ESPYs and a New Action Sport Award

Posted by Jodi Gallegos Jul 27, 2008

I don’t know about everyone else, but I wasn’t terribly surprised by the results of the 2008 Espy awards. Well, there wasn’t much surprise anyway since the ceremony had already happened and the results were posted before it ever aired.

So, who were the winners for Best Action Sports Athlete?

First, for Best Female Action Sports Athlete the winner was Gretchen Bleiler. Bleiler is a four-time Winter X Games medalist and a 2006 Olympic silver medalist. Bleiler was also nominated in 2006 but lost out to teammate Hannah Teeter.

OK, here’s where the surprise ends. The Best Male Action Sports award went to…Shaun White. Now, I’m not saying that Shaun White isn’t an amazing athlete. He is. He’s in the upper echelon of riders in two sports: skateboarding and snowboarding. He has won an Olympic medal and helped snowboarding be accepted as a legitimate sport. It’s just that when Shaun White is a nominee, no matter how awesome the other competitors are the award will most likely go to White.

To be fair, someone should just enact the annual Shaun White Award. Every year, no matter who is nominated, the winner will always be Shaun White.

Maybe, I’ll start an annual award for action sports. The Suite101.com BASA Awards (for Best Action Sports Athletes). I don't really have anything to offer than the prestige of being recognized by the readers and a writer of Suite101.com. I can’t afford Shwag, much less the bag to put it in. But, of course, we’ll have the annual Shaun White Award!

So, whom do you want to nominate for the first annual Suite101.com awards for action sports?

E-mail me with your picks (or they’ll all be mine!)