Catching Up With ESPN Basketball Analyst Carolyn Peck

Peck Has Been Involved In Basketball Since Her Playing Days At Vanderbilt

Q: What has been your favorite sporting event to cover?

Peck: There are two as of now. I really enjoyed the WNBA All-Star game that I just did this past weekend. That was a lot of fun. I got an opportunity to cover a men’s game, and that was Nebraska-Kansas State when MICHAEL BEASLEY was playing. 

Q: What’s the biggest difference between covering men’s and women’s basketball?

Peck: The pace of the game. The men’s game is so fast, so when covering the game your main thought process through the game is covering basketball specifics. In the women’s game -- because it’s not as widely covered and the fans don’t necessarily know the side stories -- you have an opportunity to talk more about the players as individual people or the programs and the things that they’re going through.

Q: What’s the most challenging aspect of your job?

Peck: Staying up to date with college basketball and especially working in the studio for the NCAA tournament and staying abreast of all of the teams across the country. I have two satellites, two DVRs that stay full all the time, constantly taping games throughout the season. It’s not anything that I wouldn’t normally being doing. I guess it’s more concentrated because it affects my job.

Q: What’s the biggest difference between being a coach and a member of the media?

Peck: Being a coach, you’re more concerned with your team only. You’re also responsible for 13 young women and your staff and the pressure of winning and the competition. When broadcasting, you have the challenge of making sure you’re giving out correct information, you’re promoting the sport. But at the end of the game, I’m concerned about if I said anything stupid, do I have my boarding pass printed out, and where am I going to grab something quick to eat?

Q: What are your thoughts on how mainstream media covers women’s sports?

Peck: Women’s sports aren’t out there enough. I think it is in certain markets but not as far as national coverage. When you pick up a newspaper and you have to search to find an article covering women’s basketball, a lot of times it’s not there, and the only thing you find is in the box score. And on talk radio, it’s not something’s that talked about. It’s very rarely a lead story. 

Peck Says WNBA Exhibits Best Talent Of Women's Basketball In The World

Peck: I hope to still see it around. I think that there is an opportunity for it to grow and catch on. When you look at the excitement that surrounded the WNBA All-Star Game and the talent ... it’s a game that fans enjoy watching. It’s a struggle because it’s a situation where you have to spend money to make money and finding that fine line of what that balance is. The WNBA exhibits the best talent of women’s basketball in the world. If more sponsors and more fans can have an appreciation for what these women are doing, it can continue to grow.

Q: What would people be surprised to learn about the WNBA?

Peck: A lot of people who come to experience it for the first time come to realize it’s a quality game. Some people may not want to just because it’s women and not men playing, but once they see the game they get an appreciation for it. … It’s easy on the television to turn the channel, so when you make the effort to actually come into the arena and watch these women play it’s very impressive.

Q: What advice would you give to someone looking to break into the industry?

Peck: Practice, persistence, educating yourself on the sport that you want to cover, read a lot, newspapers, magazines, Internet, watch people that are in the business and make those networking connections, job shadowing, making your presence felt.

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