The second season of Dream Job, the ESPN American reality television show that searches for new on-air talent for the network, began on Tuesday, September 14. Like the show's first season, this edition was also looking for a new anchor for SportsCenter. A talent search for the show had begun in late June 2004, all while also looking for contestants for the show's third season, which will begin in February of 2005. ESPN anchor Stuart Scott returned to host the new season.

The judges

The show's judging panel had two drastic changes. Gone were first season judges Tony Kornheiser and LaVar Arrington, who had begun play for the Washington Redskins in the 2004-2005 NFL season. Kornheiser and Arrington were replaced by Cold Pizza contributor and Around the Horn panelist Woody Paige, and ESPN NBA analyst Stephen A. Smith. It's sort of ironic that Smith would be a judge on such a show, especially with the fact that he is often criticized in the press and by fans for being loud while delivering his analysis. Cold Pizza co-host Kit Hoover and ESPN Vice-President of Talent, Al Jaffe, returned for the second season.

Voting

Unlike the judging panel, the voting for season two did not change. The viewing public still had one vote (which was given to the contestant who had received the highest number of votes from online voting and text messaging) to cut a contestant with. In the first two episodes, the judges were given one vote apiece to vote for a contestant to be cut, with two given to them for the third episode only, making episodes 4-10 also one-cut-apiece shows.

The contestants

Like the first two episodes of season one, the contestants were introduced in 2 groups of six. In episode one, the competing contestants were Valerie Hawrylko, a 31-year-old management consultant from Oakton, Virginia; Brian Startare, a 33-year-old health care management worker from Glassboro, New Jersey; Anish Shroff, a 22-year-old radio anchor who has recently graduated from Syracuse University, a school which has produced sportscasters like Bob Costas and Marv Albert; Grant Thompson, a 28-year-old writer and actor from Los Angeles; Joe Voyticky, a 37-year-old attorney (like season one alum Kelly Milligan) from Brooklyn, New York; and K.C. James, a 44-year-old account executive, whom, like Thompson, is from Los Angeles. James had won the Wendy's Wild Card Contest to gain entry onto the show, like season one veteran Alvin Williams.

The next group of six was introduced in episode two, and, for the first time, featured a second Wendy's Wild Card winner. Episode two's competitors were Jason Ashworth, a 23-year-old assistant tour manager from New Freedom, Pennsylvania; Winston Bell, a 35-year-old banker from Cleveland, who is, surprisingly, much shorter than season one alum Casey Stern; Jason Horowitz, a 21-year-old student at Syracuse University who originally hails from West Bloomfield, Michigan; Stephanie Rich, a 35-year-old travel coordinator from Arlington, Texas, who happened to be the show's first African-American female finalist; Whitney Scott, a 24-year-old sports information assistant from Lockwood, Missouri; and David Holmes, the second Wendy's Wild Card winner, who is a 22-year-old student at Kent State University, and hails from Uniontown, Ohio.

How season 2 progressed

Episode one

Like the first season, the first two episodes of the second season began with the main game being "My SportsCenter", and like the series premiere on February 22, 2004, each of the six contestants competing in the first episode of season two read two SportsCenter highlights, most of them being from sporting events from the past weekend. Thompson went first, and was criticized for being too schtick and comedic. James went next, paused twice during his highlight readings, and was jumped on for the pauses. Shroff went third, made some mistakes, but was praised for being professional by all four judges.

After the first three contestants read their highlights, a sort of intermission took place, in which a new game called "Get Off the Fence" was introduced. In this game, the contestants were split into three pairs. Each contestant was given a current sports issue, the debate started, and the second contestant had to counterargue the point, whether or not they agreed with their own counterargument. Each pair was given two issues apiece. Hawrylko was said to be the best debater by all the judges, while Startare was called the worst. Smith even said he could see Startare sweat during the debate.

When "My SportsCenter" resumed, Voyticky read his highlights. He was called boring, and that he needed more energy. Hawrylko went next, and while she was praised for her debating, she was criticized for trying to tell too many jokes during her highlight readings. Startare was last to go, and Paige called him "brutal." All six were pretty much criticized for using too many cliches.

Voting

With 3 votes, Voyticky was the first contestant cut from the show in its second season.

