Jim Gibbons, the Iowa State wrestler and coach-turned-television broadcaster, was asked by ESPN to call the quarterfinal round of the 2007 NCAA Championships. Of course, he said, but once he arrived that Friday morning in Detroit, he was nervous.
Gibbons was escorted to a “bread truck,” he says now, “with a cardboard table and four black-and-white monitors, maybe six or seven inches.” He could see his breath on that chilly day in March, and he was told his call would be streamed on the internet.
“My first thought was, 'I gave up a suite ticket for this?