Day 860

• Slowest sports day of the American year.
• England gets an extra-time win over Spain to advance in the Women's Euro 2022...  a tournament many do believe has been corrupted.
• Knott's Berry Farm has banned unaccompanied minors from the park after last weekend's fights.  Everyone 17 and under needs a chaperone.
• Henrik Stenson is no longer Europe's Ryder Cup captain:  He's accepted the Saudi blood money.
• Sportsbooks are having a problem with Baltimore at .500.  I'm not sure why, except the win total props...  I mean, the Yankees are on a historic run and appear to be the favorites in the AL, sans Houston.   
• Neither the actual attendance at the All-Star Game (not the tickets sold, the actual attendance) nor the ratings (an all-time low) were of any good news to MLB today.  Games resume tomorrow morning.

It being the slowest sports day of the American year, it's ESPY time.  So what does ESPN wanna push now?  (Besides several references to Brittney Griner -- to which it better be understood that the only way you ever see her alive on this side of the Atlantic again is a political-prisoner situation and Putin gets a pretty penny in exchange...  I don't see that happening.)

• I should not be mean with this first one, or any of these first five, to be honest:  The Jim Valvano Award For Perseverance:  Dick Vitale.  For innumerable obvious reasons -- and he is also having a special on ESPN+ this weekend.  I can only pray it does not end like Madden's...
• Yes, that was my first thought when I first read of it today.  
• In honor of Vitale's continuing work for The Jimmy V Foundation, ESPN is matching all relevant contributions to the Foundation in Vitale's honor, up to $1,000,000.
• FUCK CANCER:  In an almost-sickening parallel to Valvano's speech, when Vitale and another of Valvano's coach friends aided Valvano on the stage, Vitale, tonight, was also aided on the stage -- by former ESPN President (left after 13 years at the end of 2021) George Bodenheimer.
• And another almost-sickening parallel:  They wanted to cut Vitale off after about nine minutes.
• Maybe not QUITE with the panache Jimmy V did that classic night, Vitale told those timing the show off and went another ten.
• Vitale announced that ESPN and the friends of the Jimmy V Foundation have raised THREE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS for cancer research.
• Pat Tillman Award for Service (established in 2014, in conjunction with the Pat Tillman Foundation):  Gretchen Evans:  The founder of Team Unbroken, an adaptive racing team of veterans.  A highly-decorated veteran herself.  27 years in the US Army.
• Arthur Ashe Award for Courage:  Vitali Klitschko.  Former heavyweight champion of the world, fights for his country in the Ukraine-Russia war.
• Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year (this is actually a separate award from a separate group -- the Sports Humanitarian Awards, but they are combining forces with the ESPYs):  Denver Broncos -- who won an intensive screening process to become only the second NFL team (and the first in five years) to win the award.  
• Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award:  Albert Pujols.  For a nearly 20-year record through the Albert Pujols Foundation of aiding impoverished people in Pujols' native Dominican Republic, as well as the foundation's efforts against Down's Syndrome.  The award has been around since at least 2015, and was named after Ali on his passing.  Previous winners included the WNBA's Tamika Catchings, NBA stars Chris Paul and Kevin Durant, the NHL's Mark Giordano, Chris Long, MLB's Nelson Cruz, and Laurent Duvernay-Tardif.

Now, some of the regular awards:

• Steph Curry hosted, avoiding Pepe and Rob Riggle to do so.  He has also won for NBA Player of the Year and for Record-breaking Performance (career 3-point record)
• Best Team:  Curry's Golden State Warriors
• Comeback of the Year:  Klay Thompson, Golden State Warriors.
• Men's Athlete of the Year and MLB Player of the Year:  Two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani.
• Women's Athlete of the Year and Women's Olympic Athlete of the Year:  Swimmer Katie Ledecky.  Surprisingly with her records in the pool, this is the first time Ledecky has won either award!
• Men's Olympic Athlete of the Year:  Swimmer Caeleb Dressel.
• NFL Player and Championship Performance:  Stunned it wasn't their quarterback:  World Champion Wide Receiver Cooper Kupp of the Rams -- the Championship Performance one specifically for his performance in the Super Bowl.  There had been a conflicting ESPN report that Aaron Rodgers had won the NFL Player of the Year.
• NHL Player:  Conor McDavid.
• College Female Athlete:  Home Run Queen Jocelyn Alo of the Oklahoma Sooners softball team.
• College Male Athlete:  It's All About The Champion Quarterback:  CFP Champion Bryce Young, Alabama.
• Best Racecar Driver:  Kyle Larson.
• WNBA Player:  Candace Parker.
• MLS Player:  Carlos Vela of Los Angeles Football Club.
• NWSL Player:  Ashley Hatch of the Washington Spirit.
• Boxer:  Homophobe Tyson Fury.
• International Soccer, Men's:  Kylian Mbappe of Paris St. Germain.
• International Soccer, Women's:  Sam Kerr of Chelsea women's club.
• Male Golfer:  Justin Thomas.
• Female Golfer:  Nelly Korda.
• Male Tennis Player:  Rafael Nadal
• Female Tennis Player:  Emma Raducanu
• Breakthrough Athlete:  In a move I am certain is going to get ESPN slammed, American triple-gold medalist for China Eileen Gu won the award for her three freestyle skiing gold medals in Beijing.  Also won for Women's Action Sports Athlete of the Year.
• Men's Action Sports:  Eli Tomac, Supercross.
• MMA Fighter:  Charles Olivera.
• Jockey:  Jose Ortiz.
• Bowler:  Kyle Troup
• Male Athlete, Disability:  Brad Snyder, Paratriathlon.
• Female Athlete, Disability:  Jessica Long, Swimming.
• Game:  Chiefs-Bills AFC Divisional Game
• Best Play:  Megan Rapinoe for an Olympico corner kick.  Vs. Australia, Tokyo Olympics.  To give an idea of why (also, because it seems there weren't that many out of this world plays this year, to be frank!), an Olympico is a corner kick which directly scores without contacting anyone else.  Meaning the ball has to be bent back onto the field of play and then swings back into the goal without another player contacting it.  The play is quite rare.
• WWE Moment:  The return of Cody Rhodes.  Oh dear...