For more information, contact:
The St. Louis Sports Commission
314-345-5120
mschreiber@stlsports.org

ST. LOUIS – Dec. 14, 2009 – The AT&T National Sportsmanship Awards makes its national television debut Wednesday, Dec. 16 on CBS College Sports Network.  The one-hour broadcast airs at 8 p.m. CST following the Cincinnati vs. UAB men’s basketball game.

One of the most meaningful and inspiring nights in sports, the 11th annual AT&T National Sportsmanship Awards took place on Nov. 21 at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel in St. Louis.  The event recognizes the most remarkable examples of sportsmanship – honoring athletes and personalities from around the nation for their integrity, class, selflessness, perseverance, kindness and community service.

The telecast on CBS College Sports Network will feature the most compelling highlights and honoree stories from the live awards presentation in St. Louis.  Award recipients and stories featured in the broadcast include:

• Azusa Pacific University (Azusa, Calif.), which instead of advancing to the NAIA Men’s Soccer Championship via forfeit, opted to postpone a conference title game against Westmont College (Santa Barbara, Calif.), which had just been hit by a devastating wildfire.
  
• Kris Hogan and Grapevine Faith High School (Grapevine, Texas), who encouraged fans of the school’s football team to cheer for an opposing squad made up of inmates from a correctional facility north of Dallas so they would know that despite their situation, people care about and believe in them.
• Monte Vista High School (Danville, Calif.), whose students and parents raised $1,100 to cover travel expenses for the McClymonds High School (Oakland, Calif.) basketball team to play in the California state championship when they learned that McClymonds didn’t have the funds to make the trip.  Monte Vista had just lost to McClymonds in the playoffs.
• Darius McNeal, a player on the DeKalb (Ill.) High School basketball team, who intentionally missed two free throws after a technical foul was called against opponent Milwaukee Madison High School.  The technical had been assessed because a Madison player entered the game without being on the pregame roster.  The player wasn’t expected to play that night because his mother had passed away from cancer earlier that day.
• Yankees pitcher A.J. Burnett, who stayed at Yankee Stadium until 3 a.m. after a game this season to hang out and play waffle ball with kids from Camp Sundown, a retreat for children who suffer from XP, a rare genetic disorder that prevents them from going outdoors in daylight.

During the broadcast on CBS College Sports Network, viewers can vote for their favorite story of sportsmanship through text messaging.  Details will be provided during the show.

In addition to the premiere telecast on Dec. 16, the AT&T National Sportsmanship Awards will re-air on CBS College Sports Network eight times.  The schedule for the encore presentations appears at the end of this release.  CBS College Sports Network is available through local cable operators (Channel 413 on Charter St. Louis) and video providers and nationally via satellite on DirecTV Channel 613 and Dish Network Channel 152.

The AT&T National Sportsmanship Awards broadcast is produced by BVS Productions in partnership with the St. Louis Sports Commission and Citizenship Through Sports Alliance.  The Sports Commission and CTSA present the AT&T National Sportsmanship Awards annually in St. Louis.  Sponsors for the broadcast include AT&T, Maryville University, American Airlines, Ameren UE, Edward Jones and Save-A-Lot Food Stores.

For more information on the AT&T National Sportsmanship Awards and to view stories for all of the 2009 award recipients, visit www.stlsports.org/awards.

AT&T National Sportsmanship Awards Broadcast Schedule
on CBS College Sports Network

Wednesday, Dec. 16 – 8 p.m.  (premiere telecast)
Saturday, Dec. 19 – 7 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 20 – 11 a.m., 5 p.m. & 8 p.m.
Thursday, Dec. 24 – 9 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 27 – 11 a.m., 3 p.m. & 7 p.m.

*All times Central

The St. Louis Sports Commission is the privately funded nonprofit organization that benefits St. Louis through sports.
Its mission is to make the St. Louis region a better place to live, visit, work and play through sports.