ESPN.com Senior Writer Andy Katz’s goal was to stay awake and provide live reports from ESPN’s Bristol, Conn., headquarters throughout ESPN’s 24-hour College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon on Nov. 17. He posted blog reports and answered fan questions on ESPN.com, provided live updates during halftime of every game plus on SportsCenter across ESPN and ESPN2, and kept the Twitter world updated via www.twitter.com/ESPNAndyKatz.

In total - after factoring in the time he awoke that morning - Katz was awake for about 41 hours (minus a 20-minute catnap outside a colleague’s cubicle around 4 a.m.).

“Don’t try this at home, especially if you are getting over a cold,” said Katz, who did change his contacts, shower and shave during the 41 hours. “I was amazed at how many people, through our chats and on Twitter, were involved in what we were doing, including poking fun at - in good humor - my physical breakdown. I only had to chat and talk. I can’t imagine how doctors then have to perform surgery under these conditions.”

Katz woke up at 7 a.m. Monday, Nov. 16, and the cab dropped him off at his house Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 1 a.m.

NFL studio analyst and former Super Bowl-winning quarterback Trent Dilfer will call his first college football game with ESPN on Wednesday, Nov. 18. Dilfer will provide analysis in the booth with play-by-play annoucner Dave Lamont at Ball State when the Cardinals host the Central Michigan Chippewas at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and ESPN360.com.

Dilfer regularly does analysis for NFL Live, NFL PrimeTime and SportsCenter. He also contributes to Monday Night Countdown, ESPN Radio and ESPN’s annual Super Bowl week and NFL Draft coverage. He once called a college football game – while he was still in college.

“I’m very ambitious and love to challenge myself,” he said. “The only time I’ve done color commentary is for the Senior Bowl when I was still at Fresno State. I want to continue to challenge myself in this career and this is a great opportunity to get involved in the college game and stretch my TV talents.”

The play-calling lineups for ESPN’s Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday games have included Rece Davis, Lou Holtz and Mark May; the SEC Network’s Dave Neal and Andre Ware; Eric Collins and Ray Bentley; and Bob Wischusen and Brian Greise.

“It is totally different; night and day in terms of prep,” Dilfer said. “I consider myself an expert in the NFL world. I live and breathe it. The college game, I’m a fan but I haven’t invested the same amount of time and energy into learning and knowing the game inside and out like the NFL.

“The game itself and the global themes are the same, but I’ve had to spend lots of hours doing film prep, understanding the story lines, team and game history, coaching staff and players. It’s been a really great challenge – and I have some anxiety, but it’s stretching your capacity to learn that excites me.”

Larry Fitzgerald of the Arizona Cardinals stars in the new This is SportsCenter spot which debuted Monday on ESPN. The All Pro appears opposite anchor Jay Harris and displays the kind of form that has made him one of the NFL’s most sure-handed receivers.

The spot was developed by Weiden + Kennedy and shot at ESPN’s Bristol, Conn., campus in April. To view it, click here.

This item from the SportsCenter research team about ESPN’s closely-contested, nail-biting Monday Night Football games to date:

                                   Lead Changes  Ties   Final    Margin Final Score
Bills at Patriots            1                                 1           1              Pats 25-24
Chargers at Raiders    3                                 2          4              Chargers 24-20
Colts at Dolphins         2                                 4          4              Colts 27-23

The largest margin in any of the three games so far is 11 points, which the Patriots erased in a span of 1:16 late in the 4th quarter in week 1. The Patriots, Chargers and Colts have combined to win the first three MNF games of the season by a total of 9 points. Never before have the first three games of MNF been decided by a cumulative total in single digits:

Smallest Combined Margin of Victory in First 3 MNF games of a season:
2009 - 9
2000 - 12
1991 - 14
1976 - 15
1997 - 16
1988 - 16

We saved the best for last and concluded this year’s ESPN Media Workshop with our Journalism Panel featuring SportsCenter anchor Hannah Storm; E:60 correspondent and host of Outside the Lines Jeremy Schaap; SVP & Director of News Vince Doria; and SVP & Managing Editor, Studio Production Mark Gross.

Up first was a video clip of a remarkable story told by E:60’s Jeremy Schaap about Binghamton University senior Bryan Steinhauer, whose life hung in the balance after he was involved in a bar fight with three men on May 4, 2008. The lead law enforcement investigator on the case, Jeffrey Wagner, said of the beating: “It was one of the most vicious attacks I’ve seen. Maybe the top.”

