Well, it's that time of year: the awards season.
Of course, you have the Oscars, Emmys and the People's Choice.
However, in the past couple of decades, other shows have popped up that cover all aspects of the entertainment world including the ESPYS, and the MTV Movie Awards.
Now the MTSU athletic program is getting into the act with the upcoming Raiders' Choice Awards on April 26.
Awards will be given out in 15 categories, and fans will get to vote on three of the categories, Play of the Year, Performance of the Year and Game of the Year.
Just go to goblueraiders.com and make your selection in all three of them. Voting ends April 23.
I hope all of the Blue Raiders fans will log in and vote for these athletes deserve the community's support.
It should be a fun awards show.
Just think of the possibility, first Blue Raider radio broadcasters, Dick Palmer and Chip Walters could interview MTSU players and coaches on the “blue” carpet.
Then, during the show, Director of Athletics Chris Massaro and Senior Women's Administrator Diane Turnham could get hit with “blue” slime like at the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards. Just kidding, that would not be appropriate, even for the college crowd.
Well, being a Blue Raider alumnus and also getting the chance to cover MTSU when the schedule allows, I was curious to see what the nominees are for this event. All of the Blue Raider NCAA sanctioned sports were well-represented in the three categories.
First one up is the Game/Event of the Year.
There were several tough choices in this category since the MTSU athletic program pulled off some incredible feats during this academic year.
Some of those include, the men's basketball win at UCLA or its win in the NIT at Tennessee.
However, I voted for the Blue Raiders women's basketball win at the Murphy Center against then No. 6 ranked Kentucky, who also was one step away from advancing to this season's Final Four.
Next category was the Performance of the Year, and as with the first one this was another tough choice.
Some of the choices include the men's basketball team 90 percent three-point shooting against UCLA, golfer Brett Patterson competing in the U.S Open, and women's basketball player Kortni Jones breaking the school record and ranking second in the nation for three-points made during the 2011-12 season.
However, there was one event that I witness during the SBC Indoor Track and Field championships a few weeks earlier at the Murphy Center that proves why sports are so great.
Coming into the final event of the meet, the 4x400 meter relay, the Blue Raiders women's team were two points behind North Texas in the race for the overall SBC title.
In the race, the foursome Amber Jackson, France Makabu, Christal Wilson and Kiara Henry used everything they had left in the tank after a long weekend of taking part in several events during the meet.
They did not win the race, but hung on for second place. North Texas finished fourth in the same race, and Blue Raiders won its first women's SBC title in the sport since 2004 by a single point.
In the almost 10 years off and on, I have covered Blue Raider athletes, it is one of the guttiest performance, I have ever witnessed.
The last award open to fan voting was the “Play of the Year.”
Once again, there were a lot of great choices, but one really stuck out for me.
It comes from a senior men's basketball player, LaRon Dendy, that in only one year on campus made a huge impact on the program.
The moment came during the opening round of the NIT against Marshall, when Dendy caught a half court alley-oop pass from local product and fellow senior Jimmy Oden.
The dunk brought the huge Murphy Center crowd to its feet.
Because of all of the media covering that game, some of us were seated on the baseline, and we could see the alley-oop coming in from a mile away.
We knew something big was going to happen.
Everybody on campus, including Blue Raider head coach Kermit Davis wished they could have had him in a Blue Raider jersey much longer.
There is not a bad choice at all in each of the categories, so it was hard to pick the best. However, they are all winners for just representing the school and the community in the best manner. |
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