Show proves it's not easy being a sportscaster ESPN has a new set of "Playmakers," the aspiring sportscasters of "Dream Job" on Sunday nights. "Dream Job," aka "American League Idol," is a competition in which contestants vie to win their dream job, a one-year contract as a "Sports Center" anchor. The show, entering its third week, will make you realize that reading off a teleprompter isn't as easy as it looks. Last Sunday, I found myself switching to "Dream Job" during the many boring stretches of the Academy Awards. Then again, maybe the show isn't that great, and the Oscars was bad. In the hour-long show, each contestant must do a three-minute sportscast, engage in a sports debate and answer trivia questions. After each segment, four judges a la "American Idol" give advice to the aspiring Chris Bermans. Kit Hoover of ESPN's "Cold Pizza" is the Paula Abdul "nice judge." LeVar Arrington of the Washington Redskins is the Randy "Dawg" Jackson judge, and ESPN personality Tony Kornheiser and ESPN executive Al Jaffe are the combination of the mean judge, Simon. "Sports Center" anchor Stuart Scott hosts. At the end of the show, viewers and each judge selects one to be cut. Whoever gets the most votes is off the show. In the debut week, Lansdowne's Michael Quigley, who was described by one judge as "Chris Farley doing a sportscaster impression" barely survived, getting two out of the five votes to be eliminated. The first two episodes have averaged more than one million viewers. In the spirit of "Dream Job," let me know what Philadelphia sportscaster you would cut. Suggestions will be printed next week. Fight club Two boxing-reality shows will be duking it out for ratings. George Foreman, who announced his last fight for HBO last week, is shopping a reality show where heavyweight contenders live in a house and have matches. The loser of the weekly bout must leave the house. NBC is developing a boxing reality series with heavyweight names Sylvester Stallone, producer Mark Burnett of "Survivor," and producer Jeffrey Katzenberg. McCarthy bows out Saint Joseph's basketball play-by-play man Tom McCarthy, who will be a play-by-play announcer for the Phillies this year, is giving up his day job as co-host of "Philly Sports Live" which airs weekdays from 4-7 p.m on ESPN 920-AM. McCarthy's last day on the air was last Friday. Co-host Tripp Rogers reports that the show, which is based in Princeton, will be looking for a replacement for McCarthy. According to Rogers, in Bucks county, ESPN 920-AM beats WIP 610-AM in the ratings during morning and afternoon drive in the male 25-54 demographic. Bracketologist returns Saint Joseph's basketball color analyst Joe Lunardi is back at the ESPN studios in Bristol, Conn., to fulfill his "Bracketology" duties. He'll travel to Dayton for the Atlantic 10 tournament and will part of the "Selection Sunday" coverage on ESPN. Mitts on the move? Now that A.J. Feeley is a Miami Dolphin, WCAU insiders believe new hire and soccer player Heather Mitts will be flying away to join her boyfriend after the Summer Olympics. Mitts joined the station a few months ago to work as a sports reporter and to be a part of the lifestyle show "10." Laura Nachman covers television and radio sports for the Courier Times. She can be reached at bradyresident@aol.com. March 5, 2004 8:03 AM