Giants, Woods Top ESPY Take
Super Bowl Champs, Golfer Earn Trio Of Statues Apiece
By Ashley Barton -- Multichannel News, 7/17/2008 3:10:00 PM
The 2008 Super Bowl champion New York Giants and pro golfer Tiger Woods took home a collection of ESPYs last night.
Some of the biggest stars from sports and entertainment gathered in downtown Los Angeles at the Nokia Theatre on July 16 for ESPN’s 16th annual ESPYs, co-presented by Hummer and Under Armour and hosted by Justin Timberlake.
The 2008 ESPYs will be televised July 20 at 9 p.m. (ET) on ESPN and ESPN HD
Upsetting the undefeated New England Patriots this past February in Super Bowl XLIII, the Giants took home three trophies in the categories of Best Game, Best Upset and Best Play, according to the network.
Woods won a record fifth Best Male Athlete ESPY and won a fourth consecutive ESPY for Best Golfer. He earned a Best Championship Performance award for his performance at the 2008 U.S. Open, which he won despite playing on a broken leg. Woods now has 21 ESPYs, the highest number in the event’s history.
Other multi-ESPY award winners include: Los Angeles Spark star Candace Parker, who took home two trophies for Best Female Athlete and Best Female College Athlete.
Legendary NFL quarterback Brette Favre was honored with the Best Record Breaking Performance ESPY, the fourth of his career.
ESPN’s Arthur Ashe Courage Award was presented to 1968 Olympic medalists Tommie Smith and John Carolos during the ceremony.
The list of ESPY winners is as follows:
BEST FEMALE ATHLETE: Candace Parker, Tennessee Basketball/Los Angeles Sparks
BEST MALE ATHLETE: Tiger Woods, golf
BEST MOMENT: “Great Sportsmanship” (Central Washington University’s Mallory Holtman and Liz Wallace, Western Oregon University’s Sara Tucholsky)
BEST TEAM: Boston Celtics
BEST COACH/MANAGER: Pat Summitt, Tennessee women’s basketball
BEST GAME: New York Giants over New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLIII
BEST CHAMPIONSHIP PERFORMANCE: Tiger Woods, 2008 U.S. Open
BEST PLAY: New York Giants Eli Manning’s pass to David Tyree at the Super Bowl
BEST FINISH: Western Kentucky over Drake in the first round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, winning on a buzzer beater by Ty Rogers
BEST UPSET: New York Giants over New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLIII
BEST BREAKTHROUGH ATHLETE: Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings
BEST RECORD BREAKING PERFORMANCE: Brett Favre, Green Bay Packers
BEST SPORTS MOVIE: Semi-Pro
BEST MALE COLLEGE ATHLETE: Tim Tebow, Florida football
BEST FEMALE COLLEGE ATHLETE: Candace Parker, Tennessee basketball
BEST MALE ATHLETE WITH A DISABILITY: Ryan Kocer, wrestling (Wagner, SD)
BEST FEMALE ATHLETE WITH A DISABILITY: Shay Oberg, softball (Montana State-Billings)
BEST INTERNATIONAL MALE ATHLETE: Rafael Nadal, tennis
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEMALE ATHLETE: Lorena Ochoa, golf
BEST BASEBALL PLAYER: Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees
BEST NBA PLAYER: Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
BEST WNBA PLAYER: Lauren Jackson, Seattle Storm
BEST NFL PLAYER: Tom Brady, New England Patriots
BEST NHL PLAYER: Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
BEST MLS PLAYER: David Beckham, Los Angeles Galaxy
BEST MALE ACTION SPORT ATHLETE: Shaun White, skateboarding/snowboarding
BEST FEMALE ACTION SPORT ATHLETE: Gretchen Bleiler, snowboarding
BEST BOWLER: Norm Duke
BEST DRIVER: Jimmie Johnson
BEST FIGHTER: Floyd Mayweather, boxing
BEST GOLFER: Tiger Woods
BEST JOCKEY: Kent Desormeaux
BEST OUTDOOR ATHLETE: Captain Scott Smiley, mountain climber
BEST MALE TENNIS PLAYER: Roger Federer
BEST FEMALE TENNIS PLAYER: Maria Sharapova
BEST TRACK AND FIELD ATHLETE: Tyson Gay
ARTHUR ASHE COURAGE AWARD: John Carlos and Tommie Smith, 1968 Olympic medalists
JIMMY V AWARD FOR PERSEVERANCE: Kevin Everett, former Buffalo Bills TE
BEST COMEBACK: Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers
