On The Air
West Bloomfield sports enthusiast competes for ESPN's "Dream Job."
SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN
StaffWriter
r
ar from the West Bloomfield home where he used
to do play-by-play football commentary as a kid,
Jason Horowitz has taken his contagious smile and
impressive sports knowledge to national television. He's a
contestant on ESPN's Dream Job.
A long-time sports enthusiast, he
took his interest in sports broadcast-
ing to a new level at the radio sta-
tion at Bloomfield Hills Andover
High School. He is the son of David
and Sharon Horowitz of West
Bloomfield.
At 21, Jason is the youngest of 12
Dream Job finalists — chosen from
thousands of competitors during a
14-city casting tour — vying to win
a one-year contract as a
SportsCenter anchor.
• With Tuesday evenings' live broadcasts, four-days-a-
week of pre-show preparation, and your schoolwork at
Syracuse, how do you use your little free-time in prepar-
ing for the show?
I've always been up-to-date on sports, because I enjoy
it. But now I've been reading as much as possible, follow-
ing all the moves and storylines.
[The reading paid off when Jason's first question on
Dream Job was about a boxing match he had learned
about just two days earlier.]
• How do you polish your on-air
delivery, knowing that each week
one contestant will be eliminated
from the show based on how well
they complete on-air tasks, like
anchoring, play-by-play and one-
on-one interviews?
Sometimes, I stand front of a
mirror and practice my delivery.
And I've been getting feedback from
people by e-mail and phone and
from my professors. Everybody else
on the show is going to get better so
I'd better practice, too.
I also watch my tapes from the
last couple of years and I watch
other people's tapes to learn from
them, also.
• As a college senior, working on a
degree in broadcast journalism at
Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse
School of Public Communications,
Dream Job seems like a natural next
step for you. What led to your
application?
As long as I can remember, I've
• As a college senior, did you con-
loved sports, wanted to know as
sider
not competing on Dream Job,
much as possible about it, collected
but instead spending your time
baseball cards and played sports.
Jason Horowitz practices with the ESPN
gaining more experience on the
This is what I'm going to school for.
microphone.
school station and putting together
It's what I'm grooming myself to do.
resume tapes to send to radio sta-
I do play-by-play football and
tions as job applications?
lacrosse on WAER [Radio at
I
actually
had
some
reservations about doing the show.
Syracuse]. I also gained hands-on experience during an
Doing
this
is
like
skipping
all the steps — like lugging
internship this summer with an ABC-TV station in
around
camera
equipment
and
doing two or three stories
Syracuse. For me, being on the [ESPN] show is just expe-
a day instead of just one. You're not supposed to be 21
diting the process.
and go straight to ESPN.
It's so important to me not to overstep but to show the
• How did your family contribute to your interest in
respect
to those who worked so hard and long to get to
sports?
where
they
are.
My dad [David] always told me stories about sports
players from when he was a kid. My Uncle Paul [Berkey,
• Can you believe you've been chosen to do what you
of West Bloomfield] started taking me to University of
love, on national TV?
Michigan games about 10 years ago. Now college football
I know this is reality television, but it doesn't feel real.
is my favorite sport.
Looking
at the judges across from me still hasn't clicked.
My brother Todd [25] loves sports just as much as I do.
This
has
been really hard work but at the same time, it
Our relationship, when it came to sports, was always so
is
so
much
fun. Ell
competitive. If we were playing backyard basketball, and
he scored a basket, I would say he fouled me. Or if we
were playing video games and I was winning, he'd shut it
"Dream Job" will air in Detroit at 7 p. m. each Tuesday
off.
evening on ESPN through Nov. 16, when a winner will
We talk about sports all the time.
be chosen.
Sce ne
happenings
For college age through
30-something.
Send information to
ahitsky@thejewishnews.com
Oct. 1 Friday, 9 p.m. Comic
Dan Adhoot at the MSU
International Center, presented
by MSU Hillel and the
University Activities Board. Free
tickets available at MSU Hillel,
East Lansing.
Oct. 2 Saturday, 9 p.m. YAD in
the Sukkah for age 21 and older
at Congregation Shaarey Zedek,
Southfield. Cost: $10, includes
donuts, wet bar, etc. RSVP:
WWW. thisis fe d e r at ion.org/about
/staffmail.asp?id=30
or Jonathan Goldstein,
(248) 203-1471.
Oct. 4 Monday, 6:30 p.m.
MSU TAG (twenty-something
grad students) wine/ cheese
party in MSU Hillel sukkah.
RSVP to Morgan Taylor,
taylo393@msu.edu
Oct. 5 Tuesday, 7 p.m. Hillel of
Metro Detroit Tel Aviv Nights.
e Sukkot Israeli style with food,
music and a hookah. Cost: $5
with RSVP or $8 at door.
Contact Lesley Weiss at
(313) 577-3459 or
Hillelpd@wayne.edu
Oct. 5 Tuesday, 7 p.m. IVISU
Hillel Hookah in the Sukkah
Israel Night. Free nargilla and
Israeli food. RSVP to
pd@msuhillel.org
Oct. 8-9 MSU Hillel Shabbat
and Birthright Israel Reunion
Shabbaton. RSVP to Jenn,
pa@msuhillel.org
Oct. 13 Wednesday, 7 p.m.
MSU Hillel dodge ball at the
Summit. Meet at MSU Hillel at
6:30 p.m. Free. RSVP to Jeff
Lazor, pd@msuhillel.org
SCENE HAPPENINGS on page 46
10/ 1
2004
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