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CNN Live Today

Little League Sport

Aired November 29, 2002 - 11:36   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: This next little guy is a real little league sport. A 10-year-old Oklahoma boy has won a competition to be a sports anchor next year on Nickelodeon. We're going to talk live with Riley Weatherford in just a moment, but first, a little introduction from Oklahoma City affiliate KOCO and reporter Kimberly Loman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RILEY WEATHERFORD, 10 YEAR OLD SPORTS ANCHOR: Welcome to my room. These are my puppets.

KIMBERLY LOMAN, KOCO REPORTER: Riley Weatherford's mom says that's the only time he's behind the scenes.

WEATHERFORD: This is a picture of my cast when I was doing "Gypsy" at the Civic Center.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's got a great sense of humor. He mimics very well.

WEATHERFORD: How you doing, my name's Danny Del Veccio.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Loves to be the center of attention in front of the camera.

WEATHERFORD: I played a mad chef with a broken leg, and I've played a young boy in New York.

LOMAN: In fact, was a young boy in New York, in fact, when Nickelodeon flew him there.

WEATHERFORD: Me and my mom walked around and saw a few things. and we were like, whoa, because we live in Oklahoma.

LOMAN: In Oklahoma, at Crossroads Mall, Riley auditioned. The cow pie comment won over New York producers.

WEATHERFORD: The goal here is to throw a cow pie into a net.

LOMAN: Riley became the youngest of 10 gas-casters, gas as in games and sports.

What do you tell them, when they ask what it means?

WEATHERFORD: I tooted -- no.

LOMAN: As much as the 10-year-old likes to make people laugh, sports casting is just the start.

WEATHERFORD: Acting is a little more, I think, that was kind of just reading and stuff, but with enthusiasm -- that's not a word.

LOMAN: He can do comedy, act, sing, dance, even compose music. So is there anything Riley Weatherford can't do?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: So he's working on his hoops.

Hi, Riley.

Riley is joining us from Oklahoma City this morning.

Congratulations on winning that competition.

WEATHERFORD: Thank you.

LIN: Was it hard, do you think?

WEATHERFORD: It was fun. It wasn't very hard.

LIN: You had to put a tape together, right, a little demonstration tape?

WEATHERFORD: To do the audition?

LIN: Yes.

WEATHERFORD: No, what they made us do is they gave us a sheet, and it was blanks, and it's like, hi, I'm blank, I'm coming to you from blank, and me and my dad filled it out, and then we read it.

LIN: And then you read it on camera.

WEATHERFORD: Yes.

LIN: What does it feel like to be on camera?

WEATHERFORD: I like it -- I like to be the center of attention.

LIN: Well, let's take a look at the clip of the competition itself and see how you looked there. Actually, this is you on a local station, right, at KOCO, and the sports anchor is about to introduce you for one of the sports segments.

Let's see how you do.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now joined by Riley Weatherford, 10-year-old budding sportscaster. Riley from Charles Caskill (ph) Elementary. He's going to do the last story in tonight's sport cast.

Riley, take away, big man. WEATHERFORD: Thanks Ron.

What would the sport of boxing be without Mike Tyson? There would probably be less bizarre behavior. Tyson was at a news conference today to announce a February fight in Memphis, and he appeared to be a kinder, gentler letter Mike Tyson.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: You don't even look nervous.

WEATHERFORD: Kind of.

LIN: Were you a little bit nervous?

WEATHERFORD: Just a little.

LIN: All right. But your mom tells us that you're also taking acting lessons, too.

WEATHERFORD: Yes.

LIN: So do you want to be an actor, or do you want to be an anchor? Well, I've always been an actor, and I've always done movies when I was a kid, and I'm just always looking for work whenever.

LIN: And which do you think is harder?

WEATHERFORD: Oh, what, the anchoring?

LIN: Or the acting.

WEATHERFORD: I don't know. I mean anchoring's kind of -- I mean, you're in front of cameras more often, but acting's more being on stage and performing in front of people, but I don't know, maybe they're about the same.

LIN: They're about the same? Oh, good. Well you know, because some people think we're actually acting, but there's a lot of add libbing involved, especially in sports. You really have to know what you're talking about, right?

WEATHERFORD: Yes.

LIN: So where do you think you're going to take this?

WEATHERFORD: I don't know. If can do more anchoring, that would be cool, too. But I'm hoping to do acting, and TV and film, because that's what I've always done. I've always done little gun shows with my dad, and I asked my mom, can we bring out the camera and do this, and she's like sure, so we made movies all the time when I was kid.

LIN: You are addictive. You know what you remind me of?

WEATHERFORD: Who?

LIN: Check this out. Look on the screen. You look exactly like our Bill Hemmer, same expression and everything.

WEATHERFORD: Thank you.

LIN: Only you're 10, right?

WEATHERFORD: Yes.

LIN: How would do you think Bill is?

WEATHERFORD: How's everything going?

LIN: No how old do you think Bill is?

WEATHERFORD: Good.

LIN: He's a good age. Yes, he's getting to that age where it's just good.

WEATHERFORD: Yes.

LIN: Hey, thanks so much, Riley. Good luck to you. We'll be tracking your career. It'll be a very long one since you're starting at the age of 10.

WEATHERFORD: Happy holidays.

