University of North Carolina Athletics
A Blue Carpet Affair
April 15, 2014 | General
By Amy Hoots
On Monday night, Carolina players throughout campus hung up their cleats and athletic shoes and slipped into their high heels and dress shoes. Accustomed to performing in front of crowds while donning their Carolina blue jerseys, student-athletes showed another side last night as they strolled the blue carpet into Memorial Hall and posed in front of cameras while wearing their fanciest attire. The rainy weather couldn't keep these dapper student-athletes away for the 2014 Rammy Awards, a year-end celebration of Carolina Athletics.
The Hollywood-inspired celebration was hosted by Jones Angell, who took the stage alongside student-athletes who presented the awards. Sammy Jo Tracy and Brittney Coppa snagged the first Rammy for their roles in the spectacular national championship-winning goal in triple overtime. Tennis dominated Newcomer of the Year Awards when Jamie Loeb and Brayden Schnur were awarded a Rammy.
Ryan Switzer left Memorial Hall with two Rammys in hand. The first was earned for his record-breaking performance of returning five punts for touchdowns, setting a school and ACC record and tying an NCAA one. He earned the other Rammy for his the Play of the Year, an award which he shared with Marcus Paige, whose layup against NC State secured him a well-earned Rammy. Paige snagged his second Rammy as the Male Athlete of the Year and accepted his final Rammy on behalf of the men's basketball team for the Biggest Upset against No. 1 Michigan State.
While the Rammy Awards acknowledge a serious amount of work and talent, the night was also light-hearted and the superlative awards were a reflection of that. Winners included Leslie McDonald for his dancing skills, Greg Webb for being the biggest goofball, the women's soccer team as the one most likely to get a reality show, and Shakeel Rashad for the best twitter handle (@shak_inabox). The gymnastics team won the "Minute To Win It" video competition with this slightly bruising entry:
Lucie Klaok and Matt Williams were two of the evening's presenters and titters could be heard as they strode across the stage to the podium. The redshirt freshman wrestler was more than a head shorter than the 6-2 rower who unsympathetically wore high heels. As he prepared to announce the nominees, a step stool was brought out for Williams, who climbed up two stairs, evened the height, and waited for the laughter to subside.
Several Carolina student-athletes displayed talent that extends beyond the playing field. Junior pitcher Benton Moss wowed the crowd last year with his skills on the piano, and this year's guitar playing and singing of "Carolina In My Mind" didn't disappoint. A more unusual talent but impressive nonetheless, women's basketball player Hillary Fuller showed her clogging skills while her teammates hooted and hollered encouragement from the audience.
The evening's master of ceremonies, Jones Angell, bore some striking similarities to Oscar host Ellen DeGeneres. Though his selfie with athletic director Bubba Cunningham is unlikely to get a million retweets, he did raise his popularity by handing out pizza to the crowd. The roaring applause from the audience as Angelo from IP3 delivered the pizza to Angell raised questions whether these student-athletes had eaten dinner.
After dolling out slices to students, Angell delivered the last slice to Roy Williams (Angell clearly wasn't informed of the head coach's aversion to pizza) and when Angell saw Kennedy Meeks eyeing the slice from across the aisle, he declared, "No pizza for you, Kennedy!" While Angell was quick to hug it out with Meeks, the freshman forward threatened retaliation. "I'm gonna start a twitter war with that guy!" he said following the Rammys.
Ken Cleary, assistant athletic director for new media, played an integral role in the planning and execution of the event. Usually, he and his crew enhance the gameday experience with video clips, music, and various crowd-pleasing inspirations. Without them, the show would still go on, albeit in less entertaining fashion.
Without new media, there would be no Rammy Awards. While their involvement is central, the goal is to keep the focus on the student-athletes, which is achieved by ensuring that Teleprompters are operating properly, music and videos are cued accurately, and one hundred other nuances the crowd doesn't see.
Junior Lauren Adkins, best-dressed nominee and winner of the cutest couple (along with James Michael McAdoo), called the event a "jazzed up" version of what was offered prior to last year; an event the student-athletes really get excited about. When Bubba Cunningham arrived on campus two years ago, he commissioned administrators and student-athletes to change up the all sports banquet and increase involvement and interest. The Rammy Awards were born.
Before the band ended the night with a rendition of "Hark the Sound," the video screen displayed a music video of each of the 28 teams dancing to "Space Jam." Over thirty hours went into the creation of the three minute video, and that total doesn't include planning, scheduling, rescheduling, and coordinating with each team over the past weeks. New media's work to make the event a success is a reflection of the hours, weeks, months, and years each student-athlete spends honing his or her skills. Switzer's Rammy-winning punt return against Pittsburgh took only 14 seconds, but the time required to make that incredible run possible cannot be counted. The Rammys was a way to celebrate those countless hours by so many Carolina student-athletes.
