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The ESPYS are especially women-friendly in 2008

by
carolinagrrrl

Well, folks, it’s that time of year again. It’s time for some of the wealthiest, talented and most beautiful that our world has to offer to get all gussied up and gather for a night of mutual adoration and self-celebrations. No, I’m not talking about the Academy Awards; I’m talking about the 2008 ESPYs.

The 16th annual awards show will be hosted by Justin Timberlake and highlights the year’s best athletes across the board. For the fifth year now, you can help decide the winners if you vote before midnight on July 11. Don’t know who to vote for? Don’t worry, I’m here to help.

Best Female Athlete:
Lorena Ochoa, Golf
Candace Parker, Los Angeles Sparks
Danica Patrick, Auto Racing
Lindsey Vonn, Skiing

My pick: Candace Parker

Because, well, duh — Ms. Parker was the most dominant player in college basketball, winning two straight national championships and more awards than I have time to list in her years at Tennessee. Now, as a Los Angeles Sparks player, she is already making her mark on the WNBA. Recently, she became the first woman to ever dunk in back-to-back professional games. Girl can play! She is also up for (and should win) Best Female College Athlete.

Best Moment:
Sportsmanship, Central Washington vs. Western Oregon Softball
Jon Lester's No-Hitter
Danica Patrick Wins

My pick: Sportsmanship, Central Washington vs. Western Oregon Softball

I would love to give it, outright, to Danica Patrick, but the women of the Central Washington Softball team simply out-shined her. If you are unfamiliar with the story, I suggest you check out Ms. Snarker’s post on the Best Moment of the year, but I warn you — grab some tissues. I played competitive softball for fifteen years of my life, and I like to think I would have reacted in the same, courageous way as the Wildcat women did, but I honestly don’t know. They acted above the moment, above the game, and above themselves; they acted without hesitation. In my mind, no sports moment of the past decade can supersede this one.

Best Play Mississippi Miracle (Trinity College's 15 lateral play)
Super Bowl: Eli Manning to David Tyree
Big 10 Stunner (Minnesota's Blake Hoffarber scores on length-of-the-court pass to upset Indiana)
Columbus Blue Jacket's Rick Nash shoots and scores winning goal against Phoenix

My pick: The Mississippi Miracle. Check out this play:



I mean, how can you listen to those announcers and not want to cry with joy for the Trinity College football team? I know the play may not have been planned, and it may not have been practiced, but it was still well executed and, by gosh, you gotta give those boys some credit for that.

All-in-all, there are 37 categories, and three additional pre-determined ESPYs will be handed out. Annika Sorenstam could make history by winning her ninth ESPY (she’s up for Best Golfer). Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan and Pete Sampras are the only athletes with more.

Be sure to tune into ESPN on July 20th at 9 p.m. EST to find out who won, but in the mean time, why don’t we all give our guesses right here?

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    • Submitted by
    carolinagrrrl
    on July 8, 2008 - 3:00pm.
    TAGS :: 
    notchegeva's picture

    Do you like to make girls cry or what???

    Submitted by
    notchegeva (86 posts)
    on July 8, 2008 - 3:22pm.

    well thank you for that. I had missed this selfless action and this is worth seeing. I confess that I went a bit teary because that's just what sport is about... And it has become so rare!!! So thank you for that,

    as for the Mississippi Miracle I don't know what's more amazing: the unorthodox combination, the joy of the players or the reaction of the commentators.... in any case you chose your votes with class!!!

    keep it up, i love your posts!

    "I'm gonna give you all a nice, fun, normal evening even if I have to kill every person on the face of the Earth to do it"

    RedReeder's picture

    Incredible

    Submitted by
    RedReeder (31 posts)
    on July 8, 2008 - 4:14pm.
    You're so right Notche.  The show of incredible sportmanship by the women of the Central WA softball team was inspiring and heartwarming.  Kudos to them, and thanks Carolinagrrrl and Dorothy S. for the great posts. 
    bernie.'s picture

    Candace Parker : ) "All

    Submitted by
    bernie. (461 posts)
    on July 8, 2008 - 4:10pm.

    Candace Parker : )

    "All human beings are born to be simple, but they just make life complicated."

    Sportylady's picture

    Sports/ESPY's

    Submitted by
    Sportylady (417 posts)
    on July 9, 2008 - 8:34am.

    Thanks for another "sports" update, it's nice to read more on this site.  I'm hoping we'll see more as the Olympics approach.

    I can't believe I didn't hear about the beautiful sportsmanship moment between Central Washington and Western Oregon.  That's a moment that no one should forget and it reveals the purity of sports that reveals itself every once in a while.  People forget that aside from watching the professionals, many of us played for the pure joy of the game and to be surrounded by others who loved their sport and loved being around friends and teammates.

    I just voted myself and though I personally can't stand Justine Henin, I had to vote for her a couple of times. She totally dominated up until her surprising early retirement (which still shocks the hell out of me!).  I should have voted for Annika considering she's retiring at the end of the season, but I had to vote for Lorena Ochoa.  She is cleaning up on the tour right now and if she keeps it up, she'll surpass Annika in wins/money/championships.  She has a long road though but hopefully she'll keep it up.  It's nice that the hype is starting to build on her and it's just-considering Michelle Wei has a fat ego and an even fatter score during the LPGA matches.

    I also voted for Favre- how can I not?  The man rocked last year and it also helps he's my all time favorite football player ever.  Oh yeah, and the Giants-just because they knocked the Patriots out during the Super Bowl and shut everyone up about the perfect season even though it was the LAST game of the season.

    gato's picture

    Insead of guessing ..go

    Submitted by
    gato (915 posts)
    on July 9, 2008 - 10:18am.

    Insead of guessing ..go vote for your favorites

     

    http://promo.espn.go.com/espn/specialsection/espys2008/?lang=en

    RELvoxballroom's picture

    Unreal

    Submitted by
    RELvoxballroom (27 posts)
    on July 9, 2008 - 10:42am.

    So, I'm sitting in my office watching that softball game, and I must have cried about four times. And then I called my girlfriend, told her to sign on, and sent her a linkto the story. And then she cried! What a touching story. Thanks for sharing it.

    Vickie's picture

    Go Tigers!

    Submitted by
    Vickie (13 posts)
    on July 9, 2008 - 3:14pm.

    I just graduated from Trinity University (different from Trinity College, fyi) so of course I gotta vote for the Mississippi Miracle. There's perserverance, and then there's keeping at it until the defense collapses in exhaustion. ^_^

    I wish I could give the award to Danica as well, for both the win and, superficially, how good she looked on the auto parts ad at the counter of O'Reilly's. But those softball girls remind me of why I love the game, and why people play sports. Plus, I want those girls to get all the credit they can, since they lost the game by that one extra point!

    Janay's picture

    Candice Parker:-P

    Submitted by
    Janay (450 posts)
    on July 9, 2008 - 4:09pm.

    Gosh she's amazing, which I'm surprised I've been able to notice cause I'm hardly thinking about basketball while I'm watching her play hehe

     

     

    http://jusjay.blogspot.com


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