ESPY Awards 2012: Biggest Snubs from Annual Sports Awards Show

As much as it makes sense for ESPN to give the fans a chance to vote on all the biggest and best moments in sports over the last year for the ESPY awards, there are some instances where the people get it wrong. 

Fan-voted awards are nothing more than cheap ways to keep them involved. They only vote for the things they like, which leads to a number of biased winners. 

To put a ribbon on this year's awards show, we want to take a look back at some of the losers who were snubbed in the voting process.

Best Game

Actual Winner: Saints-49ers, NFC Divisional Playoff

Should've Won: Rangers-Cardinals, World Series Game 6

I can say this as a 49ers fan—the Divisional Playoff game between New Orleans and San Francisco was not a better game than the Rangers-Cardinals. 

When looking at the two games in the annals of history, people aren't going to remember the Saints-49ers game in 15-20 years. It was a great game, one that will be remembered as one of the best in the history of both franchises. 

The Rangers-Cardinals was a transcendent game. It went beyond just baseball, beyond a World Series game. The Rangers were one strike away from winning a championship twice. The Cardinals tied the game both times before ultimately winning the game, and the series in seven. 

Saints vs. 49ers was great. Rangers vs. Cardinals was just better. 

Breakthrough Athlete

Actual Winner: Jeremy Lin, New York Knicks

Should've Won: Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots

Lin was the talk of the NBA for two months. Everyone latched on to the story of the undrafted Harvard graduate who took over as the starting point guard for a New York franchise and had immediate success. 

Unfortunately, when the league figured him out, Lin's performance started to slip. An injured knee robbed him of the last month of the regular season and into the postseason. 

Gronkowski was a backup tight end no one outside of New England had ever heard of before 2011. He became one of the biggest stars in the sport last year, after posting 90 receptions, 1,327 yards and 17 touchdowns. 

Lin's story was great, but Gronkowski was simply a better player in his sport. I guess it all depends on what your definition of breakthrough means. 

Fighter of the Year

Actual Winner: Floyd Mayweather, Jr. 

Should've Won: Jon Jones

Everyone knows that Mayweather is the biggest star in combat sports. He is able to draw in viewers who would never normally think to watch boxing or mixed martial arts, so he has an unfair advantage in a contest like this. 

That said, it is hard to look past what Jones did in the last year. Even if you take out his dominant win over Ryan Bader and Mauricio Rua from early 2011, Jones was still the best fighter in combat sports during the voting period. 

Jones defeated Quinton Jackson, Lyoto Machida and Rashad Evans in a seven-month period between September and April. 

Mayweather had a controversial victory over Victor Ortiz and a dominant win over Miguel Cotto. His name carried him to victory, but he was not the best fighter of the last year. 

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