Kellerman Is Living His Dream

There is a perception that working in sports television is a pretty good gig.

The ESPN reality show, “Dream Job,” offering an anchor role on “SportsCenter,” drew more than 10,000 auditions.

So is it a dream job?

“Sometimes,” said eight-year “SportsCenter” anchor Linda Cohn, who was in San Diego this week to play in ESPN colleague Sean Salisbury’s celebrity golf tournament.

“Dream Job” is coming back for a second run early next year, but what can one do to get into sports television besides taking part in a wacky reality show?

Max Kellerman, the young, brash, energetic type that television executives seem to be looking for these days, had a game plan.

Kellerman, fascinated by boxing, began doing his own public-access cable show in New York, “Max on Boxing,” when he was 16.

He continued doing the show through his college days as a film student at Columbia. He worked as a waiter to pay the expenses, which mainly consisted of a $32-a-week tab for phone lines.

It took Kellerman 7 1/2 years to get through school, and when he graduated in 1998, it was time to get serious.

With the help of his three younger brothers, Kellerman sent out 25 audition tapes, accompanied with a press kit, to television outlets.

“I had heard that you should send out 50 audition tapes,” Kellerman said, “so I was prepared to send out another 25 if necessary.”

Although Kellerman says he got pretty good response to the 25 tapes he sent out, it was connections he’d made through “Max on Boxing” that landed him a job as studio boxing analyst for ESPN2.

That led to a stint as host of ESPN’s “Around the Horn,” which led to a multi-faceted deal with Fox Sports Net.

Beginning Monday, Kellerman will have his own daily show on Fox Sports Net, “I, Max,” which will be on weeknights at 6. It will feature debates among show regulars and guests, but there will be more focus on Kellerman than there was on “Around the Horn.”

Kellerman is 30, so it appears the early start has paid off.

Another New Show

James Brown, the host of Fox’s NFL pregame show and a daily radio show on the Sporting News network, also has a new show on Fox Sports Net.

The first of four quarterly one-hour editions of “Head to Head With James Brown” makes its debut Sunday at 9 p.m. It consists of Brown and three correspondents, one of them Kellerman, doing interviews.

On Sunday’s show, Kellerman talks with Roy Jones Jr., Curt Menefee spends a day with Serena Williams, Brown sits down with Jerry West and new NFL insider Jay Glazer takes on new Raider Warren Sapp.

Brown, 52, has a style much different from Kellerman’s. Brown uses a kinder, gentler approach.

What they have in common, though, is a drive to succeed.

Brown, Harvard-educated, is one of the hardest-working people in sports broadcasting. He also is a correspondent for HBO’s “Real Sports,” serves as the host of the HBO pay-per-view boxing shows and does a twice-monthly syndicated show, “America’s Black Forum.”

He admits to being a workaholic.

“There is a reason for that,” said Brown, a three-time All-Ivy League basketball player. “When I got out of school in 1973, I was drafted in the fourth round by the Atlanta Hawks.

“I got cut and, looking back, I think the reason I got cut was, I didn’t work hard enough. I vowed at the time that I would never let another opportunity slip by because I didn’t work hard enough.

“Ever since then, I have never gone into anything without being as prepared as I could be.”

Enberg’s Grand Slam

If Brown were to be compared to someone else in sports broadcasting, it might be Dick Enberg.

Class, dignity and respect are words associated with them.

It was announced Thursday that Enberg, besides performing his duties with CBS, would work three Grand Slam tennis events for ESPN.

Enberg recently signed an extension with CBS that allowed him to accept outside work. When Bill Bonnell, a former NBC tennis producer, became ESPN’s coordinating producer of tennis, Enberg was the man he wanted.

Enberg will work the French Open and Wimbledon for ESPN this year and, beginning next year, the Australian Open. Since he will also be working the U.S. Open for CBS, he’ll work all four major tournaments next year, tennis’ Grand Slam.

“I think people still associate me with Wimbledon,” he said. “I get stopped all the time and asked about Wimbledon, even though I haven’t been there since 1999.”

Enberg will work the French Open in Paris from May 24 to June 6, then go to London for Wimbledon June 24-July 4.

“I can’t wait,” he said. “Ernest Hemingway was right. Not only about Paris being a movable feast but also London. Once you’ve tasted these championships, you take them where you go for the rest of your life.”

Short Waves

Karl Malone, in an interview with Ahmad Rashad that will be part of ABC’s NBA pregame show Sunday at noon, talks about his relationship with his mother, Shirley, who died last summer. He also talks about this season with the Lakers and his relationship with his teammates.... In case anyone is interested, NBA TV is re-showing weeknight playoff games the next morning.

Ratings game: Nationally, the NASCAR race at California Speedway on Fox on Sunday beat the Lakers and San Antonio Spurs on ABC, 6.1 to 4.9.... Saturday’s Kentucky Derby ended up with a 7.4 national rating, a 16% increase over last year’s 6.4.

The Avengers at Tampa Bay is the featured Arena Football League game on NBC on Sunday at noon, with Tom Hammond and Pat Haden announcing.... The NCAA women’s water polo championships will be televised on CSTV Sunday at 4 p.m. The semifinalists include USC and Loyola Marymount.

The reality TV craze comes to CBS golf Saturday at 11 a.m. with the debut of the three-part “Golf’s Ultimate Roadtrip.” David Feherty is the host of the show in which two four-person amateur teams try to play 18 signature holes on 18 courses in 12 states over nine days. The series will also be shown May 22 and June 6.

ESPN has added Mike Ditka as an NFL studio analyst. The network lost Dennis Green, who became the coach of the Arizona Cardinals, and Mark Malone, who took a TV anchor job in Chicago.... ESPN will use retired 2003 Indianapolis 500 winner Gil de Ferran as an analyst for its Indy 500 programs.

In Closing

ABC officials say Michele Tafoya was hired as a sideline reporter for “Monday Night Football” because she has shown she can do the job. Gee, that’s a novel idea.