Ebersol Honor Highlights Annual Sports Emmy Awards Ceremony

By John Ourand, Staff Writer

NATAS' Frank Radice (l) With Dick Ebersol At Last Night's Sports Emmys Awards In N.Y.

NBC Sports emerged as the biggest winner at last night’s Sports Emmy Awards in N.Y., winning 10 categories and having NBC Sports & Olympics Chair Dick Ebersol honored with a lifetime achievement honor. Ebersol’s acceptance of the award was easily the most touching moment of the night, as Muhammad Ali came on stage to present the award to Ebersol. Suffering from the effects of Parkinson’s disease, Ali had to sit on a stool because he was shaking so much. He did not speak to the crowd of TV execs, but handed an Emmy trophy to a beaming Ebersol, who had come on stage early to put his arm around the former boxer. Ali was preceded by another striking moment, as six of the most influential sports commissioners walked out on stage together to honor Ebersol: the NBA’s David Stern, MLB’s Bud Selig, the PGA Tour’s Tim Finchem, the NHL’s Gary Bettman, the NFL's Roger Goodell and NASCAR Chair & CEO Brian France. Each commissioner spoke, but the best line came from Selig, who described Ebersol as a leader. Selig: “A leader is someone who takes a mistake and learns from it. For example, Dick, the XFL.” Goodell was the last to speak, calling Ebersol a great partner. “When we lost Dick Ebersol as a partner, that was a huge loss for the NFL. I couldn’t be happier that he’s back." Ebersol was gracious during his acceptance speech, honoring the top sports divisions by name (ESPN, CBS, HBO, Turner Sports and Fox); telling stories of his late son, Teddy; and talking about the need to maintain good relationships in the sports industry. Ebersol said he maintained good relations with each of the commissioners who had walked on stage to fete him, whether he held their sports’ rights or not. “These six men have been in my life, out of my life -- they’re never really out of my life."

Collinsworth Wins Emmy For Top Sports Event Analyst

AWARD WINNERS: Another notable moment during the evening came when Cris Collinsworth took the nod as the top sports event analyst for his work with NBC and NFL Network, beating out, among others, the recently retired John Madden. “I never wanted to lose a category so much in my whole life,” Collinsworth said, before devoting his entire acceptance speech to Madden. Other on-air winners included Bob Costas winning as the best studio host for his work with NBC and HBO; CBS’s Jim Nantz being honored as the top play-by-play caller; and ESPN’s Tom Jackson and Fox’ Terry Bradshaw sharing top honors for best studio analyst. NBC swept the top events categories, with the '08 Beijing Games winning for live event turnaround; the U.S. Open taking the nod as the best live sports special; and "Sunday Night Football" being honored as the best live sports series. Other programming winners included TNT’s “Inside the NBA-Playoffs” for top daily studio show; Showtime’s “Inside the NFL” for best weekly studio show; HBO’s “De La Hoya/Pacquiao 24/7” for best edited sports series; and HBO’s "Calzaghe/Jones 24/7” for best edited sports special. On the strength of its Olympics coverage, which picked up five awards, NBC took home the most trophies. Fox/FSN and HBO tied for second with eight. HBO’s “24/7” series picked up four honors, and FSN’s “Sports Science” won twice. CBS/Showtime and ESPN each earned five honors.