The other day the winners of the 2019 ESPY Awards were announced and I am happy to share the rundown of those who won the Excellence In Sports Performance Yearly Award with you all. Speaking frankly, I’m not the biggest sports guy but I know that a lot of our readers are and they might want to know the full scoop. Enjoy.
Best Team:
U.S. Women’s National Team, soccer (WINNER)
Boston Red Sox, MLB
Clemson Tigers, NCAA football
New England Patriots, NFL
Toronto Raptors, NBA
Baylor Bears, NCAA women’s basketball
Virginia Cavaliers, NCAA men’s basketball
Best Male Athlete:
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks (WINNER)
Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
Mookie Betts, Boston Red Sox
Brooks Koepka, Golf
Best Female Athlete:
Alex Morgan, USWNT (WINNER)
Breanna Stewart, Seattle Storm
Simone Biles, Gymnast
Mikaela Shiffrin, US Skiing
Best Breakthrough Athlete:
Saquon Barkley, New York Giants (WINNER)
Christian Yelich, Milwaukee Brewers
Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks
Naomi Osaka – US Open, Australian Open
Best Game:
NFL Week 11 – LA Rams (54) vs. Kansas City Chiefs (51) – Monday Night Football (WINNER)
NCAAF – LSU vs. Texas A&M: Aggies win seven-overtime 74-72 thriller in highest scoring game in FBS history
NCAAW Final Four – Notre Dame (81) vs. UConn (76) – 26 lead changes
Best College Athlete:
Zion Williamson, Duke MBB – 2019 Wooden Award Winner (WINNER)
Kyler Murray, Oklahoma Football – 2018 Heisman Trophy Winner
Rachel Garcia, UCLA Softball – USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year
Sabrina Ionescu, Oregon WBB – 2019 Wooden Award Winner
Best Record-Breaking Performance:
Drew Brees (New Orleans Saints) passed Peyton Manning’s 71,940 career passing yards to move into first place on the all-time list; most completions in NFL history, 6,300+ completions passes Brett Favre (WINNER)
Sabrina Ionescu (Oregon Basketball) recorded her 13th triple-double. She now holds the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball record for triple doubles. She surpassed Kyle Collinsworth’s mark of 12 in four seasons at BYU. She also broke the Division I men’s and women’s record in a single season in the Ducks’ 96–78 win over Southern California (7) breaking former BYU guard Kyle Collinsworth
Klay Thompson (Golden State Warriors) broke the NBA 3-point record in a game with 14, passing Stephen Curry’s previous mark
Matthew Boling became the first-ever high schooler to break 10 seconds in the 100-meter dash, dropping a 9.98
Best Play (Bracket-Style Voting):
UCLA gymnast Katelyn Ohashi scores a perfect 10 (WINNER)
Miami Miracle: Miami Dolphins Stun the New England Patriots
Kawhi Leonard Drains Game-Winner at Buzzer in Game 7
Derrick Henry’s NFL-record 99-yard run vs. Jaguars
Wayne Rooney Just Single-Handedly Won A Match For D.C. United
Andrew Benintendi calls game
Damian Lillard Sends OKC Home On Buzzer Beater
Manchester QB Brendon Clar throws this ball to Kevin Henderson for the 48 yard TD catch
Texas Tech WR makes one-handed grab that mirrors OBJs best catch
Kinsley Washington singled home Jacqui Prober to win the Bruins’ 12th softball title
Julie Ertz gives the USWNT the lead early in the second half
Texas A&M’s Infinite Tucker goes ALL OUT for the gold
Arike Ogunbowale Behind the Back Pass
Kihei Clark, Mamadi Diakite Save Virginia at the buzzer
Wilmington Charter’s Taylor Gillis with CATCH OF THE YEAR!
‘Hail Mary’ pass helps Texas high school football team win state title
Best Viral Sports Moment:
Katelyn Ohashi, UCLA Gymnastics – scores a perfect 10 (WINNER)
Rudolph “Blaze” Ingram, the 7-year-old running phenom is already faster than you
Texas A&M’s Infinite Tucker goes ALL OUT for the gold
Don’t Sleep on Sister Mary Jo’s curveball
Best Upset:
Boxing – Andy Ruiz Jr. upset win over Anthony Joshua (WINNER)
NCAAF – Old Dominion defeats No. 13 Virginia Tech 49-35, Old Dominion only had a 1.8% chance of winning according to ESPN’s FPI, making it the largest upset by an FBS team in the 14 years of Football Power Index projections
2018 US Open – Naomi Osaka defeating Serena Williams
NHL – Columbus Blue Jackets pulled off what many thought impossible, an upset for the ages after a 7-3 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on in Game 4 of their best-of-7 series.
