Rocketing to the top of the class: the handsome, popular quarterback is about to shine somewhere else—the broadcast booth

You can be 8 or you can he 80--everyone knows this is back-to-school time. I cannot wait to go to Walgreens and stock up on new pencils, notebooks, a Trapper Keeper and a compass with a cork on the end so I don't impale myself before making critical readings.

I have just finished my summer reading list, which included classics by Street & Smith and the SPORTING NEWS, and I am primed to raise my hand on the first day and participate in all discussions relating to the start of the new football season.

Ask me. Go ahead; I've got it down. Sixth-round draft pick for the Cowboys? Uh, well ... OK, let me try another. Best free-agent signings of the offseason? Well, the list has to begin with the Panthers' Mike Wahle, and then there is ... um. How about the age-old question: Which teams do you like as sleepers this year? I have no idea. Maybe the Jaguars and the Cardinals?

I'll worry about that stuff later. Right now, I have to take care of the basics. I need to find out whom I am sitting next to in class this year. My classroom is the FOX football booth, and little Cris Collinsworth has left the school. Seems he transferred to the place that uses a peacock as its mascot. Now my class roll has two names on it: Aikman and Buck. Cris will be missed. He was always willing to say the stuff we thought but were afraid to bring up. Sometimes he got called to the principal's office because he ruffled a few feathers, but gosh, he was fun.

Now I am in a two-man room with the guy all the girls like to look at, even though he doesn't look back because he already is going steady with someone. He is the stud athlete who guided his football team to three championships. His name is Troy, and if you are going to be stuck with one guy, he is the one you want. He is generous, both with his knowledge and with his time, and you know he always has your back. He is almost inhuman. He is a handwritten-thank-you-note, multi-tasking kind of guy who has an opinion but is not unwilling to listen to yours. He is a quick study and an excellent broadcaster in just his fifth year in the business.

Truth be told, a two-man booth is much easier. What people don't realize is that with three announcers in the booth, on-air conversations are nearly impossible. While one analyst is talking, the other is on a private line to the production truck asking for replays he wants. The play-by-play guy is watching substitutions and talking to the truck as well.

Nobody listens to what anyone is saying!

There will be more of a relaxed, fun feel in the FOX booth this year, and Aikman will be the star. He has all the tools, and now he has the room to use them. He is a funny, relaxed, confident man who has a lot to share with the viewer. Get ready--a new TV personality is about to develop right before your eyes. lf that doesn't happen, I should be held back a year!

COPYRIGHT 2005 Sporting News Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning