Under Review

? Fox Sports Net's The NFL Show is usually an exercise in lackluster tomfoolery, but last Saturday's installment was a welcome exception, and you can thank a guest appearance by (don't fall out of your chair) Eric Dickerson . During his two seasons as a sideline reporter on ABC's Monday Night Football , Dickerson was lambasted and lampooned for his ineffectual interviewing skills and weakness as a reporter. But as part of FSN's roundtable he offered insight on the often highly effective art of cutback running and took the Cowboys ' Troy Hambrick to task for knocking Emmitt Smith . Clearly, Dickerson was the wrong choice to put on the sideline, but if some network gives him a shot as a panelist, he could be a find.

?Unlike his TNT colleague Charles Barkley , Magic Johnson is no recent convert to the Tao of Yao. Here's what Johnson told SI before the season: "I think Yao Ming will make probably the biggest impact of any player ever coming from international basketball. He has the skill level to be a great player in the NBA . I remember everybody kept talking about [Arvydas] Sabonis before he came over and how he would do. It was a shame that by the time he got here, his knee was hurting. Now we have a healthy Yao Ming surrounded by great players in Houston . It's going to be exciting."

? Bill Walton will have offsetting allegiances when he works as the analyst on ESPN 's telecast of the Dec. 7 Arizona-San Diego State basketball game. Walton 's boy Luke, the third oldest of his four sons, is an All-America forward for the Wildcats. Chris Walton, Bill's youngest, will redshirt this season for San Diego State .