DENVER - DenverPioneers.com caught up with former University of Denver men's basketball player Blake Foeman who is currently working at ESPN to see how he is enjoying post-college life at the World Wide Leader of Sports. 

Q: Tell us what you have been up to since you graduated from the University of Denver?

A: Once I graduated, I was offered a position out here at the World Wide Leader in sports! I believe I was offered the position on a Tuesday afternoon and my first day of work was the following Monday so I literally threw everything that I owned in the back of my 2 door Toyota and my mom flew out to help me drive to Connecticut. True story, my mom mixed up the directions and we ended up in Canada, but that’s a whole other story.

Q: How do you like working at ESPN?

A: I love working here; it honestly feels like I am still in college. A lot of the people I work with are recent grads and we are all experiencing the transition into adulthood together. I get to work with a lot of brilliant directors and producers and they push me every day to create great content. I was thrown into the fire right away with cutting highlights, writing scripts, creating montages/mini features etc, all the stuff that I have never done before, it’s been pretty challenging but really fun.

Q: Do you keep in touch with your former teammates?

A: Yeah I talk a lot with the guys. I always send funny pictures and we exchange snapchats, that sort of stuff. Being without them has been really tough. You spend 4 years together being around each other constantly and in the blink of an eye it’s all over. Those guys are all family to me, so it’s important to keep in touch, whether that consists of sending a random photo or a 5 second video on snapchat. I’m always trying to get the guys on Top 10 plays too. A few weeks ago I was able to put Cam’s dunk on there, I believe it was #8, and it was my off day too!

Q: How did your time at DU help you in your career?

A: It has helped me in so many ways. Coach Scott loves to give these long in depth speeches, and a lot of them had nothing to do with basketball and more to do with life. He constantly talked about being good every day and to relentlessly pursue perfection and that being good requires you to do the little things well. I honestly apply that to my work at ESPN every day. I could spend hours working on a 30 second video montage making sure it flows correctly, that the music levels aren’t too high or too low, if it visually makes sense to the audience etc. A lot of the work here is extremely detail oriented and time sensitive and having the background of playing at DU has really put me in a good situation to succeed.

Q: What is your favorite event that you have been able to cover?

A: I would have to say covering the NBA draft. I was working with one of the NBA new editors making sure our analysts had all the correct information before they interviewed the players, but that got old after the first 3 hours.  After the draft, ESPN had an after party in Manhattan. Bill Simmons, Jalen Rose all the producers, reporters, writers were present and it turned into a great night to say the least.

Q: What is a typical work day like for you?

A: Typically I log onto my computer, check my emails to see what elements we need for our halftime/pre-game shows and check in with the producer. I offer different show ideas and video treatments and then I start to cut and edit all the video that will run on the show. Sometimes I work in graphics so I have to build the fonts that animate on the screen and come up with trending stats for players/teams and different matchups. There are a lot of moving parts in live television. A lot of times I finish editing a highlights moments before it’s supposed to run on air, in addition to writing the script, often times doing multiple highlights at once, so if you can imagine, some days can be really stressful.

Q: Have you had any celebrity encounters while working at ESPN.

A: All the time. One day you can walk down the hallway and see Lil Wayne or Kevin Hart, there is always some celebrity wandering around, but you have to be professional about it. I am a huge Duke basketball fan and Jay Williams was my idol growing up and being able to work with him every day during hoops season has been a dream come true. He texts/calls me before the shows to go over information that he wants to talk about, the same goes for Seth Greenberg. Those guys are basketball junkies. I did a lot of work with them last season and my work started to stand out, they have really helped my career grow tremendously. They tease me often saying that they “made me”.

Q: What are your career goals moving forward?

A: Moving forward I know I want to work in television or films, it does not necessarily have to be sports. I am still learning and growing every day in my field. Right now I’m not exactly sure which path I want to pursue but I know I am in a great position with the company.

Q: We heard you are heading on the road with College GameDay? Which venue are you looking forward to seeing the most?

A: I can’t exactly say which games I am most excited about traveling to because the selections have not been made official to the public yet, so I don’t want to get in trouble. But I love being in the show meetings, brainstorming with our staff about what we should do for the show, they are absolutely brilliant people. It’s incredible to see the impact that the show has on College Campuses. I grew up watching Gameday as a kid seeing all the funny skits and video montages, now I am a part of the show coming up with those same ideas.