K-State Student Receives Emmy for ‘Fantasy Huddle’
Teope poses with his Emmy Award after his fantasy football show earned honors at the Mid America Emmy Awards Gala.
The lights grew dim and voices hushed in the Renaissance Hotel ballroom in St. Louis, Mo., on Oct. 3, 2009. Men and women dressed in tuxedos and evening gowns anxiously waited to learn if they would be Emmy Award winners — or if they would be going home empty-handed.
In the crowd Herbie Teope, a self-proclaimed “career junior,” waited to hear if he would be one of the chosen to take home an Emmy.
Teope, who has had anything but a conventional educational career, will return to K-State in the summer to fulfill a promise to his father: to get his degree.
After serving 20 years in the military and freelancing for the fantasy sports Web site, Rotowire.com, Teope came to K-State to major in print journalism in 2004. He said his experiences in the military, at K-State and writing for nationally acclaimed Web sites led him to the moment he would be in Emmy contention.
Fred Brock, Teope’s former journalism professor, said Teope’s life experiences and motivation has made him the excellent journalist that he is today.
“Herbie is motivated and going to succeed and do whatever it takes to succeed,” Brock said. “I have had plenty of students who are just as talented as Herbie, but they do not have the drive and dedication that Herbie has.”
In 2006, after only two years at K-State, Teope decided to leave and take an internship with Time Warner Cable and Metro Sports. By this time Teope’s work on Rotowire.com had gained national exposure and had been cross-published on sites such as Yahoosports.com and ESPN.com.
“My internship with Time Warner Cable and Metro Sports really opened my eyes to other aspects of journalism,” Teope said. “I was used to print journalism, and Time Warner Cable was broadcast journalism. I remember K-State professor Barb Smith telling me how important it is to be a diverse journalist and I learned that at Time Warner.”
After covering the 2006 Chiefs training camp in River Falls, Wis., Teope was offered a full-time position with Time Warner Cable and Metro Sports.
“When I told my father I was going to accept the job and not return to school he was not a happy camper,” Teope said. “I am the only one in my family who doesn’t have a degree, so my father made me promise him that I would one day go back to school and get my degree.”
As the Mid-America Emmy Awards gala progressed, Teope said uncertainty dominated his thoughts. As nominee for an award in the category of interview discussion programming, Teope is the creator and co-host of the Time Warner Cable and Metro Sports program “Fantasy Huddle.”
“We’re not going to win,” Teope said to himself. “Mike Leonard (the host for the evening and an NBC correspondent) has never won an Emmy in his 30 years in the industry. There’s no way in the world we’re going to win.”
The moment arrived. As the nominations were read Teope’s nerves ran wild.
“When they said, ‘And the Emmy goes to…’ and mentioned us, I went completely blank,” Teope said. “I remember sitting at the table thinking ‘This really happened’ and the walk from the table to the stage being a complete blur.”
Co-Hosts, Chris Gough, Dave Neilson and Herbie Teope on set of the Metro Sports' program Fantasy Huddle. Fantasy Huddle airs on Thursdays at 6:30 pm during the football season. Photo courtesy of Time Warner Cable and Metro Sports.
Teope had only been a part of the Time Warner Cable and Metro Sports team for two weeks when he pitched the idea of “Fantasy Huddle,” a 30-minute program on the booming industry of fantasy football, to Time Warner Cable’s general manager and news director.
“Fantasy football is a thriving and booming multi-billion dollar industry. You can’t get away from it,” Teope said. “Time Warner didn’t have a fantasy-related program, Comcast did. It just hit me. Time Warner needed a fantasy program and that’s when I pitched my idea.”
After Teope’s pitch, Time Warner Cable knew this was a project it wanted to invest time and money in. A year of planning and acquiring sponsorships led to the debut of “Fantasy Huddle” during the 2007 football season. At that time the show was only distributed locally in Kansas City. However, Teope and the rest of the “Fantasy Huddle” staff soon realized that after only being on air for a year the program would be distributed nationally to 17 out of the 21 Time Warner markets.
“Fantasy Huddle has been so well received by audiences around the country because of the detailed information and analysis,” said John Sprugel, Metro Sports assistant general manager and news director. “I am very proud of Herbie and the other co-hosts for their dedication and commitment to producing the absolute best fantasy football program available on television.”
Teope said the success of the show can be credited to the people behind the scenes and the chemistry between all of the on and off-air team members.
“The ‘Fantasy Huddle’ team is great to work with,” said Marcia Schmidt, “Fantasy Huddle” director and line producer. “It is a very fun and relaxed environment, but at the same time Herbie is organized and knows what he wants.”
Teope knows at some point will have to choose between the show and going back to K-State to fulfill his promise to his father. Or choose between the show and, in his words, a “BBD” — a bigger and better deal. Parting ways with his show would be a hard decision, but he is convinced it would be in good hands.
“If there ever came a time where I would have to 100 percent walk away from the show and move onto something else it would be bittersweet,” Teope said. “The show was my creation, but it’s the nature of the industry, people move on.”
As Teope approached the podium to give his acceptance speech, he quickly snapped out of his adrenaline-induced blur and into true journalist professional mode. After thanking his co-hosts, producers and those who believed in his idea, Teope walked off stage, Emmy in hand, knowing he had made it.
