The Hasselbeck Switcheroo

Here's what I wrote for Wednesday's Bristol Press about Elisabeth Hasselbeck's afternoon at ESPN:

Elisabeth Hasselbeck, co-host on “The View,” wowed her husband’s colleagues at ESPN when she filled in for him Tuesday.

“She did great,” said Seth Markman, senior coordinating producer for the “NFL Live” show who said Hasselbeck was well prepared and comfortable on television.

“It’s actually really refreshing to talk football,” she said, adding that she loves the game.

Hasselbeck and her husband, ESPN football analyst Tim Hasselbeck, agreed to switch places for a day. By all accounts, she passed with flying colors Tuesday and next Thursday, he’s due in the ABC studio in New York for his turn.

“Now the presssure’s on Tim,” said Markman.

The biggest difference she noticed at ESPN, Hasselbeck said, was the number of men and the way they exchanged ideas.

“There’s no crosstalk,” she said, unlike on “The View,” where she and the other women talk back and forth on a number of issues throughout the morning.

A mother of three young children, Hasselbeck said the early morning hours on “The View” are easier to handle than her husband’s ESPN schedule.

“I think I took for granted what he does everyday,” she said.

Hasselbeck said she felt her views were “incredibly respected” by her husband’s co-workers.

She first appeared on “NFL Live” with host Trey Wingo and analyst Tedy Bruschi, then on “The Doug Gottlieb Show” on ESPN Radio. She also taped a segment of “SportsCenter” with co-anchors Jay Harris and Brian Kenny.

“Everyone here has been incredibly nice and welcoming,” she said.

Bruschi said she did such a great job he’s ready to make the trade permanent.

“She was nervous at first. Tim gave her a lot of good tips,” said Bruschi. “You could tell once the camera was on how professional she is.”

Bruschi said he didn’t know Hasselbeck before she appeared on the show with him.

“I was actually nervous,” Bruschi said. “I didn’t know how it would go.”

But Bruschi said it was such a pleasure, he wouldn’t mind working with her again.

Watching in the “SportsCenter” studio as technicians fiddled with his wife’s microphone, Tim Hasselbeck expressed confidence in her ability to handle his job.

“I have way more worries about my appearance on ‘The View,’ than her appearance here,” he said.

Sports, said Tim Hasselbeck, formerly of the Washington Redskins, are a “friendly topic” that typically is without much controversy, unlike what he thinks he may encounter on “The View.”

“They touch a lot of hot button issues,” he said.

Bruschi agreed.

“That show she’s on is tough,” he said. “I think he’ll hold his own, but it’s going to be heavier lifting than she had today.”

There are “some “very opinionated women” on “The View,” Bruschi said.

“I think he’s in trouble. Good luck, buddy.”