This is going to be a big day for me. I’m traveling to New York to cover the 33rd Annual Sports Emmy Awards.
I can’t wait to see the Red Carpet with thousands of fans cheering wildly for their sports media favorites. And then there’s the fashion component. Wonder what Joan Rivers will say about Jim Nantz’s tie?
Oh, the glitz and glamor of it all.
OK, so maybe not so much glitz and glamor. I’m going because it is the one night that brings together virtually everyone in sports TV. It’ll be a one-stop shop for me to make the rounds.
I can’t say that I am a big awards guy. They are way too subjective, although I am looking forward to seeing who wins for best supporting analyst in soccer.
However, awards shows thrive because society demands we need to have a best in something. That includes sports on television. And let’s not forget, they are important to the nominees.
And there will be plenty of nominees: 175 in 33 categories. Really, 33 categories? This thing could last longer than a Yankees-Red Sox game.
If you’re a Sports Emmys junkie (there’s got to be someone out there), here’s a link with all the nominees. Here are a few that captured my attention.
Outstanding Sports Personality ‑ Studio Analyst: Al Leiter, MLB Network; Charles Barkley, CBS/NBA/TNT; Cris Collinsworth, Showtime; Harold Reynolds, MLB Network; Kirk Herbstreit, ESPN; Skip Bayless, ESPN2; Trent Dilfer, ESPN.
And the winner: Skip Bayless! Probably not, but I just want to see the explosion from his critics if he wins the award. Bayless always is controversial, and his mere inclusion in this category had some people going ballistic. Twitter might blow up if walks away with an Emmy. The nomination shows how far my old Tribune colleague has come.
Outstanding Studio host: Bob Costas, NBC/MLB Network; Bryant Gumbel, Real Sports, Dan Patrick, NBC/DirecTV; James Brown, CBS/Showtime; Ernie Johnson, TNT.
And the winner: Feeling like JB here, but perhaps the always entertaining Ernie Johnson could sneak in.
Outstanding Sports Personality-Play-by-play: Al Michaels, NBC; Jim Nantz, CBS, Joe Buck, Fox, Marv Albert, CBS/TBS/TNT, Mike Emrick, NBC/Versus.
And the winner: Hey, they’re all solid. Emrick is amazing. His call of the last few minutes of the Rangers-Ottawa in Game 7 was epic.
Outstanding Sports Personality — Game Analyst: Cris Collinsworth, NBC; Gary Danielson, CBS; Jim Kaat, MLB Network; Jon Gruden, ESPN; Mike Maycock, NBC/NFL Network.
And the winner: A lot of guys left out of this category: Troy Aikman, Tim McCarver, Jeff Van Gundy, Dick Vitale, etc. The nod likely goes to Collinsworth. He did the Super Bowl.
Outstanding Live Sports Series: Monday Night Football, ESPN; WCB/PPV Boxing, HBO; MLB on Fox, Fox; NBA on TNT, TNT; Sunday Night Football, NBC.
And the winner: Sunday Night Football on NBC. It does the biggest ratings, and producer Fred Gaudelli’s crew always delivers.
Outstanding Studio Show–Weekly: College GameDay, ESPN; Football Night in America, NBC; Inside the NBA on TNT, TNT; Inside the NFL, Showtime/CBS Sports; Sunday NFL Countdown, ESPN.
And the winner: No nomination for Fox NFL Sunday? Interesting. Tony Dungy’s presence really lifts Football Night. Could be a winner.
Outstanding Sports Documentary: A Game of Honor, Showtime/CBS; Catching Hell, ESPN; McEnroe/Borg: Fire & Ice, HBO; Runnin’ Rebels of UNLV, HBO; The Marinovich Project, ESPN; and Unguarded, ESPN.
And the winner: They all were excellent. Usually, a fair amount of pathos is required to win in this category. While Todd Marinovich had more than his share, it’s hard to beat what Chris Herren went through. Unguarded gets the nod.
Outstanding Sports Journalism: E:60, Nightmare, ESPN2; E:60, Stranger than Fiction, ESPN2; E: 60, The Athletes of Bahrain, ESPN2; Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, Tennis coach/child molester, HBO; Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, College bowl game money trail, HBO.
And the winner: Again, all strong. It’ll be tough to beat Real Sports’ story on the tennis coach/child molester.