Jim Nantz, an Emmy award-winning sports broadcaster and Colts Neck native, put those concepts into motion at a young age to achieve his success as one of television sports' most prolific and enduring on-air personalities.

And on Tuesday before a crowd of more than 200 assembled at Monmouth University's new Multipurpose Activity Center, it earned him some new hardware as the school honored Nantz with its annual award for excellence in communications work.

The Monmouth University Award for Communication Excellence, or MACE, was created in 2004 to honor those who have made significant lifetime contributions in the field of communications. Previous honorees include White House correspondent Helen Thomas, newspaper publisher Jules L. Plangere Jr., former owner of the Asbury Park Press, and Myron Kandel, founding financial editor of CNN.

"This whole thing is kind of surreal," said Nantz, a graduate and former golf star at Marlboro High School. "This is one of the great ones for me."

Nantz anchors CBS' golf coverage, including the Masters and the PGA Championship. He is the lead announcer for the NFL on CBS, and he will call the upcoming Super Bowl. Nantz is also the voice for the network's college basketball coverage, including the NCAA Men's Final Four.

In 2007, Nantz completed a rare broadcasting achievement by becoming the first commentator in history to broadcast the Super Bowl, the NCAA Men's Final Four, and the Masters all within a period of just over two months.

The two-hour ceremony, partially sponsored by the Asbury Park Press, began with a surprise announcement that the school next fall will begin a new, 18-credit minor in sports broadcasting in its School of Communications. The program will kick off next fall, school officials said.

Nantz, a New York Times bestselling author, waxed about his days as a youth dreaming of becoming a sports broadcaster for CBS television, his climb to the apex of television sports broadcasting and his deep passion for storytelling in an hourlong talk, during which he answered audience questions.

He said he knew when he was 11 years old what he wanted to do with his life. When in college at the University of Houston, he set that plan into motion, volunteering to do anything for any sports broadcasting outlet he could find.

"I volunteered, I volunteered I volunteered," Nantz said. "I didn't care if they ever paid me. I got to be on the air. I got a chance to follow a dream."

Despite the fact that sports is a field particularly obsessed with numbers and statistics, Nantz said that part of the job never interested him.

"I wanted to tell the stories," Nantz said. "There is a romance about sports for me. It was never about the particular sport, or the event. It was the stories."