Winners of 2011 College Sports Media Awards Announced at CSVS

The winners of the 2011 College Sports Media Awards, a competition recognizing excellence in video production at all levels of college sports, were announced Tuesday during a ceremony at SVG’s third-annual College Sports Video Summit in Atlanta. More than 75 schools and organizations submitted more than 150 entries for the 2011 CSMAs, which were sponsored by XOS Digital; that was double the number of entries in the inaugural event in 2009. This year’s winners represent the best in athletic, academic, and professional college-sports production.

“I firmly believe that the quality of the winners in this year’s CSMAs is the direct result of our previous awards events,” said Tom Buffolano, conference chair of the College Sports Video Summit. “By exposing the best of the best, we have, in effect, raised the bar on all college sports-video production. The competition this year was so fierce that it was extremely difficult to separate the winners from the other nominees. Our judges had a very hard task.”

The awards, which are presented by SVG and the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), were divided among three classifications: college athletics, college academics, and professional. Three categories were awarded within each classification: live game or event, promotional video or marketing campaign, and special feature. In addition, an overall College Sports Video of the Year was chosen from among the category winners and presented by XOS Digital.

XOS Digital as the sponsor of the College Sports Media Awards. “There was a lot of ways that we could have supported this event, but, as we reflected back, our products and services are designed to make video staffs look good,” explained Chris McCleary, president/CEO of XOS Digital. “We believe that much of the value, maybe most of the value, comes from the video staffs that are running the coaching platforms and in the editing rooms late at night. Based on our heritage and the customer base that we serve, we felt like it would be great for us to sponsor these awards.”

The big winner of the evening was the University of Michigan’s “Timeless” promotional video, which won both the College Athletics Promotional Video or Campaign category and the XOS Digital College Video of the Year. The video, which commemorates the rededication of Michigan Stadium by interweaving historical still photos into current footage, was relatively simple to create but quite powerful to view.

“It was a fun process to go around the stadium and match up the actual places where these still photos were shot,” said writer/producer Michael O’Leary. “It was a single-camera shoot using a Panasonic HVX200, and we did all the effects in After Effects. I was up for this award last year and lost to a great film from Oregon, but seeing what everybody else is doing really does spur my creativity and give me some motivation to try new things.”

The XOS Digital Award for College Athletics – Live Event went to Rochester Institute of Technology’s Sport Zone Live for its production of a men’s hockey game against the Air Force Academy.

RIT SportZone Live is an offshoot of our sports magazine show,” said Mark Fragale, who produced and directed the game for RIT. “Three years ago, it was a natural transition to move the show to live broadcasting. We produce the entire show in-house and with great success so far. We have a tremendous amount of support from the university as a whole.”

The College Academics Award for Promotional Video or Campaign went to Baylor University’s Baylor Football Ticket Campaign – Rise Up. Bryan Bray, executive producer of the piece, said that his team was set to do its normal promotional piece when lead editor Ben Huelsing spoke up.

“He said, I’ve got a vision, I want to do something different; can I have the resources?” Bray explained. “We gave him the resources, and this was the result. It’s a beautiful thing when you see these young guys come out, take the reins, and do their own thing.”

Dave Miller, who accepted two awards on behalf of ESPN — one for Professional Live Game or Event, the other for Professional Special Feature — tipped his hat to all of the nominees.

“I congratulate each of the nominees in all of the categories,” Miller said. “There is a lot of fine work on display today, and I guarantee almost all of it is done with a smaller budget than we have on the Rose Bowl.”

A full list of the winners follows, and all of the nominated videos can be viewed on Vimeo by clicking here.

2011 College Sports Media Award Winners

XOS Digital Award for College Athletics – Live Event
Rochester Institute of Technology Men’s Hockey vs. Air Force Academy, Rochester Institute of Technology’s SportsZone Live

College Athletics – Promotion or Marketing Campaign
Timeless, University of Michigan

College Athletics – Special Feature
University of Oregon Football – Win the Day, Fast, Hard, Finish, University of Oregon

College Academics – Live Event
Saint Cloud State University Men’s Hockey vs. Colorado College, Saint Cloud State University Husky Productions

College Academics – Promotion or Marketing Campaign
Baylor University Football Ticket Campaign – Rise Up, Baylor University

College Academics – Special Feature
Basketball Beyond Borders – The Jarrod Jones Story, Ball State Sports Link

Professional – Live Game
2011 Rose Bowl: Wisconsin vs. TCU, ESPN

Professional – Promotional or Marketing Campaign
The Roots of a Champion, CBS Sports Network

Professional – Special Feature
Villanova Managers, ESPN

XOS Digital Award for the College Sports Video of the Year
Timeless, University of Michigan

Click here for SVG’s comprehensive coverage of the College Sports Video Summit.

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