The Big Show » (Reprint)

Keith Olbermann was rescued from a sinking barge, and raised by wild ocelots in the Brazilian rain forest. Years later, he was found by a touring band of would-be soccer play-by-play announcers and brought back to civilization (well, Bristol).

From World Sports Headquarters in historic Bristol, Connecticut, comes the book that's more colorful than Dennis Rodman's hair. Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick, the former tag-team partners of ESPN's award winning SportsCenter, mark for the ages their most unforgettable moments, which have transformed the art of sports broadcasting -- bringing what People magazine calls their "Letterman-like loopiness and Koppelesque smarts" to the printed page in THE BIG SHOW

Less expensive (and easier to read) than a big-leaguer's autograph, The Big Show gives you the honest, horrifying, yet always entertaining story of two men, three cameras, and highlights run amok, including:

• How Keith and Dan made The Big Show run slicker than Pat Riley's hair

• The origins of Dan and Keith's patented phrases

• Keith and Dan's on-air flubs -- errors that made Bill Buckner's blunder seem minor

• Dan and Keith's pantheon of all-time greatest athletes (Okay, who picked Coach Reeves from The White Shadow?)

• And so much more we couldn't -- and wouldn't dare -- mention here!

PREFACE v

INTRODUCTION xi

1 • HI, HELLO, AND HOW ARE YOU? 1

2 • A SORT OF GLOSSARY OF TERMS 9

3 • THE OFFICIAL TIME-LINE HISTORY OF THE BIG SHOW 33

4 • HOW WE DO THE VOODOO THAT WE DO 49

5 • "BILL BUCKNER -- COULD YOU DESCRIBE WHAT HAPPENED?" Dan and Keith's Top Ten Weirdest Things Said by Athletes 63

6 • GOOD GRIEF, WE'RE FAMOUS, SORT OF, PART-TIME 93

7 • HOW TO BE A SPORTSCASTER WHEN YOU GROW UP Dan and Keith's Top Ten Free Pieces of Advice to Other Sportscasters 115

8 • PETE ROSE AND THE HALL OF FAME 139

9 • KEITH'S COMPLAINT: IF YOU BUILD IT FOR ME, I WON'T LEAVE Dan and Keith's Top Ten Most Troubling Sports Team Names 187

10 • DAN'S COMPLAINT: WE BLAME ATHLETES FOR THE WRONG THINGS Dan and Keith's Top Ten Favorite Types of Sports Figures to Interview 199

11 • OUR TWENTY-ONE TOP TEN ATHLETES 207

12 • KEITH'S COMPLAINT, PART II: TO MAKE THE WORLD SAFE FOR ALBERT BELLE TO HATE MY GUTS 233

13 • PLAYS OF THE WEEK Dan and Keith's Top Ten Pleas to Athletes Who Are Being Interviewed 241

14 • OUR GREATEST GAMES (WATCHED, THAT IS, NOT PLAYED) Keith's Top Ten Prominent Baseball Players' Names (Submitted Without Dan's Approval) 249

15 • PUT YOUR BASEBALL CARDS IN YOUR BICYCLE SPOKES, NOW! 281

16 • BUT ENOUGH ABOUT US, WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT US? 295

17 • TOM 305