|
 
Dream Job host Stuart Scott, right, congratulates
his new colleague Mike Hall. Hall, who is from Glen Ellyn,
Ill., is a senior broadcast major who has logged on-camera
hours at KOMU, the only
network-affiliated television newsroom in the country designed
as a teaching facility for students. Photo by Lorenzo Bevilaqua/ESPN
|
Living
the Dream
According to ESPN.com,
Mike Hall, 22, credited his education at the University of
Missouri School
of Journalism “with giving him the hands-on
experience to advance, and ultimately, win.”
By Justin Jarrett
Dream job. Check.
New car. Check.
College diploma. Not quite yet.
Before he walks across the stage at MU in
May, Mike Hall landed just about everything he could have hoped
to gain with his pending journalism degree. Hall earned a one-year
contract as a “SportsCenter”
anchor, a new Mazda 3 and a $95,000 salary March 28, beating Aaron
Levine, a Stanford University student, in the finals of ESPN’s
reality series Dream
Job.
Hall and Levine, both 22, edged out Maggie
Haskins, a senior at Brown University, and Zachariah Sellwyn,
a musician and actor from Los Angeles, in the final four. Judges
said Haskins was the most-improved contestant from Day 1 and
praised Sellwyn’s
wit and talent, but in the end it was Hall against Levine.
After the three judges, Tony Kornheiser of
“Pardon the Interruption,” Kit Hoover of “Cold
Pizza” and ESPN’s scout for on-air talent, Al Jaffe,
cut the field from four to two, America’s vote solely decided
the winner. Through online voting and text messaging, America
chose to cut Levine, leaving Hall as the Dream Job winner.
“I can’t cry on TV,” Hall
said as his parents and two sisters stormed the stage after the
announcement.
Hall made his “SportsCenter” debut
as an anchor on March 29, anchoring the shows at 5 p.m., 10 p.m.
and midnight. After the Dream Job finale, Hall got a
chance to negotiate his salary in a “SportsCenter”
segment with Dream Job host Stuart Scott. Hall answered
five sports questions correctly, boosting his salary from a $70,000
base to $95,000.
After receiving the nationwide vote for elimination
on the first episode, Hall didn’t receive another vote
for the remainder of the show, and he got only 40 percent of
the elimination vote in the final round. The viewers, who voted
to cut Hall in the first week, voted him the winner in the end.
Hall, right, listens to instructor Jim Riek in his advanced
broadcast sports reporting class. Photo courtesy of KOMU
News
|
“They came around,” Hall said. “I
don’t
know what to say. I just won like a beauty pageant; I want like
a crown, and … oh my God.”
The voters weren’t
the only ones impressed with Hall’s
performance. After dealing with a blank teleprompter, breaking
news in the middle of the show and a breaking story during an
interview with Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning,
Hall earned compliments from Jaffe.
“Great job,” Jaffe
said. “We really threw a
lot of stuff at you, and you reacted very well.”
The night
started out right for Hall. Up last in the opening task, “Total
Recall,” Hall had the assignment of calling
the play-by-play of the ninth inning of Game 1 of the 1988 World
Series.
The judges seemed to agree that Hall was
the best of the four in the play-by-play competition, nailing
the call on Kirk Gibson’s
home run to lift the Los Angeles Dodgers past the Oakland Athletics.
Having
held their own in the play-by-play segment, the contestants had
to take on Kornheiser in a segment of “Pardon the Interruption,”
ESPN’s afternoon show that features sports banter between
Kornheiser and Washington Post colleague Michael Wilbon.
Apparently,
making the final two was all about looking good. Each of the
final four contestants got $1,000 from Visa to prepare for
the finale, which Hall and Levine used to outfit themselves in
sharp new suits from Saks Fifth Avenue.
With his first paycheck,
maybe Hall can make a return visit to Saks. That suit has served
him well.
Note: This March 29, 2004, article has
been republished with permission from the Columbia
Missourian.
Archives
| Comments | Home SUBSCRIPTIONS
Subscribe
| Change Your
Address | Unsubscribe
Copyright © 2007 — Curators of the University of Missouri
DMCA and other copyright information.
All rights reserved.
An equal opportunity/ADA institution.
Published by the Mizzou Alumni Association
Questions? Comments? E-mail comments@mizzoualumni.org
Last Update:
March 12, 2007
|
