- Messages
- 79,281
- Reaction score
- 45,652
Separate checks for Fox's 'A Team'
07:20 PM CDT on Friday, September 5, 2008
by Barry Horn
• E-mail
They don't call as many Cowboys games as radio's Brad Sham and Babe Laufenberg. Still, Fox's Joe Buck and Troy Aikman work more than a few. Buck and Aikman will open their seventh season together Sunday at 3:15 p.m. when the Cowboys visit the Browns.
If the Cowboys cooperate and play as expected, Buck and Aikman could call as many as nine Cowboys games in 2008, including Oct. 19 at the Rams. That would allow St. Louis' Buck to finally buy Aikman a meal (see below for details).
And then, of course, there is the matter of the NFC playoffs. Should the Cowboys win their first postseason game of the Buck-Aikman era, Fox's "A Team" would follow them through the NFC Championship Game.
(The Super Bowl belongs to NBC, which, coincidentally, had the three Cowboys Super Bowls of the 1990s.)
But just how well do these booth mates really know each other? In separate, classified exchanges this week, Hot Air posed some probing questions:
• • •
In the interest of fairness, should Fox call you guys the "A Team" in odd-numbered years and the "B Team" in even-numbered years?
Buck: If Fox did that, I would have to change my tattoo. So I would vote no.
Aikman: Well, since they didn't go for calling us "Troy's Team," I guess that's fair.
• • •
What was the biggest misconception you had about your partner before you began working together?
Aikman: I really didn't know anything about Joe prior to working with him.
Buck: That he was serious every day, all day, every minute. He has a great sense of humor.
• • •
What has been the biggest surprise since you began working together?
Aikman: I'm constantly amazed at how gifted and talented Joe is as a broadcaster. He makes it look a heck of a lot easier than it is.
Buck: That I am a better golfer.
• • •
The Chinese have a special appreciation for the No. 8. That, in part, is why the Summer Olympics began on 8/8/08 at 8:08 p.m. Does No. 8 hold any meaning for you?
Buck: No, why would it? Only maybe because it is the size of the reservation Snow White uses when she books a table at Nobu. I do like the No. 9, though. Now that's a number.
Aikman: You mean besides the fact I wore No. 8 at UCLA, wore No. 8 with the Cowboys, got married on the 8th of April and golf with No. 8 Titleist golf balls?
• • •
What is the one question you have always wanted to ask your partner but have never quite gotten around to asking?
Buck: Was there a time you ever doubted your ability to play quarterback in the NFL?
Aikman: Are those prescription glasses?
• • •
Do you remember the first time you two met? Where was it?
Buck: I remember it; he doesn't. I was working a Halloween game with Tim Green when the Cowboys were obviously sliding – because we were doing the game – in Cincinnati. We had our production meeting at the hotel, and I was in awe. I wanted to ask for an autograph but was too scared. He never made eye contact with us.
Aikman: I don't recall meeting Joe until our introductory press conference as Fox's No. 1 team in 2002, although Joe says we met during a production meeting while I was still playing.
• • •
When you guys go out to dinner, which one makes the first grab for the check? Who ultimately pays for dinner?
Buck: We usually take turns. I buy in St. Louis and he buys in Dallas. I am getting the better of that deal. How 'bout them Cowboys!
Aikman: I grab for the check, but ultimately Rupert Murdoch pays for the meal. One of these days, I'll thank him for all the dinners he's bought us.
• • •
You are having dinner with your partner the night before a game. Each of you gets to invite one other person. Whom do you invite? Whom do you think your partner asks?
Buck: I would ask my buddy, Ryan DeGrand from St. Louis, who Troy really enjoys. He would invite his wife, Rhonda, thereby making me look bad.
Aikman: I invite my wife, Rhonda. I hope Joe asks his wife, too, but he probably brings [business associate] Steve Horn.
• • •
Your partner comes down with laryngitis on the Monday before Fox's next Super Bowl. Fox Sports emperor David Hill tells you to pick someone to work with. Money is no object. Neither is network affiliation. Whom do you pick, and why?
Aikman: Al Michaels. Outside of Joe, I think he's the best play-by-play man.
Buck: Since we spend so much time together, I would probably contract it, too, so I would ask my buddy, Joe Theismann. He could cover both roles. Let me guess; Troy said Al Michaels.
