CityView Magazine

Always By My Side
by Jim Nantz
Reviewed by Steve Phillips, Sportsanchor at WBIR - 10

To avid sports fans, CBS announcer Jim Nantzis a household name and practically a member of the family.  From that standpoint his meandering memoir, Always by My Side, is a ripping success.     Nantz has an enviable inventory of behind-the-scenes stories with some of the biggest names
in sports and sports television.  He recalls his introductions to TV legends Jim McKay and Brent Musberger, shares vignettes of figures such as
Bill Belichick and Tony Dungy, and includes a glimpse of Tiger Woods few could ever expect to see.

Those of us who’ve had a family member with Alzheimer’s will relate to the touching accounts of his father’s diagnosis with that dread disease and his family’s struggle to deal with the aftermath.

Nantz has some interesting stories to tell, but it’s a nomadic narrative that can be difficult to follow.  If you can revel in the sports sidebars and tender stories of a son’s love for his father and not expect a Pulitzer-caliber read, it’s a satisfying journey; whether it’s “unlike any other”, I’ll leave for you to decide.