Eight Is Enough

Super media day: At Super Bowl XXVII in Pasadena, Aikman called out of the blue to say he was coming to pick me up. It was Monday, the day before the traditional Media Day, so the impromptu visit was out of the ordinary. "What's up?" I asked. Said Troy, "Let's just hang out. I need to get away." While the rest of the Cowboys and Bills were being chauffeured around in stretch limos, the imminent Super Bowl MVP disappeared from sports' brightest spotlight in a rented Lincoln. "Ever been to UCLA?" asked the biggest Bruin. During our four-hour tour, Aikman ignored a phone call from Bills quarterback Jim Kelly inviting him to Gladstone's for lunch. Instead, Aikman tried to dine at the UCLA student center but was denied when we arrived five minutes after closing. "Guess we'd better win Sunday or I'll go hungry around here," Aikman joked. And with that, my coolest lunch ever became vending-machine Gatorade and Twix bars leisurely consumed while watching a pick-up basketball game in Pauley Pavilion.

Now a Hall-of-Famer, there's no more hiding for Aikman. From the limelight. Or the really good stories. Gotcha!