ESPN's CASSIDY HUBBARTH wears many hats for the World Wide Leader, contributing significantly to both the net's NBA and college football coverage. Safe to say it is a busy time of the year for the sports anchor, who joined ESPN back in '10. Hubbarth took some time earlier this week to dish on how she preps for marathon football Saturdays, life in N.Y. and how to decompress on a lazy Sunday.
COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF: Thursday I drove up to Bristol to host "College Football Live" at 3:00pm ET. Friday I spend the day prepping for college football and getting a work out in. At night I will most likely go out to dinner with my husband and then try to get to bed early because I have a 6:30am wakeup and 2 hour drive to Bristol for a 14 hour day Saturday. I used to live in Connecticut part time for the first six years at ESPN. I had an apartment when I was working studio shows in Bristol and then would go to the city on my days off. Now that I am mostly traveling for NBA sidelines I have made N.Y. my full-time home base.
CAN'T STOP WON'T STOP: Saturday I get to Bristol around 10:30am and set up my desk or “closet,” as I call it. It’s a small room connected to a control room. My desk has six monitors so I can watch games and the equipment that makes it possible to cut into multiple games throughout the day. This Saturday I will be cutting into two games during the 3:30 window and two games during the 8:00pm window because different games will be airing on ABC depending on your location. So I will be cutting into a total of five games, in addition to my "Ford Wrap Up," which is a 3-4 minute report after the primetime game on ABC. Once that’s wrapped up I get in my car, throw on a podcast, drive back to N.Y. and I am usually in bed around 2:30am.
REST & RELAXATION: Given that my Saturday is such a long day I am usually the LAZIEST person on earth on Sunday mornings. I wake up, throw on "NFL Countdown" and set my fantasy lineup in bed. Then I make the arduous move from the bed to the couch. If I get up at a decent time I will try to get in a workout before the 1:00pm games start. Sundays are also big days for us to get errands done. If the Bears and Redskins play during the 1:00pm window then we usually try to take advantage of the afternoon to get stuff done. We just moved into a new apartment, so we have been on a decorating frenzy lately. We also like to cook every Sunday night so we plan our meal, head to the store and then either grill or cook dinner. Then later we either watch the night game or watch whatever show we’re into at the time. Right now our rotation is "NARCOS," "MASTER OF NONE" and "CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM."
IN THE MEANTIME: I've lived in N.Y. now for 7 years and I still feel like I haven’t even scratched the surface. I love going to museums. I like buying the headset tours and spending a few hours just trying to get smarter. I also really like theater. It’s definitely something I don’t take advantage of enough here. Something I do take advantage of though are the restaurants. A great meal with great company is my idea of getting "lit," maybe the biggest sign that I’m getting older.
MUST-HAVE ON THE ROAD: Starbucks. ... ya girl needs her London fog latte. I am also all for a great hotel lobby bar that makes it easy to grab a drink after a game. Maybe this NBA season I’ll keep more tabs on some good spots across the country.
FOR THE GOOD TIMES: We recently celebrated my mom’s 70th birthday. My two older brothers and I rented a house in Rosemary Beach, Fla., for a few days and it was the first time in a while that my whole immediate family was together. We had never been to Rosemary Beach but it is gorgeous. It has white sand beaches and the water was crystal clear and warm. We also barbecued and played tennis together. It was just great family time.
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