On Wednesday, July 11, the 20th annual ESPYS will take place at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles with comedian Rob Riggle handling the emcee duties. As happens on every awards show, there will be plenty of winners and even more losers, as not every nominee gets honored with the top prize. However, unlike most awards shows, you can be a winner yourself. How? Why, by taking part in The ESPYS Fantasy Ballot, of course.
All you have to do is guess which nominee will win each of 15 designated categories. Then, just sit back and see if your choices correctly match those names inside those envelopes as they get opened during the live broadcast. Get the most right, and you could walk away with a $2,000 Best Buy Gift Card.
It's that simple!
Was LeBron James' run to his first NBA title worthy of Best Male Athlete honors, or did Aaron Rodgers' sensational season for the Green Bay Packers trump that terrific accomplishment?
Which athlete had the most impressive championship performance: David Freese of the St. Louis Cardinals during its run to a World Series crown or Jonathan Quick's Conn Smythe-worthy play in net that helped the Los Angeles Kings hoist the Stanley Cup?
Were you more impressed by the mentoring job done by John Calipari, Kim Mulkey, Darryl Sutter or Erik Spoelstra? Or perhaps one of the other nominees for Best Coach/Manager will end up winning the ESPY?
That's the beauty of the ESPYS, which commemorates the past year in sports by recognizing major achievements, reliving unforgettable moments and saluting the leading performers and performances. There's no "real" right answer, but when all the fan votes are counted, opinion becomes fact and winners take to the stage to give their acceptance speeches.
Now, I know what you're thinking: What if more than one person correctly picks all the winners? What happens then? Don't worry, we've thought of that. There are two tiebreaker questions for you to fill out, just in case. And if somehow those extra inquiries don't settle the score, we won't resort to penalty kicks, but rather, the winner will be the entry that was recorded in the system the earliest.
So what are you waiting for? Time is of the essence!
Last year's ESPY winners included Dirk Nowitzki, Tim Thomas, Blake Griffin, Lindsey Vonn, Rory McIlroy, Jimmer Fredette, Maya Moore and Roy Halladay. This year's winners could include Justin Verlander, Maria Sharapova, Eli Manning, Lexi Thompson, Bubba Watson, Andrew Luck, Rob Gronkowski, Clayton Kershaw, Brittney Griner and, of course, you.
Just sign into ESPN.com using your member ID (or register to be a member if you haven't already done so -- it's free!) and select your prediction for the 15 winners in the 15 designated categories. And make sure to answer the two tiebreaker questions, just in case. That's all you have to do to enter.
Be sure to also follow the 2012 ESPYS on Twitter (@ESPYS) and tune into the live broadcast on Wednesday, July 11 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern to watch as the winners are revealed. Who knows? You just might be a winner yourself by the time the night is over.
El di
