Some are simply sports addicts intent on showing their talent to the nation. Others are savvy sports journalists looking for a break. And some even consider reading a sports almanac a hobby.

Collectively, they make up the cast of ESPN’s “2-Minute Drill”, a sports trivia game show hosted by Kenny Mayne, where bracketheads like Syracuse University student Adesina Koiki go head-to-head in hopes of winning cash and trips to prestigious sporting events.

Jeff Izes, though, takes the proverbial cake.

“I’ve always been blessed with a great memory,” said Izes, a Richboro, Pa. native in a telephone interview. “I’ve always also been savvy enough to not flaunt how bright you are. Sports is always cool. Plus, I’ve got two older brothers, so the first words I ever spoke were Dick Butkus.”

The show was started three seasons ago by Michael Davies, who is also the executive producer of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”. The goal was simple: show abnormal people answering abnormal questions from celebrity panelists.

And the response — at least for the first two seasons — was good, said J.P. Buck, a producer for the show.

“The response was great,” Buck said. “It had a wide appeal even to people that didn’t follow sports. Women enjoyed the show, too. I guess it’s pretty impressive to see the number of people that knew sports so well.”

The show draws most of its contestants from Web site entries, where applicants are asked to provide background information, what their “Question of Great Significance” would be and why they should be picked. This is how Koiki and Will Gibson, who won the first two seasons, made their way to auditions.

Then, the producers invite people to auditions, where they are administered a 20-question written test.

“I had like three questions out of 20 answered,” Koiki said. “I was like, ‘Whew. This day ended quickly.’ Then, I started thinking a little more about it and had stuff coming to me a little bit. Answer after answer, I got in a little bit of a groove. I answered all 20, but I knew I didn’t get all 20, and they really didn’t say how many you needed to advance to the second round of auditions. So, they collected all these papers and we turned to each other and were like, ‘Damn, this was tough.’”

The producers then narrow the field from about 30 down to about eight. The remaining contestants are given a “1-Minute Drill”, under light intensity — enough to make Koiki wonder if he committed a crime.

Buck said the producers are looking for a three-tool TV star, similar to a five-tool baseball player. The person must have not only extensive sports knowledge, but must be able to answer questions quickly and look good in front of a television camera.

“When you sit in there, purposely like that, we put the light right on everyone that comes through the door,” Buck said. “It’s to make them feel they’re the center of attention, almost like a police detention room.”

People flew in from Hawaii and Alaska just to try out, Buck said. Izes simply wrote ESPN a letter, detailing how he knew his stuff and would look good on camera. Gibson and Koiki, a staff writer for The Daily Orange, applied online. And suddenly from thousands there were only 32, from which Koiki emerged as the winner.

“He beat a lot of really smart people,” Buck said. “Everybody in that bunch, you have to have this part of your brain that’s just overly developed for sports. Through thousands of people, we found 32 amazing contestants. To beat all of those guys is pretty impressive.”

Mayne has hosted the show all three seasons, drawing rave reviews from contestants and producers alike. He could not be reached for comment. Buck even goes as far as to say Mayne’s suited for a late-night television career.

“He’s a super nice guy,” Gibson said. “He’s a tremendous, tremendous person. He helped me out a lot. I learned a lot from him. Sure, his humor is a humor that you have to adapt to. You have to know Kenny for the person that he is and understand him. There’s no fronts, no fakes, what you see is what you get.”

Gibson and Izes also said that the “2-Minute drill” exposure has helped them further their careers. Gibson is a sports radio journalist, a profession where “2-Minute Drill” skills certainly come into play.

Sadly, though, others may never get the opportunity because no new season is in sight. Buck says it’s in ESPN’s hands and that he hasn’t heard anything about a fourth season yet. Ratings dipped during the third season, as ESPN chose to show the “2-Minute Drill” mainly during the 12:30 a.m. time slot, a decision the show’s producers did not agree with.

Still, Buck was happy with the third result.

“I don’t know if ESPN promoted it well enough,” he said. “They shifted it to a bad time slot. The response was great. The third tourney played out very much like a trilogy to a movie film, like Star Wars or something like that. One guy, Willie Gibson, won the first and second. So for the third, he’s favored, all bookies are betting on him to win. Then, this 18-year-old kid comes out of nowhere and wins the whole thing. As such, I’d be glad to do it again someday.”

Published on February 4, 2002 at 12:00 pm