For Aikman, Commentator Job Is a Snap

Sometimes little decisions have big effects.

Troy Aikman will be working his first Super Bowl as a game commentator Sunday, joining play-by-play announcer Joe Buck and commentator Cris Collinsworth in the Fox broadcast booth, because of a decision he made in the summer of 1999.

He chose to do a favor for a friend. Longtime Dallas Cowboy radio announcer Brad Sham told Aikman he had a chance to do some NFL Europe games for Fox, if the quarterback would agree to come along and work as his commentator.

“This would allow Brad to do some television, and I thought, in the process, I’d get a two-week vacation in Europe,” Aikman said from Jacksonville, Fla. “I didn’t want to embarrass myself, so I worked hard at trying to do a good job, and I enjoyed doing it.

“To be honest, that was the first time that I even entertained the idea that [broadcasting] was something I would do after my football career ended.”

Aikman’s easygoing style and keen observations impressed Fox Sports President Ed Goren, who told Aikman at a golf tournament in Las Vegas that they would find a spot for him when he retired.

Aikman, who led the Cowboys to three Super Bowl victories, retired after the 2000 season, and Goren made good on his word. He offered Aikman a spot on Fox’s No. 2 NFL announcing team with Dick Stockton and another newcomer, Aikman’s former Cowboy teammate Daryl Johnston. Stockton’s previous partner, Matt Millen, had left to become president and general manager of the Detroit Lions.

After one season, Aikman joined Buck and Collinsworth on Fox’s No. 1 team. They succeeded Pat Summerall and John Madden.

Aikman handles his broadcasting job as easily as he used to pick apart defenses.

“He’s not human,” Buck said. “He has no flaws. I have at least 10, and I could give you a list on Cris, but I can’t name one flaw with Troy. He’s the most organized, most thorough guy I know.”

Aikman and his family lived in Cerritos until he was 12, then moved to Henryetta, Okla. He went to Oklahoma, but transferred to UCLA after his sophomore year and was the Cowboys’ first-round draft choice in 1989.

Now he is at the top of the field in broadcasting, working the biggest event in sports.

“I’ve been fortunate,” he said.

Super Bowl Notes

The one Super Bowl-related program that always stands out is NFL Films’ “Road to the Super Bowl.” This year’s edition will be on Channel 11 Saturday at noon, followed by Howie Long’s “Tough Guy” awards.

Sunday’s kickoff is scheduled for 3:27 p.m., but first comes tons of pregame coverage, beginning on Channel 11 at 7 a.m. with an NFL Films special on Buck, Aikman and Collinsworth. For those who want to get an even earlier start, ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” at 6:30 explores the ramifications of Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction last year. One result is that when Fox shows a special edition of FSN’s “Best Damn Sports Show Period” at 10 a.m. Sunday, it will be called “Best Darn Sports Show Period.”

Ten members of the New England Patriots, including former USC Trojan Willie McGinest, will present the “Top 10 Things You Don’t Want to Hear in a Huddle” on David Letterman’s show tonight.... CBS looks back at previous Super Bowl commercials in a special tonight at 8. And after the game Sunday, the NFL Network looks back at this year’s commercials -- with no game-action interruptions.... The price of a 30-second spot during the game is $2.4 million. The last of those 59 spots was sold Thursday.

Fox’s Goren said his network has trimmed back a bit from previous Super Bowls on the amount of equipment it will use to cover Sunday’s game. “The amount of equipment you have can almost slow down the broadcast and change the pacing you had during the regular season,” he said. Fox does have one gimmick it hopes to use: Fourteen miniature “turf cams,” each about the size of a pencil eraser, have been implanted in the field. However, Fox Sports Chairman David Hill said the odds are about 100-1 that there will be a usable shot from one of the cameras.

There has been some confusion over whether the game is available in high definition. It is in the Los Angeles market on most cable systems and DirecTV.... Sirius Satellite Radio, which is handing out free radios to those in attendance in Jacksonville, is offering seven broadcasts of the game -- one with Eagle radio announcers, one with Patriot radio announcers and five in foreign languages.

Short Waves

XTRA, amid much fanfare, had Magic Johnson announce its switch from 690/1150 to 570 on Thursday at 9 a.m. Johnson, naturally, called it a “magic moment.” ... KSPN (710) tried to steal some thunder with a cash giveaway Thursday in which there were 10 winners of $710.

Lisa Lax and Nancy Stern, twin sisters and former sports producers at NBC and ABC, respectively, have made a film, “Emmanuel’s Gift,” about a triathlete and cyclist who has became a national hero in Ghana. The film, narrated by Oprah Winfrey, makes its world premiere today at the Santa Barbara Film Festival.... ABC, which will televise the Lakers at Houston on Sunday at 12:30 p.m., reports its NBA ratings after three games are up 52% (2.7 to 4.1) from a year ago.

In Closing

The world of reality television keeps getting crazier and crazier. ESPN is going to pick an NBA analyst from among seven former players through a “Dream Job” series beginning Feb. 20. And on an eight-episode series on Spike TV this summer, USC’s Shaun Cody will select an agent from among nine candidates.