Sofia Mulanovich : photo courtesy Roxy

NOMINEES ANNOUNCED FOR 13TH ANNUAL ESPY AWARDS

Best Male and Female Action Sports Categories,
also Moto X athlete nominated in the Best Play category.***

Manning, Sorenstam, Armstrong, Wade, Woods & Sharapova Among Nominees;
Boston- and Texas-Area Athletes and Teams Earn 10 Nods; Fans to Determine Winners

ESPN will Televise 13th Annual Celebration from Hollywood’s Kodak Theatre
on Sunday, July 17, 2005 at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN

World Champion of Professional Women’s Surfing, Peruvian, Sofia Mulanovich has been nominated for a 2005 ESPY Award in the category of Best Female Action Sports Athlete.

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 28 June, 2005 : - - Lance Armstrong could capture Best Male Athlete for a third consecutive year but will have stiff competition from the likes of Peyton Manning, Michael Phelps, Vijay Singh and Bode Miller, while Annika Sorenstam takes her third swing at the Best Female Athlete Award versus 2004 Wimbledon champion and tennis sensation Maria Sharapova (also nominated for Best Breakthrough Athlete and Best Women’s Tennis Player) at the 13th annual ESPY Awards Co-Presented by GMC and Under Armour. The two-hour show will be televised from Hollywood’s Kodak Theatre on ESPN Sunday, July 17 at 9 p.m. ET.  Nominees were announced for all 36 categories on Nomination Friday (June 24) and will be voted on completely by fans.  Voting will run from June 24 through July 8 at ESPN.com and ESPNDeportes.com; five million votes have been cast thus far.

The 2005 ESPY Awards will gather sports and entertainment celebrities to recognize top achievements, relive memorable moments and salute the best performers.  Actor Matthew Perry will host the show and be joined by musical guest Destiny’s Child.  The awards include 22 “Best in Sport” categories – which pit athletes from different sports against each other – as well as 12 individual sport categories and two special performance categories.

Also during the ESPY Awards, Oprah Winfrey will present the Arthur Ashe Courage Award to two individuals whose contributions transcend sports.  This year’s co-recipients are Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah and Jim MacLaren, two disabled athletes who forged a bond while inspiring millions worldwide to achieve beyond their physical limitations.

HISTORIC PERFORMANCES, PLAYS AND BREAKTHROUGHS IN 2005 Manning is also nominated for the award he won last year – Best NFL Player – and for Best Record Breaking Performance for surpassing Dan Marino’s single-season record of 49 touchdown passes.  Also in the running for that category are Tennessee’s 880-plus wins coaching legend Pat Summit, the Seattle Mariners’ single-season hits record-breaker Ichiro Suzuki and the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.  Just off the hardwood, the Best NBA Player Award has a stacked nominee roster with Shaquille O’Neal, Steve Nash, LeBron James, Allen Iverson and Dwyane Wade all in contention. Over on the green, Sorenstam, who has won six of nine tournaments entered in 2005 – including the first two majors of the year, is nominated for Best Golfer.  She is the sole female in this newly merged category that includes Phil Mickelson, Singh and Tiger Woods, and has won the former category of Best Female Golfer six times.
 
The relationship between Best Team and Best Coach/Manager is a close one with the Red Sox’s Terry Francona, the Patriots’ Bill Belichick, USC’s Pete Carroll, and San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich joining their teams (which were nominated for Best Team) as nominees with UNC Men’s Basketball coach Roy Williams rounding out the category.  In addition, the Red Sox-Yankees ALCS Game 5 is nominated for Best Game as are the Rose Bowl (Texas 38, Michigan 37) and the NCAA men’s basketball tournament’s Michigan State vs. Kentucky match-ups. Red Sox ace Curt Schilling and UNC men's basketball player Sean May earned nominations for Best Championship Performance and are joined on the ballot by the Patriots’ Deion Branch and USC’s Matt Leinart (also nominated for Best College Athlete). Also, Schilling is up for Best MLB Player along with Barry Bonds, Albert Pujols, Vladimir Guerrero, Johan Santana and Roger Clemens. The Patriots’ Tom Brady was nominated for Best NFL Player alongside fellow QBs!
 Donovan McNabb, Daunte Culpepper, Manning and Philadelphia Eagles player Terrell Owens.
 
Hot off her fourth-place finish at the Indianapolis 500, racing upstart Danica Patrick receives her first ESPY nomination for Best Breakthrough Athlete along with the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger, Sharapova and the Miami’s Wade. 