• • •
Who gets to the Super Bowl first, the Cowboys or Fox when it broadcasts the Super Bowl in 2010?
Aikman: For the sake of the Cowboys' coaches and their families, I hope Dallas is there before Fox.
Buck: I picked them at the beginning of '07, and I am doing it again in '08. They are the best team by far in the NFC going into the season – even better than last year. Can you play golf in Dallas in January?
Frick pick
Online voting allowing fans to select three of the 10 finalists for baseball's 2009 Ford Frick Award has begun and continues through Sept. 30. The Frick Award goes to a broadcaster for "major contributions to the game."
Rangers broadcasters – past and present – included on the ballot: Mark Holtz, Eric Nadel, Tom Grieve, Josh Lewin, Bob Carpenter, Vince Cotroneo, Merle Harmon and Norm Hitzges. Voting is at www.baseballhall.org. The Rangers smartly are pushing the late, great Holtz.
Hard numbers
Hard Knocks numbers are trickling in from HBO central. Week 1 attracted 2.5 million homes, up 200,000 from the Knocks debut of the Kansas City Chiefs last year. Dallas-Fort Worth, however, was only the seventh-highest-rated market for Week 1.
A couple of Texas markets proved hungrier for the Cowboys. San Antonio was No. 1 and Houston was No. 5. San Antonio was also No. 1 for Week 3, with D-FW No. 7 and Houston sliding to No. 10. Oklahoma City was No. 1 during Week 2, San Antonio was seventh and D-FW was eighth.
Around the horn
ESPN's Outside the Lines examines Jerry Jones' risk-taking in putting together his Cowboys. Included in the 30-minute show at 8 a.m. Sunday is an 11-minute report from Dallas-based correspondent Ed Werder. ... The Stars have an all-time-high 62 games on cable's FSN Southwest this season. Another 15 will be on KDFI-TV (Channel 27) with four headed to Versus and one penciled in for NBC. That means 66 Stars games are slated for cable, where last season they attracted half the audience of over-the-air games.
http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sharedc...sts/bhorn/stories/090608dnspohorn.c447ff.html
07:20 PM CDT on Friday, September 5, 2008
by Barry Horn
They don't call as many Cowboys games as radio's Brad Sham and Babe Laufenberg. Still, Fox's Joe Buck and Troy Aikman work more than a few. Buck and Aikman will open their seventh season together Sunday at 3:15 p.m. when the Cowboys visit the Browns.
If the Cowboys cooperate and play as expected, Buck and Aikman could call as many as nine Cowboys games in 2008, including Oct. 19 at the Rams. That would allow St. Louis' Buck to finally buy Aikman a meal (see below for details).
And then, of course, there is the matter of the NFC playoffs. Should the Cowboys win their first postseason game of the Buck-Aikman era, Fox's "A Team" would follow them through the NFC Championship Game.
(The Super Bowl belongs to NBC, which, coincidentally, had the three Cowboys Super Bowls of the 1990s.)
But just how well do these booth mates really know each other? In separate, classified exchanges this week, Hot Air posed some probing questions:
• • •
In the interest of fairness, should Fox call you guys the "A Team" in odd-numbered years and the "B Team" in even-numbered years?
Buck: If Fox did that, I would have to change my tattoo. So I would vote no.
Aikman: Well, since they didn't go for calling us "Troy's Team," I guess that's fair.
• • •
What was the biggest misconception you had about your partner before you began working together?
Aikman: I really didn't know anything about Joe prior to working with him.
Buck: That he was serious every day, all day, every minute. He has a great sense of humor.
• • •
What has been the biggest surprise since you began working together?
Aikman: I'm constantly amazed at how gifted and talented Joe is as a broadcaster. He makes it look a heck of a lot easier than it is.
Buck: That I am a better golfer.
• • •
The Chinese have a special appreciation for the No. 8. That, in part, is why the Summer Olympics began on 8/8/08 at 8:08 p.m. Does No. 8 hold any meaning for you?
Buck: No, why would it? Only maybe because it is the size of the reservation Snow White uses when she books a table at Nobu. I do like the No. 9, though. Now that's a number.
