Our 2019 Sports Emmys Selections

by Eric Fulton & Julian Spivey
The 40th Sports Emmy Awards will be held on Monday, May 20 in New York, N.Y. honoring the best in sports broadcasting of the last year. 

Julian: Weekly studio shows, which come either pre-game or post-game, are often tedious. In my opinion, many are annoying and time wasters. Most of the time I completely ignore these shows. Most of the shows in this category are very ignorable. TNT’s “Inside the NBA” is the most watchable sports program on television. There are times where I’ll watch “Inside the NBA” when I didn’t even pay attention to that night’s slate of games. That alone makes it the obvious pick for this category. “Inside the NBA” and “College GameDay” are tied for the most wins all-time in this category with eight apiece.

Eric: I love "Inside the NBA" because of the chemistry of Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith. They are very funny, but they also keep me informed about the games I watched on TNT and everything that is going on in the NBA.  It is a basketball, but also one of the funniest shows on TV period. 

Julian: I don’t watch “The Dan Patrick Show,” despite being a fan of Patrick. I just haven’t had the time. I enjoy every one of the other nominated daily studio shows. What these four other shows do is widely different – you have work hardboiled journalism with “Outside the Lines,” great debate with ‘PTI,” and great daily coverage of the NBA with “The Jump” and baseball with “MLB Tonight.” “MLB Tonight” has won this award six times and MLB Network has only been around a decade – that’s highly impressive. I’d give my vote to ESPN’s “The Jump” this year for some new blood because I really like what Rachel Nichols is doing with that show.

Eric: I’m going with ESPN’s “Pardon the Interruption.” Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon have hosted this really good long-running ESPN show and it’s still one of the best around. What I love about the show is the back and forth the guys usually have when it comes to talking about sports. Who says a guy from New York and a guy from Chicago couldn't get along?

Julian: People absolutely rave about Mike Emrick’s play-by-play calling for professional hockey, but as someone who isn’t a hockey follower I have the least amount of knowledge about Emrick. I do know that Emrick has won this honor the last five consecutive years and I feel it’s time to share. Jim Nantz might be my favorite all-around play-by-play announcer of all-time and I truly love that he’s multi-talented – I enjoy him whether he’s covering the NFL, PGA Tour or the college basketball March Madness tournament. Nantz has won this award twice and I’d be happy to see him win again, however if I had a vote I’d go with ESPN/ABC’s Mike Breen who’s never won the award before. Breen is essentially the Nantz of the NBA and makes the call of the games enjoyable without being over-the-top, which is essential for me in a great play-by-play man.

​Side Note: Joe Buck has won this award more than anybody else and I find him to be the most annoying of any nominated.

Eric: Jim Nantz's smooth voice delivers every time he calls the big game. Plus, he is a versatile announcer going from NFL to college basketball to golf. Nantz is a natural when it comes to doing play-by-play sports broadcasting. 

Julian: I fully expect for Tony Romo to win this award for his work with the NFL on CBS, but of all of the nominees in the category he’s, by far, my least favorite. His over-exuberance really excites many who watch his NFL announcing, but it’s far too much for me.

I was a huge fan of John Smoltz the baseball player and now I’m a huge fan of John Smoltz the baseball announcer. Smoltz has an effortless likability about him and announces the game in a manner that’s exciting, but now overdoing it (as Romo does). With Smoltz you’re entertained and learning about the game at the same time, which is the mark of a terrific event analyst.

Eric: Did you know that Jay Bilas is an attorney? His passion for college basketball is great, but the difference is that he does not go over the top like other analysts. I can watch a game with Bilas on the call with no problem. 

Eric: Ernie Johnson is the perfect host for "Inside the NBA" because he can take and dish out all his co-host can handle. I think he brings the peacemaker type and it is a great match with Shaq, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith.

Julian: Eric is 100 percent correct when he says Ernie Johnson is the perfect host for TNT’s “Inside the NBA." And, he'd probably be the perfect host for any sports studio show. There’s nobody in the sports business like Johnson, but Johnson has won this award three times before (honestly it should’ve been more). ESPN’s Bob Ley is one of the all-time greatest sports studio hosts and the reigning winner of this honor. I’d like to see some new blood in the category this year and that’s why I’d like to see Scott Van Pelt win. ESPN’s Van Pelt has one of the most infectious personalities of anybody in sports broadcasting and is currently the host of the best iteration of ESPN’s long-running “SportsCenter.” 

Eric: Personally, I respect Charles Barkley more as a broadcaster/analyst than I did as a player. Barkley can be funny and serious at the same time. He is the biggest reason why "Inside the NBA" is as popular as it’s ever been.

Julian: Alex Rodriguez is one of the biggest villains in the history of sports and for some reason Fox and ESPN both couldn’t wait to have their hands on him for their broadcasts. That pisses me off more than anything else currently in sports broadcasting. A-Rod shouldn’t be anywhere near a baseball field.

Charles Barkley is a no-brainer for me because he’s easily the most interesting and entertaining broadcaster in sports and much of that is because he will say whatever and anything he believes and doesn’t give a damn what you or even his bosses think. The fact that TNT basically lets him do whatever he wants has worked wonders for “Inside the NBA” and has set it apart from everything else in sports broadcasting. I wish every sport had a Charles Barkley, but I haven’t found another yet and it’s not even close. Barkley has previously won this honor three times. 

Eric: Holly Rowe is a great sports reporter who covers almost everything on ESPN, but mostly college sports. She is great to watch when it comes to reporting and she handles herself like a professional without being extremely serious.

Julian: Everybody in this category is worthy of this award. I do have a bit of a baseball bias, though, and of the two baseball reporters in this category my favorite is MLB Network/Fox’s Tom Verducci. Part of the reason I’m big on Verducci is he’s also a print media guy and I’ll always be a journalism nerd. Verducci is also one of the smartest baseball minds when it comes to reporting. He’s won this award twice before, including last year. 

Let us know in the comments who your winners would be!