2005 ESPY AWARD NOMINEE DID YOU KNOWS?

First High School Winner?: If Blake Hoffarber’s game winning basket from flat on his back during overtime in the Minnesota 4A state title game beats Tiger, Wichita basketball player Matt Brown and X Games star Chuck Carothers for Best Play, he’d become the first high school athlete to win an ESPY Award.

Don’t Mess with Texas? Texas achieved the greatest variety with its 10 nominations: Baylor women’s basketball and the San Antonio Spurs for Best Team, Texas softball’s Cat Osterman for Best College Female Athlete, the Spurs’ Gregg Popovich nominated for Best Coach/Manager, Texas’ 38-37 defeat of Michigan in the Rose Bowl for Best Moment, the Houston Comets’ Tina Thompson for Best WNBA Player, hometown hero Lance Armstrong for Best Athlete and the GMC Professional Grade Play Award, the Houston Astros’ Roger Clemens for Best MLB Player and Eddie Johnson of FC Dallas for Best Soccer Player.

Beantown Supremacy?: The Patriots and Red Sox are tied 5-5 in nominations this year and will go head-to-head in the Best Team category, begging the larger question of how much hardware can one city handle?

Changing of the Guard? Though she’s new to the Best WNBA Player category, Phoenix Suns star Diana Taurasi is no stranger to the ESPYs; she has four Awards (three individual, one team) and will look to box out the Seattle Storm’s Lauren Jackson from a repeat. But WNBA veterans Lisa Leslie (who won in 2002 and 2003), and the Houston Comets’ Thompson might have something to say about it.

Twice as Nice for Shirley?: Paralympic track champion Marlon Shirley could become the first disabled athlete to win the Best Disabled Athlete Award twice, having won it in 2003. Testament to the strength and variety of top disabled athletes in the world today, this year the Award has been split into male and female categories.

Are Four Legs Better than Two?: Two equines are in the Award hunt with 50-1 Kentucky Derby long shot and winner Giacomo nominated for Best Upset, and Preakness and Belmont Stakes winner Afleet Alex up for Best Moment. A horse has yet to win an ESPY Award.

The entire list of ESPY Award nominees follows:
 
BEST IN SPORT CATEGORIES

BEST FEMALE ATHLETE
Annika Sorenstam, LPGA
Maria Sharapova, WTA
Natalie Coughlin, U.S.A. Swimming
Seimone Augustus, LSU basketball

BEST MALE ATHLETE
Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts
Vijay Singh, Professional Golfer
Lance Armstrong, Cyclist
Michael Phelps, U.S.A. Swimming
Bode Miller, U.S.. Ski Team

BEST TEAM
Boston Red Sox
New England Patriots
USC Football
Baylor Women’s Basketball
San Antonio Spurs

BEST COACH/MANAGER
Terry Francona, Boston Red Sox
Bill Belichick, New England Patriots
Roy Williams, UNC Men’s Basketball
Pete Carroll, USC Football
Gregg Popovich, San Antonio Spurs

BEST GAME
Rose Bowl: Texas 38, Michigan 37
Red Sox-Yankees, Game 5 ALCS
Michigan State-Kentucky, NCAA Tournament

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP PERFORMANCE
Deion Branch, New England Patriots
Matt Leinart, USC Football
Sean May, UNC Men's Basketball
Curt Schilling, Boston Red Sox

BEST MALE OLYMPIC PERFORMANCE
Michael Phelps, Swimming
Cael Sanderson, Wrestling
Jeremy Wariner, Track & Field

BEST FEMALE OLYMPIC PERFORMANCE
Natalie Coughlin, Swimming
Carly Patterson, Gymnastics
Team USA, Softball

BEST MOMENT
Afleet Alex's Preakness recovery
Reggie Miller's final game
Tiger Woods at The Masters

***BEST PLAY***
Matt Brown, Wichita State Baseball
Chuck Carothers, X Games 10 Moto X Best Trick Blake Hoffarber, High school basketball game winner Tiger Woods, Sinks birdie at The Masters

BEST UPSET
Bucknell Men's Basketball beat #3 seed Kansas Giacomo, 50-1 long-shot wins Kentucky Derby Puerto Rico Men's Olympic Basketball beats. U.S.
Vermont Men's Basketball beat #4 seed Syracuse

BEST COMEBACK ATHLETE
Kayla Burt, Washington Basketball
Mark Fields, Carolina Panthers
Rulon Gardner, Wrestling
Jordan Sigalet, Bowling Green Hockey

