Fox NFL analyst Troy Aikman has "signed a three-year contract extension" with the net, where he will "continue to work with" play-by-play announcer Joe Buck and sideline reporter Erin Andrews on Fox' top announce team, according to sources cited by Michael McCarthy of SPORTING NEWS. Aikman during his 15-year sports TV career has "become one of the most respected analysts in the business," as "nobody is better" at identifying a play before it happens. McCarthy wrote most observers would say Aikman and NBC's Cris Collinsworth "are the two best NFL game analysts" (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 11/10).
TALKIN' BASEBALL: Buck appeared on NBC’s “The Tonight Show” on Thursday, with host Jimmy Fallon calling him a “man at the top of his profession.” Fallon complimented his broadcasting of Game 7 of the Cubs-Indians World Series, saying there were “rave reviews, they just love you.” Buck: “Well no, unless you’re on Twitter, then there are no rave reviews.” Buck said of broadcasting through the rain delay in Game 7, “It’s a little bit intimidating because you know 40 million people are hoping to see the end of this game and you’ve got to kind of lie a little bit and go, ‘Well, it’s stopped raining. It looks like they’re going to pull the tarp off here soon,’ and eventually you get back to baseball” ("The Tonight Show," NBC, 11/10).
