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Joe Lunardi is the point man for ESPN's Bracketology, but it's strictly seasonal work.
Photo by: ESPN IMAGES |
For six weeks every year in the run-up to the NCAA tournament, Joe Lunardi turns into one of ESPN’s most visible on-air stars. Since 2002, Lunardi has appeared on several ESPN studio shows throughout February and early March as he predicts the college basketball teams that will be dancing in March.
Once Selection Sunday hits, he disappears for the next 11 months, returning to his job at St. Joseph’s University’s marketing and communications department.
I asked Lunardi about how he deals with such a schedule that goes from so much attention to relative anonymity. The Philadelphia-area native responded by making a comparison to another Pennsylvania mainstay, the groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil.
“I come out for six weeks and see my shadow: We get six weeks of bracketology and then I disappear,” he said. “I love it when it starts and I love it when it ends. There was no plan for this. I’m not that smart. And I’m not a good businessman. I never did it for that. I’d still be doing brackets on napkins if I was home and nobody was paying attention to it.”
