Southeastern Channel sportscast “The Big Game” named national finalist
Tuesday, June 18, 2019
by: Tonya Lowentritt
SPORTSCAST NAMED NATIONAL FINALIST - The Southeastern Channel student sportscast “The Big Game” recently won National Finalist honors given by the College Sports Media Awards with recognition for the show’s “Pick and Roll” segment. Students who worked on the winning episode include (front row from left) Wesley Boone, Freddie Rosario and John Sartori. Back row, from left, are Southeastern Channel General Manager Rick Settoon, Zechariah Cameron, Richie Solares, Andrew Scherer and Dylan Domangue. It was the third year in a row that “The Big Game” has received national honors from the College Sports Media Awards.
HAMMOND – A Southeastern Louisiana University student sportscast produced at
the Southeastern Channel has once again won national honors.
The channel sportscast, “The Big Game,” has been named a national finalist for
the 2019 College Sports Media Awards. The show earned honors in the “Collegiate Student”
division for “Outstanding Live Non-Game Production.”
The College Sports Media Awards, which honor the best in the nation in collegiate
sports broadcast production, were presented by the Sports Video Group and the National
Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. Finalists in the “National Network”
division this year included ESPN, CBS Sports, Fox Sports and the SEC Network.
“We’re excited for the well-deserved recognition given to the Southeastern Channel,
one of the best student broadcast operations in the nation,” said Southland Conference
Commissioner Tom Burnett.
It is the third year in a row that “The Big Game” has won CSMA national finalist
recognition. Last year the sportscast was honored with two of the six finalist awards
given in the same category for two different episodes. The Southeastern Channel was
the only double nominee in the category.
This year the March 29, 2018 episode’s sports opinion roundtable, “Pick and Roll,”
was recognized. The sports talk segment is modeled after ESPN SportsCenter’s “Around
the Horn” and “Pardon the Interruption.” John Sartori of Mandeville and Wesley Boone
of Alexandria anchored the segment with Dylan Domangue of Houma serving as the guest
expert. Freddie Rosario of Luling produced and directed the episode.
Each week students not only produce, anchor and report, they operate all studio
and control room positions from floor directing and camera operation to control room
directing, technical directing, audio mixing, video playback, graphics operator, and
teleprompter operator.
“Having to produce new location stories each week combined with live weekly studio
deadlines creates a real-world crucible for students learning to produce in timely
fashion,” Southeastern Channel General Manager Rick Settoon said. “It really prepares
them well for the job market after graduation.”
Settoon said that Southeastern Channel graduates have landed jobs as sports directors,
anchors, reporters, producers, videographers and editors for television stations throughout
the South, along with sideline reporters, play-by-play announcers and color analysts
for national and regional network game broadcasts.
“We’re incredibly honored to once again be recognized as one of the nation’s
elite in student sports production,” said Settoon. “It’s a credit to our students’
sports savvy, entertaining on-camera talent, creativity, and production and post-production
skills, including writing, game shooting, editing and studio producing and directing.”
“The Big Game” is a live, weekly sportscast produced entirely by students for
broadcast on the Southeastern Channel. The show is modeled after ESPN’s “SportsCenter”
with lively anchor highlight reads, live shots, game reports and analyses, feature
stories and interviews with Southeastern athletes and coaches.
Also included are the sports opinion talk segment “Pick and Roll” and the editorial
segment “Quick Hits,” modeled after ESPN’s “The Sports Reporters” with short editorials
on a variety of sports issues and topics written and delivered by student anchors.
Student reporters cover not only all Southeastern sports, but also New Orleans
Saints and Pelicans home games. During football season, the show features a “Fantasy
Football” segment. Students also shoot and edit their own interviews and game highlights.
“The Big Game” started as a show in 2003 as soon as the Southeastern Channel
hit the airwaves. In the 16 years since, Settoon said the program has won multiple
national and regional awards, including first place in the nation honors given by
College Broadcasters, Inc. The show has also won a student Emmy and first-place Associated
Press College Broadcasters, Society of Professional Journalist “Mark of Excellence,”
and national Videographer awards.
“The Big Game” can be seen on the Southeastern Channel on Charter Spectrum 199
at 6:30 pm. Thursday nights during the regular semester. The simulcast is streamed
live at thesoutheasternchannel.com where archived episodes can also be viewed.
The Southeastern Channel has won over 400 national awards, including 17 awards
from the Emmys.