Break a leg, Bobby!

I still remember Bobby Bones as the class clown.

But tomorrow he'll be on national TV hosting the Regis & Kelly show!

Since my college alma mater in southern Arkansas was small and the mass media department even smaller, Bobby and I shared many classes. I remember him most as a class clown who really, really knew what was funny. He would inevitably crack a joke that everyone in the class would roar over, but the teacher would just stare and try not to smile until we returned to topic. In my first broadcast journalism class, our assignment was to write out and correctly time a short radio broadcast. Then, deliver it. Bobby did his reporter portions as a helicopter reporter, beating on his chest the entire time...so he actually sounded like he was in a helicopter. Our teacher didn't really think that was funny, but we did...and that was what was really important.

Bobby started out on our very small campus radio station and later moved to the popular central Arkansas station, KLAZ, hosting the evening show. It was always interesting to see what pranks he would pull. He'd get a code and call and change an answering machine at a bank...live on air. I can't remember many of them, but it was always something.....my personal favorite was when he sent another classmate to a humane society adopt-a-dog event, and had him release a stuffed dog tied to a balloon into the air. The balloon floated right over the event and over the interstate where people flooded the police with calls. He got in a bit of trouble over that one.

I sometimes was his unofficial news reporter. He'd called me to get updates on numbers in the presidential election, and I did a few phoners with him from my dorm room. He introduced me with something like "my classmate Shannon who is smart" so you can understand how 'official' it really was! I called and reported campus news like who finaled in the homecoming court. I remember most of our conversations centering around me setting him up with a certain sorority sister. I don't think that ever happened.

Bobby graduated and left Arkansas. He's now got a syndicated show that is out of Austin, Texas and is carried on five stations. And now, he will get to fill in for Regis. Somewhere along the way he grew quite a mop of hair.

Good luck Bobby. We're "reddie" to root for you!