When Alex Farmartino returns to Grounds this week with “ACC Huddle,” the ACC Network’s traveling live college football show, the 2004 University of Virginia graduate will be a long way from where his television career began – holding a camera at a UVA field hockey game in the pouring rain.
“ACC Huddle” will broadcast live from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at the base of Observatory Hill, ahead of UVA’s season opener against North Carolina State University. A student-only concert featuring NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal, performing as DJ Diesel, will follow at 1 p.m.
Farmartino, ESPN’s vice president of production for ACC Network, has helped reshape “ACC Huddle,” taking the show each week to the Atlantic Coast Conference game with the biggest storylines. This week, that destination is Charlottesville.
A career in sports television wasn’t part of Farmartino’s plan when he arrived at UVA from Cape Henry Collegiate in Virginia Beach. He intended to go to medical school and spent his first two years at UVA completing most of the required science courses, until he realized medicine wasn’t for him.
He explored other interests, including religion, philosophy and anthropology, and ultimately graduated with a degree in religious studies. During his third year, however, another interest pointed him toward an unexpected career.
Farmartino connected with Todd Goodale, then creative director for Cavalier Sports Marketing, who oversaw a small video operation with an editing computer and a few cameras.
Farmartino had no television experience, but he was a huge sports fan and was eager to learn.
“I love sports. I don’t know how to do anything, but I’ll work for free,” Farmartino recalled telling Goodale.
Goodale quickly gave him his first assignment.
“Here’s a camera. There’s a field hockey game tonight. They’re expecting about an inch of rain. Have at it,” Farmartino recalled Goodale saying.
Farmartino’s sports television career stretches from shooting UVA games as a student to helping lead “ACC Huddle” today. He credits his time at UVA with launching that career. “I got a degree, I got a job out of it, and it’s been one heck of a ride since,” he said. (Contributed photos; illustration by Meredith Michael Smith, University Communications)
The rainy field hockey game launched his television career. By his fourth year, Farmartino was shooting football highlights from the field and traveling with the men’s basketball team.
During an NIT game against Villanova University, a basketball struck his camera, damaging the viewfinder. Farmartino repaired it with gaffer tape and kept shooting, a story he later used in job interviews as an example of how he handled adversity.
His UVA experience helped him land an entry-level video editing job in Charlotte after graduation. “I got a degree, I got a job out of it, and it’s been one heck of a ride since,” he said.
Some of his favorite UVA memories, though, include simply being a student on football Saturdays. Farmartino lived in Tuttle House, then part of the Alderman Road dorms across from Scott Stadium, and remembers the game-day energy as one reason he chose UVA.
“The buzz around those football Saturdays, I mean, it’s part of the reason I wanted to come to UVA,” Farmartino said.
One game stands out. In 2003, during Farmartino’s fourth year, Goodale gave him the day off so he could watch Virginia play Virginia Tech from the stands. The Cavaliers won 35-21, their last victory over the Hokies until 2019.
More than two decades later, Farmartino has built a career around college sports. He spent his first five years at ESPN as a line producer, working in the production truck and communicating with announcers during broadcasts, and has spent more than 25 years around the ACC, producing games and visiting campuses.
