Week of June 29 - July 5, 2008

For your convenience, a written transcript is printed below the video.

Daryn: "I'm Daryn Kagan on darynkagan.com. I have a love story for you today, a love story between a son and his father.

Jim: "He was really one who made you believe in your dream and that it was totally attainable."

Daryn: "Jim says the biggest professional thrill he's ever had is the many times that his Dad has been by his side in the broadcasting booth. He likes to tell the story how his Dad would come in the booth, put on an extra set of headsets and just listen in and watch while his son did his job."

Jim: "And he would just watch me with just such a level of pride I can't even describe it. Honestly, it gets me very emotional to think of that look which I can see so vividly right now when I talk about it. How he would just watch me as though he couldn't believe that all of this was really happening to his only son."

Daryn: "Jim Nantz has told the biggest stories about the biggest personalities in sports. But the one man Jim Nantz really wants you to know is his Dad."

Jim: "My Dad had really a big personality - robust in so many ways - healthy, scrapping, life of the party - very smart, very curious mind. He loved the world of sports because it took him places, it was like a travelogue."

Daryn: "And now comes the hard part of the story. Jim shares that his father's incredible mind has been failing since a surprising diagnosis back in 1995."

Jim: "We saw the best neurologist that I could find in New York and Houston and everyone came back and told me that my that father was in the early stages of Alzheimer's. And it was devastating because it is tantamount to being given a death sentence. And you just know that there is a long process ahead that not only affects your father's life but all the immediate caregivers. You know, life is never the same for them, either."

Daryn: "And indeed, Jim's Dad did began that slow fade the doctors had predicted. Meanwhile, ironically while his Dad was getting worse, Jim's career was just getting bigger and bigger. In fact, in 2007 he had a chance to do something that had never been done before by a sports broadcaster."

Jim: "I had a chance, Daryn, to call the Super Bowl, The Final Four and The Masters. It was not really a reflection on any ability on my part, it was just there was this incredible alignment, if you will, of all the rights ending up in CBS' hands in one stretch."

Daryn: "An incredible journey over the span of 63 days - something so big in the world of broadcasting that a lot of people told Jim he should write a book about it. Only problem was, it wasn't the story Jim Nantz wanted to write. He desperately wanted this chapter to unfold with his father by his side."

Jim: "What an incredible sports journey it would be - the ultimate father/son road trip. Well, the only problem for me is that my father was incapacitated, shut out from the world, in a room back in a nursing facility in Houston - it was painful for me to just think about that. Well, what I think encouraged me to write about my father's absence during the 63 days was that maybe I could find my father through the goodness of others. Now, my intentions were stirred."

Daryn: "And that's how Jim Nantz came to write, 'Always By My Side - A Father's Grace and a Sports Journey Unlike Any Other."

Jim: "I consider this to be the most important thing professionally I will ever do, to take my father's legacy, and to craft it in a way that accurately portrays the greatness that he represented, and tell it to others."

Daryn: "You get a front row seat to Jim's incredible journeys through the world of sports, the famous people he's met and befriended. Most importantly, you learn how in each one of them, he's looking for a piece of his Dad - the man who can no longer speak or walk, but the man who Jim makes sure still receives one of his Dad's greatest joys."

Jim: "The broadcaster always played in his room. I know that. The likelihood that any of it is recognized, that the voice belongs to his boy, I don't have a lot of hope for that, but I haven't totally given up. But it is important to me that I know that it is being played in his room. I get a lot out of that."

Daryn: "And then when Jim is by his father's side, which is often, the play-by-play is about what's happening with his family and career, and always gratitude for his Dad and his undying love."

Jim: "Y'know, I'm just grateful that I was blessed enough to have that kind of love directed at me."

Daryn: "When I saw Jim's book, 'Always By My Side,' I knew it would speak to so many people out there - of course to the sports fans, but even bigger than that, to the folks who will take comfort in knowing that one of the most famous sportscasters in America is facing a challenge just like you do - saying the long goodbye to someone you love very much."

Jim: "And I feel like he inspired me, as his last gift to me, to write this book - just some real traditional values of how you treat people with respect and dignity."

Daryn: "So there you have it, a love story between a father and a son. I bet the next time you see Jim Nantz on television, you think of his incredible Dad. I'm Daryn Kagan, and I hope you click all around DarynKagan.com for more inspiring stories that show the world what's possible."

BY:

Edited by Peter Berger, Alzheimer's Weekly

SOURCE:

www.darynkagan.com

COPYRIGHT:

Copyright © 2008. Darynkagan.com. All rights reserved.