Unfortunately, I was not able to watch Wednesday night’s ESPY Awards. But it’s one of those things I look up because its winners are awarded based on fan votes.
It’s not determined by some selection committee, media members or something like that. Winners are voted for by the millions of people that watched their rise in 2018, and perhaps were even inspired by them.
If I were a pro athlete, winning one of these has to be special.
Though I couldn’t dig up an entire video online, I was able to look up winners, nominees and some video of acceptance speeches.
Based on that, here’s some of my takeaways:
Chloe Kim wins Best Female Athlete
The Asian me was stoked. Yes, someone like us won.
OK, I’m Filipino-American and Kim is Korean-American. Other than the fact that our parents immigrated to the U.S., we probably don’t share any other similarities.
But, still. In a climate where there are people fighting for equal representation in mainstream media (for example, the 2015 film “Aloha”), this has to be a win.
Other than when boxer Manny Pacquiao won Best Fighter many years ago, I don’t remember another Asian athlete winning an ESPY.
Also, for her Olympic gold medal-winning performance earlier this year in Pyeongchang, the snowboarder also won Best Female Olympian and Best Female Action Sports Athlete.
And, she’s still a teenager. Seriously, she’s killing 2018.
Alex Ovechkin wins Best Male Athlete
Is hockey closing the popularity gap in major league sports in America?
When the Washington Capitals won its first Stanley Cup and team captain Ovechkin was named series MVP, undoubtedly he deserved a nomination.
Here were the other nominees: James Harden (Houston Rockets, basketball), Jose Altuve (Houston Astros, baseball), Tom Brady (New England Patriots, football).
Those are some heavy hitters that Ovi beat out. In addition, Ovechkin is the first hockey player to win the award.
In a country where hockey is widely considered the fourth-most popular major league sport behind football, basketball and baseball, and soccer appears to be challenging for that fourth spot, I would think the NHL has to be ecstatic about this.
Danica Patrick’s monologue roasted on social media
Fresh from her recent retirement from competitive auto racing, Patrick was the first woman to host the ESPYs.
There have been some great hosts in past ESPYs. A couple of my favorite moments were Peyton Manning’s monologue roasting the sports world and Justin Timberlake’s “I Love Sports” musical number.
I personally didn’t think the monologue was that bad — not the best, but not bad.
Then on Thursday morning, I find that Patrick’s joke making received a bit of backlash on Twitter.
Some of the tweets contained pictures of audience members, including Philadelphia Eagles’ Chris Long and NFL Hall of Famer Dan Marino, cringing awkwardly as they watched.
One tweet read, “Just like her racing career, Danica Patrick’s jokes are crashing and burning. #ESPYS”
Yikes.
Honorary awards tug at heartstrings
Every year, I particularly look forward to the announcing of the honorary awards.
The introductory videos that give backstories to the recipients and the acceptance speeches are just touching.
This year’s recipients are:
– Arthur Ashe Courage Award: “Sister Survivors,” the more than 140 athletes who spoke out against former team doctor Larry Nassar on sexual abuse
– Jimmy V Perseverance Award: Jim Kelly, NFL Hall of Fame quarterback battling cancer in his jaw
– Pat Tillman Award for Service: Sgt. Jake Wood, former University of Wisconsin football player, co-founder of Team Rubicon, a group of U.S. military veterans that aids in international disaster relief
– Best Coach: Aaron Feis, Chris Hixon and Scott Beigel, coaches at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. who were killed during a shooting in February
Each story is profound and deserving of recognition. But of these, I found the story of Feis, Hixon and Biegel especially compelling.
Because of my job, I interact a lot with the local high school coaches and student-athletes. So, I often hear of what coaches do outside of just coaching.
I understand coaching isn’t simply just running practices and giving orders at games.
There’s a lot of behind the scenes stuff that they go through. And for that, I commend their efforts.
But to hear of this story, these coaches who paid the ultimate price trying to save those students from a senseless act of violence, as I’m writing this I cannot find the words that can portray my thoughts of those brave men.
And then to see their families on that stage on behalf of the men they’ve lost — fathers, sons, brothers, coaches, heroes, etc. — I just can’t imagine enduring loss while at the same time having to keep your head held high in front of the cameras.
Those families urged for real change to make schools safer from gun violence. I truly hope those changes happen sooner than later.
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Nick Celario, sports writer, can be reached at 245-0437 or ncelario@thegardenisland.com.
