2010 CSMA Nominees Are Videos of ‘Market-Value’ Quality

As part of the College Sports Video Summit, SVG and the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) will present the winners of the 2010 College Sports Media Awards, a competition recognizing excellence in video production at all levels of college sports. Today, SVG and NACDA announced the nominees for the awards, a diverse group chosen from more than 130 entries in three categories representing the best of college sports-video production.

“I was very impressed by the quality of the videos,” says Ralph Mole, executive producer/director for Windfall Productions and one of the judges for the College Sports Media Awards. “I found some of the videos to be really high-end, and I really enjoyed watching them.”

Mole has spent more than 30 years producing, directing, and packaging college and Olympic sports broadcasts. Over the course of his career, he has watched college sports coverage evolve from Final Four-centric to a time when lacrosse and volleyball can receive as much — and as high-quality — coverage as baseball and basketball.

“There’s a new sweeping proliferation of college sports coverage beyond the stick-and-ball events,” Mole explains, “and they’re getting a heck of a lot more exposure now than ever before.”

He refers to Promotional Videos, often produced in a 30-second format, as “power pieces,” and he was particularly impressed by the quality of nominees in that category. “I would put those up at market-value quality.”

Mole was also impressed by the nominees in the Special Feature category. “There were a couple of features that I would put in that same market-value arena. There was one in particular that was up there with everything I’ve seen on ESPN and HBO.”

The Live Game or Event category, he explains, requires a suspension of network expectations, to account for the vast budget differences between colleges and networks.

“It’s tough because of our conditioning to judge objectively a live event produced by a college,” Mole says. “You have to shift gears into a lower-budget mindset and judge it relative to the other entries.”

Still, most of the productions include a clock-and-score bug, on-camera reporting, and teases that bring the level of collegiate coverage up to that of cable networks. With three or four cameras and a simple graphics machine, colleges are able to approximate what larger networks are doing with seven or eight cameras, EVS, replays, and a much more extensive equipment list.

“The line between some of the cable coverage and regional coverage is really being blurred because the developing talent is doing a pretty decent job,” Mole says. “And the talent is getting better. It’s not Jim Nantz and Dick Vitale, but a few of the broadcast teams I was impressed by. They’ve got the chops to make it.”

The Awards divide the college sports marketplace into three categories competing for best live event, special feature, and promotional video. Collegiate 1 covers schools and conferences that compete in Division 1 FBS football; Collegiate 2, all other schools and their conferences; Corporate/Media, broadcasters and advertising agencies.

These outstanding college sports-video productions from campuses across the country, and the staff who made them possible, will be formally recognized on June 8 during the College Sports Video Summit in Atlanta, when the winners will be announced. Click here to register to attend.

The full list of nominees follows:
Sony Award for Best Live Game or Live Event: Collegiate 1

• Arkansas Gymnastics vs. Pitt, University of Arkansas
• Courtside With Tom Collen, SHOW 10, University of Arkansas
• Fairfield University Stags vs. Rider College Broncs, Fairfield University
• New Mexico State Women’s Basketball vs. University of Kansas, New Mexico State University
• Texas A&M, This is A&M Football, Texas A&M University

Best Live Game or Live Event: Collegiate 2

• Appalachian State Men’s Basketball vs. Georgia Southern @ The Half, Appalachian State University
• Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association Championships, Lehigh University
• NJCAA Football Championship Game, Blinn CC vs. Fort Collins CC, National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA)
• Southland Conference Live Football: McNeese State vs. SF Austin, The Southland Conference
• St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey vs. Mankato State University, St. Cloud State University

Best Live Game or Live Event: Corporate/Media

• 2010 NCAA Wrestling Championships, ESPN
• College Basketball: Duke vs. Maryland, ESPN
• College Football: Big 12 Championship, Nebraska vs. Texas, ESPN
• NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Game, Duke vs. Butler, CBS Sports
• NCAA Women’s Tournament, Xavier vs. Stanford, ESPN

Special Feature: Collegiate 1

• 2009 Texas Tech Throwback Baseball Uniforms, Texas Tech University
• 2010 Texas Tech-Kansas State Throwback Series Baseball Highlight Package, Texas Tech University
• Bringing Up a Bulldog, University of Georgia
• Coach Cooley: Stags Country, Fairfield University
• Oregon Football Season Highlights, University of Oregon
• The Great Storm, University of Miami (FL)
• The 2010 University of Central Florida All-Sports Banquet Video, To Be Knights, University of Central Florida
• Toby Gerhart: Multi-Sport Athlete, Stanford University

Special Feature: Collegiate 2

• 100 Seasons of UMass Basketball: 1996 Postseason Vignette, University of Massachusetts (Amherst)
• Coach: The Story of Brian Gregory, University of Dayton
• Matt Hamill’s Hollywood Story, Rochester Institute of Technology
• Mike Lee: Behind the Mask, St. Cloud State University
• Pure Hockey, St. Cloud State University
• Quinnipiac University: Bobcats Unleashed, Quinnipiac University
• The Bond, University of Dayton

Special Feature: Corporate/Media

• 2010 One Shining Moment, CBS Sports
• ACC Road Trip: Miami vs. Florida State, Raycom Sports/ACC
• Jake Olson, ESPN
• K-State Confidential, CBS College Sports Network
• Lean on Me, ESPN
• Nolan Smith, CBS Sports

Outstanding Promotional Video or Campaign: Collegiate 1

• Eric Berry for Heisman Dot-com, University of Tennessee
• Eric Berry for Heisman Rap, University of Tennessee
• Florida State University: Sports Promotional Campaign, Florida State University
• Mountain West Conference: Believe, The Mountain West Conference
• Oregon Ducks Rose Bowl Motivational, University of Oregon
• Season Ticket Campaign 2009-10, Baylor University
• University of Miami, “Heart” (The Pre-game Speech), University of Miami

Outstanding Promotional Video or Campaign: Collegiate 2

• Appalachian State University, Football Team Entrance Video, Appalachian State University
• Austin Peay State University Women’s Basketball: “Play Ball Like a Girl,” Austin Peay State University
• Dayton Men’s Basketball: Preseason Top 25 Promotion, University of Dayton
• Seton Hall University Men’s Basketball: “The Time Is Now,” Seton Hall University
• Seton Hall University Men’s Basketball: “Sell Out Marquette,” Seton Hall University

Outstanding Promotional Video or Campaign: Corporate/Media

• College Basketball: Big East Championship, ESPN
• College Basketball: Expect Anything, CBS College Sports Network
• College World Series: Championship, ESPN
• College World Series: This Town, ESPN
• Remember Why You Play the Game: URI Basketball, Cox Sports Rhode Island
• SEC PSA Campaign 2009-10, MELT