My ESPY Winners

Short post today simply because ESPY voting opens.  The ESPYS (July 11th at 9pm on ESPN) is an awards show that honors the best in the past year in sports.  This is a quick run down of the major categories and who I think is deserving of the award.  Expect another blog post tomorrow or Friday as well after the NBA draft.

Best Male Athlete
Nominees:  Novak Djokovic, Aaron Rodgers, Justin Verlander, Lebron James
Winner:  Lebron James
James won his third NBA MVP award this year as well as leading the Heat to an NBA title.  He became the focal point for the Heat and showed how scary his athleticism and potential is.  Look for more of these awards to come in the future.

Best Female Athlete
Nominees:  Abby Wambach, Lindsey Vonn, Maria Sharapova, Brittney Griner
Winner: Brittney Griner
While I think Wambach had a larger national impact because she led the women's soccer team to the championship game in the World Cup, the way that Griner dominated games was impressive.  She led the 40-0 Baylor Bears to a National Title, while winning by an average of 26.3 points per game.  Add in her Sportscenter Top 10 dunks, and I think she deserves this honor.

Best Championship Performance
Nominees:  Eli Manning, Tony Stewart, Jonathan Quick, Lebron James, David Freese
Winner: Jonathan Quick
This selection may seem surprising but that's because hockey is not as popular as football or basketball where Manning or James will likely win.  For those that did not watch the NHL Finals, Quick was a stone wall.  Not only was he facing shots from the likes of stars Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk, but was also going up against future Hall of Fame goalie Martin Brodeur.  Quick's team, the Kings, won in six games with Quick allowing only seven goals including a game three shutout.  He won the Conn Smythe  Trophy as the most valuable playoff MVP, and did it all while on an eight seeded team.

Best Breakthrough Athlete
Nominees:  Alex Morgan, Jeremy Lin, Rob Gronkowski, Robert Griffin III, Anthony Davis
Winner:  Anthony Davis
This was the hardest category to choose so far as I think Griffin III, Davis, and The Gronk, all are worthy of the honor.  But Davis not only won the College Player of the Year award as a freshman, something only Kevin Durant was able to do, but also won a National Title at Kentucky while receiving the  Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament.  He is also projected to be the number one draft pick in the NBA draft tomorrow, so look for Best Breakthrough Athlete to turn into either Best NBA Athlete or Best Male Athlete sometime down the road.

Best Record-Breaking Performance
Nominees:  Lexi Thompson, Mariano Rivera, Drew Brees, Coack K
Winner:  Coach K
A staple at Duke for years now, Coach K has instilled a tradition of winning, class, and fan frenzy into the Blue Devil's program.  On top of winning multiple national titles and having all star players in college and the pros, he now holds the record for most wins in Division I men's basketball history after surpassing his coach when he was a player, Bob Knight.  This would be a well deserved award for a coach that has contributed a tremendous amount to college basketball.

Best Upset
Nominees:  Lehigh over Duke, Norfolk State over Missouri, Iowa State over Oklahoma State, Kings Win Stanley Cup
Winner:  Norfolk State over Missouri
Toss up here between the two tournament games but I'm going to go with Norfolk State.  Missouri, unlike Duke, had actually won their conference tournament and were steamrolling into the tournament.  Ranked number three in the nation and led by harassing defense, I pegged them as a dangerous number two and a viable national title contender.  Instead they were upended by fifteenth seeded Norfolk State who lost their next game by 34 points!  A disappointment to say the least.

Best Game
Nominees:  Missouri at Kansas, Rangers - Cardinals Game 6, Saints at 49ers
Winner:  Saints at 49ers
I was fortunate enough to have seen all three games in their entirety and I must say that this is not even close.  Forget the first three quarters, the final four minutes were enough to get the blood pumping in anyone, fan or not.  With the score 23-17, the Saints scored a 44 yard TD with 4:02 left, then Alex Smith ran 29 yards for a TD with 2:11 left to make it 29-24.  Not to be outdone, Drew Brees connected on a 66 yard pass to Jimmy Graham with 1:37 left to give the Saints a 32-29 lead.  The cherry on top of this best game sundae was a perfectly thrown ball from Smith to Vernon Davis with nine seconds left to seal the game for the 49ers.  Those who saw it know how epic it was, and those who missed it, we feel sorry for you.

Best Moment
Nominees:  MLB Season Ends, Bubba Watson Wins Masters, Tebow to Thomas OT TD, Derek Jeter's 3000th hit
Winner:  MLB Season Ends
Another one that I don't think is even close.  The drama of the hapless Orioles, who were down by two in the ninth, beating the Boston Red Sox who were battling for a playoff spot wasn't enough.  The Tampa Bay Rays, also fighting for a playoff spot, beat the New York Yankees by scoring six runs in the eighth inning, one in the ninth, and one in the twelfth.  Even that was not enough.  The Cardinals crushed the Astros 8-0 but still had to wait for the Braves-Phillies outcome.  Only once the Braves had lost to the Phillies in thirteen innings was the most exciting night in baseball complete.

Best Team
Nominees:  Alabama Football, Baylor Women's Basketball, Kentucky Men's Basketball, Miami Heat, New York Giants, Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Cardinals
Winner:  New York Giants
A case could be made for all of these teams obviously, they're all champions of their sport.  But the Giants had to go to Lambeau Field in January against MVP Aaron Rodgers and the Packers.  Then they had to go to Candlestick Park and face the vaunted 49ers defense.  Finally, they had to beat the AFC Champion and number one seed New England Patriots.  They had play makers on offense, (Manning, Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks) defense, (Osi Umenyiora, Justin Tuck, Jason Pierre-Paul) and special teams (Lawrence Tynes, Steve Weatherford).  They overcame injuries and a tough division to emerge as champion of the NFL.

-Matty O