ESPY Awards 2009: Michael Phelps wins Four

In last week’s ESPY Awards ceremony here in Los Angeles at Nokia Theater, aired over the weekend, viewers were surprised to see Michael Phelps, disgraced Olympian and pot smoking swimmer, leave the night with four awards. Phelps took home the award for Best Male Athlete, which golfer Tiger Woods has won for five years in a row, and awards for Best Male Olympian, Best Championship Performance and Best Record-Breaking Performance.

Riotous host Samuel L. Jackson joked early on about Phelps, “Nobody gives you a hard time when you smoke the competition.” Wyclef Jean repeated the phrase, “Smoke the competition like Mike Phelps,” in a song.

In the category of Best Female Athlete, Nastia Lukin beat out Serena Williams, Maya Moore of U Conn, Candace Parker, and Natalie Couglin. Nastia Lukin is Team USA Olympic women’s all-around gold medal winner.

In the category of Best Game the nominees were: the 2009 Super Bowl, the six-OT game in this year’s Big East basketball tournament between Syracuse and U Conn and Nadal vs. Federer in the 2008 Wimbledon final. The Super Bowl came out on top.

For Best Upset, the nominees included last season’s Oregon State victory over USC, the Tampa Bay Rays beating the Red Sox in the ALCS to get into the World Series, USA Soccer’s recent upset of Spain in the Confederations Cup and Mine That Bird’s win at the Kentucky Derby. The winner was USA Soccer.

Overall, the show was entertaining in spite of some real winners losing to lesser athletes merely to keep the ratings up.

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