17 replies to this topic

[Frezeal33]

First of all, will you guys be watching the ESPY's on Wednesday, July 17th? 

 

Here are the nominees for each category, you predict who will win!

 

Best Female Athlete

 

• Gabby Douglas, Olympic Gymnast
• Missy Franklin, Oympic Swimmer
• Brittney Griner, NCAA Baylor's Women's Basketball
• Serena Williams, Women's Tennis

Best Male Athlete

• Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers
• LeBron James, Miami Heat
• Michael Phelps, Olympic Swimmer
• Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings

Best Breakthrough Athlete

• Colin Kaepernick, San Francisco 49ers
• Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M Football
• Yasiel Puig, Los Angeles Dodgers
• Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels
• Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks

Best Comeback

• Peyton Manning, Denver Broncos
• Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings
• Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants
• Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees

Best Championship Performance

• Joe Flacco, Super Bowl MVP
• LeBron James, NBA Finals MVP
• Brad Keslowski, NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion
• Pablo Sandoval, World Series MVP

Best Game

• Bruins vs. Leafs, First Round, Game 7
• Heat vs. Spurs, NBA Finals, Game 6
• Ravens vs. Broncos, AFC Divisional Round

Best Record-Breaking Performance

• Drew Brees, Breaks Johnny Unitas' Consecutive TD Record
• Calvin Johnson, Breaks Jerry Rice's Season Receiving Yards Record
• Michael Phelps, Most Decorated Olympian
• Abby Wambach, Sets International Scoring Record

Best Upset

• 15Florida Gulf Coast over 2Georgetown, NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament
• 5Louisville Women over 1Baylor, NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament
• Marquez over Pacquiao, Boxing
• Texas A&M over Alabama, College Football

Best Moment

• Jack Hoffman, TD Run in Nebraska Spring Game
• Alex Morgan, Winning Goal vs. Canada in Olympic Semifinal
• Andy Murray, Winning at Wimbledon, Gold Medal in Olympics
• Chuck Pagano, Returning to Colts after Leukemia Treatments

Best NFL Player

• Calvin Johnson, Detroit Lions
• Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings
• J.J. Watt, Houston Texans
• Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers
• Peyton Manning, Denver Broncos

Best NBA Player

• LeBron James, Miami Heat
• Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder
• Carmelo Anthony, New York Knicks
• Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
• Tony Parker, San Antonio Spurs

Best MLB Player

• Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers
• RA Dickey, New York Mets/Toronto Blue Jays
• Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants
• David Price, Tampa Bay Rays
• Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels

Best NHL Player

• Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
• Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
• Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers
• Martin St. Louis, Tampa Bay Lightening
• John Tavares, New York Islanders

Best Driver

• Ryan Hunter-Reay, IndyCar
• Tony Kanaan, IndyCar
• Brad Keslowski, NASCAR
• Sebastian Vettel, Formula One

Best Coach/Manager

• Bruce Arians, Arizona Cardinals/Indianapolis Colts
• Geno Auriemma, UCONN Women's Basketball
• John Danowski, Duke Lacrosse
• Rick Pitino, Louisville Men's Basketball
• Erik Spoelstra, Miami Heat

Best Fighter

• Canelo Alvarez, Boxing
• Danny Garcia, Boxing
• Jon "Bones" Jones, MMA (Brother of Ravens' Art Jones)
• Floyd Mayweather Jr., Boxing
• Anderson Silva, MMA

Best Bowler

• Jason Belmonte
• Scott Norton
• Pete Weber

Best Jockey

• Javier Castellano
• Ramon Dominguez
• Joel Rosario
• John Velasquez

Best MLS Player

• Thierry Henry, New York Red Bulls
• Chris Wondolowski, San Jose Earthquakes
• Graham Zusi, Sporting Kansas City

Best Male US Olympian

• Ashton Eaton, Athletics
• Ryan Lochte, Swimming
• Michael Phelps, Swimming

Best Female US Olympian

• Gabby Douglas, Gymnastics
• Aly Raisman, Gymnastics
• Missy Franklin, Swimming

Best International Athlete

• Usain Bolt, Sprinter
• Novak Djokovic, Tennis Player
• Juan Manuel Marquez, Boxer
• Lionel Messi, Soccer Player
• Cristiano Ronaldo, Soccer Player

Best WNBA Player

• Tamika Catchings, Indiana Fever
• Tina Charles, Connecticut Sun
• Angel McCoughtry, Atlanta Dream
• Candace Parker, Los Angeles Sparks
• Lindsay Whalen, Minnesota Lynx

Best Male Golfer

• Tiger Woods
• Rory Mcllroy
• Justin Rose
• Adam Scott
• Brandt Snedeker

Best Female Golfer

• Na Yeon Choi
• Stacy Lewis
• Inbee Park
• Jiyai Shin

Best Male Tennis Player

• Novak Djokovic
• Andy Murray
• Roger Federer
• Rafael Nadal

Best Female Tennis Player

• Serena Williams
• Maria Sharapova
• Victoria Azarenka

Best Male College Athlete

• Trey Burke, Michigan Basketball
• Kyle Dake, Cornell Wrestling
• Drew LeBlanc, St. Cloud State University Hockey
• Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M Football

Best Female College Athlete

• Kara Cannizzaro, UNC Lacrosse
• Crystal Dunn, UNC Soccer
• Brittany Griner, Baylor Basketball
• Keilani Ricketts, Oklahoma Softball

