What You Need To Know About Sports Most Fashionable Night - The ESPYs
Athletes ditch their uniforms for couture this Wednesday, July 20.
The ESPYs are like the Golden Globes – you get the best of both worlds. It's the one night of the year when athletes and celebrities gather to celebrate their achievements in the world of sports while giving us the summer red carpet we've all been missing.
Here for the championship-level fashion,
The Last Night's Game Team
1. Typically, the awards show takes place on a Wednesday in July after the MLB (Major League Baseball) All-Star Game, referred to as "Black Wednesday." That's the one day a year where there are no live sports, although as sports have evolved over the year, that's not entirely true, but close. There is one morning WNBA game on the day of the ESPYs, Wednesday, July 20, but all other major professional sports are off. SO CLOSE
2. Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors (NBA - National Basketball Association) is the host of this year's ESPYs in Los Angeles. Presenters include Lindsey Vonn, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Jon Hamm, Ciara and Billie Jean King.
3. The list of nominees includes household names like Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky, NFL (National Football League) quarterback Joe Burrow, Olympic figure skater Nathan Chen, MLB (Major League Baseball) star Aaron Judge, WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association) star Candace Parker, Olympic track and field veteran Allyson Felix and international soccer superstar Kylian Mbappé, among many others. After upsetting fans by not inviting best college player nominee Aliyah Boston to the event (and others), ESPN said the new, smaller venue and COVID-19 healthy restrictions impacted invites, which only went out to the athletes who will receive awards during the main broadcast. BIG NIGHT OUT
4. Although the ESPYs are always hosted by ESPN, the name actually stands for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award. Unlike the Oscars, where you've never heard of most of the movies, the fans get a say in who receives some of the awards like the best athlete in women's sports, best game and best team. EVERY VOTE COUNTS
5. ESPN can put together a video package that'll pull at your heartstrings while leaving you inspired, and the awards at the ESPYs are no different. Here's a quick summary of each of the major awards:
The Jimmy V Award for Perseverance will go to Dick Vitale, the ESPN college basketball broadcaster now recovering from cancer.
The Arthur Ashe Courage Award will go to Vitali Klitschko, former boxing champ and currently mayor of Kyiv, Ukraine's embattled capital city. (Also ex of actress Hayden Panettiere).
The 2022 Pat Tillman Award for Service will be presented to author, athlete, and retired Army Command Sergeant Major Gretchen Evans.
Sports Love Stories Destined For The Hallmark Channel
The meet-cutes that led to love. Cue the snowfall.
Photo credit: Instagram.com/instyle and instagram.com/julieertz, BigStock
Holiday love stories are bringing home the bacon for the Hallmark Channel and Netflix this holiday season, so it’s only a matter of time before ESPN jumps on board.
You heard it here first,
The Last Night’s Game Team
1. Timing is everything. A few divorces and a handful of years couldn’t keep these two star-crossed lovers apart. Jennifer Lopez and former MLB (Major League Baseball) player and broadcaster Alex Rodriguez had been friends for years. They dated, married and divorced other people and then they were both single. Then there was the text that changed everything. ARod was nervous during a dinner together so he excused himself and went to the bathroom to readjust his thoughts. Then and there he sent his dinner date JLo a text that said “You look sexy AF” and the rest is history. WHY HAS HALLMARK NOT MADE THIS MOVIE?
