeah, My whole approach when it comes to working with
new partners has always been the same. Make them feel comfortable.
Comfortable off the air usually translates to being comfortable on
the air. Let them know that I'm going to be
with them every step of the way. I'm not going
to put them in a bad position. I'm not going
to lead them down a road that has no exit strategy.
On the air. I'm going to go to those places
with them alongside them, and that goes a long way. Obviously,
if you can form a friendship, that helps greatly. JJ
came to the table equipped with so many skills to
be really good at this. The fact of the matter
is he's incredibly comfortable on television. So that's the first
thing that is either innate to you or not innate.
I don't know if I've worked with anybody just from
an on camera point of view, that shows no hesitation
whatsoever in whatever direction we have to go in at
any moment. And then the other part, which you don't
know about someone until you're really around him every day.
He's such a thorough person. He thinks things through. He
has great questions, so if he doesn't know something, he
will ask you, and he's not afraid to ask you.
Some people would be afraid to ask because they don't
want to come across as not knowing what they're supposed
to know. He wants to learn it. His football knowledge
is through the roof his humor is elite. His self
deprecation quotient, which I find to be highly likable and relatable,
is also excellent. And then he's got great instincts. So
you know, we just hit the ground running. It was
really easy, which is not normally the case in television.
Usually it takes a little time. By week one, week two,
week three, it felt like we had been working together
for ten years.
Speaker 1: Final question, who is the best team in the AFC?
Because I can't figure it out right now?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I can't figure it out either. I had Indianapolis
last week. Everybody was on the bandwagon. I think they're
really good, by the way, I'm not going to take
the one loss and then just dismiss them. I think
Denver's record is obviously probably not what it might show
you in terms of who they are. I don't think
there's a team in the AFC that would be against
playing Denver right now in the postseason. So you are
what your record says you are. I get that, but
I think there's a caveat there, just based on some
of the limitations that I've seen Kansas City. I'm not
going to toss them aside just yet. I think Buffalo
has the most potential. But I find myself saying that
year in and year out, and here we are in
the AFC. North Baltimore is a sub five hundred team
and everybody's picking them to win the division. So the
whole thing just feels upside down.
Speaker 1: Well, I thank you for your time. I always appreciate
you coming on the show. And the best part about folks,
when you go to your Amazon account, if you drop
Iron Eagle on the discount code, you get ten percent
off your next order. So congratulations, yeah, ten percent. Thank
you friend for the time. We really appreciate. We'll see
at the arena later this evening.
Speaker 2: Yep, and I do travel my parakeet. Thanks for asking.
Speaker 1: That's a parakeet's name.
Speaker 2: Grouty ol.
Speaker 1: Groucho Eagle. Hey, very good, Thank you, Sarah. We'll talk
with you later. Thanks again. Awesome stuff you get there,
the amazing Iron Eagle as good of a broadcaster as
is a person period. End of story.