ESPYS 2013 Edition

The ESPYS, recognizing achievement in sports, is July 19th at 9pm ET on ESPN.  I figured I'd cover the major categories and let you know who I think should win.  Also, you can vote here to have your voice be heard for this year's ESPYS.

Best Male Athlete
Nominees:  Miguel Cabrera, LeBron James, Adrian Peterson, Michael Phelps
Winner:  Miguel Cabrera
I feel like Lebron and AP will be the front runners for this category and will probably win it, but anyone that accomplishes a feat that has not been done since 1967 (Triple Crown) gets my vote.  He led the Tigers to the World Series last year and as of today, has them in first place in their division.  All four men certainly deserve recognition, but I think the Tigers' slugger should win this award with his Triple Crown and AL MVP wins.

Best Female Athlete
Nominees:  Gabby Douglas, Missy Franklin, Brittney Griner, Serena Williams
Winner:  Brittney Griner
Griner, the talented Baylor women's basketball player, made news on and off the court this season.  On the court, she led the Bears to a 34-2 record, albeit ending in a surprise upset at the hands of Louisville in the Sweet 16.  She averaged 23.8 points per game and a ridiculous 7.8 blocks per game.  By comparison, Nerlens Noel, the great defensive player for Kentucky was only averaging 4.4 blocks per game before his injury.  She set the record for most career blocks for men or women with 736.  She was drafted first overall in the WNBA draft and went on to become the first WNBA player to dunk twice in the same game.  Off the court, she became a notable athlete to come out as gay back in April this year.

Best Team
Nominees:  US Women's Gymnastics, San Francisco Giants, Chicago Blackhawks, Miami Heat, Alabama Football, Baltimore Ravens, Oklahoma Softball
Winner:  Alabama Football
This category is always tough because a) every team can claim they won a title so then it really comes down to comparing and contrasting the difficulty of the sports and opponents they faced and b) the timing of the ESPYS (normally in July) give the NHL and NBA champs favoritism because of the recency effect.  It is because of this that I would like to remind my readers how truly dominant Alabama football was this year.  They finished the year 13-1 and spent nine weeks as the number one team in the nation, which is an eternity in this day and age.  They also did all this while playing in the hardest conference in the country (SEC).  The faced six ranked teams with only two of them coming at home.  Their only blemish was to Texas A&M, led by the eventual Heisman winning quarterback Johnny Manziel.  They pulverized teams including a 41-14 beatdown of Michigan to start the year, a 38-7 romp of Mississippi State (ranked #13 at the time), and the 42-14 thrashing of Notre Dame in the title game.  They had three players selected in the top 11 picks of the NFL draft, with eight players being selected overall.  While this team might not have been as flashy as others on this list, I believe they were the most dominant.

Best Comeback
Nominees:  Peyton Manning, Adrian Peterson, Mariano Rivera, Buster Posey
Winner:  Adrian Peterson
Is this really even a question?  Yes, the other three could make an argument, but AP would probably run right through that too.  To come back from an ACL injury in December, start the first week of the season, and come up nine yards shy of breaking the single season rushing record is mind boggling.  It makes it even more impressive that everyone and their grandma knew AP would get the ball when the Vikings were on offense.  They had a below average quarterback and limited receiving weapons.  Teams would stack nine in the box and he would still break off 60+ yard runs.  This category, unfortunately for the other nominees, is a forgone conclusion.  If you're in Vegas and want to win some money, go all in on AP for this category.

Best Breakthrough Athlete
Nominees:  Colin Kaepernick, Johnny Manziel, Mike Trout, Yasiel Puig, Russell Wilson
Winner:  Colin Kaepernick
This is probably the toughest category to call because in any other year, any one of them could have won.  My thinking is that Manziel and Trout couldn't lead their teams to the title games/series in their respective sports, and Puig has simply become a sensation too quickly.  If his pace continues and the Dodgers make a run, then he should certainly win it next year.  Kaepernick did make it all the way to the Super Bowl, and were it not for a non-pass interference call, might have won it.  Kaepernick went 5-2-1 to end the regular season, and continued his magic against Green Bay in the playoffs as well as a tough comeback against the Falcons in the Georgia Dome.  His Super Bowl numbers were nothing to sneeze at either as he passed for 302 yards, ran for another 62, with two total touchdowns and one interception.  Expect huge years from these guys in the future, but as for the present, gotta give it to Kaepernick.

