The Michigan Daily - Thursday, March 18, 2004 - 9A
Gettin' Quiggy with it
The ESPN 'Dream lob' finalist known as 'Quigs' discusses his inspirations, his time spent with ESPN and his future in sports
By Daniel Bremmer Daily Sports Editor
Courtesy of ESPN.com
Quigley was eliminated on March 6, in "Dream
Job's" second round.
S might not expect a 40-year-old auto
parts wholesaler from Pennsylvania to
come up with the catchphrases "He
jump-jacked that baby outta here" for a homerun
call, "Locked up in a tight one," for a close game
or "Trifecta? You betcha," for a 3-pointer.
Despite being eliminated from ESPN's "Dream
Job" 11 days ago, loudmouthed Michael
Quigley - who spent as much time yelling
play-by-play as actually reading the highlights
- had a great experience and hopes to continue
working in sports broadcasting. The Michigan
Daily caught up with the newly-made celebrity
earlier this week.
The Michigan Daily: In previous shows like
"American Idol," the person who wins the con-
test isn't always the person who winds up being
the most successful. Do you think that could
happen in your case?
Michael Quigley: I have a lot of irons in the
fire and I've made a lot of great contacts. I think
I'm gonna get a job out of this, I've just gotta
work harder - but I'm good at that. I don't
wanna go back to selling (auto) parts. Last Tues-
day, it was hard to get the motivation back to go
and do it. I think everybody on the show is
gonna get work, if they put the time and effort
into it.
TMD: Do you think all of those jobs will
come in sports broadcasting?
MQ: It may be in different fields. There are
some very witty and intelligent guys, some
comedians and actors on the show. Sports might
not be their gig. Nick Stevens was cut last Sun-
day - he's one of them. They told him he was
smug, but he's very witty, in a wise-ass sort of
way, and I liked his humor. I think he's very
funny.
TMD: You survived the first cut amongst the
finalists before being cut in the second round.
What was your reaction when you found out you
were eliminated from "Dream Job"?
MQ: If you watched the show, you could see
that I knew I was gonna go, because I didn't do
too well. I screwed up with my script. I didn't do
too well that night, so I made it easy for the
judges, I thought, based on my performance.
TMD: What was your favorite part of the
"Dream Job" process?
MQ: Everybody I met, from the top producers
down - all the contestants were fantastic. We
had so much fun. Zachariah Selwyn is a comedi-
an and actor, and we meshed well. Me and Nick,
we rubbed off of each other humor-wise. We
kept a lot of people laughing. Even Maggie
Haskins has a good sense of humor. She would
pull my leg, punk me almost, tell me (false)
things, and I'd believe them.
TMD: You mentioned that you had fun with
everyone "from the top down." Other than Al
Jaffe, who else from ESPN did you have a
chance to meet?
MQ: The highest guy at ESPN, (Senior Vice
President and General Manager of Program-
ming) Mark Shapiro. He ran out into the lobby
while I was doing a bit on ESPN's "Cold Pizza"
- this is one of the biggest guys at ESPN, even
higher than Jaffe - and he ran out and grabbed
the USA TODAY (which featured an article
about me) and gave it to me, and points out the
article. People of that stature don't do that. Next
time someone asks me what ESPN stands for, I
just tell them "class."
TMD: "Dream Job" had a panelist of judges,
including "Pardon the Interruption's" Tony
Kornheiser, "Cold Pizza's" Kit Hoover, Lavar
Arrington of the Washington Redskins and
ESPN talent scout Al Jaffe. What were your
thoughts on the criticisms they gave you and on
their personalities as well?
MQ: I got to know Al Jaffe through different
steps of the competition. He treated me very
fairly, and he gave me a great opportunity. He
was very objective to everybody, and you knew
what he was looking for. Lavar Arrington was
really cool. He told me something I needed to
do: concise my information and bring it tighter.
