ON THE AIR Channel 29 sports anchor a Tolley good fellow Known for his charitable endeavors as much as his broadcasting, Tollefson is glad to be back on television. By LAURA NACHMAN WTXF "good guy" Don Tollefson, 50, will be on the sidelines as a reporter for the Fox telecast of the Cardinals-Eagles game Sunday, but when it comes to giving back to the community, he is never on the sidelines. Known for his charitable endeavors as much as his broadcasting, Tollefson is glad to be back on television, after a five-year break in the early 1990s to work full-time on his charity, "Winning Ways." "This gives me the best of both worlds," Tollefson said. "By doing one show a night at Fox, I am able to go to schools in the mornings and afternoons." The Stanford graduate makes 15 appearances per week at schools and organizations, most recently emceeing the "March of Dimes Achievement in Radio" Awards on Tuesday. Tollefson got his dedication to helping others from his late mother, Laura, who died when he was in high school."She brought me up with a tremendous sense of justice," he said. "She taught me to always put myself in other people's shoes." The always upbeat "Tolley" is entering his eighth year at Fox, even though many viewers don't "Think Fox First," and still associate him with WPVI's "Action News," where he spent the first 15 years of his Philly career from 1975-1990. Not surprisingly, it was Tollefson's work with a charity, PAL, that led him back to television. An executive at Fox was also involved with the organization. Tollefson was the original co-host of "Good Day, Philadelphia," then returned to anchor sports for the "Ten O'Clock News" a couple years later. Though news wasn't a perfect fit, it led to a relationship with Donya Archer, the show's news anchor at the time. Currently single, the San Francisco native splits his time between Olde City and a home in Chester County that he recently purchased. He shares his digs with his dogs, Stanley and Aruba (named for the island where he and former girlfriend Jenna Wolfe, late of WPHL, found him), and a cat fittingly named "Awesome," a word that anybody who watches his sportscasts knows he occasionally uses. Next for Tollefson is a new charity with Eagles head coach Andy Reid and Penn State's Adam Taliaferro called "Together for America," whose goal is to help kids achieve racial harmony. Catch Tollefson with Sam Rosen and Bill Maas on Fox at 1 p.m. Tollefson also hosts WTXF's "Eagles Game Day Live" at 11 a.m. 500 or 501? "Monday Night Football's" 500th broadcast enjoyed high ratings despite the return of the yellow blazers that made John Madden look like a school bus. However, according to Hugh Gannon of Andalusia, that was actually the 501st Monday night game. The former WCAU and Philadelphia Park sportscaster informed me that in 1968, the Eagles-Baltimore Colts game was switched to Monday night because the Baltimore Orioles had a playoff game. WCAU, then a CBS affiliate, had the rights to the game, but could not telecast it due to orders from the network, which did not want to pre-empt its lineup. WPHL ended up televising the game with Al Meltzer and Tom Brookshier and got huge ratings. Thus, the first prime-time football telecast actually happened right here. Ride 'em, Deion Think the new "CBS Early Show" is bad? It got even worse, as I caught Deion Sanders doing a piece on how to be a cowboy. Not a Dallas Cowboy - a cowboy who rides horses and ropes cattle. Former NBC sportscaster Hannah Storm, who is a co-host on the show, should fire her agent for getting her into this mess. Laura Nachman covers television and radio sports for the Courier Times. She can be reached at bradyresident@aol.com. November 15, 2002