Although I think Tiger Wood's achievement in the US Open was incredible, Michael Phelps 8 golds and numerous world records still trumps it. Sorry Tiger, but I think you'll have a few other chances.....

Totally agree with you. Michael Phelps would by my choice, hands down. Or Mike Krzyzewski for how he coached the Redeem Team to the gold medal.

I'm going to have to go with Roger Federer. Been snubbed during his two most dominant years where he was head and shoulders above everyone in his sport. Finally came crashing back to Earth with his most pedestrian year yet. Which still amazingly would be a career year for most players with 2 Grand Slam finals, one semi-final and a doubles gold medal at the Olympics. And with the whole world riding his shoulders ready to call him washed up and finished claiming that for some unknown reason he just HAD to win the US Open in order to justify remaining in the discussion as the best player in the world and of all time he takes his game to another level and wins it. Just like a true champion. Not to mention his pure class behavior despite all the poor press surrounding his play and so forth. True Sportsman.

nobody...NOBODY... electrified our planet like Usain Bolt (does our SOTY have to be American?)did for a week in August....arguably the most prolific performances in Olympic history...back to back to back.

Phelps was spectacular also...a solid #2 choice.

Celtics exhibited the poorest of Sportsmanship in their post victory celebration. I will never forget those idiots pouring Gatorade on their own home court. They are champs but not worthy.

Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps. I think Phelps will win, but Bolt should too. I actually feel Bolt's performance was superior to Phelps given the opprtunites had. If Bolt was asked to run each distance again, but backwards or sideways he could have padded his medal total like swimming does.

Michael Phelps....Michael Phelps....Michael Phelps.

There is no question about this. Michael Phelps should win every award there is this year. He did not only go from being the most dominant athlete in his sport but he elevated to one of the greatest athletes of all time. To do what he had to do in that many swims in that many days with guys who just swim one race and are completely fresh is incredible. I simply can not explain to how difficult it is what he did.

He will win best championship performance, and best athlete hands down at the ESPY'S anyone who thinks otherwise simply doesn't know what sport is.

Checkmate for Michael Phelps

Usain bolt was great and gave one of the all time great performances I have ever seen, but his accomplishments were less hyped because of what phelps did in a single olympics. I am not taking anything away from Bolt he had one of the most amazing olympics I have ever seen, but going into the olympics no one really knew Usain Bolt and how good he was.

Michael Phelps did the hardest thing in sports which one announcer put it during the games. "He won when he was expected to win, that is the hardest thing to do in sports."

Simply put the greatest feat I have ever seen. I mean come on the feat took two amazing races that made it epic. The relay that will go down as one of the most memorable moments in olympic history and then his fingertip finish in the 100 Fly. It took .08 and .01 seconds to do what he did. Name me another sport where anything comes that close.

You cannot fault someone for being lesser known prior to the Olympics, but it had more to do with him not being American. Bolt demolished his competition and should not be penalized for not having as many opportunities as Phelps.

Basketball? Are you kidding me? Basketball is terrible, the worst sport in America. All the great things and you pick a Basketball team? How about the improbable Marlins who even without a fan base for much of the year played their butts off to reach their first world series, or the Giants beating the Patriots in an awesome Super Bowl.

Basketball? HAHA what a joke! The worst sport in America hands down. Try the Marlins who played so hard and overcame so much to reach their first world series without a fan base for much of the year, or the Giants beating the Patriots in one of the best Super bowls and playoff series ever.

Obviously this is a homer pick, but most of them are I think. What about Brandon Roy? Not so much for what he's done on the court, getting an All-star selection and making the Blazers relevant again, but for what he's done off the court. Portland, if you've never been there, is an amazing NBA city. You'll be hard pressed to find any fans that love their team more. Portland is also the only sports franchise I've ever heard of getting abandoned by those fans, not because of losing, but because of losers. Qyntel Woods, Rasheed Wallace, J.R. Rider, Reuben Patterson, Sebastian Telfair, etc. Portland fans no longer respected the players and no longer supported the team. But Roy has taken the Blazers back to their community-oriented roots, helping the community and being a positive role model for the entire city. He takes me back to my early childhood, when Kevin Duckworth (R.I.P. Duck), Buck Williams, Clyde Drexler, Terry Porter and the gang were great on the court but even better off of it. Roy is cut from their cloth and deserves to be recognized for it.

How about the US Ryder Cup team??

MattC, did you mean the Rays? The Florida Marlins were nowhere close to the World Series however, the Tampa Bay Rays did make it to the World Series.

Kobe Bryant: Gold Medal, NBA MVP, Western Conference Championship.

This one is easy. This award should go to someone who is not only at the very top of their sport, but has also exhibited an incredible amount of strength and bravery while inspiring so many people. This honor should go to Eric Shanteau, the American Olympic swimmer who not only won a spot on the Olympic swim team knowing he had cancer, but also delayed surgery to fulfill his dream of swimming in the Olympics. No other athlete in the past 20 years has inspired me as much as Eric has, and he deserves this honor.

pedroia the destroia

I would love to see Roger Federer get the recognition he deserves, but if he didn't win the award when he won 3 Grand Slams in a year, he's not gonna do it when he had a "down year." If anything, Nadal should be a top candidate, but that's not going to happen either. This year it's a slam dunk for Michael Phelps...whoever thinks someone else is going to win is delusional. It's no contest.

http://twowhiteboys.com/2008/

1. Michael Phelps - 8 Gold Medal is bonkers
1. Usain Bolt - Won 3 Gold Medals and broke 2 world records (one, Michael Johnson's 200 meters, which was considered unassailable).
3. Tiger Woods - U.S. Open on a bum knee. Didn't quit even when it went to an 18-hole playoff.

This is honestly one of the few years where it could go to more than a few deserving athletes.