He said I definitely have the voice for it. Kit was
the Paula Abdul of the whole thing. Kornheiser,
he comes off the wrong way. But if I didn't like
him, I wouldn't like myself, because he's a wise
ass, and I'm sort of the same way. The only thing
with the judges is that sometimes, somebody
would say one thing, and they would contradict
each other a little bit - you couldn't please both
of them at the same time. I had no complaints
across the board. The only complaint I had was
with myself. I would rather go out with some-
body beating me than me just screwing up the
way I did. But that's life, and you go on.
TMD: One of the things that people will most
remember about you are your catchphrases.
What was your inspiration for those catchphras-
es and how did they pop into your head?
MQ: I used to screw around when I was
younger. I actually came up with "jump-jack"
like 20 years ago. One of my buddies was like,
'If you had a homerun call, what would it be?'
When I was growing up, teams stayed together,
so you could become more enamored with a
team, because there was less free agency. Grow-
ing up, it was like a family - you could cheer
for the same team each year. That was an inspi-
ration.
TMD: You obviously followed sports when
you were younger. What sports did you actually
play growing up?
MQ: I played Delaware Country Community
College baseball, and I played in a semi-pro
league for one year. I played football in high
school. I was too short to play basketball, but I
tried intramural leagues. I even tried ice hockey.
I played everything. There's all those video
games now - we didn't have that. We played
stickball, hockey in the street, everything.
TMD: What are some of your favorite pro
teams and college teams, and what are some of
your favorite sports memories?
MQ: In college, I liked Joe Paterno and Penn
State, all of Big 5 basketball (LaSalle, Pennsylva-
nia, St. Joe's, Temple and Villanova) and Drexel.
Villanova's run in 1985 was phenomenal. The
Sixers in '83 - I went to every game that year,
and the playoffs. The Phillies of the '80s, and
even the Phillies of the '90s - even though they
finished second place, it was a great ride. They
got close, but everybody can't always win it all.
TMD: You recently had a chance to meet (St.
Joseph's head coach) Phil Martelli at a Coaches
Vs. Cancer breakfast. What was it like to meet
someone you've admired for so long?
MQ: He came up to me and yelled, "Quigs!"
It was funny. I'm coming off a little bit of a
down week (after being eliminated), and a guy
with all the prestige he's got right now - this is
his time, about to make a Final Four run - and
he's recognizing me. It felt good. Some Philadel-
phia Daily News reporters (were also there) who
I respect very much because I read the paper. I
don't go to the Internet too much. I'm an ink-
print guy, I always buy the paper.
TMD: Since you're a guy who's familiar with
the Big Ten Conference, what are your thoughts
about Michigan?
MQ: I like Desmond Howard. I loved Jalen
Rose. I like Michigan basketball, but I'm a Penn
State guy for football, and they're in the Big Ten.
I don't hate Michigan, I respect them. They have
a great program. And they have a great hockey
team, too.
TMD: What qualities do you need to have to
gain an advantage in a competition like "Dream
Job?"
MQ: We all brought our own different tal-
ents. A lot of people liked the energy that I
brought to the table, but I couldn't bring every-
thing together and just hit the homerun. If I
had condensed my information the other night
(when I was eliminated), I probably would
have gotten past the last round, but I didn't. It.
is what it is. I'm very realistic in saying, 'You
move on.' We all went through the same exact
things to get here.
TMD: Now that you're no longer in the
"Dream Job" competition, who do you think
will win it all?
MQ: I think Casey Stern is gonna win, even
though last Sunday, he didn't perform up to his
standard. Aaron Levine is very good too, but I
think Casey Stern has the desire and he wants it
really badly. There's a couple guys who could
win it, but I have a funny feeling Casey's gonna
win. I roomed with him for a weekend, and he's
a real good writer.
RYAN WEINER/Daily
Members of the Maize Rage held up a sign after most of Michigan's 3-point baskets which read, "Trifecta you betcha," as a tribute to "Quigs" at
Tuesday's NIT game against Missouri.
.. 77'W~