2. We’ve all heard it before, a girl falls in love with a bad boy and then the bad boy breaks the girl’s heart. That and one bad pickup line bring us to our next couple. After a very public relationship with golfer Tiger Woods, skier Lindsey Vonn was introduced to NHL (National Hockey League) player P.K. Subban at the ESPYs. It was at that event that he told a reporter "It's hotter outside than Lindsey Vonn looks today, which is pretty hot." Well, the line worked. The two, who started dating in 2018 and were engaged in the summer of 2019. The wedding is on hold thanks to COVID. The couple’s passion for each other and their charitable efforts are something to admire. HEART EMOJI
3. Do you know that plotline where two members of royalty happen to run into each other at a coffee shop? This is the same but different. Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe are the unofficial first couple of women’s sports. The two have been dating since meeting at the 2016 Summer Olympics and are a fixture in the Seattle sports scene. They’ve been featured on the cover of InStyle Magazine and were the first same-sex couple to grace the cover of ESPN’s Body Issue. The outspoken and seriously fashionable duo seem to have it all including a plethora of championships and safety deposit boxes for all their gold medals. The two, who were engaged in 2020, also have each other’s backs. During the Women’s World Cup, Bird, who plays for the Seattle Storm (WNBA - Women’s National Basketball Association), came to Rapinoe’s defense in her battle with President Trump, penning an essay titled “So the President F—ing Hates My Girlfriend.” ROM-COM WRITTEN ALL OVER IT
4. The love story that started with an awkward first dance. Tennis greats Steffi Graff and Andre Agassi started dating after the French Open in 1999 but their story goes back years before that. In 1992 both Graff and Agassi (who tried to pick up Graff the year before at the French Open) were winners at Wimbledon. It used to be a tradition for the two winners of Wimbledon to dance with each other at the Wimbledon Champions’ Ball. But as luck would have it, that was the year they decided to cancel the dance due to “lukewarm receptions from modern players.” It all worked out in the end as the two married in 2001 and are still together. FATE WORKS IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS
5. Our final story is a modern storyline of a virtual, long-distance relationship. Together Julie and Zach Ertz have a Super Bowl championship, two World Cup victories and what do they have to prove it? A Visa commercial. The Philadelphia Eagles tight end (NFL - National Football League) and the soccer star met at a Stanford baseball game in 2012 when he offered her sunflower seeds. They had their first date at Chipotle and the rest is history. Married since 2017, together they too have bared it all for ESPN’s Body Issue. With both of them being at the pinnacles of their careers, they live the saying “absence makes the heart grow fonder.” They say they’re lucky to have three months a year in the same city. WHEN FACETIME IS YOUR FRIEND
The Top 5 Sports Power Couples
While most people meet online, they meet at the Olympics.
Here’s to five stellar athletic duos who share the same craft and we don’t mean beer.
Cheers,
The Last Night’s Game Team
PS – For the sake of time, we didn’t list out all of these amazing athletes’ achievements (we’d be here for days and no one has time for that). If you want insight into how much they’ve accomplished in their careers, go ahead and click their names.
1. Driven to create change, Dwayne Wade and Gabrielle Union both have careers full of accolades but that’s not what landed them on this list. Their kids’ moments of bravery is what drove them to push for change. The actress and best-selling author and her husband, three-time NBA champion and Olympic superstar supported their daughter Zaya, 13, in her journey earlier this year as she came out as transgender. As parents they pushed other families to do the same - listen, learn and support your child and evolve with them on their journey. MAKING AN IMPACT
2. Tennis greats Steffi Graff and Andre Agassi started dating after the French Open in 1999 but their story goes back years before that. In 1992 both Graff and Agassi (who tried to pick up Graff the year before at the French Open) were winners at Wimbledon. It used to be tradition for the two winners of Wimbledon to dance with each other at the Wimbledon Champions’ Ball. But as luck would have it, that was the year they decided to cancel the dance due to “lukewarm receptions from modern players.” It all worked out in the end as the two married in 2001 and are still together. TIMING IS EVERYTHING
3. We’re all for bad pickup lines and they’re even better when they work. After a very public relationship with golfer Tiger Woods, skier Lindsey Vonn was introduced to NHL (National Hockey League) player P.K. Subban at the ESPYs. It was at that event that he told a reporter "It's hotter outside than Lindsey Vonn looks today, which is pretty hot." Well, the line worked. The two, who started dating in 2018, were engaged in the summer of 2019. The couple’s passion for each other and their charitable efforts are something to admire. HEART EMOJI
4. Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe are the unofficial first couple of women’s sports. The two have been dating since 2016 and are a fixture in the Seattle sports scene. They’ve been featured on the cover of InStyle Magazine and were the first same-sex couple to grace the cover of ESPN’s Body Issue. The outspoken and seriously fashionable duo seem to have it all including a plethora of championships and safety deposit boxes for all their gold medals. They also have each other’s backs. During the Women’s World Cup, Bird, who plays in the WNBA (Women’s National Basketball Association), came to Rapinoe’s defense in her battle with President Trump, penning an essay titled “So the President F—ing Hates My Girlfriend.” ROM-COM WRITTEN ALL OVER IT
5. Together Julie and Zach Ertz have a Super Bowl championship, two World Cup victories and what do they have to prove it? A Visa commercial. The Philadelphia Eagles tight end (NFL) and the soccer star met at a Stanford baseball game in 2012 when he offered her sunflower seeds. They had their first date was at Chipotle and the rest is history. Married since 2017, together they too have bared it all for ESPN’s Body Issue. With both of them being at the pinnacles of their careers, they live the saying “absence makes the heart grow fonder.” They say they’re lucky to have three months a year in the same city. WHEN FACETIME IS YOUR FRIEND