ESPY's: My Winning Picks

This year’s 2008 ESPY awards are going to be very exciting.  The nominees have recently been released, and I have already researched my picks and completed my voting for this year’s annual awards. 

Unfortunately, the ESPY’s will be hosted by Justin Timberlake, who is obviously the first person I think of when sports are mentioned.  Obviously.

Best International Female Athlete

This was an easy pick for me, because Justin Henin won ten tournaments in 2007, and was the number one ranked female tennis player in the world for 2007 and 2008 when she retired.

Best International Male Athlete

This one was tough to choose, because Christiano Ronaldo is an unbelievable soccer player.  However, with a 70-15 record in 2007, including a French Open win, Rafael Nadal wins my pick for this category.

Best WNBA Player

This was once again an easy pick for me, because Lauren Jackson led the league in scoring and rebounds, showing that she can contribute on both sides of the ball.  She won the league MVP, and earned my vote for this category.

Best MLS Player

This was a toss-up for me between Landon Donovan and Luciano Emilio.  Donovan averaged more than a goal per game at the beginning of the 2008 season, and had eight goals and thirteen assists during 2007 season.  However, Emilio won the league MVP, and seemed to be a better player when I watched him against the LA Galaxy.

Best Outdoor Athlete

This was tough, because Lance Mackey won the Iditarod twice in a row, which is an unbelievably hard accomplishment.  However, Captain Scott Smiley’s story makes me so happy inside.  Whenever you hear about a disabled person accomplishing something amazing like climbing Mount Raineer, you have to have a special place in your heart for them.

Best Jockey

This award will not be accurate, because I do not know much about horse racing, but I chose Kent Desormeaux, simply because he was on Big Brown during the almost Triple Crown win.  I’m probably wrong with this, though.

Best Golfer

This does not need an explanation.  Tiger Woods gets my vote, hands down.  He is still just as amazing as ever.

Best Track and Field Athlete

This award made me think hard about whether or not Tyson Gay or Usain Bolt deserved this award more.  Bolt set the record in the 100-meter race, but Gay had more success throughout the entire year.  That is why I voted for Tyson Gay for the best track and field athlete.

Best Male Tennis Player

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are still the top two tennis players in the world in my opinion, but I had trouble picking the top player for this year.  I love watching both of them play, they are each so talented in their own way.  But I think that Roger Federer is the better player this year.  He won the US Open and Wimbledon this year, and was once again the number one ranked tennis player in the world.

Best Female Tennis Player

I know that Justin Henin was ranked number one for longer time than the rest of the players in the world, but for what I’ve seen, Maria Sharapova is still the better tennis player of the ladies.

Best Male Athlete with a Disability

After researching and reading about all of the stories, I found that Ryan Kocer’s story was the most touching of all of them.

Best Female Athlete with a Disability

Once again, after reading through the stories of these amazing women, I think that the most unbelievable one was about Patty Cisneros and her captaining of the US women’s wheelchair basketball team to the championship.

Best Male Action Sports Athlete

I love watching all of these action sports and the amazing tricks that they are able to do.  Chad Reed’s season was impressive, but I still think that Shaun White is the best action sports athlete in the world.

Best Female Action Sports Athlete

This one was a bit easier to choose, because Gretchen Bleiler simply dominated snowboarding this year, and has earned my vote for this category.

Best Driver

This was a piece of cake for me, because anyone who can win two consecutive Winston…I mean Nextel…I mean Sprint…I mean, whatever the hell it’s called…Nextel Cups is simply an unbelievable driver.  Jimmie Johnson gets my vote.

Best Fighter

I’m not really a fighting fan, but from what I read and see, Floyd Mayweather, who improved his career record to 43-0, is the best fighter of them all.

Best Bowler

Once again, I’m not really a bowling fan, but I think that when you lead all bowlers in average like Walter Ray Williams Jr., you have to be a pretty good bowler.

Best Female College Athlete

Okay, back to the stuff I know.  This is a no-brainer to me, because Candace Parker simply dominated the NCAA.  She led her team to their second consecutive championship, had ridiculous averages in points and rebounds, and led her team to a 36-2 record during the season.

Best Male College Athlete

This was a hard one for me, to choose between Tim Tebow and Michael Beasley, but when you seem to dominate the NCAA like Tebow did, becoming perhaps the next Vince Young by scoring through the air and on the ground, he deserves this award so much.

Best NHL Player

This is my specialty, so I feel I am the most accurate with this award.  Crosby had a great year for the 53 games that he played, and was among the league leaders in points per game.  Evgeni Malkin was great, being second in the league in scoring, but was not so great at the beginning of the season.  Alexander Ovechkin, however, dominated the NHL this year, broke the scoring record for a left winger, scored an amazing 65 goals, led the league in scoring, and won the league MVP.  He is easily my choice for the top NHL player.

Best Baseball Player

I think I am biased on this one, because I am a Phillies’ fan, but I think that Jimmy Rollins was one of the best, if not the best players in the major leagues this past season.  A-Rod had an unbelievable year, leading the league in home runs, RBI, and runs, but Rollins was a threat both in the field, at the plate, while running the bases, and in the locker room as well.

Best NBA Player

I don’t care how dominant Kobe Bryant was this year, and that he won the MVP, because Kevin Garnett seemed to single-handedly bring the Celtics to glory.  Yes, he had two other star players on his team with him, but by averaging extremely high in rebounds and points per game, and by being named the top defensive player, he wins my vote.

Best NFL Player

Tom Brady wins my vote for this, because he had such an unbelievable year.  True, he had Randy Moss, but even Peyton Manning and Dan Marino had great receivers to help them.

