ANNOUNCER: Presenting the award are television actors Timothy Busfield and Steve Harris.
BUSFIELD: You know, Steve, this notion that actors and athletes come from different planets is false. Everyone knows you are an actor, as Eugene on the Emmy-winning ABC show "The Practice." But you also once were a linebacker at Northern Illinois University, dreaming of a career in the NFL.
HARRIS: And before you did "Thirtysomething," "Field of Dreams" and now NBC's "West Wing," as a whip-smart White House reporter, you weren't a half-bad high school athlete. I heard you played semi-pro baseball with something called the Sacramento Smokeys for a while.
BUSFIELD: I quote from Dick Butkus in his autobiography, "I suppose I decided to be an actor because the profession bears similarities to football. Both involve performances in front of an audience, and they both demand mental and physical training. An actor can throw himself into a character he's playing, just like a football player can throw himself into the action on the field."
HARRIS: And look at him now. A whole generation of kids think of him as the daffy coach on "Saved by the Bell," the Saturday morning teen show.
BUSFIELD: More than a few of Hollywood's best-known actors played college ball -- but no one seems to remember that.
HARRIS: And the Oscar goes to ...
