TV Talk Broadcasting's Young Buck Steps Up to the Plate

Along with his role as Fox's No. 1 baseball play-by-play
announcer and filling in for his father, Jack, on St. Louis
Cardinals radio broadcasts, 32-year-old Joe Buck is expected to
succeed Pat Summerall as Fox's top football voice. We recently
spent some time with him.

SI: With Fox so heavy into cross-promotion, will we see you on
Temptation Island 3?

Buck: I've been asked not to appear shirtless.

SI: You and Tim McCarver appear in the background on one of the
Monica Lewinsky-Linda Tripp tapes. Do you feel responsible for
Ken Starr's investigation?

Buck: Yes. I also feel responsible for the double dutch chocolate
Tripp was eating when she was entrapping Lewinsky.

SI: Were you disappointed that neither Lewinsky nor Tripp
mentioned you while discussing Clinton, food and hairstyles?

Buck: No. I want no part of either one of those two.

SI: You keep a life-sized cardboard cutout of Mike Myers as
Austin Powers in your basement. Where do you keep your
life-sized cardboard cutout of Terry Bradshaw?

Buck: In my bathroom.

SI: How would the announcing team of Joe Buck and John Madden
sound?

Buck: (laughing) That's something we will never know.

SI: How similar is calling play-by-play for Grand Prix horse
jumping to doing NFL games?

Buck: Where did you get my f------ resume! There are a lot fewer
scandals in horse jumping, but both are events that people just
can't get enough of.

SI: Were you drawn to host Fox's special featuring Robbie Knievel
because he's the son of a famous sports personality?

Buck: No, I was drawn strictly by the money.

SI: Your dad handled play-by-play for the first AFL broadcast. Do
you wish you had called the first XFL game?

Buck: I did, but I was in my living room watching on TV.

SI: As a former student at Indiana, are you a Mike Davis or Bob
Knight guy?

Buck: I'm more of a Cam Cameron guy.

SI: If I hit my 62nd home run at Busch Stadium, would you hug me
like you hugged Mark McGwire?

Buck: I hug all major leaguers who hit 62 home runs.

SI: If you were a pitcher, would you rather have McCarver or Bob
Brenly behind the plate?

Buck: McCarver. The guy caught Gibson and Carlton. Brenly caught
Rick Reuschel.

SI: Do you favor the word nepotism or birthright?

Buck: I prefer nepotism--it pisses people off a lot more.

--Richard Deitsch

COLOR PHOTO: FOX Joe Buck