LIN: Happy holidays. Riley Weatherford, joining us live right here on CNN.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired November 29, 2002 - 11:36   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: This next little guy is a real little league sport. A 10-year-old Oklahoma boy has won a competition to be a sports anchor next year on Nickelodeon. We're going to talk live with Riley Weatherford in just a moment, but first, a little introduction from Oklahoma City affiliate KOCO and reporter Kimberly Loman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RILEY WEATHERFORD, 10 YEAR OLD SPORTS ANCHOR: Welcome to my room. These are my puppets.

KIMBERLY LOMAN, KOCO REPORTER: Riley Weatherford's mom says that's the only time he's behind the scenes.

WEATHERFORD: This is a picture of my cast when I was doing "Gypsy" at the Civic Center.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's got a great sense of humor. He mimics very well.

WEATHERFORD: How you doing, my name's Danny Del Veccio.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Loves to be the center of attention in front of the camera.

WEATHERFORD: I played a mad chef with a broken leg, and I've played a young boy in New York.

LOMAN: In fact, was a young boy in New York, in fact, when Nickelodeon flew him there.

WEATHERFORD: Me and my mom walked around and saw a few things. and we were like, whoa, because we live in Oklahoma.

LOMAN: In Oklahoma, at Crossroads Mall, Riley auditioned. The cow pie comment won over New York producers.

WEATHERFORD: The goal here is to throw a cow pie into a net.

LOMAN: Riley became the youngest of 10 gas-casters, gas as in games and sports.

What do you tell them, when they ask what it means?

WEATHERFORD: I tooted -- no.

LOMAN: As much as the 10-year-old likes to make people laugh, sports casting is just the start.

WEATHERFORD: Acting is a little more, I think, that was kind of just reading and stuff, but with enthusiasm -- that's not a word.

LOMAN: He can do comedy, act, sing, dance, even compose music. So is there anything Riley Weatherford can't do?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: So he's working on his hoops.

Hi, Riley.

Riley is joining us from Oklahoma City this morning.

Congratulations on winning that competition.

WEATHERFORD: Thank you.

LIN: Was it hard, do you think?

WEATHERFORD: It was fun. It wasn't very hard.

LIN: You had to put a tape together, right, a little demonstration tape?

WEATHERFORD: To do the audition?

LIN: Yes.

WEATHERFORD: No, what they made us do is they gave us a sheet, and it was blanks, and it's like, hi, I'm blank, I'm coming to you from blank, and me and my dad filled it out, and then we read it.

LIN: And then you read it on camera.

WEATHERFORD: Yes.

LIN: What does it feel like to be on camera?

WEATHERFORD: I like it -- I like to be the center of attention.

LIN: Well, let's take a look at the clip of the competition itself and see how you looked there. Actually, this is you on a local station, right, at KOCO, and the sports anchor is about to introduce you for one of the sports segments.

Let's see how you do.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now joined by Riley Weatherford, 10-year-old budding sportscaster. Riley from Charles Caskill (ph) Elementary. He's going to do the last story in tonight's sport cast.

Riley, take away, big man. WEATHERFORD: Thanks Ron.

What would the sport of boxing be without Mike Tyson? There would probably be less bizarre behavior. Tyson was at a news conference today to announce a February fight in Memphis, and he appeared to be a kinder, gentler letter Mike Tyson.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: You don't even look nervous.

WEATHERFORD: Kind of.

LIN: Were you a little bit nervous?

WEATHERFORD: Just a little.

LIN: All right. But your mom tells us that you're also taking acting lessons, too.

WEATHERFORD: Yes.

LIN: So do you want to be an actor, or do you want to be an anchor? Well, I've always been an actor, and I've always done movies when I was a kid, and I'm just always looking for work whenever.

LIN: And which do you think is harder?

WEATHERFORD: Oh, what, the anchoring?

LIN: Or the acting.

WEATHERFORD: I don't know. I mean anchoring's kind of -- I mean, you're in front of cameras more often, but acting's more being on stage and performing in front of people, but I don't know, maybe they're about the same.

LIN: They're about the same? Oh, good. Well you know, because some people think we're actually acting, but there's a lot of add libbing involved, especially in sports. You really have to know what you're talking about, right?

WEATHERFORD: Yes.

LIN: So where do you think you're going to take this?

WEATHERFORD: I don't know. If can do more anchoring, that would be cool, too. But I'm hoping to do acting, and TV and film, because that's what I've always done. I've always done little gun shows with my dad, and I asked my mom, can we bring out the camera and do this, and she's like sure, so we made movies all the time when I was kid.

LIN: You are addictive. You know what you remind me of?

WEATHERFORD: Who?

LIN: Check this out. Look on the screen. You look exactly like our Bill Hemmer, same expression and everything.

WEATHERFORD: Thank you.

LIN: Only you're 10, right?

WEATHERFORD: Yes.

LIN: How would do you think Bill is?

WEATHERFORD: How's everything going?

LIN: No how old do you think Bill is?

WEATHERFORD: Good.

LIN: He's a good age. Yes, he's getting to that age where it's just good.

WEATHERFORD: Yes.

LIN: Hey, thanks so much, Riley. Good luck to you. We'll be tracking your career. It'll be a very long one since you're starting at the age of 10.

WEATHERFORD: Happy holidays.

LIN: Happy holidays. Riley Weatherford, joining us live right here on CNN.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com