Bill Raftery and Ian Eagle call a CBS game on March 1, 2025. Credit: CBS Credit: CBS
By Sam Neumann on

Bill Raftery might know that the best call is last call, but that doesn’t mean he knows how to use a mobile boarding pass.

To be fair, the 81-year-old Raftery has far better things to worry about, like mixing in an ‘Onion(s)‘ every now and then. Still, it doesn’t make it any less hilarious, especially since Raftery isn’t the only one in sports media still holding onto this outdated habit — particularly when his partner, Ian Eagle, called him out live on TV.

Kevin Harlan may reign as the undisputed king of ad reads, but even he has his limits, right? Eagle wasn’t exactly delivering a rousing product plug, though. Instead, he was setting up CBS’ AT&T halftime show, talking about teams that have “already punched their ticket to The Big Dance.”

But something felt a little off.

“We may have to change the nomenclature because nobody punches a ticket anymore,” quipped Eagle. “You just scan a QR code.”

“The older people still do it the old way,” Raftery responded.

“You’re the only person in America still printing your boarding pass,” Eagle shot back.

Thankfully, Kay Adams has Raftery covered on that front.

But all this serves as a reminder of why Awful Announcing readers have named Eagle and Raftery the best in the business.

Their chemistry? Unmatched.

Between special breeds of wedgies, needling a player for picking up Juicy Fruit off the deck and popping it back in his mouth, and the endless back-and-forth that keeps everyone coming back for more, it’s not hard to figure out why Eagle and Raftery are a fan favorite.

Considering how often they likely fly together, Eagle might want to start loading Raftery’s mobile boarding pass on his phone so he doesn’t have to watch Raf crumple a piece of paper every time.

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.

View all posts by Sam Neumann