Marshawn Lynch Robbed In ESPY Best Play Award
By Riley B
I tuned into the ESPYs yesterday as I didn’t have anything else better to do on a Wednesday night. I could have done without the 20 minute Seth Meyers intro where he attempted to poke fun at the big sports headlines from this year. Though I did get a kick watching him make a complete ass out of himself. I was looking forward to the Best Play award as I expected to see Marshawn Lynch’s run against the Saints take home the award. However, the fans that voted thought differently…
The nominees for Best Play were:
The winner ended up being Abby Wambach’s goal. Honestly, I wasn’t surprised but rather pissed. While the goal was spectacular, the only reason it won was because it happened so recently. In fact, ESPN just added it as a nominee this week. People are so caught up in this World Cup run that it had to win. But realistically, how many of these supposed soccer fanatics watch soccer year round? I’ve always said that the World Cup is the one time a year where Americans pretend to care about soccer. It’s sad but true. If the U.S. team wasn’t doing good, hardly anyone would watch them.
Compared to the other soccer goals, Abby Wambach’s goal was not so special. Given that it was made in such a suspenseful situation was what propelled it into such stardom. I would have picked the bicycle kick before I picked the crossfield header. But all of the plays paled in comparison to the Marshawn Lynch run. The guy broke eight tackles and scored a touchdown which put the dagger into the New Orleans Saints. The Seattle Seahawks, who were the first team in NFL history to make the playoffs with an under .500 record (7-9), defeated the defending Superbowl champs in an upset for the ages. No one gave the Seahawks a chance and the play that sealed the deal was truly spectacular and awe-inspiring. The detemination and will in Marshawn Lynch as he never gave up, along with the hustle and downfield blocking from Matt Hassleback and the rest of the offensive lineman was amazing. There is no way that you can say any of the other plays required the same amount of skill that Lynch displayed. I mean no disrespect nor do I take anything away from any of the other players, but Marshawn Lynch was robbed from this award.
Many will say that the ESPY awards is nothing worth crying about. But given the NFL lockout, I have nothing else to rant about so these things get on my nerves more than they should. While we’re on the topic, why not share your opinion? What do you think was the best play of the past year? Participate in our poll below.