Behind The Glasses: Producer Tom DeCorte talks about the new midnight SportsCenter #SCSVP

With the Sept. 7 launch of Scott Van Pelt’s midnight SportsCenter just around the corner, Front Row will have a series of posts bringing fans behind the scenes as Van Pelt and his production team near their Labor Day night launch (following ESPN’s telecast of No. 1 Ohio State vs. Virginia Tech). Stay with Front Row as we take you “Behind the Glasses” and into a new SportsCenter that will present the world of sports through Van Pelt’s distinctive perspective.

Today, we meet producer Tom DeCorte, who most recently produced the 11 p.m. ET SportsCenter and has been with ESPN 15 years.

Vitals: From Detroit/Grosse Pointe, Mich.; Graduated Xavier University, 1998

Top 3 teams: Xavier basketball, Detroit Tigers, Michigan football

In 25 words or less, explain your role on the SVP SC show: I’m responsible, together with SVP and “Stanford” Steve Coughlin, for the editorial content of the show and together with our director, Rodney Perez, the creative look of the show.

The best thing about working on the launch of a new show is: Watching the new ideas grow and multiply over the course of the project. So many different people have contributed ideas to this show. I’m lucky that I can see all the different aspects and think, that all came from an email I got six weeks ago.

If Stanford Steve were an emoji, he would be: He’s the express train. Steve keeps the train rolling along. Whether it’s booking a great guest or challenging an SVP idea, he keeps the show moving toward where we want it to go.

In 140 characters or less, my favorite thing about SVP is: He’s authentic. Fans respond to him because he’s one of them. Always has been. This project is about merging two great brands: SportsCenter and SVP’s personality.

So far, my favorite graphic for the show is: My favorite is the 1 Big Thing. It’s going to be a topic people are already talking about, but SVP can take the topic of the day and at midnight still bring fresh ideas and context to the big story of the moment.