Episode Two

The second group came in knowing they would have to work hard to top the first group. A second contestant was going to be cut, though, knocking the number of competitors remaining down to 10 at the end of the night.

This show's "My SportsCenter" was reading a list of top 5-any top 5s, from plays to hits, while video from those items was shown. Horowitz was up first, and he had a list of top 5 catches, which included a fish being caught at the Citgo Bassmasters Classic. All four judges (including Smith) praised Horowitz for writing and speaking clearly. Scott was next, and her top 5 list was the top 5 shots, including a great shot in a table tennis tournament. She was called "solid," but Paige told her to "keep improving." Holmes then took his turn, having the top 5 blocks for his segment, with the top block being an incredible knockaway by Detroit Pistons star Tayshaun Prince on Indiana Pacers guard Reggie Miller in game one of the 2004 Eastern Conference Finals for the NBA. Holmes got half praise, half criticism, and was relieved when Smith let him off the hook for an average performance-even after Holmes said Smith was his least favorite sportscaster on the show application.

The in-between game was "Fact or Fiction", a regular segment on the real SportsCenter, in which an anchor throws out a topic with an opinion attached to it, and two analysts debate (or even agree) on what they think. The contestants were split into three pairs like the previous week, and were given two topics each, ranging from "Oscar de la Hoya should retire" to "The U.S. will win the Ryder Cup in 2006." Rich was unanimously called the worst debater, while Horowitz just barely won the title of best debater.

Unfortunately for Rich, she was up next in "My SportsCenter", where her list was the top 5 dives. Even worse, the judges (except for Paige) didn't let up, as Hoover called her "slow." Ashworth was next to take the stage, and his list was a list of top 5 saves. He was praised for his energy, but the judges he needed to back up his highlights with facts. Bell was the final contestant to take his turn on the evening with a list of top 5 hits, with one being a September 2004 beating of the New York Yankees by the Cleveland Indians, in which the Indians clobbered the Yankees 22-0 to give the Yankees their worst loss in franchise history. His enthusiasm was noticed by all, but Smith told him to smile more.

Voting

It was unanimous. With all 5 votes going in her direction, Rich was the second contestant cut from season two.

Episode Three

10 became 8 on night three, as for one episode only, two contestants would be voted off instead of one.

The "My SportsCenter" game for this evening was co-anchoring, although it was individuals being cut, not duos. The twist here was at the end of their segment, after a couple of highlight readings and a news story, the pairs would interview a player from a Major League Baseball team that was already in-or on the verge of making-the 2004 postseason. Hawrylko and Horowitz were the first pair to go, and their interviewee was New York Yankees outfielder Gary Sheffield, who was interviewed from his New Jersey home. Horowitz' interview skills were praised, while Hawrylko was said to have needed more work. As a team, Paige said they were good, but needed to display more chemistry. Ashworth and Startare were next to go, and they conducted their interview with Chicago Cubs pitcher Kent Mercker. Startare got praise for much-needed improvement from episode one. Ashworth was criticized for not asking questions that pertained to the current situation, and for asking questions that were too long. Wendy's Wild Card winners Holmes and James were next, and their interviewee was Justin Morneau of the Minnesota Twins. Their chemistry-or lack thereof-and their interviewing skills were both criticized. Said Paige, "Guys, call your mamas, and tell them to keep the front porch light on. If you don't get better than that, you'll be home soon," a message for both of them, drawing a "Wowza!" from Hoover. Holmes was said to be the better of the two-but barely. Following Holmes and James was the debut of a new segment featuring real SportsCenter anchors giving advice to the remaining contestants, titled "U.S. Air Force Wingman." The person giving the advice-the first Dream Job winner, Mike Hall. Hall told them "less is more"-"Not every play needs a joke, not every highlight needs style, but every highlight does need information," he said. After the commercial break following Hall's "SportsCenter 101", it was time for Shroff and Scott to show what they could do. Their interviewee was Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Jose Lima. A problem arose at the start of the interview, when Scott asked Lima, "Can you hear me?" (He could.) Jaffe said some of the teamwork seemed forced, that it was so-so. Paige said the interview was embarrassing for both of them because of how it started, and that Shroff wasn't as good as he was in week one. Smith said Scott was better than she was in week two, and agreed with Paige that Shroff had slipped from the first week. The last pair was Thompson and Bell, whose interviewee was Houston Astros catcher Brad Ausmus. Their chemistry was praised, and Bell was praised for telling the viewers at home who they would be interviewing before the "show" started-something no one else did that night.