Aikman: You mean besides the fact I wore No. 8 at UCLA, wore No. 8 with the Cowboys, got married on the 8th of April and golf with No. 8 Titleist golf balls?
• • •
What is the one question you have always wanted to ask your partner but have never quite gotten around to asking?
Buck: Was there a time you ever doubted your ability to play quarterback in the NFL?
Aikman: Are those prescription glasses?
• • •
Do you remember the first time you two met? Where was it?
Buck: I remember it; he doesn't. I was working a Halloween game with Tim Green when the Cowboys were obviously sliding – because we were doing the game – in Cincinnati. We had our production meeting at the hotel, and I was in awe. I wanted to ask for an autograph but was too scared. He never made eye contact with us.
Aikman: I don't recall meeting Joe until our introductory press conference as Fox's No. 1 team in 2002, although Joe says we met during a production meeting while I was still playing.
• • •
When you guys go out to dinner, which one makes the first grab for the check? Who ultimately pays for dinner?
Buck: We usually take turns. I buy in St. Louis and he buys in Dallas. I am getting the better of that deal. How 'bout them Cowboys!
Aikman: I grab for the check, but ultimately Rupert Murdoch pays for the meal. One of these days, I'll thank him for all the dinners he's bought us.
• • •
You are having dinner with your partner the night before a game. Each of you gets to invite one other person. Whom do you invite? Whom do you think your partner asks?
Buck: I would ask my buddy, Ryan DeGrand from St. Louis, who Troy really enjoys. He would invite his wife, Rhonda, thereby making me look bad.
Aikman: I invite my wife, Rhonda. I hope Joe asks his wife, too, but he probably brings [business associate] Steve Horn.
• • •
Your partner comes down with laryngitis on the Monday before Fox's next Super Bowl. Fox Sports emperor David Hill tells you to pick someone to work with. Money is no object. Neither is network affiliation. Whom do you pick, and why?
Aikman: Al Michaels. Outside of Joe, I think he's the best play-by-play man.
Buck: Since we spend so much time together, I would probably contract it, too, so I would ask my buddy, Joe Theismann. He could cover both roles. Let me guess; Troy said Al Michaels.
• • •
Who gets to the Super Bowl first, the Cowboys or Fox when it broadcasts the Super Bowl in 2010?
Aikman: For the sake of the Cowboys' coaches and their families, I hope Dallas is there before Fox.
Buck: I picked them at the beginning of '07, and I am doing it again in '08. They are the best team by far in the NFC going into the season – even better than last year. Can you play golf in Dallas in January?
Frick pick
Online voting allowing fans to select three of the 10 finalists for baseball's 2009 Ford Frick Award has begun and continues through Sept. 30. The Frick Award goes to a broadcaster for "major contributions to the game."
Rangers broadcasters – past and present – included on the ballot: Mark Holtz, Eric Nadel, Tom Grieve, Josh Lewin, Bob Carpenter, Vince Cotroneo, Merle Harmon and Norm Hitzges. Voting is at www.baseballhall.org. The Rangers smartly are pushing the late, great Holtz.
Hard numbers
Hard Knocks numbers are trickling in from HBO central. Week 1 attracted 2.5 million homes, up 200,000 from the Knocks debut of the Kansas City Chiefs last year. Dallas-Fort Worth, however, was only the seventh-highest-rated market for Week 1.
A couple of Texas markets proved hungrier for the Cowboys. San Antonio was No. 1 and Houston was No. 5. San Antonio was also No. 1 for Week 3, with D-FW No. 7 and Houston sliding to No. 10. Oklahoma City was No. 1 during Week 2, San Antonio was seventh and D-FW was eighth.
Around the horn
ESPN's Outside the Lines examines Jerry Jones' risk-taking in putting together his Cowboys. Included in the 30-minute show at 8 a.m. Sunday is an 11-minute report from Dallas-based correspondent Ed Werder. ... The Stars have an all-time-high 62 games on cable's FSN Southwest this season. Another 15 will be on KDFI-TV (Channel 27) with four headed to Versus and one penciled in for NBC. That means 66 Stars games are slated for cable, where last season they attracted half the audience of over-the-air games.
http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sharedc...sts/bhorn/stories/090608dnspohorn.c447ff.html
