Flying out tomorrow for the biggest night of the year in the sports media industry: The 34th Sports Emmy Awards in New York.
The highlight of the evening isn’t necessarily the awards show. Rather, it is the parties afterwards thrown by the individual networks.
It will be a big night for award winners. I figure Bob Costas has a warehouse somewhere to store all of his Sports Emmys.
Here’s the rundown of nominations by network groups:
NBC Sports Group: 58
ESPN (which includes ABC): 43
Turner Sports: 27
Fox Sports Media Group: 17
HBO: 17
NFL Network: 16
CBS (includes Showtime): 15
MLB Network: 9
Not surprisingly, NBC’s coverage of the London Olympics received the most nominations with 14. The NBA on TNT and Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel were next with six.
And the biggies:
Outstanding Sports Personality: Play-by-Play
Mike Breen ABC
Mike Emrick NBC / NBC Sports Network
Al Michaels NBC
Jim Nantz CBS
Note: Where’s Joe Buck? Dan Shulman should have gotten a nod. I like Breen a lot, and other people are starting to pick up on it. If Nantz wins, he is going to dedicate the award to Pat Summerall.
Outstanding Sports Personality: Sports Event Analyst
Ato Boldon, NBC
Cris Collinsworth, NBC
Jon Gruden, ESPN
Jim Kaat, MLB Network
Mike Mayock, NFL Network / NBC
Note: Jeff Van Gundy is a big omission. So is Ed Olczyk. Will be interesting if Gruden gets the nod after working in a two-man booth for first time?
Outstanding Sports Personality: Studio Host
James Brown, CBS / Showtime
Bob Costas, NBC / NBC Sports Network
Rich Eisen, NFL Network
Ernie Johnson, TNT / NBA TV
Dan Patrick, NBC / NBC Sports Network /DirecTV
Note: Chris Fowler needs to be on this list. Coming off the Olympics, looks like another Emmy for Bob Costas.
Outstanding Sports Personality: Studio Analyst
Charles Barkley TNT / NBA TV
Tony Dungy, NBC
Boomer Esiason, CBS
Harold Reynolds, MLB Network
Bill Ripken, MLB Network
Kurt Warner, NFL Network
Note: Wow, quite a step in class for Cal’s little brother. And Reynolds makes it two nominees from MLB Network. That means a lot of big names missing here.
Outstanding Sports Personality: Sports Reporter
Andrea Joyce, NBC / NBC Sports Network
Pierre McGuire, NBC / NBC Sports Network
Lisa Salters, ESPN
Michele Tafoya, NBC
Tom Verducci, MLB Network / TBS
Note: Doris Burke is stellar on NBA. Should be included. I know McGuire has his critics, but I enjoy what he has to offer.
Outstanding Studio Show (Weekly)
College Gameday, ESPN
Football Night in America, NBC
Inside the NBA, TNT
Inside the NFL, Showtime
Note: All three NFL Sunday daytime pregame shows (CBS, Fox, ESPN) fail to get a nomination.
Outstanding Live Sports Series
ESPN Monday Night Football, ESPN
NASCAR on FOX, FOX / SPEED
NBA on TNT, TNT
NFL on FOX, FOX
Sunday Night Football, NBC
Note: CBS’ football coverage gets shut out. Sunday Night Football always strong in this category.
Outstanding Live Sports Special
The 96th Indianapolis 500, ABC
The 108th World Series, FOX
The Army-Navy Game, CBS
The Masters, CBS
Super Bowl XLVI, NBC
Note: Interesting that the Army-Navy game made it into this category.
Outstanding PLAYOFF COVERAGE
National League Championship Series: Cardinals vs. Giants — FOX
NBA Playoffs — TNT
NFC Divisional Playoff: 49ers vs. Saints — FOX
NFL Wild Card Saturday: Bengals vs. Texans; Lions vs. Saints — NBC
The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament — CBS/tbs/TNT/truTV
Note: It is hard to beat the quantity offered by the NCAA tournament. Missing: NBC Sports Network’s superserving of the NHL playoffs was terrific.
Outstanding Sports Documentary
26 Years: The Dewey Bozella Story, ESPN2
Dream Team, NBA TV
Klitschko, HBO
Namath, HBO
The Announcement, ESPN
Note: All good, and plenty of others deserving.
Outstanding EDITED SPORTS SERIES/Anthology
30 for 30 — ESPN
A Football Life — NFL Network/[NFL Films]
Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Miami Dolphins — HBO/[NFL Films]
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel — HBO
The Franchise: A Season with the Miami Marlins — Showtime/[MLB Productions]
Note: It’s hard to top 30 for 30, but the Football Life series was exceptional. Powerful documentaries.