Noah Eagle on Getting Clippers Radio Job Out of College: ‘The Stars Can Align’
“People always ask me when I decided I wanted to get into it? I think it was pretty simple in the sense that I had a good relationship with my dad and I saw he enjoyed what he did.”
You never know when a major opportunity in the sports industry will come knocking at your door. For Noah Eagle, he would never imagine that as a senior at Syracuse, working as the television voice for the Los Angeles Clippers could potentially be an option.
Eagle was a guest on the You Know I’m Right podcast with Nick Durst and Joe Calabrese to talk about his career. He mentioned that the Clippers job was great timing for him, but when the leader of the Sports Media Center at Syracuse asked him to send his basketball reel, he had no idea what it was for.
“It was really awesome timing… The timing, if it’s right, the stars can align,” Eagle said. “I got really lucky. I got really fortunate in particular with the timing of the Clippers job. I was a senior at Syracuse, the longtime voice of the Clippers, Ralph Lawler, it was his 40th and final year with the team. He was retiring at the end of the year.
“I didn’t know this. I wasn’t aware of any of it, but I did get a call from a professor I had. She was the leader of the Sports Media Center at Syracuse at Newhouse, Olivia Stomski. She reached out to me and said ‘Send me your basketball reel, somebody is interested.'”
“I said, can you be more specific? She said, no I can’t. I said, why not? She said, trust me,” Eagle continued. “I put together a basketball reel of all the stuff I had to that point (January-early February 2019). I had decided my senior year, I’m not going to focus too hard on the job stuff until March. I wanted to enjoy my senior year, then I was going to go full-steam ahead with it. That was kind of my mentality going into the year.”
After sending his resume and bio a week later and still not knowing what position he was sending these things for, Eagle was driving to the studio where he hosted a radio show in downtown Syracuse and he got a call from a Los Angeles number. He ended up taking a chance and picked up the call:
“I answer it and it’s this big, booming voice,” Eagle recalled. “‘This is Nick Davis from FOX Sports West and Prime Ticket. I’m sure you are aware we are looking to replace Ralph Lawler with the Clippers and your name came up. So, we’d like to fly you out and interview you and audition you next week.’ I thought someone was going to pop out from my back seat and slap me across the face. I said, `’Are you sure you got the right guy?'”
After auditioning and having a memorable interview with owner Steve Ballmer, Eagle ended up getting the radio play-by-play job when Brian Sieman moved to television.
Of course, everyone knows Noah Eagle’s dad, Ian. Noah watched his dad in the booth from a very young age and one of the reasons that helped him decide he wanted to be in the same profession was the excitement Ian had for the job he was doing:
“He took me to work with him from a pretty early age,” Eagle explained. “In terms of physically being in the booth, I was probably 3-4 years old. I took a liking to it very early. There was never something that he said, ‘Oh man, I really am praying that my son loves sports.’ It just happened naturally.
“People always ask me when I decided I wanted to get into it? I think it was pretty simple in the sense that I had a good relationship with my dad and I saw he enjoyed what he did… He enjoys it, he gets up, he gets excited for it.
“Sure, could he get stressed out if he had five games in six days in five different cities? Without a doubt. Anybody would. But when he was there, when he came home in the morning, he was excited and he was smiling talking about it. All of those factors certainly helped in my decision-making and it swayed me in that direction.
“I think once you get to the point where you are perceptive enough and you know enough, you see a TV and understand what’s happening. I would see a TV and go, ‘There’s Dad.’ At the same time, I looked at it as it’s just him going to work. That was the mentality I grew up with. He gets excited for his job. That’s what really stood out to me.”
During this podcast, Eagle will also explain how he ended up working the 2021 Tokyo Olympics for NBC and why he was so excited to get the play-by-play job for the NFL Wild Card playoff games broadcast on Nickelodeon.
Ricky Keeler is a reporter for BSM with a primary focus on sports media podcasts and national personalities. He is also an active podcaster with an interest in pursuing a career in sports media. You can find him on Twitter @Rickinator555 or reach him by email at RickJKeeler@gmail.com.
If you owe Jay Williams money, he is going to find you. Just ask Rob, a listener in Orlando who bet the ESPN Radio morning man that the Lakers would advance to the NBA Finals.
Last week, Rob called Keyshawn, JWill and Max and bet Williams $1000 the Lakers would eliminate the Denver Nuggets. Williams said if that happened, he would pay Rob $1500.
Obviously, that is not the way things played out. On Tuesday morning, Jay Williams called Rob demanding payment.
“He owes me my money,” he said. “So you know what we do? We got Detective Pat on the call today. Pat, let’s give this man a call. See if this guy picks up, trying to run away from giving me my money.”
The show’s associate producer Patrick Costello called the number Rob left last week. On the first attempt, the listener did not pick up. Williams vowed to keep up the pressure on social media and national radio and television until he got paid.
“Don’t get me on national TV and radio and then not pick up the phone when I call.”
