ESPY Awards 2012: Jeremy Lin and Winners ESPN Got Right

Tim Tebow's win of "Best Moment" may come as a disappointment to anyone outside of New York or Denver, but the ESPY's did, indeed get some of the awards spot on. 

That's not to say Tebow didn't deserve his award. An 80-yard touchdown pass in overtime to win a playoff game is certainly worthy of an all-time moment. 

But with the MLB's regular season ending with a series of games and plays that will likely never be seen again in baseball history, there is bound to be some controversy. Heck, even Bubba Watson's ridiculous shot out of the trees to win the Masters deserved some consideration. 

The point is, that award could have gone either way, but there were plenty of others that were easy no-brainers.

Let's take a look at the most obvious ones. 

Jeremy Lin: Best Breakthrough Athlete

Does it get much more breakthrough than going from 10-day contract, not knowing where you will sleep night-to-night, future in basketball looking bleak to international superstar, averaging 18 and 8 per game and out-shining Kobe Bryant?

No. It does not. 

Lin didn't only surprisingly dominate the point guard position for the Knicks, he, for a moment, took over the world. Linsanity was started and it had some sublime effect on the rest of the globe that can't even be described in words.

On top of that, the other nominees were pretty "meh."

Anthony Davis dominated college basketball, but he was the nation's No. 1 recruit. Robert Griffin III captivated everyone involved in college football, but he was already entrenched as a starter. Rob Gronkowski deserves some praise, but not as much as Lin. And Alex Morgan, well, it's hard to "break through" when you are already good enough to be playing international soccer. 

Good for Lin, and good for the voters. 

Brittney Griner: Best Female Athlete

OK, en route to leading her Baylor Bears to a 40-0 record and a national championship, Griner averaged 23.2 points, 9.5 rebounds and 5.2 blocks per game (in a college game, which is shorter, mind you), she turned dunking into a normality, she won every award you could think of and she probably invented the wheel or something while she was at it.

To be comparable, Maria Sharapova would have had to win her last four majors (she won one), Lindsey Vonn would have had to actually compete in an Olympics in the past year (she won silver at the World Championships) or Abby Wambach would have had to score about six more goals and actually lead the Americans to a gold medal at the World Cup.

None of that came even close to happening, and as it should be, none of them came close to beating Griner.

Well, hopefully they didn't come close. 

Matthew Stafford: Best Comeback Athlete

Stafford went from not being able to finish a complete season because of various injuries to being one of the most prolific passers in the NFL.

If the Detroit Lions quarterback simply made it through 16 games—even if they were mediocre—in 2011, he probably would have been up for this award. 

But he made it through those games in style, passing for a ridiculous 5,038 yards to go with 41 touchdowns to just 16 interceptions.

Sidney Crosby, on the other hand, was only able to return for 22 games.

Johan Santana has been terrific in his return and probably deserved some consideration, but he's always been as dominant as he is this year. Even with the year off, it's not the same as Stafford putting together his very first productive season.

This award is a little closer than the first two, but Stafford definitely deserved it. 

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