The game is No. 1. You are an adjunct to the game. In a studio, there is no game. You are the star. That's why you are there. For the game, you can't go away from the game and beat your chest. People are there to watch the game. You are there to supplement, not to override or overwhelm.
I did the 1972 Sapporo Games, and I was also the Reds announcer and was folded into the NBC coverage for the 1972 World Series. I also did the 1979 World Series for ABC.
Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser, is right there... she's in town because her father was at Johnson Smith College... and she was delivering a speech there.
It's funny, but when there are dominant teams, there are a number of people who rail about the fact that they're always seeing the Dallas Cowboys or the San Francisco 49ers or the Green Bay either in the playoffs or in the Super Bowl.
If I see something dubious, say on a blog or a Web site, and I don't see it anywhere else, I'll just go right to the source and check it out.
I think the Cowboys are one of only two teams in all of sports that engender love and hate to that extreme. The other is the Yankees. You love the Yankees or you hate the Yankees.
Nobody wants to see teams out of contention showcased in December and January. I'm sure this is something that will be discussed again this off-season.
Any time a running back reaches the age of 31 or 32, he has to lose a step. No one is a freak of nature. No one is going to be able to take the pounding a running back has to take over a 10- or 12-year career and not lose a step.
Monday Night Football started in 1970, and when it started, it was something extremely special because sports had not been aired in prime time. So, it was a novelty, and a lot of people thought it wouldn't work, and, of course, it worked spectacularly well.
