Musial Awards to air Dec. 19th on KSDK; check list for other airings around the country

St. Louis area viewers can see the likes of Sister Jean, Jim Thome and Ozzie Smith receive the prestigious sportsmanship award named for Stan The Man.  The 99-year-old nun who charmed the nation during March Madness and the two Baseball Hall of Famers were among the good sports honored at the Musial Awards in St. Louis last month.  On Wednesday, Dec. 19, a special one-hour presentation of the Musial Awards will air on KSDK 5 On Your Side at 9 p.m.  The show will also be seen in 13 other cities, including Houston, Seattle, Minneapolis, Denver, Cleveland and Sacramento.Dates and times for those airings appear at the end of this news release.

The Musial Awards – presented by Maryville University – celebrate the year’s greatest moments of sportsmanship and those in sports who embody class and character.  The national awards show takes place annually in St. Louis.  It is produced by the St. Louis Sports Commission and the National Sportsmanship Foundation.

In addition to the premiere broadcast on Dec. 19, encore presentations of the Musial Awards will air on 5 On Your Side on Christmas Day at 6 a.m. and Sunday, Dec. 30 at 1:30 p.m.  This marks the eighth year the Musial Awards has appeared on St. Louis’ NBC affiliate.  The show is hosted by the station’s veteran news anchor Mike Bush.  For the second year, TEGNA, KSDK’s parent company, has cleared the show for broadcast in multiple markets through their local stations.

“We are delighted that through the Musial Awards broadcast our community gets to experience what we call the most inspiring night in sports,” said Sports Commission President Frank Viverito.  “It’s also very meaningful that the national exposure for the event continues to expand with the airings in multiple cities and the mentions we received this year from such platforms as ESPN and USA Today.

“It’s our belief that the Musial Awards have the power to present St. Louis in a different and positive light.  We want St. Louis to be known as a community of good sports and as the place that celebrates sportsmanship in America.”

The 2018 Musial Awards took place at Stifel Theatre on Nov. 17.  Loyola Basketball Chaplain Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt received the Musial Award for Extraordinary Character at the event.  Jim Thome, who entered the National Baseball Hall of Fame in July, accepted the Stan Musial Lifetime Achievement Award – the highest award for sportsmanship.  Honorees also included Iowa Hawkeyes basketball player Jordan Bohannon, Florida State softball coach Lonni Alameda, Cardinals fan favorite Ozzie Smith, and others connected to extraordinary acts of kindness, selflessness, integrity and civility.  Their stories and highlights from the live show are featured in the one-hour broadcast.

The Musial Awards broadcast is produced by Onyour6 Productions in partnership with the St. Louis Sports Commission and the National Sportsmanship Foundation.  In September, the Musial Awards was recognized with a Mid-America Emmy Award for Sports – One Time Special.  It’s the fifth Emmy the show has received in that category and its 10^th Emmy overall.

The Musial Awards are named for Stan “The Man” Musial, the late St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Famer who was beloved for his approach on and off the field.  In addition to keeping his legacy alive, the mission of the Musial Awards is to encourage selflessness, integrity and civility in sports and society – and to inspire people across the nation to be good sports.

Cities Airing the Musial Awards:

The St. Louis Sports Commission is the privately-funded nonprofit organization that grows, strengthens and moves St. Louis forward through sports.  The organization uses the power of sports to enhance the area’s quality of life and generate economic and social benefit for the St. Louis region.