One month later the alleged lead perpetrator, Miladin Kovacevic, a sophomore on the Binghamton University basketball team, jumped bail and fled to his native Serbia with the help of the Serbian Consulate in New York City. While Steinhauer remained in a coma, efforts were made at the highest levels of the United States government to persuade the Serbian government to extradite Kovacevic to the United States to face trial in the Steinhauer case. But with no extradition laws between the U.S. and Serbia, that country has balked at sending Kovacevic back to the U.S.

Schaap went to Serbia to chronicle the ongoing effort by the U.S. to have Kovacevic face justice in this country. He also detailed Steinhauer’s amazing recovery and was the only journalist to pursue an interview with Kovacevic.

“I am very lucky to be in this place where we have this kind of opportunity” — Schaap

Mark Gross talked about the ratings success daytime live SportsCenter has had (ratings for SportsCenter in L.A. are up by 9 percent), and announced that Baseball Tonight will air at 3:30 p.m. ET Monday through Friday following the BCS Title Game and through Opening Day.

“We’re in a good place from a baseball perspective.” - Gross

Upcoming are College GameDay, which kicks of Saturday, Sept. 5, in Atlanta, and American Heroes, a Salute to Veterans on Veteran’s Day.

Hannah Storm enjoys her challenging shift and said she sees more sports news breaking on SportsCenter than during her time co-hosting The Early Show on CBS. She comes in at 5 a.m., starts writing at 6 a.m. and “then the whole thing goes flying out the window.”

“We’ve the ability to chase down live stories and go straight to the people who broke the story. Our rundown is kind of just a guide.” — Storm

Storm also announced that she’ll be one of the hosts for our first US Open telecast.

Jeremy Schaap unveiled his new responsibility as host of The Sporting Life debuting Friday, Sept. 11, at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN Radio.

“The Sporting Life will be a show that emphasizes long-form journalism, not driven by talk, but by the stories we produce - profiles, investigations and more off-beat pieces, too.” — Schaap

This week Schaap scored an exclusive, one-on-one interview with Plaxico Burress, just days after Burress pleaded guilty to a weapons charge for shooting himself in the leg.

Q&A with Vince Doria
Q - Tell us about ESPNBoston …

A - I think Boston is one of the best sports markets in the U.S and that will have an impact. It’ll enhance our news gathering operations.

Q - What are your plans for E:60?

A - The show is doing great. Ratings are better than expected. We’d like to move it to prime time, but given our other commitments it’s difficult to program it at that time.

(Schaap/Storm added when asked about competitors that 60 Minutes and Oprah were the toughest competitors for big “gets.”)

Doria: What differentiates us is that as soon as we get the information, we put it everywhere. We think we make the best decision for our viewers by getting the information to them as soon as possible rather than waiting until a certain show airs.

Q - The L.A. facility - how is it improving?

A - It has made us stronger as it provides us with more resources in different parts of the country.

Q - With the acquisition of the SEC package, do lines get blurred as to what highlight to cover on SportsCenter?

A - There are no corporate marching orders here. We structure our News and Info shows to serve our viewers. We want people to watch. Influence is not a factor.

Q - ESPN recently picked up EPL rights and we started seeing EPL highlights…?

A - Is it easier to get access? Yes, but we believe there’s a growing interest in the sport.

Q - Did you mishandle the Roethlisberger case?

A - Roethlisberger did not get special treatment. Our relationships with leagues were not concerns. I continue to believe that civil lawsuits alleging sexual misconduct are serious charges.

We have always been extremely cautious to investigate as thoroughly as possible. Our intention was not to damage someone’s reputation. When an individual begins to talk about it, we don’t have to be concerned about his reputation.

Q - Can you discuss the steroids issue?

A - It’s troublesome and maybe the most important story of our time, given the impact it has had on baseball. I continue to believe that it’s important and we’ll continue to report it. We have to continue to pay attention to it.

Q - 3D … is that really necessary?

A - We’re trying new things. This place was built on taking risks. Why not?

Russell Wolff (exec vp & managing dir, ESPN Intl.) heads 46 networks (50 percent jointly and 50 percent wholly owned) and a variety of brand extension businesses around the globe, and somehow finds the time to lead a team to launch a network overseas in just six-and-a-half weeks.

“We’ve been in the football business for over 20 years and wanted to capture the essence of football with British sensibility. The Barclays Premier League matches are the anchor of the new network.” — Wolff

With almost 100 people already on the ground and one play-out facility, programming deals were struck, talent was hired and given a crash orientation and a studio set with an impressive HD video screen was designed and built in four weeks, among other efforts. An ad campaign called “Pledge” was created in three weeks, with a focus on British tradition and authenticity and — with the help of a lot of outsourcing– the race to the finish line was a success.

