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.
The Epic Adventures Of The Stanley Cup Trophy
The trophy that’ll give you travel envy.
The Stanley Cup – a 34.5-pound trophy that gets around.
Instagram worthy adventures,
The Last Night’s Game Team
The Stanley Cup is likely the most recognized trophy in North America and it is the trophy the NHL (National Hockey League) Champions receive. As we speak, the Colorado Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lightning are vying for the Stanley Cup in the NHL Finals. Each player on the winning team gets to spend a day with the trophy doing whatever they want. The trophy also has its own Twitter account so you can follow its wild, sometimes spring break-like adventures.
1. Much like you the famed trophy had a travel hiatus in 2020. The trophy that usually racks up serious frequent flier miles was stuck at home for six months due to COVID, the longest stretch in its history without travel. THERE GOES THE AIRLINE STATUS
2. The trophy and its handler since 1989, Phil Pritchard, have spent a lot of time with the military but in 2007, the Cup made its first visit to a combat zone when it visited Afghanistan. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE
3. Seriously, the Cup has seen it all including a strip club where it was used as part of a performance, a player’s shower, a star-studded Malibu house party and a proposal and it has been used as a baptismal font, a horse trough and a dog bowl. THE TROPHY HAS LIVED A FULL LIFE
4. You’d think players would treat the coveted trophy with respect but it’s been left on the side of the road, set on fire and then peed on to put out the fire and forgotten in a garden after a photo shoot. SETTING THE WORLD ON FIRE
5. Spending the day with the trophy is an out of this world experience. The trophy spent time on the flight deck of the space shuttle Atlantis. INTERGALACTIC HOCKEY ANYONE?
5 Things To Know About Harry's Invictus Games
Royally inspired.
Photo: Invictus Games
While the tabloids may cover every waking moment of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, they’re giving them something else to talk about - the fifth Invictus Games.
Royally inspired,
The Last Night’s Game Team
1. Inspired after visiting the Warrior Games in the U.S., Harry the Duke of Sussex founded the Invictus Games in 2013. The Games are an international sporting event for injured servicemen and women. Due to Coronavirus, these Games were postponed from 2020 to 2021 and then again to 2022.
2. 'Invictus' means unconquered, which is reflected in the motto for the games. The motto, "I AM," embodies the belief that a person can still be undefeatable even with an illness or injury.
3. Competitors from 17 allied nations are all active duty and veteran service members who have been become ill or injured during or as a direct consequence of their service. Team USA has 65 athletes competing.
4. More than 500 competitors will descend on The Hague, Netherlands, for the fifth installment of the Games (April 16-22). The six days of competition feature ten adaptive sports, including archery, track and field, powerlifting and, for the first time, golf. Complete schedule
5. Team Ukraine received special permission from Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to compete in the competition. The duke said he encouraged the athletes to compete "not simply to show your strength but to tell your truth, the truth, of what is happening in your country."