Contestants In September 2003, the show's producers went on a nationwide talent search to find those who wanted a chance to be an ESPN anchor. Over 10,000 people attended the talent search across the United States. The field was narrowed down to 10 contestants who would compete in the televised finals, which started in the
Winter of 2004. Originally, the show wanted 11 contestants, 10 from the nationwide search, and another from a contest that was being sponsored by the popular fast food chain
Wendy's. A 12th contestant would be selected as an alternate. The last 12 contestants still in the running on the premiere episode ranged in age from 21 to 40. They were: • Maggie Haskins, the youngest contestant, a
Chicago native who was a full-time student at
Brown University in
Providence, Rhode Island. Haskins was originally the alternate, but producers later changed their minds and she competed from the show's first episode. • Michael Quigley, the oldest contestant, an auto parts salesman from
Lansdowne, Pennsylvania. Quigley quickly became known for his over-the-top anchoring style, similar to a play-by-play announcer. • Aaron Levine, 21, a senior at
Stanford University •
Mike Hall, 22, a senior at the
University of Missouri •
Casey Stern, 25, an executive recruiter from
Bellmore, New York •
Zachariah Selwyn, 28, an actor and a musician from
Los Angeles • Nick Stevens, 29, a
Brooklyn-based comedian • Chris Williams, 31, an
attorney from
Boston •
Chet Anekwe, 38, a
Nigerian-born
computer programmer from
Jersey City • Alvin Williams, 38, a retail manager from
Montgomery, Alabama (Williams won the contest sponsored by
Wendy's to become a contestant on the show) • Kelly Milligan, 38, a
Dallas attorney • Lori Rubinson, 39, from
New York City, now a host at
WFAN Judges The judging panel consisted of: •
Tony Kornheiser,
The Washington Post columnist and author, and co-host of ESPN's talk show,
Pardon the Interruption. •
Kit Hoover, a former Fox News correspondent, cast member on the inaugural season of MTV's
Road Rules, and co-host of the ESPN2 morning show,
Cold Pizza. •
LaVar Arrington, a former NFL
linebacker, who at the time played for the
Washington Redskins. •
Al Jaffe, the Vice President of Talent at ESPN. The judging panel's job consisted of giving criticism to the contestants after performing a task on the show and cutting contestants.
Episodes There was one segment that recurred each week on the show called "My SportsCenter." Each contestant was to read a highlight, or, as they did in week 4, introduce packages done by the person they were co-anchoring their segment with. Each show also consisted of a different sporting event. These ranged from an analysis of the
NCAA men's basketball tournament to the "Al Jaffe Sports Quiz", which is given to every on-air personality who applies for a job at ESPN. The first two weeks of the show saw the contestants split into groups of 6, and each doing the "My SportsCenter" segment solo. To break a tie between Chris Williams and Michael Quigley at the end of the first show, Scott called a network executive who made the final decision to cut Chris Williams. Alvin Williams was cut the following week. In week 3, on March 7, 2004, the "My SportsCenter" segment became co-anchored, and Quigley and Rubenson were voted off. For the "My SportsCenter" segment in week 4, on March 14, 2004, all the eight remaining contestants were sent to Florida to do reports on
Major League Baseball teams in
Spring Training. Stevens and
Chet Anekwe were cut. A special episode chronicling the nationwide search was shown the night after. In week 5, on March 21, 2004, "My SportsCenter" again became a solo segment, with each contestant reading two highlight packages, both on the NCAA men's basketball tournament. The Al Jaffe Sports Quiz took place that night as well. Each of the six remaining contestants were asked five questions. Selwyn scored highest, answering three questions correctly. After the segment, though, host Scott called out Haskins and Hall. Two days earlier, on March 19, 2004, the entertainment section of the
New York Post ran a brief paragraph that stated that Hall and Haskins had been dating for some time. When asked, they confirmed the article's truth, but not directly. Amidst all the romance talk, Stern and Milligan were cut that night.
Finale The two-hour finale, airing on March 28, 2004, would determine who the new
SportsCenter anchor would be. In the first hour, only the judges would determine who got cut. Haskins and Selwyn, arguably the most popular contestants on the show, were cut, leaving Levine and Hall in the championship round. Haskins was tabbed by Jaffe as the show's most improved contestant. She was praised for having the best writing during her time on the show. When making the decision to cut Selwyn, Kornheiser said, "I probably just made a mistake." In hour two, the American viewing public would cut one more contestant. At the end of the night, Levine was cut by garnering 60% of the viewers' votes.
Mike Hall was the first ever
Dream Job winner. Later that night on
SportsCenter, Hall took his sports quiz and correctly answered five questions. Each correct answer was worth $5,000, increasing his first-year salary from $70,000 to $95,000. He graduated from the University of Missouri on May 15, 2004. He started his tenure as a regular
SportsCenter anchor on July 19, 2004. He had done some
on-air work for
ESPNEWS before officially joining
SportsCenter. As for Selwyn, he became a color commentator on the
Game Show Network series,
Extreme Dodgeball, which began on June 15, 2004. He also hosted three episodes of
Around the Horn, which some believe may have been a trial of sorts to determine if he was worthy to replace
Tony Reali. He currently can be seen on
Attack of the Show on
G4. ==Season 2==