Best International Men’s Soccer Player:
Lionel Messi (WINNER)
Cristiano Ronaldo
Kylian Mbappe
Virgil Van Dyke
Best International Women’s Soccer Player:
Sam Kerr, Australia (WINNER)
Pernille Harder, Denmark
Ada Hegerberg, Norway
Lucy Bronze, England
Best NFL Player:
Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs (WINNER)
Aaron Donald, Los Angeles Rams
Todd Gurley, Los Angeles Rams
Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints
Best MLB Player:
Christian Yelich, Milwaukee Brewers (WINNER)
Mookie Betts, Red Sox
Jacob DeGrom, New York Mets
Blake Snell, Tampa Bays Rays
Best NHL Player:
Alexander Ovechkin, Washington Capitals (WINNER)
Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning
Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche
Best Driver:
Kyle Busch, NASCAR (WINNER)
Lewis Hamilton, F1
Steve Torrence, NHRA
Scott Dixon, Indy
Best NBA Player:
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks (WINNER)
James Harden, Houston Rockets
Kevin Durant, Golden State Warriors
Paul George, OKC Thunder
Best WNBA Player:
Breanna Stewart, Seattle Storm (WINNER)
Diana Taurasi, Phoenix Mercury
Elena Delle Donne, Washington Mystics
Candace Parker, Los Angeles Sparks
Best Boxer:
Canelo Alvarez (WINNER)
Vasily Lomachenko
Oleksandr Usyk
Terence Crawford
Best MMA Fighter:
Daniel Cormier (WINNER)
Israel Adesanya
Henry Cejudo
Amanda Nunes
Best Male Golfer:
Brooks Koepka (WINNER)
Tiger Woods
Justin Rose
Francesco Molinari
Best Female Golfer:
Brooke Henderson (WINNER)
Ariya Jutanugarn
Jin-Young Ko
Sung Hyun Park
Best Male Tennis Player:
Roger Federer (WINNER)
Novak Djokovic
Rafael Nadal
Stefanos Tsitsipas
Best Female Tennis Player:
Serena Williams (WINNER)
Naomi Osaka
Simona Halep
Petra Kvitová
Best Male Action Sports Athlete:
Nyjah Huston (USA), skateboard (WINNER)
Scotty James (AUS), snowboard
Tom Pages (FRA), freestyle motocross
Gabriel Medina (BRA), surf
Best Female Action Sports Athlete:
Chloe Kim (USA), snowboard (WINNER)
Kelly Sildaru (EST), ski
Zoi Sadowski-Synnott (NZL), snowboard
Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), surf
Best Jockey:
Mike Smith (WINNER)
Irad Ortiz Jr.
Florent Geroux
Jose Ortiz
Best Male Athlete with a Disability:
Mark Barr – Triathalon (WINNER)
Declan Farmer – Hockey
Daniel Romanchuk – Marathon Racing
Oz Sanchez – Cycling
Best Female Athlete with a Disability:
Allysa Seely, Triathalon (WINNER)
Oksana Masters, Nordic Skiing
Tatyana McFadden, Marathon Racing
Shawn Morelli, Cycling
Best Bowler:
Norm Duke (WINNER)
Jason Belmonte
Anthony Simonsen
Jakob Butturff
Best MLS Player:
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, LA Galaxy (WINNER)
Josef Martinez, Atlanta United
Wayne Rooney, DC United
Aaron Long, NY Red Bulls
Best NWSL Player:
Sam Kerr, Chicago Red Stars (WINNER)
Lindsey Horan, Portland Thorns
Adrianna Franch, Portland Thorns
Abby Erceg, North Carolina Courage
Best eSports Moment (bracket-style voting):
oLarry’s return to the NBA 2K League after the Jacksonville shooting (WINNER)
SonicFox winning Evo after switching sides
Team Liquid upsets defending world champ Invictus Gaming at MSI
Cloud9 wins CS:GO Boston Major
Astralis winning Katowice
Invictus League of Legends World Championship
Spitfire win inaugural Overwatch League championship
Serral winning StarCraft at BlizzCon
Shanghai Dragons end 42-game losing streak
Team OG wins the International and $11 million from qualifiers
Chiquita Evans becoming the first woman in the 2K League
Leffen finally winning EVO in what could be Melee’s last year at the event
Ninja Fortnite win with Marshmello at E3 ProAM
Chritobin Madden Challenge walk off
G2 wins R6 world championship
Mongausse winning Summer Skirmish from out of nowhere
Best WWE Moment:
Roman Reigns returns to WWE Raw, announces his Leukemia is in remission (WINNER)
Becky Lynch wins both WWE Women’s Championship Titles at Wrestlemania 35
Kofi Kingston wins his first WWE Heavyweight Championship Title at Wrestlemania 35
Ronda Rousey defeats Alexa Bliss at Summerslam 2018 to win her first RAW Women’s Championship Title
*** end of list ***
Piercing Ken Thoughts: So there you have it. I hope that more of you are happy about the winners than those who are not. I’ve already noted how I am not the biggest sports person over here and barely watch even the most important of matchups. What do you think about the winners? Were your favorites left out of the honor? If there are some names you felt deserved this more I say share that stuff down in the comments section below. We’ll see you next time.
Official Website: https://www.espn.com/espys/