Best Championship Performance
Nominees:  Joe Flacco, LeBron James, Brad Keselowski, Pablo Sandoval
Winner:  LeBron James
Another fairly easy category to choose, no offense to the other nominees.  Although this award goes to the best championship performance, I think all you needed to know about LeBron happened in the last two games.  The Heat were on the ropes down three to two and, despite getting both games at home, had to feel that the momentum had shifted San Antonio's way.  LeBron responded in a big way in Game 6 recording a triple double (32 pts, 11 assists, 10 rebounds) in an instant classic which the Heat won 103-100 in OT.  That was arguably his best performance short of the 2007 Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Detroit Pistons.  Game 7 was more of the same as he went for 37 points and 12 boards to clinch back to back titles for the Heat.

Best Game
Nominees:  Bruins vs Leafs Game Seven, Heat vs Spurs Game Six, Ravens vs Broncos AFC Divisional Playoffs
Winner:  Bruins vs Leafs
While the other two games were exciting, this one had the unthinkable.  First off, it was Game Seven in Boston between two Original Six teams.  That's awesome enough.  What happened at the end, however, was truly remarkable.  The Bruins trailed by three midway through the final period of play 4-1.  The Leafs had dominated the play and looked poised to wrap up the series.  Even when Nathan Horton scored around the nine minute mark to make it 4-2, you still felt like the Bruins were done.  Then, with about a minute and 30 seconds left, Milan Lucic scores to make it a one goal game.  With the goalie pulled and the crowd on the edge of their seat, leader and alternate captain Patrice Bergeron put away the game tying goal with less than a minute left.  Fast forward to overtime, where Bergeron would strike again to send the Bruins to the next round.  They used this energy to propel them to the Stanley Cup Finals, where ironically, they were beat in Game 6 by two goals scored with about a minute and 30 seconds left to play and another scored with less than a minute left.

Side note:  I know there are a lot of great games and maybe they could only select three, but my personal favorite from this past year was Michigan vs Kansas in the NCAA Tourney.  The number one seed vs the eventual title runner up.  Trey Burke hitting that long, monster three to tie the game and send it to overtime was as good as it gets.  That game, honestly, would've been my pick over any of these three.

Best Upset
Nominees:  Florida Gulf Coast over Georgetown, Texas A&M over Alabama, Louisville over Baylor (women's basketball), Juan Marquez over Manny Pacquiao
Winner:  Marquez over Manny
The other three are worthy, but college basketball tournament upsets happen all the time and Texas A&M was ranked #15 at the time.  This was Manny's first loss since 1999!  Pacquiao has long been considered one of, if not the best, pound for pound fighter in the world today.  Although he had already beat Marquez twice and drew with him once, his last victory came with controversy as many believed that Marquez won the fight, but the judges gave it to Pacquiao.  Still, Pacquiao was certainly the heavy favorite going into the fight, but was dropped in the sixth round by Marquez in a stunning upset.  With back to back losses on his record, perhaps we are witnessing the end of the Pacquiao era.

Best Moment
Nominees:  Jack Hoffman, Alex Morgan, Andy Murray, Chuck Pagano
Winner:  Chuck Pagano
All of them were great moments so it was hard to choose one, but head coach of the Indianapolis Colts Chuck Pagano gets my vote.  Pagano was diagnosed with leukemia after week 3, causing him to leave the team to seek medical attention.  This after the Colts started the year 1-2 including a loss to Jacksonville with a rookie QB in Andrew Luck.  Coming out of their bye week, however, the Colts were inspired by their coach and "ChuckStrong" signs and posters were all around Lucas Oil Stadium.  The Colts used this momentum to go 10-3 the rest of the year and make the playoffs, with Pagano able to return to the team in Week 17 and knock off the Houston Texans. 

Matty O