Rose blossoms with 'BDSSP' crew

Next week, FSN anchor Chris Rose will be in the middle of what some might call the 'Best Damn' 1,000th-show celebration in sports television.

There aren't many people outside of FSN headquarters who expected the 'Best Damn Sports Show Period' to last very long. The show has lasted nearly five years, and next week hosts Rose John Salley, Rob Dibble and Rodney Peete will relive memorable moments leading up to the 1,000th BDSSP episode which airs on Mar. 1.

"Tom Arnold had a lot deeper history in shows that start and stop," Rose said. "I pulled him aside and asked what was going on. He said we'd probably be working together about 13 weeks. I didn't know what to expect, obviously, because there was no blueprint for any sort of show quite like this.

"Here we are, almost 1,000 shows and five years later."

Rose listed interviews with Mike Tyson, Magic Johnson and Stevie Wonder as some of his favorites.

Tyson, in particular, sticks out on Rose's list.

"There are certain people that come in where the whole building has a different feeling. The first time we had Tyson on in-studio was one of those days," Rose said. "They closed the set -- they almost never do that. You needed a special, special badge to get in -- and I'm talking about people who worked in the building.

"I didn't know exactly what to think because I had really taken a lot of shots at him over the years. And Salley and (Michael) Irvin, I think, was on. Both of those guys were friendly with Tyson. So I didn't know what he knew about the show or what he knew personally, if I had said anything. I admit, I was a little scared.

"And I remember the first time I saw him. I was walking out of the studio and into the control room just to check with our producers on something. He was walking toward the set and he looked at me. I was like, 'Oh my God. I'm going to die.' But he was great. He was really good on the show, was on for several segments and had a lot of fun.

"And I think that's kind of indicative of our show -- the fact that it's the clubhouse where the athletes and entertainers can hang out on the couch and B.S. with us."

Rose has endured and overcome the ribbing that comes along with being the non-jock on the set. Salley, Dibble and Peete all are former professional athletes. At times Rose has been reminded by his pals on the air that he's never been in their circle.

"They'll use that as their fall-back," Rose said. "But they don't use so much any more. I think real early on it was because it was an easy crutch. After a little while they realized that I may not know exactly what goes on inside a huddle, but I have a pretty good idea of what goes on to a degree -- enough to facilitate a discussion.

"I've always seen my role as a guy who sort of starts the fire, then backs up to make sure I don't get burned by it. But also, when I feel strongly about something -- how much do you have to know about sports . . . how much do you have to know about which way a slider is going to come at you, or the difference between a two- or four-seam fastball when Barry Bonds sticks his foot in his mouth?

"Do you have to know about baseball in order to make a comment about that? That's always been my thought process."

Asked if he's thought about the next 1,000 shows might be like, Rose said, "I didnt' think it would last thing long. I hope they allow it to continue to grow. If you had asked me after 100 shows what it would look like, or 200 or 500 . . . it's just evolved so much. And that's its biggest strength, the fact that we don't stay necessarily with what's working. Even if it's working we tinker with things. So I have no idea what it's going to look like. But I think that's the exciting part."

NOTEWORTHY

On Feb. 24 Colorado Avalanche strength coach Paul Goldberg will be guest speaker at an open house for Velocity Sports Performance-Evergreen. For more information call 303-674-8008.

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