Best Male Athlete with a Disability

• Jeremy Campbell, Athletics
• Jeff Fabry, Archery
• Raymond Martin, Athletics
• Lt. Bradley Snyder, Swimming
• Tyler Walker, Swimming

Best Female Athlete with a Disability

• Victoria Arlen, Swimming
• Muffy Davis, Paracycling
• Jessica Long, Swimming
• Tatyana McFadden, Athletics
• Shirley Reilly, Athletics

Best Male Action Sports Athlete

• Pedro Barros, Skateboarding
• Nyjah Huston, Skateboarding
• Mark McMorris, Snowboarding
• Ryan Villopoto, Motocross

Best Female Action Sports Athlete

• Leticia Bufoni, Skateboarding
• Kelly Clark, Snowboarding
• Stephanie Gilmore, Surfing
• Laia Sanz, Motocross

Best Team

• US Women's Olympic Gymnastics
• San Francisco Giants
• Alabama Crimson Tide Football
• Oklahoma Softball
• Baltimore Ravens
• Chicago Blackhawks
• Miami Heat

 

Remember to vote at: http://espn.go.com/e...fined&lang=null

 

P.S. Ray Rice's 4th & 29 is nominated for Best Play, going up against Ray Allen's 3-Pointer in the semi-finals -- voting ends for the semis on Sunday, July 14th! 

[BSLChrisStoner]

The last ESPY's I remember really watching was the '93 Valvano speech.  For some reason, has stayed off my radar. Maybe I'll give it a look this year.

[Oriole85]

It's good filler programming for an otherwise dead day on the sports calendar. And something for fans to just complain about for the most part but who still will watch it (reminds me of the Pro Bowl).

[Frezeal33]

The last ESPY's I remember really watching was the '93 Valvano speech.  For some reason, has stayed off my radar. Maybe I'll give it a look this year.

 

I'm definitely going to watch, just because the Ravens are nominated for four different things, so I want to see them win all four!

[DJ MC]

I'll be watching for Jon Hamm's monologue. That's about it.

[Oriole85]

I usually think the Arthur Ashe thing is the highlight of it.

[BSLChrisStoner]

Bump.

[SBTarheel]

I know all the cool kids like to hate on ESPN, but just remember how much money for Cancer research ESPN has helped raise with the V Foundation.

[DJ MC]

I know all the cool kids like to hate on ESPN, but just remember how much money for Cancer research ESPN has helped raise with the V Foundation.

 

Yeah, and Gus Fring sponsored the Albuquerque DEA Fun-Run every year

[SBTarheel]

Yeah, and Gus Fring sponsored the Albuquerque DEA Fun-Run every year

That's some damn good chicken!!!

[BSLMikeLowe]

Didn't watch, but from the Twitter reactions I'm guessing it was a big LeBron slobberfest.

[Adam Wolff]

Didn't watch, but from the Twitter reactions I'm guessing it was a big LeBron slobberfest.

 

Chicken Nickle will love that!

[DJ MC]

The ESPYs Are A Colossal Waste Of Money

[SBTarheel]

It's a fun distraction on a boring sports day...enjoy it for what it is, no need to take it seriously on any level.

[NewMarketSean]

It would be better if they didn't blatantly hand out awards to the athletes and teams they cover the most.

 

I don't see how the Ravens/Broncos game didn't win the best game of the year.

 

Even exciting NBA games are snoozefests.

 

Let's say Davis hits 75 HR this year for the sake of argument and LeBron has another good year and wins a title.

 

Who do you think should win? Who do you think will win?

[Oriole85]

It's a fun distraction on a boring sports day...enjoy it for what it is, no need to take it seriously on any level.

Well said, does anyone actually remember who won any of these things. You remember the great moments like Jimmy V or the Team Hoyt thing.

[SBTarheel]

Well said, does anyone actually remember who won any of these things. You remember the great moments like Jimmy V or the Team Hoyt thing.

Exactly. The fans choose the winners, so the most popular teams/athletes always win whether they deserve it or not. Baseball games/teams/players never have a shot because Football and Hoops are popular, made for TV sports.

 

The Jimmy V/Robin Roberts type moments are what everyone takes away from the event, and what the guys were wearing or whatever.

[Oriole85]

Exactly. The fans choose the winners, so the most popular teams/athletes always win whether they deserve it or not. Baseball games/teams/players never have a shot because Football and Hoops are popular, made for TV sports.

 

The Jimmy V/Robin Roberts type moments are what everyone takes away from the event, and what the guys were wearing or whatever.

It's always a delicate balance when you let the fans control the outcome for these things. You want to appear populist and let the general population have a say. But when you do that -- it usually comes at the expense of smaller sports and not so prominent markets. I've mentioned this before -- name recognition is so important in elections -- the candidate with the bigger name almost always wins. The same principle applies here.Thus, if the choices are between LeBron James and Joe Flacco, you can't really fault the public for seeing LBJ's name and going that way. Same thing with team performances if it's the Cowboys and Orioles, "America's team" will probably get the nod.

 

I think most are level-headed about this type of thing, but some take the ESPYs way too seriously. This is a fun event where you can get great athletes and entertainers on the same stage for one night. It's nice to see athletes away from the playing field, dressed up, with their wives, interacting with each other. And for anyone who spent the whole night complaining about how much the ESPYs "sucked"(and watched), you have a remote!