Jon Stewart prepares for his gig as host of the Oscars. AP

SI writer Richard Deitsch interviewed comedian Jon Stewart for the magazine's Q&A this week. The host of Comedy Central's The Daily Show is the master of ceremonies for the Academy Awards on March 5. Stewart, 43, played for the William & Mary men's soccer team for three seasons (1981-83). He had 10 goals and 12 assists during his college career. Here are additional excerpts from their conversation:

SI: Admit it, you are counting down the days to the Beijing Games?

Stewart: I'm actually responsible for much of the choreography of the opening ceremonies in Beijing. I'm working on that now.

SI: You saw Lindsay Jacobellis' fall at the Olympics. What happens if you have a perfect Oscar telecast and then bomb at the end?

Stewart: Unless I pull down my pants and do a helicopter at the end, I can't imagine what else I could do to bomb. Once you're in hour four, my job is literally to go, "Hey, everybody, get home safe."

SI: You were a jock in high school. Did you ever beat up a nerd?

Stewart: Sadly, I was also a nerd. So was I at war with myself?

SI: How much of yourself do you see in Freddy Adu?

Stewart: Well, when I first started hosting The Daily Show at 14, people thought I was older. Not true. I've just aged a lot since it started.

SI: You played against U.S. National Team coach Bruce Arena when he coached at Virginia. Did he ever say anything to you on the pitch?

Stewart: "Thank you for lowering your team's ability and allowing our team to trounce you year after year."

SI: Diego Maradona is hosting a sports show in Argentina. Care to offer him some advice?

Stewart: First of all, the thing that people don't realize is that not only is Diego Maradona one of the most talented soccer players who ever lived, he's only eight inches tall. For a gentleman to actually be smaller than the ball he was playing with and still have that kind of skill shows just how remarkable he was.

SI: Pelé told SI that while Bend it like Beckham was a beautiful and romantic film, the best soccer film of all time was Victory. As a sometimes actor, do you agree?

Stewart: As far as I know, those being the only two soccer films, you would be hard-pressed to find another opinion. For the kind of acting that I do, Victory was much better. It was much more wooden and two-dimensional. It was something I could relate to and possible have been in.