Voting

The decision to cut James was so unanimous, that he was sent off-stage before America's vote was even announced. Hawrylko's being cut kept both Wendy's Wild Card Winners from being cut on the same night, as America's decision to cut her broke the tie between she and Holmes.

Episodes four through eight

Episode nine

(Sypnosis coming soon.)

Voting

America's vote had broken the tie. Just two men were left to fight for the title of new SportsCenter anchor: David Holmes and Grant Thompson.

Episode ten

This was it. The tenth and final episode of the second season of Dream Job. The episode that would determine who the next SportsCenter anchor would be. Airing on Tuesday, November 16, 2004, both Holmes and Thompson knew that no mistake would be minor, and that one small error would crush their dream. The night opened with Holmes and Thompson going head-to-head in a debate game called "Pardon the Interruption", exactly like the ESPN talk show of the same name. It was a highly-entertaining segment, dealing with topics such as Barry Bonds winning his seventh National League Most Valuable Player award, and New York City's bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympics. Thompson and Holmes went back-and-forth banter that pushed sarcastic boundaries most of the time. Both were praised by the judges for entertaining them ever so, and Jaffe remarked about the 3 PM (Eastern Standard Time) slot being a "big hole", and that they should start a new show called The Grant and David Show featuring the two. Scott said it was the most he'd ever been entertained on the program in its two seasons of existence.

The next game was a trivia game called "The Rundown." The game consisted of six categories, each containing three questions, all of which increased in difficulty in each category. All questions in the game were worth one point apiece. One player was told to pick a category, and only he could answer the first question as soon as it was given. If he got it right, then he got first chance to answer the next question. If he got it wrong, then the second player would be given the opportunity to correctly answer the question, and if he got it right, then the right to exclusively answer each question first would switch to him. If they both got it wrong, then the contestant who gave the last correct answer would be given first chance to answer the next question or told to pick a new category. Thompson soundly defeated Holmes in this game by a score of 10-3.

Then came the season's final "My SportsCenter" segment. This would be the big one, as Thompson and Holmes would be paired up with real SportsCenter anchors and perform tasks just like the sports news show's anchors perform day in and day out. Both pairs would read highlights and stories, while each contestant would have extra pressure placed on them to see how they performed under difficult circumstances, like the TelePrompter going out while they were reading a story, or doing a highlight while having a producer read tell them what they were seeing through their IFB because the contestants themselves had no shot sheet that matched the video they were watching in front of them. Thompson and Holmes were also told just minutes before their segment that they would be interviewing the New England Patriots' Willie McGinest. Holmes was paired up with Steve Levy, while Thompson was paired up with Dream Job season one winner Mike Hall. Both pairs were praised for having good chemistry, while Holmes garnered the most praise for being almost flawless, but Thompson stumbled badly during his segment, and, as the voting would show, gave away the title of "Winner of the second season of Dream Job" that had looked so sure for him going into this night.

Voting

So, after 10 weeks of ups and downs, highs and lows, stress and joy, David Holmes was the second winner of Dream Job, and the newest SportsCenter anchor. Thompson's stumbles had cost him everything.

Later on SportsCenter that night, Holmes would be given trivia questions to try and see how much money he would make in his first year as an ESPN employee. He started out at $60,000, with each correct answer being worth $5,000 apiece. He got as high as the $75,000 question, which he got wrong, bumping his first-year salary back to $70,000. Holmes was also awarded with a brand-new Mazda6 5-door car.

(*)The asterisk is placed next to Jaffe because America's vote was read before the judges' votes were given, so when Smith said he voted to cut Thompson, Scott said, "We don't need to go on", and Thompson was immediately sent off, but not before hugging Holmes. Scott did eventually turn to Jaffe, and Jaffe said that if his vote would've been necessary, he would've also cut Thompson.

External link

• Dream Job II official website (http://espn.iliad.com/index.html)
• Akron Beacon Journal article on Holmes' win (http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/entertainment/10202425.htm?1c)