Shelby Lacy, a 2015 media and information graduate and former MSU swimmer, is back at MSU this weekend working on College GameDay as an associate producer for the Digital Live Stream Production for ESPN.
Lacy travels to different locations each week in the fall to cover a big college football matchup. This week’s matchup is a special one: the undefeated Spartans take on the undefeated Wolverines. Both teams are 7-0.
Lacy talks about what it feels like being at MSU, covering her alma mater and what she learned while a student at ComArtSci.
Welcome back!
So like, it's like, it's surreal. I was here maybe two or three years ago. But to come here in a work capacity is just, yeah, it's surreal is a good way to describe it.
You graduated in 2015 with an M&I degree. You’re six years out now. Did you ever envision you'd be working for GameDay and be where you are now in your career?
Not at all. I mean, when I first started at ESPN, I moved out to Connecticut at 22 years old. And I told myself that I would give it a year, and now I'm still there six plus years later, and I love it. I didn't start the job that I'm doing now with GameDay. That's not what I started off doing. I was working like in a tape library archiving and preserving various media for the company – an important job but just not very glamorous, per se. I did that for about a year and a half. And then I moved over to the PR department where I did video work for them for about four and a half years. I'm new to the digital livestream team at ESPN. So, I've been doing that since middle of June.
You're back at your alma mater. It's one of the biggest games Michigan State football has had in a very, very long time. What is that feeling like to work this game? Did you go to football games?
I was a student ticket holder in the student section on game day tailgating, all that stuff. I mean, I'm gonna use the word “surreal” again. Because even when, before college football started, I looked at the schedule, and I looked at every Saturday and I'm like, “you know, I don't think GameDay has a shot at going to Michigan State or a Michigan State game any of these weekends.” And here we are. They of course didn't make that decision until earlier this week. They all had us, you know, waiting, but I'm very, very glad that we ended up here.
Do you travel with GameDay all the time? So, every Saturday you're at a different spot or was this special because you're an MSU grad?
So, I traveled with GameDay the first six weekends. My last weekend on the road was with Athens, Georgia – the first time that they [went there]; we've been there twice now this season. It was the first weekend that we were there, that was my last weekend on the road, Week Six. Then they gave me a break because that travel does take a toll on you physically and mentally. I took a break for a couple weekends, and I actually wasn't even supposed to be traveling this weekend. My other colleague was but he graciously offered to swap schedules with me so that I was able to come out on the road.
When you're out on the road or when you're in this capacity working on your Saturdays, what does that look like? What does your associate producer role look like?
All of the week leading up to Saturday, we are pre prepping, pre-producing our show “Countdown to GameDay,” which is live on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and the ESPN app from 8:30 to 9 a.m. leading up to College GameDay. And during the week, we think of storylines, anything that we want to highlight pertaining to the site that we're at. We also think of the other matchups that are going on that weekend' what guests we want to have come on the show. We typically have one of the College GameDay talent come on the show, whether it be Desmond Howard or David Pollack. This weekend it’s Desmond Howard, a Michigan grad. And what other like kind of like little segments we want to have shown during the show. So for example, I believe tomorrow we're going to do a shoot with the people that watch the Spartan statue during rivalry week. We'll show them some love. So like that little segment will be shown on our show. So yeah, just kind of like deciding how and what we want to fill with that half hour of time that we have. We jam a lot into a half hour and it just goes by so fast.
What did you learn at your time at MSU as an M&I student that you feel like you're applying daily or at your work?
You know, definitely thinking outside the box, creativity. Putting yourself out there. Networking. That was something that I preach to this day is like the networking aspect of things. Everybody knows somebody that knows somebody that knows somebody that can help you, hopefully, like land a job one day so that's something that I can't stress enough. It is something that I learned during my time at MSU. And also, like getting involved in like extracurricular things like outside of the classroom. I was a participant in our BTN Student U productions that they still have on campus. So that was outside of the classroom that I was able to get some experience under my belt when it came to sports television production, and then that ultimately helped me land an internship with the Big Ten Network after I graduated. So yeah, get doing those extracurriculars outside of the classroom.
Is there a person or is there a thing that most inspired you while you were at Michigan State?
I mean, I don't want to like pin pinpoint like us a certain teacher but like Amol [Pavangadkar] has been an advocate since my time at MSU. I Skype into his class at the end of every semester. He's been a supporter since day one. Lisa Whiting Dobson – her multi-camera media production class, that was probably one of my favorite classes at Michigan State. So, her classes were always fun. Brian Kusch – look, he's an expert in what he does. Just to name a few there. But yeah, I definitely wouldn't have gotten to where I am today and what I know when it comes to television production if it weren't for professors like them.
To our students in ComArtSci who are looking to do something maybe similar to what you're doing or get into sports or get into you know, production, do you have any advice for them?
You know, I, like I said earlier, like network, network, network, network, put yourself out there. ...If you're looking through at job applications, and you're reading through the qualifications, and if you think you're not qualified, apply anyway...and see what happens because you just never know who or what will take a chance on you.
With something like this [game], are you expected to be neutral? Is it hard to be neutral or can you show who you're who are rooting for?
Am I expected to be neutral? No. Will I be? Maybe; there's no promises. It's funny: My producer, who I'm also out on the road here with, is a Michigan grad. So, we'll see how much we get on each other's nerves this weekend. Even back in Bristol, Connecticut, where our headquarters are, I'm down in the basement cutting highlights and I have the Michigan State game on every Saturday and I'm yelling at the TV and yelling at Payton Thorne to throw the ball and then people are looking at me like I'm a crazy person to this. But so yeah, very, very tough to stay neutral.
What are you most looking forward to? Once Saturday comes, the show's done, everything's done and you can look back on the day or on the weekend, what will you say?
I'm most excited to see the turnout. I heard inklings of like 200,000 people are expected to be here on Saturday. It's gonna be nuts. Like I said, I didn't think GameDay would ever end up at Michigan State this season. Two undefeated teams. This is going to be the game of the century. Like someone is coming out this game a loser. Like, a game of the century. It's gonna be awesome.