August 30, 2002
ESPN is getting into the reality game business with "Beg, Borrow & Deal," which debuts at 8 p.m. Sept. 17.
Taped last fall, it pits two four-person teams in a cross-country race from New York's Times Square to Alcatraz Island in San Francisco.
One of the gimmicks is they start out with nothing by the clothes on their backs -- hence the title of the eight-week series.
"It's kind of like making your way through college," East Lansing's Kelli Zink, one of the competitors, told espn.com. "Like not having a job to take care of yourself."
Along they way, they must complete 10 sports-related tasks. They have a list of 40 wacky tasks to pick from, such as getting a tattoo for their favorite team, working as a ring girl or guy at a televised fight, playing in a prison hoops game, etc.
Michigan is well-represented on the show: Zink, 22, a Michigan State grad originally from Plymouth, is on Team Cobi, and Saginaw's Julian Bryce, 28, is a Michigan grad on Team Contact.
And ESPN's Rich Eisen, another Michigan man, is the host.
Zink, who has a degree in broadcast journalism, is a waitress at PT O'Malley's in East Lansing. She was on the MSU cheerleading team (Team Contact also has a cheerleader: Aubrey Aquino -- see the current Oakland Raiderettes calendar).
Bryce has a degree in communications and is a freelance journalist in Los Angeles.
For more on the show -- or to apply to be a future contestant -- see espn.com.
Morning Line is compiled by STEVE SCHRADER, who can be reached at 313-222-6710 or schrader@freepress.com. Jemele Hill contributed to this report.