Everyone loves a funny anecdote, and Ian Eagle had a whopper to share Thursday during an appearance on the Marchand Sports Media podcast.
Host Andrew Marchand asked the veteran announcer if he had trained his son, Noah Eagle, to be a broadcaster from an early age, and the way some parents push their children into baseball or soccer. The 28-year-old Noah has earned a name for himself as a play-by-play man in various roles, including with NBC Sports.
Proud father Ian explained how young Noah honed his broadcasting skills.
“We started very young at the dinner table,” Eagle said. “I would have him do play-by-play when my wife was placing the different dishes onto the setting … ‘Noah go!
“‘Spaghetti coming in from the right, meatballs on the left, we’re going to blend the two! We’ve got it! Spaghetti and meatballs!” Ian Eagle said in an over-the-top call, mimicking his son.
“No! Again! Again! Again!” Eagle said in an exaggerated tone. “More description. I need more from you! Let’s go! More specific!
“No, we didn’t do any of that whatsoever.”
Eagle’s tale might not be true but it certainly made for a great visual.
Noah Eagle has talked about his father’s influence on his career. In 2023, he told The Adam Schefter Podcast that he watched his father and asked questions.
“He never sat me down and said, ‘Here’s what you need to do: X, Y, Z, to become this great broadcaster,’” Noah Eagle said. “It was more so that I just watched him. I watched how he interacted with people. I watched how he carried himself, how he prepared, and then he’d give me tips, especially when I asked him. And when I got more into it and immersed myself in it, when I got to college, that’s when it only grew and that bond strengthened.”
That sounds like a better way to learn the business than some traumatic “spaghetti and meatballs” incident.