.jpg)
It was Ben Roethlisberger’s most important and maybe riskiest pass of his career.
It was Santonio Holmes most crucial catch in his three years as a pro.
And last night, the Super Bowl XLIII game-winning touchdown that gave the Steelers franchise its sixth championship was voted the 'best sports play' of this past year.
The red carpet was rolled out once again last night for the 2009 Espy Awards which were held at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. Samuel L. Jackson served as host.
Why the show isn’t televised live I will never know. It very much kills the suspense doesn’t it?
But I digress.
Espy nominations and nominees for the 37 sports categories are each selected by ESPN, but the winners are chosen by fan vote only. Fans are given two options how to vote: Online at www.espys.tv or by mobile phone.
Voting ended at 11 p.m. Eastern on Saturday.
Roethlisberger’s Super Bowl six-yard touchdown pass to the tight-rope walking Holmes for ‘Best Play’ beat out three other nominations including Texas Tech’s Michael Crabtree’s game winning catch to knock off number one Texas in College Football and Alexander Ovechkin’s dazzling goal against the New York Rangers in the NHL playoffs.
The Steelers also shared Espy honors with the Arizona Cardinals for ‘Best Game’ for their performance and dramatic ending in Super Bowl XLIII.
The game edged out the 2008 Wimbledon Final between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer and the six overtime game between Syracuse and Connecticut in the 2009 Big East Tournament.
In all, the Steelers were involved with five Espy nominations. Here are the resu
lts of the others:
Best Team: Los Angeles Lakers
In a voting contest that went down to the wire, the Steelers were beaten by the NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers. Tough to win when the Lakers are involved.
Best Coach: Phil Jackson of the Lakers.
Mike Tomlin was one of the nominees. So was Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma. Jackson's just been too good, for too long.
Best NFL Player: Larry Fitzgerald of the Arizona Cardinals.
NFL defensive MVP James Harrison was a nominee.
U.S. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps stole the show, grabbing three Espy awards including ‘Best Male Athlete’.
The 17th annual award show will be televised on ESPN beginning at 9 p.m. Sunday.
NOTES:
- Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby was voted best NHL player.
Comments
I agree with you about best coach. If Phil Jackson's a nominee, he wins by default. Still amazing though what Tomlin AND Bylsma did.
Phil Jackson has had the ability to coach 5 or 6 guys that will be in the top 50 players to ever play the game by the likes of Jordan, Pippen, Rodman, Oneal, and Bryant. I would like to have seen him win with less dominant players. This would have been a true testiment to his coaching ability. He also has been the recipient of coaching in large markets (LA and Chicago) where free agents can be easily attained due to large budgets for those large market teams. Tomlin with a blue collar team, blue collar management and budget has two division titles and a superbowl win in only three years. He also won the superbowl with the hardest schedule in the entire NFL. In addition to taking over a team that did not make the playoffs he lost future Hall of famer Faneca to the Jets his right guard, and his center who retired. Tomlin arguably had the worst offensive line yet won. Jackson should not win by default they didn't even beat the best team in the NBA which should have been the Cavs.
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!