Springfields Cody Hatt at home at ESPN

Cody Hatt was a gym rat growing up in Springfield. Basketball and baseball filled the day. Hatt is now living his dream. He's been working at ESPN 18 months. His responsibilities are increasing and he sees great opportunities ahead.

http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20100729/SPORTS/707299995 # # # # Springfields Cody Hatt at home at ESPN  •  By Tom Haley STAFF WRITEr - Published: July 29, 2010  •  Cody Hatt was a gym rat growing up in Springfield. Basketball and baseball filled the day.  •  "We grew up on that stuff," he said.  •  He took off the Norwich University basketball uniform for the last time a few years ago. Now he's 24 but living on sports didn't get packed away with that uniform. It's still sports, sports and more sports. The gym rat wasn't ready to give it up.  •  Hatt is living his dream. He's been working at ESPN 18 months. His responsibilities are increasing and he sees great opportunities ahead.  •  He had always been planning on a future in sports in some capacity, following in the footsteps of his father Mike, a high school coach, and grandfather Richie Wyman, the former longtime Springfield High School basketball and baseball coach.  •  "I had thought about coaching basketball since I was a freshman in high school," Cody said.  •  But that was also about the time he began honing journalistic talents on the Springfield High School newspaper The Greenhorn, a publication known for reaping awards.  •  Now, he has blended his love of sports and journalism into the productions of shows at the 24-hour sports channel.  •  He especially enjoyed working on Big Monday, which are selected games during prime time that night, during the college basketball season.  •  "This past college basketball season I got to do a lot of my own stuff, Hatt said. "I did a lot of work on Big Monday. I worked a lot with John Wall (the Kentucky star) and John Calipari.  •  "It's pretty cool when you see something on TV that you have created."  •  Hatt also did a good amount of work dealing with the NBA draft.  •  "I am involved in the content for just about anything you see on TV," Hatt said. "There's not really a typical day. It changes by the season.  •  "Right now a typical day is a nine-hour shift. I start at 4 p.m. and work until 1 a.m."  •  Hatt said it might be choosing the theme for highlights of a Red Sox-Yankee game or choosing content for one of the studio shows.  •  "I like the shift I am on now because it's when all the games are happening. It's a pretty cool atmosphere," he said.  •  Hatt said you are rewarded for good work. Putting together the college basketball highlights and the montage, a collection of pictures and graphics, used to promote Big Monday led to other things like work on the NBA draft.  •  Hatt said he is a big Lakers fan and getting to choose highlights for four of the games in the NBA Western Conference Finals was a special highlight of his time there.  •  He lives in Bristol, Conn., the site of ESPN's headquarters.  •  "I am about a five-minute drive from the studio," he said.  •  He has not gotten to visit college campus sites yet, but it is an opportunity he would relish.  •  "That's part of being patient. Things happen so fast around here," Hatt said.  •  "ESPN is a great place to work. Like anywhere, it's about the people you work with and the relationships you make.  •  "This place has a very unique feel to it."  •  Hatt credits Greenhorn advisor Michael Janiszyn back in Springfield with much of his development in being able to use the tools he now uses each day in production.  •  "He does a great job," Hatt said.  •