THE CORNING LEADER

When the circus comes to town with NFL Passes

September 18, 2002

Derrick Ek Reporting
dek@the-leader.com

Reality game show TV � perhaps inevitably � has expanded into the realm of sports, if you haven�t noticed all the commercials previewing ESPN�s newest programming twist.

It�s called �Beg, Borrow, and Deal,� and the first episode airs Tuesday at 8 p.m.

It�s noteworthy, to me anyway, because I was shocked to notice a familiar face on the clips a friend, Katie Cazorla, who roamed the hallowed halls of Horseheads High during the Ek era.

I�m still good pals with her younger sister and older brother, who confirmed that yes, Katie was indeed bound for ESPN stardom.

Her brother was a place-kicker for our mighty Blue Raiders, and later became Bucknell University�s kicker. The highlight of his illustrious career was getting tackled by then-Hofstra star, the diminutive yet scrappy Wayne Chrebet.

Katie�s sister just recently proved what a good friend she was by not only remembering my birthday, but by sending me an e-mail greeting card �from� Anna Kournikova, complete with autographed snapshot. Funny, I didn�t think she even knew I was a tennis fan.

Anyhow, here�s the premise of �Beg, Borrow and Deal.� There are two rival teams � Team Cobi or Team Contact (Katie�s team) � who embark on a cross country trek from Times Square to Alcatraz Island. They are allowed no money or credit cards, and they can�t accept much help of any kind along the way.

There are 40 sports-related missions to accomplish, but you can�t accomplish any more than one in a given state. Among them: Sneaking onto a pit crew at a NASCAR race; spending eight continuous hours with the Stanley Cup; playing in a prison yard pickup basketball game; running a marathon without finishing last; playing flag football with Congressmen on the lawn of the Capitol building; and riding shotgun during a monster truck rally.

The rival teams attempt to accomplish these missions by any means necessary, hence the name.

In various clips on the commercials, Katie is seen hanging out with Jason Sehorn and Chris Webber. In another,the camera zooms in on her sitting on the ground, looking quite disheartened.

The first team to arrive on Alcatraz with 10 tasks accomplished will be greeted by �Sportscenter� anchor Rich Eisen as the winner of tickets to four major 2003 sports championships, including the NBA and NHL finals.

All 40 tasks are listed on ESPN.com. So is Katie�s;biography �a cheerleader in high school, Katie got into acting and dance#;while at the University of Kentucky and later moved to Hollywood. She has already landed a number of roles, including a couple of those match-maker game shows � MTV�s Singled Out was one, I believe. Her full-time gig is as a karoake host at Barney�s Beanery in Tinsel Town.

The filming of the show took place this summer, and the plot twists remain shrouded in mystery, a la Survivor, with the cast under an apparent gag order.

Word has it, though, the ESPN film crew made a stop in the area, and filmed a segment at Elmira College involving the school�s mascot, the purple Soaring Eagle.

One of the show�s tasks reads like this: Give a bath to any college mascot, lasting at least 20 seconds. The mascot must be in uniform ... or be a live animal. All four contestants must apply liquid.

Put two and two together, and, stay tuned.