Madden, HBO Sports Highlight 31st Sports Emmys

In a night dominated by HBO and HBO Sports’ nine wins, the presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Award to legendary sports broadcaster John Madden stole the show at the 31st Annual Sports Emmy Awards. Last year’s Lifetime Achievement honoree, NBC Universal Sports and Olympics Chairman Dick Ebersol, joined Dallas Cowboys owner/GM Jerry Jones in presenting the award to Madden.

“John Madden was the best analyst in the history of the National Football League and, in my opinion, the best analyst of any kind in sports-television history,” said Ebersol. “John is much more than a football legend, he’s an American icon. He is the only sports television talent who resonates across all ages: kids grow up today playing his videogame and watching him on TV, as their fathers grew up watching him on NFL sidelines every Sunday as the head coach with the best winning percentage in league history.”

Madden retired from broadcasting in 2009 after 30 years of calling games for CBS, ABC, Fox, and NBC. He has won 16 Emmy Awards for Outstanding Sports Analyst/Personality and is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He now serves as a special advisor to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

“As an owner in the National Football League,” added Jones, “I want everyone in this room to know how much we appreciate what you have done for the National Football League.”

The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences presented Sports Emmys in 32 categories at Frederick P. Rose Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City.

HBO and HBO Sports led the pack with nine wins on the evening, including five awards for the network’s boxing coverage and two for the 2009 installment of Hard Knocks, which featured the Cincinnati Bengals.

ESPN, which entered the night the most nominations of any network at 54, brought home seven Emmys. ESPN and ESPN2 won three each, and ESPN.com won its seventh Sports Emmy in five years for Outstanding Approaches Sports Programming for the “Super Bowl MVP.”

Jim Nantz was named Outstanding Sports Personality – Play-by-Play for the second year in a row as CBS finished with seven awards, two of which it shared with Showtime for Inside the NFL.

NBC Sports was recognized with five Emmy Awards, four of which for its NFL coverage. NBC Sports took home the Outstanding Live Sports Series award for its Sunday Night Football for the second consecutive year as well as the Outstanding Live Sports Special award for Super Bowl XLIII. NBC faces also had a solid night: Bob Costas was awarded his 21st career Emmy and second consecutive for Outstanding Sports Personality, Studio Host, and Cris Collinsworth claimed his 11th career Emmy and second consecutive win for Outstanding Sports Personality, Sports Event Analyst.

Fox’s NASCAR coverage won the Emmy for Outstanding Live Event – Audio/Sound, marking the second year in a row the network has received the award after winning for the NFL on Fox in 2009.

In its first year, MLB Network turned in an impressive evening, coming away with four Sports Emmys, including three for its signature show, MLB Tonight.

“We are very proud of the quality of MLB Network’s first year,” said MLB President/CEO Tony Petitti, “We will strive to continue to deliver the very best programming and production that we can to baseball fans across the country.”

The complete list of winners:

OUTSTANDING LIVE SPORTS SPECIAL

Super Bowl XLIII, NBC

OUTSTANDING LIVE SPORTS SERIES

NBC Sunday Night Football, NBC

OUTSTANDING LIVE EVENT TURNAROUND

Inside the Headsets, Speed
The 25th All Star Race, NASCAR Media Group

OUTSTANDING EDITED SPORTS SPECIAL

24/7 Mayweather-Marquez, HBO Sports

OUTSTANDING SPORTS DOCUMENTARY

Assault in the Ring, HBO Sports

OUTSTANDING EDITED SPORTS SERIES / ANTHOLOGY

Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Cincinnati Bengals,  HBO Sports

OUTSTANDING STUDIO SHOW – WEEKLY

College GameDay, ESPN

OUTSTANDING STUDIO SHOW – DAILY

Pardon the Interruption, ESPN

OUTSTANDING SPORTS JOURNALISM

E: 60, Wanted: Fugitive, ESPN2

OUTSTANDING SHORT FEATURE

Inside the NFL, Fighting for #62 – The Nick Reardon Story, CBS/Showtime

OUTSTANDING LONG FEATURE

E:60, Catfish Hunters, ESPN2

AND

NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship, The Magic of J-Mac, CBS

OUTSTANDING OPEN/TEASE

College Football on CBS, Army-Navy Game, CBS

OUTSTANDING NEW APPROACHES SPORTS EVENT COVERAGE

CBS Mobile NCAA March Madness On Demand, CBS Mobile

OUTSTANDING NEW APPROACHES SPORTS PROGRAMMING

Super Bowl MVPs, ESPN.com

OUTSTANDING NEW APPROACHES SPORTS PROGRAMMING – SHORT FORMAT

Countdown to Vancouver, NBCOlympics.com

OUTSTANDING SPORTS PERSONALITY – STUDIO HOST

Bob Costas, NBC/MLB Network

OUTSTANDING SPORTS PERSONALITY – PLAY-BY-PLAY

Jim Nantz, CBS

OUTSTANDING SPORTS PERSONALITY – STUDIO ANALYST

Kirk Herbstreit, ESPN

OUTSTANDING SPORTS PERSONALITY – SPORTS EVENT ANALYST

Cris Collinsworth, NBC

OUTSTANDING TECHNICAL TEAM REMOTE

Red Bull Air Race World Series, Fox Sports Net

OUTSTANDING TECHNICAL TEAM STUDIO

MLB Tonight, MLB Network

OUTSTANDING CAMERA WORK

24/7 Pacquiao–Cotto, HBO Sports

OUTSTANDING EDITING

24/7 Mayweather-Marquez, HBO Sports

THE DICK SCHAAP WRITING AWARD

24/7 Pacquiao–Hatton, HBO Sports

OUTSTANDING MUSIC COMPOSITION/DIRECTION/LYRICS

Ted Williams, HBO Sports

OUTSTANDING LIVE EVENT AUDIO/SOUND

NASCAR on Fox, Fox

OUTSTANDING POST PRODUCED AUDIO/SOUND

Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Cincinnati Bengals, HBO Sports

AND

Inside the NFL, Sounds of the Year, CBS/Showtime

OUTSTANDING GRAPHIC DESIGN

MLB Tonight, MLB Network

AND

SportsNation, ESPN2

OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION DESIGN/ART DIRECTION

MLB Tonight, MLB Network

THE GEORGE WENSEL TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

US Open Tennis, CBS

OUTSTANDING SPORTS PROMOTIONAL ANNOUNCEMENT – INSTITUTIONAL

Football Season Never Ends, NFL Network

OUTSTANDING SPORTS PROMOTIONAL ANNOUNCEMENT – EPISODIC

24/7 Jimmie Johnson Race to Daytona, HBO

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