Q+A Andres Cantor

Telemundo is airing 15 NBA games in the U.S. this season, and the
world's most famous and most entertaining soccer announcer
("Goooooooal! Goal-goal-goal-goal!") is hosting the network's
first-ever NBA studio show.

SI: What did you know about the NBA when you were growing up?

Cantor: I grew up in Buenos Aires in the 1960s [Cantor's 39], and
the NBA was not as popular as it is now. When I lived in L.A. in
the 1980s, I started following the Lakers of Magic, Kareem and
Worthy.

SI: How do you say "slam dunk" on Telemundo?

Cantor: "¬°Clavada!"

SI: When did you become a soccer fan?

Cantor: As soon as I could walk. The first gift my parents ever
gave me was a soccer ball.

SI: How many soccer games have you called?

Cantor: About 150 a year, for 15 years.

SI: Soccer America once named you the ninth most influential
person in soccer. Too high or too low?

Cantor: I am honored that somebody put me on a Top 10 list other
than Letterman's.

SI: How often do people come up to you and ask you to do the
"Goooooooal!" call?

Cantor: Every day, all the time. No one calls me by my name
anymore. It's "Oh, you're Mr. Goal" and "Look who's here, Mr.
Goal." When people take photos with me, they want me to yell. I
have to explain that the sound will not be caught on a still
camera.

SI: What's the best story of someone attempting an Andres Cantor
impression?

Cantor: I was crossing a street in Miami [where he lives], and a
taxi driver saw me. He rolled down his window and started yelling
"Goooooooal!" He wasn't watching, and he crashed into the car in
front of him.

SI: Bob Costas timed one of your goal calls during the Sydney
Games at 26 seconds. Can you top that?

Cantor: I imagine so, but I never time myself because it just
flows naturally. It depends on the intensity of the play, the
importance of the goal and the amount of air I have in my lungs.

SI: Do your wife and two kids imitate Andres Cantor?

Cantor: Not my wife. But my son, Nicolas, does all the time. He's
nine, and he's got a big future in soccer play-by-play. He yells
even better than I do. --R.D.

For more from Andres Cantor, go to cnnsi.com/scorecard.

COLOR PHOTO: COURTESY OF TELEMUNDO NETWORK (CANTOR) "Goooooooal!"