Olympic Sports is the 1st book to offer odds on who will win ESPN's Dream Job Reality Show
2/22 10pm
A look at the 10 finalists for ESPN's Dream Job contest to select a new SportsCenter anchor:
•Casey Stern +650 25, got online for his initial Dream Job audition at 3:50 a.m. And Stern, who lives in Bellmore, N.Y., says he'll give up his current occupation to pursue sportscasting no matter how he does on the show. "I'm a headhunter. Or 'executive recruiter' if you want to be nice."
Stern's catchphrase, so far: " 'He's got legs and knows how to use them.' You know, like the commercial."
•Aaron Levine +650 21, a history major in his senior year at Stanford, set a personal goal of reaching ESPN within seven years. Levine expected to try to break into sportscasting in a small TV market: "If the best I can do is Peoria at $15,000 per year, so be it."
An announcer for Stanford's women's volleyball team, Levine hopes to circumvent the process with catchphrases such as "He wines and dines the twine."
•Nick Stevens +650 29, is a comedian living in Brooklyn, N.Y. Apparently not joking, he says his mother allowed him to stay home from school when the Boston Red Sox — he lived in Braintree, Mass., then — lost to the New York Mets in 1986.
•Maggie Haskins+650 21, a senior history major at Brown, wanted to work in sportscasting anyway — and then possibly study it in graduate school. She says she doesn't have a catchphrase.
But she knows ESPN's management. Haskins was "very, very excited" to meet Al Jaffe, who oversees ESPN's on-air hiring: "He's created a fabulous product, fabulous show."
•Mike Hall, 21 +650 a senior broadcast journalism major at the University of Missouri, says he's been an avid SportsCenter viewer since he was 11. In his official Dream Job biography, Hall says he's competing because he's "in it for the girls."
"I was stunned we got to interview a famous athlete," Hall says. "I got to interview Barry Sanders. That blew me away."
•Michael Quigley +650 40, sells wholesale auto supplies in Lansdowne, Pa.
But Quigley has tried to get into the business with efforts ranging from calling high school basketball on local radio to sending Charles Barkley a package of Tastykakes.
•Christopher Williams +650 31, is a Boston attorney who grew up in foster care in housing projects in Roxbury, Mass.
"I was a little bit surprised at the results so far," he says. "I think they did a good job creating personality diversity."
Most people fit into "funny guy category," he says. Williams considers himself "straight-laced. I can't make you laugh just from talking to you."
Williams' main catchphrase: "You know it." "But it's so basic it's almost not a catchphrase."
•Lori Rubinson +800 39, has worked on a cable access show in Aspen, Colo., and once was the marketing director for New York's Rockefeller Center.
•Zachariah Selwyn +800 28, is a musician and actor living in Los Angeles. He is trying to reverse the order set by ESPN anchors Dan Patrick and Kenny Mayne, who leveraged their notoriety on TV into appearances in beer commercials: His voice and lyrics already have been used in Coors ads.
•Alvin Williams +650 38 a retail manager in Montgomery, Ala., is a beneficiary of ESPN's constant hunger for promotional tie-ins that will help its hype: Williams emerged as a finalist through a Wendy's sweepstakes that drew about 33,000 entrants.
•Chet Anekwe +650 38, originally from Nigeria, is a computer programmer living in Jersey City. Anekwe once lost a girlfriend because he spent too much time watching SportsCenter.
•Kelly Milligan +650 38, a Dallas attorney, hopes to leave the law. Says Milligan of what he'd leave behind if he gets a sportscasting job: "Now I bust unions to fire people. It's not real feel-good work."
2/22 10pm
A look at the 10 finalists for ESPN's Dream Job contest to select a new SportsCenter anchor:
•Casey Stern +650 25, got online for his initial Dream Job audition at 3:50 a.m. And Stern, who lives in Bellmore, N.Y., says he'll give up his current occupation to pursue sportscasting no matter how he does on the show. "I'm a headhunter. Or 'executive recruiter' if you want to be nice."
Stern's catchphrase, so far: " 'He's got legs and knows how to use them.' You know, like the commercial."
•Aaron Levine +650 21, a history major in his senior year at Stanford, set a personal goal of reaching ESPN within seven years. Levine expected to try to break into sportscasting in a small TV market: "If the best I can do is Peoria at $15,000 per year, so be it."
An announcer for Stanford's women's volleyball team, Levine hopes to circumvent the process with catchphrases such as "He wines and dines the twine."
•Nick Stevens +650 29, is a comedian living in Brooklyn, N.Y. Apparently not joking, he says his mother allowed him to stay home from school when the Boston Red Sox — he lived in Braintree, Mass., then — lost to the New York Mets in 1986.
•Maggie Haskins+650 21, a senior history major at Brown, wanted to work in sportscasting anyway — and then possibly study it in graduate school. She says she doesn't have a catchphrase.
But she knows ESPN's management. Haskins was "very, very excited" to meet Al Jaffe, who oversees ESPN's on-air hiring: "He's created a fabulous product, fabulous show."
•Mike Hall, 21 +650 a senior broadcast journalism major at the University of Missouri, says he's been an avid SportsCenter viewer since he was 11. In his official Dream Job biography, Hall says he's competing because he's "in it for the girls."
"I was stunned we got to interview a famous athlete," Hall says. "I got to interview Barry Sanders. That blew me away."
•Michael Quigley +650 40, sells wholesale auto supplies in Lansdowne, Pa.
But Quigley has tried to get into the business with efforts ranging from calling high school basketball on local radio to sending Charles Barkley a package of Tastykakes.
•Christopher Williams +650 31, is a Boston attorney who grew up in foster care in housing projects in Roxbury, Mass.
"I was a little bit surprised at the results so far," he says. "I think they did a good job creating personality diversity."
Most people fit into "funny guy category," he says. Williams considers himself "straight-laced. I can't make you laugh just from talking to you."
Williams' main catchphrase: "You know it." "But it's so basic it's almost not a catchphrase."
•Lori Rubinson +800 39, has worked on a cable access show in Aspen, Colo., and once was the marketing director for New York's Rockefeller Center.
•Zachariah Selwyn +800 28, is a musician and actor living in Los Angeles. He is trying to reverse the order set by ESPN anchors Dan Patrick and Kenny Mayne, who leveraged their notoriety on TV into appearances in beer commercials: His voice and lyrics already have been used in Coors ads.
•Alvin Williams +650 38 a retail manager in Montgomery, Ala., is a beneficiary of ESPN's constant hunger for promotional tie-ins that will help its hype: Williams emerged as a finalist through a Wendy's sweepstakes that drew about 33,000 entrants.
•Chet Anekwe +650 38, originally from Nigeria, is a computer programmer living in Jersey City. Anekwe once lost a girlfriend because he spent too much time watching SportsCenter.
•Kelly Milligan +650 38, a Dallas attorney, hopes to leave the law. Says Milligan of what he'd leave behind if he gets a sportscasting job: "Now I bust unions to fire people. It's not real feel-good work."
