In his 45-year career as a sportscaster, Al Michaels has checked into just about every Twin Cities major venue, for a wide range of assignments that he recalled with incredible clarity during a phone interview Tuesday.

Q: You broadcast the first NFL regular season game at U.S. Bank Stadium. What did you think?

A: I was very impressed. It's anything but cookie-cutter. Sometimes these new stadiums are more horizontal and swept-back than vertical. From what I could tell, U.S. Bank isn't like that.

Q: You've been doing this for well over four decades. Are you the kind of guy who could retire and spend your free time on the beach or do you plan to keep on going like your longtime friend Sid Hartman?

A: Sid has been to journalism what Vin Scully has been to broadcasting. I could spend enough time on the beach and still do this for a living.

Read the full Q&A with Al Michaels in the Variety section on page E5.

NEAL JUSTIN