DREAM JOB MAY TURN TO REALITY.

Byline: Aaron Levine Special to the Daily News

ESPN veteran anchors Dan Patrick and Stuart Scott are frequently faced with the same question: How do I become a SportsCenter anchor?

Patrick once answered, ``You have to go to smaller cities to start ... cities you have to pull out a map and then squint to find.''

I absolutely agree. But I'm going to New York anyway.

In the Big Apple next Sunday, I will have the fortunate opportunity to join 11 other contestants on ESPN's ``Dream Job,'' the newest reality show in which the winner will be awarded a one-year, on-air contract as a SportsCenter anchor. In front of a live national-television audience, 12 amateur nobodies, including myself, will be sent into the pressure cooker of the sports-broadcasting world, competing in tasks ranging from sideline reporting, anchoring, play-by-play and one-on-one interviews.

It's not exactly the conventional way to start a career.

Until auditions for the show began six months ago, I had my box of resume tapes packaged and addressed, ready to be sent to traditionally small markets like Peoria, Ill., Bend, Ore., and Elmira, N.Y. Instead, I might be at Madison Square Garden, face-to-face with Knicks' president of basketball operations Isiah Thomas, asking him about his newly invigorated team's chances at making the playoffs.

Until I received my first callback audition in San Francisco after camping out at 4 a.m. with a blanket and a pillow, the plan was to graduate from Stanford in June and pay off student loans for the rest of my life on a starting anchor's salary in Uzbekhstan. Instead, this weekend's plan is to avoid writers' block and stage fright and advance into the second round of the six-week competition to keep my dream alive.

Some critics might say that this show, based on the ``American Idol'' format for sports fans, is merely another attempt to garner ratings. Others might think that ESPN's likelihood of finding a competent anchor who can hold his own with the likes of Patrick and Kevin Frazier on a nightly basis is smaller than the Dodgers' chances of signing a big-name hitter before spring training.

To them I say: Give the 12 of us a chance.

Obviously, I'm nowhere near as experienced as the guys on SportsCenter. Heck, I'm nowhere near as experienced as Lawrence Frank was in a head-coaching position in New Jersey before they fired Byron Scott. But look how he's doing.

Despite being 21 years old, I've been extremely lucky to have had myriad opportunities in the sports journalism world. My weekends in high school consisted of roaming the Southland to cover prep football games on Friday nights, then driving to Fox Sports in Century City, where, as an intern, I wrote highlight shot-sheets for Fox Sports News and kept statistics on the set of Fox NFL Sunday. My parents taped the weekly football pregame broadcast - not to watch James Brown, Terry Bradshaw and Howie Long - but rather to be captivated by the back of my head.

And since Chicago Cubs manager Dusty Baker yelled at me and stared me down at Dodger Stadium two years ago, I consider myself at least somewhat of a journalist. Obtaining Baker's ire must be a prerequisite for all baseball writers at some point or another, as is capturing the wrath of Bob Knight or enduring the sarcasm of Stanford basketball coach Mike Montgomery as a college basketball reporter, of which I performed the latter.

Frankly, I realize the typical blunders that up-and-coming broadcasters make in small towns will instead be shown in front of millions of people during the next six weeks. But some of the most famous names in sports broadcasting are best remembered by their not-so-memorable moments. Just think of Jim Gray's World Series interview with Pete Rose. Or Jim Rome's scuffle with Chris ... I mean, Jim Everett. Both recovered to become two of the most respected names in the industry.

Whatever a big-name broadcaster is best known for, their hard work and preparation is what makes them great. Their dedication to providing audiences with accurate information in imaginative ways sustains their place in the industry. While Dick Enberg's ``Oh My!'', Keith Jackson's ``Whoa, Nelly!'' or Scott's ``Boo-yah'' are entertaining, they are merely icing on the cake, after their real work is done.

That said, I'm not looking at this competition as a culmination of efforts. While it is an honor to have been chosen for the show, this is where my real work begins. This is where my unproven talent and untested abilities will take the national stage, whether I'm ready for it or not.

Regardless, this experience will hopefully act as yet another stepping stone for a long career in the sports broadcasting industry.

And if that career happens to start on SportsCenter, it will be a dream come true.

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