'Boom Goes The Dynamite'

Phrase Originator Tells How It Happened, And About The Response

(CBS)  "I decided at least I'm going to have a little fun with this," he says. "I figured not too many people would see it. And I just threw it out there," thinking that would be the end of it.

Little did Collins know, that would only be the beginning.

But someone put the embarrassing tape on the Web, "as a joke," Collins explains, "I think without really realizing what all would happen when he did that."

In an instant, Collins' catchphrase not only made its way around the Internet, it began showing up on newscasts across the country, mostly as anchor video voiceovers. It became part of pop culture, so much so that he appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman.

Collins says there's been some negative mixed in with the positive: "You do get hate mail from people who just come after you. …You get lots of phone calls. At one point, we had to unplug our phone at school just because of how many phone calls we were getting."

However, he adds, "It was something I was kind of glad I went through, because it taught me a lot about media and taught me a lot about how to lick your wounds and get through a mess."

Collins says he's been mulling becoming a TV weatherman.

So, The Early Show decided to give him some trial by fire, and asked him to help out substitute weatherperson Audrey Puente.

Collins did just fine, even managing to work in a, "Boom goes the dynamite."

He later told Puente, "I think it's a career I might wanna go into. It's a lot of fun."