HUMMER LIKE NOTHING ELSE Award

As a hockey fan, I was so excited to see the star player of the league score the game winning goal in the shootout of the first outdoor NHL game in American history in January.  It was such an amazing game, and Sidney Crosby wins my vote for this one.

Best Finish

The three overtime game in the Stanley Cup finals was easily one of the greatest games that I have ever seen.  It was exciting and thrilling from start to finish, with the action never dying down.  I did not sit down for the last two overtimes, because the game was so exciting.  The best time in hockey, so I pick the three overtime NHL game.

Best Coach/Manager

Any coach that guides his underdog team to a Super Bowl Championship deserves an ESPY.  It is such a hard trophy to win, and Tom Coughlin did extremely well in overpowering the mighty Patriots.

Best Sports Movie

Semi Pro was such an unbelievable movie, and was so much fun to be a part of.  This film wins my pick for best sports movie.

Best Play

Okay, I have to admit that on this one I actually voted for Rick Nash’s unbelievable goal, but that is because I am a huge hockey fan and was amazed at how he scored it.  However, the one that really deserves to win is David Tyree’s Super Bowl catch.  This was unbelievable, and almost single-handedly won the Super Bowl.  As an Eagles’ fan, I was rooting for the Pats, and was simply speechless when I saw Tyree leap into the air and secure that ball.

Best Game

This one was easy, and it goes with the last category, Best Play.  The Super Bowl was so much fun to watch this year, mainly because it seemed that everybody in the nation was rooting against the Pats because of the whole spygate thing.  But the game was exciting from start to finish, and even though it was low scoring, that does not mean that it was not fun.

Best Moment

This was another no-brainer in my mind, because when I saw the story about Centreal Washington carrying Sara Tucholsky around the bases, I was shocked.  This is one of the biggest examples of sportsmanship that I have ever seen as a sports fan.  Especially since they’re act of carrying her around the bases led to their elimination from contention.  It was unbelievable, and I applaud the entire Central Washington team for this act.

Best Upset

I hope that no one votes for the Appalachian State game, because it is not as crazy as one thinks.  At the time it was, but Michigan showed that they really were a bad team this year, and so a strong Division I-AA team could beat a weak Division I team any day.  I was debating between the Super Bowl and the College World Series, but eventually I picked Fresno State’s upset, because while following this only a week or two ago, I was stunned to see a Cinderella team not only get to the championship, but beat Georgia in the game to bring home the school’s second championship ever.

Best Record-Breaking Performance

I will officially say right now, that if I find out anyone voted for Barry Bonds’ home run record, I reserve the right to kill you.  Anyhoo, I was thinking of voting for Brady and Moss breaking their own position records, but then I thought of my philosophy in sports and greatness, which is that a career record is much more important and impressive then a single season record.  Brett Favre is an unbelievable player, and deserves this ESPY more than any of the other nominees.  I love him so much, he is the model of a gentlemanly sports star, and I salute him in whatever he does for the remainder of his life.  Thanks, Brett, for so many memorable years.

Best Breakthrough Athlete

I easily picked Adrian Peterson with this vote of mine, because he dominated the NFL rushing game.  He put up numbers that a rookie has no business putting up.  He put up numbers that an MVP candidate puts up, which, as a matter of fact, he will most definitely be at some point in his career.

Best Championship Performance

Once again, I love these touching stories, so when I saw Tiger Woods return from knee surgery, and play 91 holes on a torn ACL, I was just amazed that he even played, let alone won the major.  So he gets my vote hands down, and I hope he recovers quickly so he can break Nicklaus’ record.

Best Team

This was a toss-up to me between the Celtics and the Red Wings.  They both finished alone as the top seed in their league, and both, of course, won their respective championships.  So I went into more depth.  I feel that the Celtics were more of a star team, because if I took away Kevin Garnett or Paul Pierce or Ray Allen, I don’t think they would have done so well.  But if I took away Henrik Zetterberg or Nicklas Lidstrom or Pavel Datsyuk, I think the Red Wings would still be the best team in the NHL.  A team is great when they don’t have to rely on all of their starters and stars all the time.

Best Female Athlete

I was gonna vote Lindsey Vonn, but Candace Parker is just such a dominant athlete, and I have a hard time not voting for her.  She dominated the NCAA, and is going to continue to dominate in the WNBA.  Best of luck to the number one overall draft pick in the WNBA.

Best Male Athlete

Well, here we are.  The big cheese.  The best male athlete in the world.  I honestly feel that Alex Ovechkin should have gotten a nomination for this award, even though I still would not have voted for him.  But he was indeed unbelievable.  This is a tough one, but I would not vote for Kobe.  It was up between Tiger Woods, A-Rod, and Tom Brady.  I took off A-Rod, because he was not as dominant in his sport as Brady or Woods were.  Then I though very hard about the remaining two athletes on my ballot, and after much thinking, pondering, and a little bit of bribing from each one (okay, just thinking and pondering), I wound up taking Tiger.  He is simply the most dominant athlete in sports.  No one tears up their sport quite like he does, and I simply love watching the same person win over and over again.  It’s like a dynasty.  I’d rather see a team dominate for four or five years than see five different teams win the championship.  Yes, even if it is the Patriots.  But my vote goes to Tiger, and I hope he wins this award yet again.

So there you have it.  My picks for the ESPY’s.  Leave your feedback and comments on here with your opinions of winners.  And please do let me know if you disagree with me 100 percent, especially in the categories that I said I did not know so well.

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