Thursday, August 31 Who wants to be a 2-minute drill contestant?
	ESPN has assembled 51 contestants to compete on ESPN's 2-Minute Drill, a new sports game show created and produced by Michael Davies, executive producer of ABC's Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?, and Andrew Golder, creator of Comedy Central's Win Ben Stein's Money. The program will test contestants' knowledge in a variety of sports beginning September 11 and culminating on Christmas. Following is a rundown of the contestant selection process. The Making of An 2-Minute Drill Contestant FIRST STEP - BUILDING AWARENESS ESPN entities (ESPN.com, ESPN The Magazine, ESPN Radio) featured advertisements about how to become a contestant, as did select outlets in the New York area (Village Voice, local radio, on-line message boards and chat rooms). In addition, fliers were distributed at New York-area sporting events (Yankees, Liberty, etc.). This resulted in nearly 4,000 respondents. SECOND STEP - ARRANGING AUDITIONS 2-Minute Drill staff responded to the calls and emails, arranging hourly group auditions in N.Y. Contestants needed to be 18 years or older and a U.S. resident. Approximately 1,000 individuals auditioned, including people from California, North Carolina, Florida, Arizona, Delaware, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Virginia, New Jersey and New York. THIRD STEP - THE AUDITION The audition was broken down into two parts - the written test and the on-camera audition. The written exam consisted of 20 sports questions (not multiple choice) on a variety of topics. Three sample questions follow: SAMPLE TEST QUESTIONS Which current NBA player has the highest career point total? Where were the 1980 Summer Olympics held? Which Boston College receiver caught Doug Flutie's pass to beat Miami in 1984? Those contestants who scored well on the written test advanced to the on-camera audition. Of the 1,000 test takers, 400 advanced to the audition. The on-camera portion began with an interview focusing on the individual's sports interests. Following the interview, auditioners played a ?mock? first round of 2-Minute Drill. FOURTH STEP - THE EVALUATION Following the ?mock? round one, possible contestants would be graded by the five-person panel on the following criteria: Sports trivia knowledge Personality Game play ability (understanding directions, playing the game, etc.) Television presence THE RESULT ESPN has assembled 51 top contestants who will battle for the title of 2-Minute Drill champion. ESPN's 2-Minute Drill will debut Monday, Sept. 11 and continue on Mondays with a Thursday edition added beginning October 12. Its 26-episode fall season run will culminate with the championship on Christmas, Monday, Dec 25. The show will re-air twice each week on ESPN2. The network will tape the programs from August 28 through September 21.		ALSO SEE ESPN's 2-minute drill begins now!