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o n T H E r O A Dby JOYCe leffler eldrIDGeTHE ESPN CONNECTIONLinking Passion and ProfessionB r i S T O L , C O N N E C T i C U T —If overseeing the broadcasting of 1,100 college basketball games seems like yourdream job, stand in line. Nobles graduate Dan Steir ’80 already has a lock on the assignment for ESPN and itsaffiliated networks. “We’re particularly interested in covering games that feature the ‘hot’ stories,” Steir said whenI visited his office in the vast set of buildings that comprise the ESPN complex.Steir sees ESPN (himself included) as being in the “content delivery” business, which includes helping coachesand fans make meaningful decisions about who’s hot and who’s not. According to Steir, some five to seven staffmembers determine which games air on any given night. As Senior Coordinating Producer and Event Producer,he is involved in virtually every decision that is made about college basketball on ESPN.“It’s a dream job,” Steir said, noting that he hires the talent (color analysts, game commentators, etc.) andcoordinates matching the sports facilities with the television trucks, and more. In other words, he helps manageand dictate all the production aspects for ESPN’s content delivery.To get it all done, he oversees a staff of 30 to 40 plus another 200“ The MOST eSSeNTIAl SKIll s INto 300 freelancers. “I have an insatiable sports appetite,” he said.TODAY ’s WOrkplACe are THOSe of “The main rule of thumb is not to let the talent or technologyget in the way of the game but enhance the product,” he said. HeCOMMuNICATION, deCISION-MAKING noted that although the technology has advanced tremendouslysince he began working in the field, “the objectives are the same.”AND crITICAl THINKING,” SAYS Steir.While Steir’s love for sports was expressed at Nobles on thebasketball court and the soccer field in Middle School, his professionalexperience began during his undergraduate years at the University of Michigan where he moonlightedas a production assistant for Detroit television station WDIV. He also met his wife, Heidi, mother of their fourdaughters, there. Steir moved up the ladder to become an associate producer in sports, and in 1986 accepteda position as research associate at the ABC affiliate, WABC, which positioned him uniquely for an eventualopening at ESPN in 1989.The number of Nobles faculty who shaped his life is legion, including Dick Baker, John Paine, ChrisMabley, Ned Bigelow, Bill Kehlenbeck and Peter Mansfield Jr., with a particularly loud shout-out toTed Gleason, who was headmaster during Steir’s years here. “The school and the faculty prompted free andquite forward thinking,” he said.Asked how today’s graduates might break into the highlyEDITOR’s NOTE: Joyce Leffler Eldridge is atcompetitive sports journalism field, Steir recommended, interestinglyenough, attending a school “like Nobles that uses a curricu-work on a history of Noble and Greenough tobe published in celebration of the school’s 150thlum that develops critical thinking.… The most essential skillsanniversary in 2016. This profile is the secondin today’s workplace are those of communication, decisionmakingand critical thinking.” On a more practical level he suggestedexperiential learning opportunities such as internships, graduates during the course of her travelsin a series based on her visits with Nobleswhich allow “up close and personal” on-the-job training.for that project.22 l the NobLES Bulletin l Spring 2011