Courtesy St. Louis Post Dispatch

(April 2, 2010) Joe Buck had few negative developments in his quick rise to sportscasting prominence, and has been at the highest level of his profession for more than a decade. But he's taking the first major hit in his career, HBO's cancellation this week of "Joe Buck Live,'' philosophically.

"All you can do is look back on it and be thankful for the chance and realize that very few people get a chance to do a live network show,'' he said. "The experience I got out of that I think will be invaluable as I go forward.''

Buck said he didn't know why he was fired after just three editions of what was supposed to be a quarterly show. Four episodes remained on his contract, and HBO Sports boss Ross Greenburg didn't get into specifics about the decision. The show drew good ratings but got off on the wrong foot in Greenburg's mind with comedian Artie Lagne's profane appearance, and there is a feeling among some that it was doomed from that point. Another train of thought is that it was too costly to produce.

Whatever the reason, the bottom line is that Buck got the boot — something that happened more than once to this father, legendary sportscaster Jack Buck. He was cut from Cardinals broadcasts for a year, 1960, was fired as host of NBC's "Grandstand'' in 1976 and later dumped as CBS' lead baseball announcer.

"I grew up around this business, being my dad's son, and I remember what he said when he came home after he got let go at 'Grandstand,''' said Buck, who was 7 at the time. "He said to my mom, and I was in the room, 'They tied a can to me,' which means he got canned, you're fired, you're gone.''

Buck, 40, said that taught him to not worry about business matters out of his control.

"The business side of this job is something I never really have stressed over,'' he said. "I stress over my performance.

"All you can do is when the light goes on, go out and do your best. You hope at the end of that hour that you feel good walking off that stage. That's really all you can control. ... I was proud of the audience we got, the rating we got was something I was very proud of. To get a little following, a little buzz in just such a short time with only three shows, I think that speaks well for what we did.''

Buck is beginning a new, four-year contract with Fox, for which he remains the lead baseball and football play-by-play announcer, and he could also host a sports-entertainment show there.

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