BEST BREAKTHROUGH ATHLETE
Danica Patrick, IRL
Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers
Maria Sharapova, Tennis
Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat

BEST RECORD-BREAKING PERFORMANCE
New England Patriots
Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts
Pat Summitt, Tennessee Women's Basketball Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners

BEST SPORTS MOVIE
Cinderella Man
Coach Carter
Friday Night Lights
Million Dollar Baby

***BEST MALE ACTION SPORTS ATHLETE***
Ricky Carmichael, Motocross
Andy Irons, Surfing
Dave Mirra, Freestyle Bike
Bucky Lasek, Skateboarding

***BEST FEMALE ACTION SPORTS ATHLETE***
Hannah Teter, Snowboarding
Sofia Mulanovich, Surfing
Karin Huttary, Skier-X
Janna Meyen, Snowboarding

BEST MALE COLLEGE ATHLETE
Andrew Bogut, Utah Basketball
Alex Gordon, Nebraska Baseball
Matt Leinart, USC Football
Steve Mocco, Oklahoma State Wrestling
Marty Sertich, Colorado College Hockey

BEST FEMALE COLLEGE ATHLETE
Seimone Augustus, LSU Basketball
Nicole Corriero, Harvard Hockey
Kristen Maloney, UCLA Gymnastics
Cat Osterman, Texas Softball
Katie Thorlakson, Notre Dame Soccer

BEST MALE ATHLETE WITH A DISABILITY
Rudy Garcia-Tolson, Swimming
Paul Martin, Cycling
Marlon Shirley, Track

BEST FEMALE ATHLETE WITH A DISABILITY
Cheri Blauwet, Wheelchair Racing
Erin Popovich, Swimming
Karissa Whitsell & Katie Compton, Tandem Cycling

BEST OUTDOORS SPORTS ATHLETE
J.R. Salzman, Lumberjack
Takahiro Omori, Bass Fishing
Aaron Martens, Bass Fishing
Sheree Taylor, Women’s Endurance

INDIVIDUAL CATEGORIES

BEST DRIVER
Michael Schumacher
Dan Wheldon
Greg Anderson
Kurt Busch

BEST MLB PLAYER
Barry Bonds, San Francisco Giants
Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals
Vladimir Guerrero, Angels
Johan Santana, Minnesota Twins
Roger Clemens, Houston Astros
Curt Schilling, Boston Red Sox

BEST NBA PLAYER
Shaquille O’Neal, Miami Heat
Steve Nash, Phoenix Suns
Allen Iverson, Philadelphia 76ers
LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat

BEST WNBA PLAYER
Lauren Jackson, Seattle Storm
Lisa Leslie, L.A. Sparks
Diana Taurasi, Phoenix Mercury
Tina Thompson, Houston Comets

BEST BOWLER
Patrick Allen
Chris Barnes
Liz Johnson
Mika Koivuniemi
Walter Ray Williams

BEST BOXER
Diego Corrales
Bernard Hopkins
Zab Judah
Winky Wright

BEST NFL PLAYER
Tom Brady, New England Patriots
Daunte Culpepper, Minnesota Vikings
Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts
Donovan McNabb, Philadelphia Eagles
Terrell Owens, Philadelphia Eagles

BEST GOLFER
Phil Mickelson
Vijay Singh
Annika Sorenstam
Tiger Woods
 
BEST JOCKEY
Jerry Bailey
Jeremy Rose
Mike Smith
Javier Castellano

BEST SOCCER PLAYER
Landon Donovan
Mia Hamm
Eddie Johnson
Birgit Prinz
Ronaldinho

BEST MALE TENNIS PLAYER
Roger Federer
Andy Roddick
Rafael Nadal
Marat Safin

BEST FEMALE TENNIS PLAYER
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Lindsay Davenport
Maria Sharapova
Justine Henin-Hardenne
Serena Williams

SPONSORED CATEGORIES

UNDERARMOUR UNDENIABLE PERFORMANCE AWARD Braylon Edwards, College Football Misty May and Kerri Walsh, Beach Volleyball Terrell Owens, NFL David Pollack, College Football

GMC PROFESSIONAL GRADE PLAY AWARD
Lance Armstrong, Cycling
Curtis Martin, New York Jets
Pat Summitt, Tennessee Women’s Basketball Steve Nash, Phoenix Suns The ESPY Awards The ESPY Awards are committed to the advancement of The V Foundation for Cancer Research, established by ESPN with the late Jim Valvano and announced at the inaugural ESPY Awards in 1993.

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