On July 13th, the annual ESPY awards show was broadcast in Los Angeles at 8 p.m. ET to highlight a year of sports and honor the best of the best. The show, sponsored by the network ESPN, has aired since 1993 and has had such names appear as Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and Tom Brady. This award ceremony also features four fan-voted awards, such as Best Male Athlete, Best Female Athlete, Best Coach/Manager, and Team of the Year.
The 19th annual ESPYs was hosted by Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend Update” anchor and head writer Seth Meyers.
Presenters at The 2011 ESPYs included Brooklyn Decker, Chris Evans, Jason Bateman, Cee Lo Green, Jimmie Johnson, Danica Patrick, Kevin Love, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Rachel Nichols, Ryan Reynolds, Aaron Rodgers, Amar’e Stoudemire, Justin Timberlake, Serena Williams and others with a performance by the house band Raphael Saadiq.
The following list is the set of nominees for each award and the respected winner:
ESPY Award Nominees and Winners:
BEST MALE ATHLETE
** Dirk Nowitzki
Rafael Nadal
Aaron Rodgers
Jimmie Johnson
BEST FEMALE ATHLETE
** Lindsey Vonn
Kelly Clark
Lauren Jackson
Maya Moore
BEST CHAMPIONSHIP PERFORMANCE
** Tim Thomas
Tim Lincecum
Serena Williams
Kemba Walker
BEST BREAKTHROUGH ATHLETE
** Blake Griffin
Li Na
Jose Bautista
Arian Foster
Cam Newton
BEST UPSET
** VCU, NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament
Blame over Zenyatta, Breeder’s Cup
Fabricio Werdum stuns Fedor Emelianenko, MMA
Seahawks upset Saints, NFL Wild Card Playoffs
BEST GAME
** Eagles rally to beat the Giants, NFL
Auburn beats Alabama, Iron Bowl
Butler upsets Pittsburgh, NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament
Oklahoma City edges Memphis in 3OT, NBA Playoffs
BEST MOMENT
** Roy Halladay Postseason No-Hitter, MLB
Fennville HS Basketball Team, High school basketball tournament run
Trevor Bayne at Daytona 500, NASCAR
BEST TEAM
** Dallas Mavericks
Auburn Football
Green Bay Packers
San Francisco Giants
Texas A&M Women’s Basketball
Boston Bruins
CASTROL EDGE PERFORMANCE UNDER PRESSURE AWARD
** Arian Foster
DeAngelo Hall
Leon Washington
BEST SPORTS MOVIE
** The Fighter
Secretariat
Soul Surfer
Win Win
BEST COACH/MANAGER
** Rick Carlisle, Dallas Mavericks
Jim Calhoun, Connecticut Basketball
Gene Chizik, Auburn Football
Mike McCarthy, Green Bay Packers
Dom Starsia, Virginia Lacrosse
BEST NFL PLAYER
** Aaron Rodgers
Tom Brady
Arian Foster
Clay Matthews Jr.
Troy Polamalu
BEST MLB PLAYER
** Roy Halladay
Jose Bautista
Josh Hamilton
Felix Hernandez
Joey Votto
BEST NHL PLAYER
** Tim Thomas
Corey Perry
Daniel Sedin
Martin St. Louis
BEST DRIVER
** Jimmie Johnson
Greg Anderson
John Force
Dario Franchitti
BEST NBA PLAYER
** Dirk Nowitzki
Kobe Bryant
Kevin Durant
LeBron James
Derrick Rose
BEST WNBA PLAYER
** Diana Taurasi
Tamika Catchings
Lauren Jackson
Cappie Pondexter
BEST FIGHTER
** Manny Pacquiao
Bernard Hopkins
Jon “Bones” Jones
Sergio Martinez
George St. Pierre
BEST MALE GOLFER
** Rory McIlroy
Luke Donald
Jim Furyk
Graeme McDowell
Charl Schwartzel
BEST FEMALE GOLFER
** Cristie Kerr
Na Yeon Choi
Jiyai Shin
Yani Tseng
BEST MALE TENNIS PLAYER
** Rafael Nadal
Novak Djokovic
Roger Federer
BEST FEMALE TENNIS PLAYER
** Serena Williams
Kim Clijsters
Li Na
Caroline Wozniacki
BEST MALE COLLEGE ATHLETE
** Jimmer Fredette
Andy Miele
Cam Newton
Rob Pannell
Kemba Walker
BEST FEMALE COLLEGE ATHLETE
** Maya Moore
Blair Brown
Dallas Escobedo
Melissa Henderson
Katinka Hosszu
BEST MALE ACTION SPORT ATHLETE
** Shaun White
Tucker Hibbert
Travis Pastrana
Kevin Rolland
Kelly Slater
BEST FEMALE ACTION SPORT ATHLETE
** Stephanie Gilmore
Sarah Burke
Kelly Clark
Ashley Fiolek
BEST JOCKEY
** John Velasquez
Ramon Dominguez
Garrett Gomez
BEST MALE ATHLETE WITH A DISABILITY
** Anthony Robles
Chris Devlin-Young
Aaron Scheidies
Jerome Singleton
Steve Wampler
BEST FEMALE ATHLETE WITH A DISABILITY
** Mallory Weggemann
Allison Jones
Tatyana McFadden
Alana Nichols
Melissa Stockwell
BEST BOWLER
** Jason Belmonte
Mika Koivuneimi
Bill O’Neill
Chris Barnes
BEST MLS PLAYER
** Landon Donovan
Edson Buddle
David Ferreira
Chris Wondolowski
BEST TRACK AND FIELD ATHLETE
** Tyson Gay
Allyson Felix
David Oliver
Arthur Ashe Award for Courage
** Dewey Bozella
