Yup, that's right, and I consider myself one of the luckiest people alive. I come home every night and start blabbing to Mike (though usually in the morning) about how great my day was and this great note I sent out and this great fact I found....blah blah blah, and he still doesnt understand what I do at the WorldWideLeader.
And since many of you may have no clue either, he has forced me to explain here...
I started out my first few months doing "cards" and "tids".
Cards: ESPNEWS airs live from 7p-2a every night and the anchors are constantly giving updates on games, scores, etc., in addition to the normal news show segments. So they needs someone to provide them with real-time scores, information, factoids, etc. about the games going on that night. This is where the "card person" comes in. There are pre-made index cards for each game that night and, on those cards, I write scoring plays, significant runs and in-progress facts about the action, and when the game ends, I write 3-4 facts about the outcome, including any streaks, great performances, etc. I sit behind the big desk where the anchors are, and hand these cards to the anchors when the highlight comes up in the rundown. Fast-paced, fun, its hard work but satisfying (you make the anchors sound really smart).
Tids: These are only during baseball season. In this case you don't sit in the studio, you are at your desk. During the games, you input an in-progress "fantasy" note/fact about a great performance by one of the players, and its shown in the bottom left corner of the score panel. After the game, you do the same thing, usually a different note, and it appears in the same place. You do this for every game that night. This job is a little more relaxed and allows you do to do a little more research, to find the best factoid about a performance in the game
After a few months of cards and tids, you graduate to "researching a show" on ESPNEWS.
Show research: If you've ever watched ESPN (if you answer 'no' to this question, I likely will no longer consider you a friend or a part of my family), you will see full-screen graphics appear on the screen following a highlight or a video or a voiceover piece, etc. As a researcher, you build these graphics (in a special computer application) and -- most importantly -- research the information that is contained in the graphics. There are usually 10-12 graphics for a half-hour show, although that can vary depending on the night/time/circumstances (i.e. Barry Bonds hits his 756th home run -- you build 40 graphics maybe).
After I researched shows for a few weeks, I was given a new task of "wraps". This was cool, because only a few people have this responsibility and its usually someone with a significant amount of experience. I became one of the college football wraps guys (there are three of us).
Wraps: Sort of a combination of cards and show research. For every sporting event that we have on our air, there is a halftime show (and sometimes a shortened pre-game and post-game show) and updates at every 30 minutes. The "wraps" person is responsible for doing the graphics for the halftime and updates, and sits in the studio with the anchor (the pretty boy who talks well and is sometimes funny) and the analysts (the people who have played the sport and break down the action) . You also have to answer lots of questions and look up facts for the analysts relating to the game -- so that they sounds smart too. That is the fun part. These guys actually know what they are talking about and ask tough questions, so its rewarding to research the information and then hear them say it on the air. And the other perk of wraps is that usually the analysts are somewhat famous (next week I hopefully get to work with General Robert Montgomery Knight!).
Along with wraps, I was also given the very special responsibility of compiling and editing the night version of the document "Notes, Stats and Trends From Research". This document is probably the most important and significant form of communication between our department and the rest of the company. It provides everyone with the best facts, stats, trends, graphics, information, etc. from the previous day's sporting/news events and previews the upcoming days in the week too. This is a HUGE responsibility, and you are basically the editor of the document, putting together all the recaps, great graphics, awesome factoids and other stuff that is produced by us researchers during the entire day and night. You send it in an email, usually around 2am after all the games are completed, to probably about 2000 people, and its sets the agenda for all the shows (ESPNEWS, SportsCenter, Gamenight, etc.) the next day. Pretty cool, eh? Yeah, its the most stressful shift and the most challenging (also because its usually combined with a wraps shift), but in the end its really the most rewarding because you are having a significant impact on such a large number of people and shows on our networks.
So that is basically what I have done so far at my Dream Job. Eventually, I hope to start researching SportsCenter and sport-specific studio shows like College Gamenight and NBA Fastbreak. Then I'll be almost-famous!
I hope this helps everyone (including my wonderful, clueless husband) understand my job a little better. All you really have to know is this: I can't believe they pay me to watch sports and look up facts about what I am watching! I am in heaven....
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