{image1} In reality, the ESPN reality show starring Milwaukeean Greg Matzek has been over for months. But only after Tuesday, when the show "Beg, Borrow & Deal 2" revealed that Matzek had won, could he talk about it publicly for the first time.
"It was actually fun, dodging the questions (about the show) every day," says Matzek, a local radio producer at WTMJ-AM 620 and bartender on Water Street.
OnMilwaukee.com first told you about Matzek's quest to get on the show, then win the contest, which consisted of two teams of four players. In the show, Matzek and his team traveled from city to city, attempting to compete challenging sports tasks - without the use of money or divulging their affiliation with ESPN.
It's difficult to truly put the game into words, but on TV, it actually flowed quite well. The show put a heavy emphasis on Matzek, and why not? Athletic, funny, buff and bald, he was Milwaukee's version of Vin Diesel. After all, would Diesel let the camera tape him shaving his back? Probably not, but Matzek did.
"It was my moment of Zen," he said. "That's part of my life, but I got a lot of e-mails about that."
Matzek and his team didn't earn any money for winning the game. Instead, he can choose to attend four major sports events, with all expenses paid by the show.
"It's the one reality show that doesn't have an enormous prize of money at the end of it," he said.
Like everyone else, Matzek hadn't seen the show until the viewers did, either.
"It was cool to see what the other team was doing, because I had no idea where they were," he says.
Matzek's team, Team Exodus, won the contest with a score of 10 to nine, but from the beginning, it appeared that he had a pretty good shot of going all the way.
But just how real is this reality TV?
For example, the rules stated that contestants couldn't divulge that they were on "Beg, Borrow & Deal," but they could show their task map, which had the network and show's logo printed on the top of it.
"When you're dealing with a lot of PR directors for sports teams, they understand and recognize the show," he says. "When we were on the phone with them (setting things up), we definitely couldn't tell them about the show."
Some of the people Matzek approached had never heard of the show, either, especially the governor of Minnesota, with whom the group played a quick game of Twister to complete their final task.
"He just knew we were on a cross-country adventure and it was being documented."
The show's big sponsors, Subaru and McDonald's also popped up more than just in casual references.
"A lot of the scenes that everybody sees were not done on the road. They were done in the last month or two. They're called pickups, where the producer will have a sheet of things I said and will ask me to put it all together."
In other words, when Matzek talked about the 'car,' the producers would ask him to rephrase himself, talking about the 'Subaru Baja,' instead.
"They do a little bit of the writing, but it was all stuff we actually said," he said.
With no money to use, one might think the contestants got a little dirty and hungry on their voyage. How bad did it get?
"I haven't stopped eating since I was 17," said Matzek. "But we got sidetracked and forgot how hungry we were."
{image2} He brought his own clothes, but only as much as he could carry. Fortunately, there were ample laundry opportunities.
Milwaukee also played prominent role in the show. Matzek arranged task #11, in which his fellow team member, Stacey, successfully shot eight of out 10 free throws at the Bucks' practice facility, while a Bucks player, Dan Gadzuric, looked on.
Matzek said his favorite task, however, was flying in a Lear jet across the country to have dinner with the Maloof brothers, the owners of the Sacramento Kings.
"After a little bit of wheeling and dealing, we figured out that it would cost $60,000 for them (to fly us out to California). And they did it. So we flew out there, had dinner with them, and they drove us in a Navigator Limo to the hotel. We spent the night, and the next day they wanted us to go to a Kings game. But we couldn't, because we had to get back. So they flew us back to Atlanta."
"It wasn't a mode of a travel I'm too familiar with," he added.
Still, Matzek said the travel, in general, was a bit of a grind. Fortunately, he got to make use of a Hummer or a Chevy Tahoe. That was one aspect of the contest that didn't earn much airplay.
Matzek said his biggest disappointment on the show was failing to beat a WBNA All Star in a game of one-on-one. But he came close.
"I was up 6-5. I did a little turn around in the lane, and rimmed out. I stole the ball, but I put a brick."
Matzek, with his connections around the country, as well as his quick wit and honesty, led the way on several challenges, and at times even carried the team.
But Matzek isn't so quick to take all the credit. He said each member of the team brought something to the table, either through their athletic ability or the way they could persuade complete strangers.
"Everyone had their role," said Matzek. "It just happens that everyone lives in L.A., and I live in the Midwest. So I have family in neighboring states, which is helpful."
Unlike other reality shows, in which participants seem to be constantly at each other's throats, Matzek's team got along fairly well.
"Stacey, Doug and I embraced a philosophy of how to approach people. We are all very similar and very positive."
Near the end, Matzek said he had an idea his team about to win. Still, they had to get to Mount Rushmore before the other team made it.
"After task nine was completed, the phone calls from the other team stopped," he said.
So in the final hours, his team wasn't entirely sure where it stood.
In the end, the producers underplayed the conclusion, which Matzek said was a little disappointing. It all unfolded in the final five minutes of Tuesday's show, and didn't leave much room for a "post mortem."
"They had built it up as a tight race, and it was like 'Oh, we ran out of time. OK, screw it. Team Exodus won.' It ended rather abruptly."
Matzek said he doesn't know what the future will hold for him, now that the show is complete.
"My door is always open for anything," he said. "But I'm not so foolish to think that I could just go to L.A., hop into the scene there and make a lot of money."
"But I'd be an idiot not to play this out as long as possible."
Think you could do it? Here are the tasks that Matzek and Team Exodus successfully completed:
- #17 - Three team members must jump off of a ten-meter diving platform.
- #35 - Have dinner with Mark Cuban, Daniel Snyder or the Maloof Brothers in a hotel room, their home or on their jet
- #28 - Make an NBA 3-pointer in an NBA arena without any practice beforehand
- #41 - Anchor the sportscast of any local television newscast for the entire show.
- #49 - Take a picture with the Heisman Trophy and the player who won it.
- #19 - One member must box an entire round with a female professional boxer.
- #24 - Get your photo taken on a horse in the winner's circle after a race.
- #5 - 1 team member must score a goal from center ice of a hockey rink. Each team member gets one shot.
- #11 - 1 team member must make eight of 10 free throws while an NBA player is present.
- #40 - Play a game of Twister with a state governor in his office and win.
Andy is the president, publisher and founder of OnMilwaukee. He returned to Milwaukee in 1996 after living on the East Coast for nine years, where he wrote for The Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau and worked in the White House Office of Communications. He was also Associate Editor of The GW Hatchet, his college newspaper at The George Washington University.
Before launching OnMilwaukee.com in 1998 at age 23, he worked in public relations for two Milwaukee firms, most of the time daydreaming about starting his own publication.
Hobbies include running when he finds the time, fixing the rust on his '75 MGB, mowing the lawn at his cottage in the Northwoods, and making an annual pilgrimage to Phoenix for Brewers Spring Training.
