ESPN The Magazine’s patriotic cover tribute to commemorate the 10th anniversary 9/11. That’s Cowboys Stadium if you were wondering.

We’re nominated. Just kidding.

materialkillers:

Reminder: ESPYs 2011 - Tonight the show will be broadcast live on ESPN @ 9pm.  This year’s annual Sports award showcase will be hosted by Seth Meyers.

It wouldn’t be an NFL Draft without Chris Berman. Here’s Berman in 1987 breaking the draft down on what appears to be a piece a bristol board and a killer maroon blazer.

“I can say I’ve been wearing the same types of clothing since I was seven. That is what I do. If I’m that guy on the baseball field, that is who I am off the field. Whether you like it or not or buy into it or not.” — Brian Wilson on The Scott Van Pelt Show

Once again Bill Simmons puts everything sport [The Masters] into perspective in his latest article, The gift of Tiger Woods.

“….I am supposed to think that he’s a poor role model — that he’s an adulterer, that he’s selfish, that he’s a phony, that he behaves badly on golf courses, that he’s someone I wouldn’t want my son to emulate some day. That’s horses—-. I want my son to know that people screw up, that nobody is perfect, that you can learn from your foibles. I want my son to watch “The Natural” someday, hear Roy Hobbs say, “Some mistakes you never stop paying for,” and know that it’s not just words in a movie. I want my son to know that you haven’t lived until you’ve fought back, that you haven’t won until you’ve lost, that you can’t understand what it’s like to relish something until you’ve suffered, too. I want him to understand that it’s the 21st century, that we sit around picking our heroes apart all day, that we expect them to be superhuman at all times, that we get pissed off when they aren’t, that it’s hypocritical if you really think about it.” → [Continue reading…]

There are a lot of Tiger haters out there, but I have to say Simmons is spot on with this one. I guess that’s why they call him ‘The Sports Guy”.

“The Fab Five” relives the recruitment process that got all five of them to Ann Arbor, the cultural impact they made, the two runs to NCAA title game, the Webber “timeout” in the 1993 championship and the scandal that eventually tarnished their accomplishments. [via ESPN]

The men who forever changed my high school basketball wardrobe… We’ve been waiting for this for a while. Thanks, Jalen.

Several ESPN Broadcasters Have Had Shoe Contracts. [NYTimes]

Erin Andrews, who signed an endorsement deal with Reebok last month, is not the only ESPN personality or member of its “College GameDay” team to have a contract with a major shoe company.

Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso have deals with Nike that Corso described as a joint arrangement that largely involves speaking engagements for the athletic shoe and apparel company.

After an inquiry to ESPN about the announcers’ Nike contracts, Josh Krulewitz, an ESPN spokesman, said that Fowler, the host of “GameDay,” is “ending his minor association” with Nike “to avoid any potential perception issues.” Fowler was not made available for an interview.

Boom goes the dynamite.

gq:

ESPN to GQ: How About The Un-Coolest Athletes of All Time?

Patrick Hruby over at ESPN.com’s Page 2 just posted a hilarious list in response to our recent cover about The 25 Coolest Athletes of All Time. “The magazine took the easy way out,” he argues. “We’re celebrating the dorks. The tools. The iconic athletes remembered and — quick, what’s the opposite of ‘revered?’ — for being uncool.” His list is only a dozen strong (including the likes of Peyton Manning, Alex Rodriguez, Kurt Rambis and—the most inspired choice—Lucy Van Pelt) but he’s crowdsourcing ESPN Nation for more names. So let’s help the guy out!

Our off-the-top-of-our-head nominees: Will Perdue, Tie Domi, Bill Romanowski, Johnny Weir, Randy Johnson and Rae Carruth.

Our honorable mentions include: Tim Duncan, Bill Walton, Martina Navratilova, Wayne Gretzky, and Pete Sampras.

(Source: ESPN)