“You know, getting that money is a wrap, Jay,” Keyshawn Johnson said through laughter. “I told you that.”
The show made one more attempt to connect with Rob before having to turn things over to Greeny. This time, the Lakers fan picked up and acknowledged that he had to pay. He offered to make a donation in Williams’s name.
“I’ll send you my bank account here privately, and then I will send it to the charity of my choice,” Williams agreed.
Rob agreed to the arrangement. Williams asked him if he wanted to apologize for doubting the basketball analyst’s prediction of the Lakers’ demise.
“Apologize? I need the Lakers to apologize to me after that performance,” Rob said. “Because Jesus Christ, that was horrible. That was bad.”
As the Los Angeles Lakers exited the court after being swept by the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals on Monday night, a grim reality set in across the basketball world regarding the future of forward LeBron James. Widely regarded as one of the best players to ever suit up, James is the NBA’s all-time scoring leader, a 19-time All Star selection, four-time MVP, and four-time NBA champion.
During his postgame media availability on Monday, he stated that he had to seriously think about his future, undoubtedly referencing retirement. James just completed his 20th season in the Association and continues to play at a high level, but is going to think about walking away from the game after falling short of the NBA Finals this year.
“He’s been a pretty good soldier for the game,” said Tom Milikan, morning show producer and assistant program director at 97.1 The Ticket. “There’s been some things I haven’t agreed with him [on] that he’s liked or tweeted or whatever. I think he’s had some ignorance, but I think that applies to every single athlete out there that’s great.”
Throughout his NBA career, James has been the subject of criticism. The ESPN special he participated in titled The Decision saw him reveal he would be leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers to join the Miami Heat. He is also a frequent subject across the network’s programming, including on Get Up, First Take and NBA Today.
“I think we pick and choose with him,” Millikan said. “I think I’ve been too hard on him and I’m kind of realizing that.”
Show co-host Mike Stone read messages from the 97.1 The Ticket text line during the show, many of which criticized James for being a “flopping” player desperate for any semblance of attention since he will not be in the NBA Finals. One text suggested his revelation of weighing retirement was done intentionally, surmising that he has a film documentary crew around him and coming back stronger than ever would make for a great story.
“The league needs some offseason stories,” Millikan said. “From what I know, the free agency class is not all that great this year – and one of the big names is Kyrie Irving, and that’s toxic. It’s sort of like, ‘Hey, maybe they’re generating buzz or trying to do the whole Brady thing.’ So be it – I’ve seen it 15 times in my life.”
Stone recognized that athletes like James are genuinely once-in-a-generation type talents, and that his time in the NBA has been defined by more than what he has done on the court. James has also been an immense advocate for greater causes, including social issues, youth education and community affairs. Whenever he decides to call it a career though, fans should rest assured that James has truly given the game everything he has.
“I want to see the best that they have for as long as possible,” show co-host Jon Jansen said of star athletes. “If they end up playing too long, so be it. I don’t care. Then I know I’ve [seen] it all.”
On Monday at the NFL Owners’ Meetings, flex scheduling for Amazon Prime Video’s presentation of Thursday Night Footballwas approved 24-8. Games can only be flexed between Weeks 13 and 17 with 28 days notice required. Additionally, a maximum of two games can be flexed per season, with the entire operation being on “a trial basis.”
“In one year of Al Michaels complaining about the games, they’ve changed two huge rules around it,” said Danny Parkins on 670 The Score as the news broke Monday. “[The] first rule already happened, and the Bears are one of the teams that either benefit or are victimized by the rule depending on your interpretation. You can play on multiple Thursdays this year. You can’t play multiple road Thursdays, but the Bears have two Thursday night games – in Washington and home against Carolina.”
In an effort to broadcast compelling action on a national stage, the National Football League did not give all of its 32 teams at least one game on national television this season. Conversely, the New York Jets, complete with star quarterback Aaron Rodgers, will be featured on national television for the maximum of six times, including two matchups on Thursday Night Football. The Jets, along with the Chicago Bears, dissented from voting in favor of flexible scheduling, but Parkins assumes it has nothing to do with the fans.
“My guess is [it is] because they already have two Thursday night games,” Parkins said. “Maybe they’re just altruistic and they care about fans and travel and all that, but I bet you that they said, ‘Well, we’re playing in Week 5 in Washington and Week 10 at home against Carolina. We don’t want to risk Bears-Browns or Bears-Falcons being flexed into Thursday Night Football later in the season and end up with three Thursday night games.’”
Many football fans and media professionals have pushed back on granting the property any type of flex scheduling because of the negative impact it has on injury prevention, something that is not as pronounced with other properties solely because of the day of the week. Sunday Night Football on NBC was previously the only property with flex scheduling ability, and Monday Night Football on ESPN is being granted that ability between Weeks 12 and 17 with at least 12 days notice.
“They don’t really care about your in-stadium experience – they don’t,” Parkins said of the league. “As long as you watch on TV, they’re thrilled because that’s where they make a huge, ungodly percentage of their money – more so than any of the other sports.”
