What You Need To Know About Sports Most Fashionable Night - The ESPYs

Photo: Instagram/Lindsey Vonn

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

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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.

5 Things You Never Knew About The NBA

Hit the hardwood, basketball season is here. You may think you know the NBA but today’s post holds all you need to know to be an insider.

Taking it to the hoop,

The Last Night’s Game Team

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Five Things You Never Knew About The NBA (National Basketball Association) 

1. Take a wild guess at which foreign country has the most players on opening day rosters? You guessed it…Canada. Apparently, they’re following suit with their fit prime minister.

2. There are ladies who lunch, women who dominate the corner office and those gals who throw guys like Mark Cuban out of an arena. Starting in her fourth season as a referee, Lauren Holtkamp remains the sole female referee in the NBA.

3. It’s year one of a trial period that allows teams to have sponsorship logos on their uniforms. The NBA has never allowed teams to have sponsors on their uniforms but there are 14 teams that have adopted this revenue generator. The Golden State Warriors have brought in a cool $20 million for their sponsor patch.

4. NBA players are known for their sharp dressing but it wasn’t always that way. In 2005, then commissioner David Stern instituted "business casual attire" for players when participating in team or league activities. While there was pushback at the time, players have embraced the challenge flaunting their digs like supermodels during Fashion Week. SEE PICS

5. The past few seasons have been like the movie Groundhog Day. The Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors have faced off in the last three finals with the Cavs winning one and the Warriors two, including last year. ODDS FOR THIS SEASON

 

The conversation continues with...

How the WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association) is giving Las Vegas a fresh start, rich guys who own sports teams and which athlete is expanding their entourage. READ MORE 

The Rundown: A Winning Combination

It’s Friday and National Junk Food day – a stellar duo if we do say so ourselves. Now if only Last Night’s Game delivered coffee alongside your morning read.

Now that’s a winning combination,

The Last Night’s Game Team

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Tour de France

• A force to be reckoned with. The Tour's defending champion Chris Froome is hanging onto the overall lead in this grueling race. With three stages left, the race ends Sunday, he appears to have his fourth title in five years all but locked up. Ever wonder how taxing the race is on a rider's body? Check out this photo. Eww.

PGA (Professional Golfers' Association)

• Swinging in the rain. It’s day two of The Open in England. (The Open – also known as The British Open - is the third of four Major tournaments in golf). The tournament is currently being led by three Americans who will have to brave the Irish Sea’s elements to win.

College Football 

• Just plain wrong. After six questionable seasons at Ole Miss, head football coach Hugh Freeze has resigned. A U.S.A. Today investigation revealed that the coach’s phone records featured a plethora of calls on a school-issued phone to a number associated with an escort service. The university promptly escorted him out.

Overtime

• Sports Illustrated released its list of the Fashionable 50 in sports. The NBA (National Basketball Association) MVP, Oklahoma City Thunder’s Russell Westbrook, also claimed the title of fashion MVP for his eccentric dressing. Tom Brady, Misty Copeland and Serena Williams are a few of the other athletes at the top of the list.

Speaking of fashion, check out our Five Things You Never Knew About Baseball Uniforms to impress the best this weekend.

Sideline stat

• The Houston Rockets (NBA) are for sale. Leslie Alexander bought the team in 1993 for $85 million. Forbes estimates the team’s value at $1.65 billion, the eighth most valuable NBA franchise. Shall we all pool our money?

Coaches’ corner

• There was no way to avoid the coverage of yesterday’s parole hearing for OJ Simpson . (Spoiler alert: he was granted parole). What you may not have heard is that he’ll be walking out of prison with some cash in his pocket. His NFL (National Football League) pension, which is protected by state law, has reached close to $600,000 during his stint in prison. Here’s how the math works.