MANHATTAN — Folks, it really was a great year in sports, even for those of us who aren't regularly paying attention: The underdog New York Knicks won the NBA Finals, Shohei Ohtani defied baseball physics, and the Olympics introduced the masses to our new national treasure, Alysa Liu.
I spent a soggy, smoky night celebrating it all with some of the tallest and most talented people in the country at the 2026 ESPY Awards, hosted by comedian Marcello Hernández at Lincoln Center.
As someone who observes sports more from a cultural angle than a technical one, I admit I find most of the fun of televised competition to be the emotion and drama of it all (besides the whole "who's going to win" element). I also only learned that "ESPY" stands for "Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly" last night. I still had an amazing time.
Here's what I observed as an in-person attendee at the ESPYs that you might not have picked up during the televised broadcast on ESPN.
When I arrived at the theater for the red carpet, the air was heavy with wildfire smoke and the humidity of an impending deluge. Sure enough, it poured. The nasty summer storm cost everyone about an hour of interview time, but fortunately, I got to spend that time indoors chatting with Yahoo's correspondent for the night: Jazzy, a delightfully brilliant 16-year-old journalist. We spent a while fantasizing about the snacks we wished we had brought, and she recommended I try putting Flamin' Hot Cheetos in the freezer for 15 minutes, which I will be doing next time I anticipate being grumpy and impatient.
#espy #televised #folks
I spent a soggy, smoky night celebrating it all with some of the tallest and most talented people in the country at the 2026 ESPY Awards, hosted by comedian Marcello Hernández at Lincoln Center.
As someone who observes sports more from a cultural angle than a technical one, I admit I find most of the fun of televised competition to be the emotion and drama of it all (besides the whole "who's going to win" element). I also only learned that "ESPY" stands for "Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly" last night. I still had an amazing time.
Here's what I observed as an in-person attendee at the ESPYs that you might not have picked up during the televised broadcast on ESPN.
When I arrived at the theater for the red carpet, the air was heavy with wildfire smoke and the humidity of an impending deluge. Sure enough, it poured. The nasty summer storm cost everyone about an hour of interview time, but fortunately, I got to spend that time indoors chatting with Yahoo's correspondent for the night: Jazzy, a delightfully brilliant 16-year-old journalist. We spent a while fantasizing about the snacks we wished we had brought, and she recommended I try putting Flamin' Hot Cheetos in the freezer for 15 minutes, which I will be doing next time I anticipate being grumpy and impatient.
#espy #televised #folks
4 days ago