“We’re not trying to be an American Sports Media company in the U.K.” Wolff said, stressing the focus to serve fans locally.

A clip of a halftime show hosted by Ray Stubbs illustrated the European approach, with fewer graphics, less cuts and a much slower pace. Now, four weeks into the launch, more programming deals will be announced in the coming weeks and feedback from fans and the press in the U.K has been positive.

On his vision for the new network evolving, Wolff said, “We will innovate with a British eye.”

About the International business as a whole, Wolff talked about ESPN’s 13 local versions of SportsCenter in eight languages, adding “The Sun never sets on SportsCenter, the show almost always gets an airing somewhere in the world.”

Some questions from the room answered:

Q - Given that you have 46 games this season and only 23 next, will you be looking to add rugby to the lineup?

A - We’re looking at it, but I cannot comment at this point.

Q - Right now you have a dual revenue model in the U.S, do you have the same in the U.K.?

A - Yes, we also have a dual revenue model in the U.K.

Q - What have you learned about not being the ugly American?

A - You want to hire internationalists — I’m always looking for people who are curious about different cultures and want to be where our fans are.

Q - Does ESPN have an interest in bringing European sports to America?

A - I wouldn’t say we have an interest. It’s a good business, but rather than an interest or an agenda, our mission is the serve the fan.

Q - What are some of your favorite sports? What would you like to see in the U.S?

A - I’ve come to appreciate rugby and cricket. Cricket is growing like crazy around the world and I give them high marks for the way it has transformed its business. I find hurling to be a very exciting sport. It’s a cross between soccer, field hockey and lacrosse.

Some quick facts:

The programming lineup on ESPN in the U.K. includes:

• 46 live Barclays Premier League matches
• 30 live Clydesdale Bank Premier League matches
• Top live European club football including: German Bundesliga, Portuguese Liga and Dutch Eredivisie, Russian League and the Italian Super Coppa
• Ultimate Fighting Championship

What better way to celebrate how far ESPN has come than to take an inside look at where the action first started? Walking through the automatic, glass doors of the ESPN Café, you can already tell that this is no ordinary lunchroom. The carpet is a mock-up of the yards on a football field, and there are sports-themed murals on the walls.

Mitch Rymanowski, VP Technology & Engineering, has been with ESPN since the beginning and was able to give personal insight on our operations all those years ago. He says that he enjoyed working every day.

“Everyone was fun, we had a great time,” Rymanowski said. “The reason we’ve been here for 30 years is because we had a blast, and some of us are still having a blast.”

The original building sits near the satellite dishes at the front of the complex. This small building housed all of the technical and production facilities back in 1979. Now there are 13 buildings on campus (a 14^th is being built). Our first stop is the Newsroom.

The newsroom is where all the editorial work is done, including ESPN.com. Everyone in editorial is there, so they can share information, establish workflows and avoid duplicative efforts. Each work station has low walls and includes a TV with an in-house cable system to keep everyone up to speed.

E-suite, software that was developed in-house when ESPN first began, is still used in the newsroom and is now in its seventh revision. Above all its functions, which include managing content, it allows us to send and share what is produced in Bristol to our new production center in Los Angeles.

The Digital Center is where the clips and studio shows are produced. In the past, ESPN was capable of producing 200 clips. Now, we can produce more than 1,400 at the highest quality. Even with this advancement, we’re still humans and mistakes can still be made. A visitor asks if the BottomLine writers ever make typos, and we can only respond that we try not to but we can’t avoid it 100 percent of the time.

The studios are strategically built. There are several stages in one studio to give the impression of an expansive space, but in reality the anchors are only a few steps away. Some of the cameras and lights are controlled by machines, but in the main studios they are still managed by people. On the SportsCenter set, lights are of the most importance, even the floor has LCD lights. All the studios are versatile - even the tiles on the floors can be changed from College Football Live to Baseball Tonight in a matter of minutes. Mitch jokes about the technology that ESPN could’ve invested in:

“There was technology that could’ve changed all these tiles with the push of a button, but there was a big price tag! I think we have more successes than failures because the fear of failing, trying something different, never stopped us.”

Initially, designers wanted to build the facility with SD technology, but by incorporating HD screens in the Digital Center, ESPN became the leader in television technology. In the control rooms, HD screens take up entire walls and several people are actively engaged in producing a show. All this content goes through the Quantel system, which allows us to edit and send content throughout the Digital Center and other select buildings on campus.

U.S.-based programs are not the only programs that come from Bristol. ESPN Atlantic (Africa and Middle East) and ESPN Pacific Rim (New Zealand and parts of Asia) are both transmitted from Bristol and distributed overseas - proof that all those satellites on campus aren’t just for show.