July 5, 2005

ESPN Public Relations News Release

Former University of North Carolina men's basketball player Sean May, Tar Heel head coach Roy Williams and former UNC women's soccer star Mia Hamm are all nominees for awards at the 13th-annual ESPY Awards given by ESPN.

Lance Armstrong could capture Best Male Athlete for a third consecutive year but will have stiff competition from the likes of Peyton Manning, Michael Phelps, Vijay Singh and Bode Miller, while Annika Sorenstam takes her third swing at the Best Female Athlete Award versus 2004 Wimbledon champion and tennis sensation Maria Sharapova (also nominated for Best Breakthrough Athlete and Best Women's Tennis Player) at the 13th annual ESPY Awards Co-Presented by GMC and Under Armour.

The two-hour show will be televised from Hollywood's Kodak Theatre on ESPN Sunday, July 17 at 9 p.m. ET. Nominees were announced for all 36 categories on Nomination Friday (June 24) and will be voted on completely by fans. Voting will run from June 24 through July 8 at ESPN.com and ESPNDeportes.com; five million votes have been cast thus far.

The 2005 ESPY Awards will gather sports and entertainment celebrities to recognize top achievements, relive memorable moments and salute the best performers. Actor Matthew Perry will host the show and be joined by musical guest Destiny's Child. The awards include 22 "Best in Sport" categories - which pit athletes from different sports against each other - as well as 12 individual sport categories and two special performance categories.

Also during the ESPY Awards, Oprah Winfrey will present the Arthur Ashe Courage Award to two individuals whose contributions transcend sports. This year's co-recipients are Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah and Jim MacLaren, two disabled athletes who forged a bond while inspiring millions worldwide to achieve beyond their physical limitations.

HISTORIC PERFORMANCES, PLAYS AND BREAKTHROUGHS IN 2005
Manning is also nominated for the award he won last year - Best NFL Player - and for Best Record Breaking Performance for surpassing Dan Marino's single-season record of 49 touchdown passes. Also in the running for that category are Tennessee's 880-plus wins coaching legend Pat Summit, the Seattle Mariners' single-season hits record-breaker Ichiro Suzuki and the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots. Just off the hardwood, the Best NBA Player Award has a stacked nominee roster with Shaquille O'Neal, Steve Nash, LeBron James, Allen Iverson and Dwyane Wade all in contention. Over on the green, Sorenstam, who has won six of nine tournaments entered in 2005 - including the first two majors of the year, is nominated for Best Golfer. She is the sole female in this newly merged category that includes Phil Mickelson, Singh and Tiger Woods, and has won the former category of Best Female Golfer six times.

The relationship between Best Team and Best Coach/Manager is a close one with the Red Sox's Terry Francona, the Patriots' Bill Belichick, USC's Pete Carroll, and San Antonio's Gregg Popovich joining their teams (which were nominated for Best Team) as nominees with UNC Men's Basketball coach Roy Williams rounding out the category.

In addition, the Red Sox-Yankees ALCS Game 5 is nominated for Best Game as are the Rose Bowl (Texas 38, Michigan 37) and the NCAA men's basketball tournament's Michigan State vs. Kentucky match-ups. Red Sox ace Curt Schilling and UNC men's basketball player Sean May earned nominations for Best Championship Performance and are joined on the ballot by the Patriots' Deion Branch and USC's Matt Leinart (also nominated for Best College Athlete).

Also, Schilling is up for Best MLB Player along with Barry Bonds, Albert Pujols, Vladimir Guerrero, Johan Santana and Roger Clemens. The Patriots' Tom Brady was nominated for Best NFL Player alongside fellow QBs Donovan McNabb, Daunte Culpepper, Manning and Philadelphia Eagles player Terrell Owens.

Hot off her fourth-place finish at the Indianapolis 500, racing upstart Danica Patrick receives her first ESPY nomination for Best Breakthrough Athlete along with the Pittsburgh Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger, Sharapova and the Miami's Wade.