“I asked my whole CBS group to stand up, and I thanked them for their love and support,” he said. “It meant a lot for me to be able to thank them. It’s one of the hardest times I’ve ever had before a microphone. I was just really choked up about it.

“We spend a lot of time together, watching children grow up, watching people lose their parents, and we experience all the things that happen with close friend. It’s been half my life, and I wanted them to know that they have been an important part of who I am and that it goes beyond a professional relationship.”

Speaking of the professional end of things, Nantz was understandably relieved that CBS managed to keep its hand in the NCAA Tournament in partnership with Turner Sports.

“It was one of the most important moments in CBS Sports history,” he said. “If you lose the NCAA, you don’t need to have a year-round division. This will keep CBS Sports whole for 14 years.”

It also means he will be able to return to Houston next year to call the Final Four at Reliant Stadium.

“When I was calling the regional (during March), I kept thinking, could it be that the first year we lose the Final Four be the year that will be in Houston? I can’t be that unlucky,” he said.

Nantz will travel this weekend to Salisbury, N.C., to receive the sportscaster-of-the-year award from the National Association of Sportscasters and Sportswriters. Arnold Palmer will present the award. John Madden, who received a lifetime Sports Emmy on Monday, will be inducted into the national association’s hall of fame.

Along with Nantz, Emmy winners this week included Bob Costas, studio host; Kirk Herbstreit, studio analyst; and Cris Collinsworth, event analyst. NBC won for best live sports special and best live series for Super Bowl XLIII and Sunday Night Football, respectively, and HBO won for best documentary for Assault in the Ring, the story of the 1983 Luis Resto-Billy Collins Jr. fight.

ESPN’s College GameDay was outstanding weekly studio show, and Pardon the Interruption won for best daily studio show. HBO led all networks with nine awards to seven for assorted ESPN entities.