What a difference one year can make in the life of an ESPN announcer. Last year at this time I was preparing with great excitement and anticipation for the inaugural Great Outdoor Games in Lake Placid, N.Y. My assignment for the first time competition was to serve as the play-by-play announcer for the One Fish One Fly fishing competition. My time was spent studying and learning all I could about fly fishing the Ausable River and the 12 competitors in the event.

	“	I left the river thinking if I didn't work for ESPN, being a fly fishing guide would be a great life. ”

My trip to Lake Placid last July exceeded all of my expectations. Located in the heart of the Adirondack Mountains, Lake Placid, N.Y. quickly became one of my favorite places to spend time and escape the 90-degree temperatures and humidity of my hometown of Johnson, Arkansas.

I found myself thinking several times, "I can't believe I'm getting paid to stand in the quietness and beauty along the banks of the Ausable River and watch people fish."

I also still remember the surprised and shocked looks that my co-host John Barrett and producer Jerry Vaillancourt had when we all realized that competitors Tom Rowland and Doug Swisher had both caught the exact same length fish and the inaugural gold medal in the one fish one fly competition would be won by tom Rowland by use of our tiebreaker system — which fish was the fattest?

I left the river that day thinking if I didn't work for ESPN, being a fly fishing guide would be a great life.

But now as I prepare for the 20001 Great Outdoor Games, my thoughts are no longer on dry flies or big brown trout. This year's assignment will keep me on the shore of Mirror Lake to serve as the analyst for what I think are the two most exciting and entertaining events in the Great Outdoor Games — the Big Air and Fly Ball competitions.

No more quiet walking along the banks of the Ausable River. It's time to watch the Labrador retrievers rip and run down the dock and launch themselves into Lake Placid. I'll also watch the fastest four-legged relay you will ever see when border collies are attacking the fly ball course. All of this attention is now on Heidi, an eight-year-old black Lab that set a world record last year here with a gold medal winning leap of 22.44 feet. Heidi is the current Queen of the Big Air dogs.

And if you plan on taking home a gold medal in the Fly Ball competition this year, you'll have to find a way to knock off last year's winning team, Rocket Relay from Ontario, Canada. Rocket Relay is the current world record holder with a time of 15.97 seconds. If the race is close going into the final leg, Rocket Relay has a real stud running in the fourth position, a border collie named Radar.

I can't wait for the games to begin. Four full days of watching dogs do what they love to do — run, jump and retrieve. The dogs in Lake Placid this week will just be running, jumping and retrieving a little quicker, farther and faster than your normal four-legged friend.