Vince Young and Cat Osterman have been named the Big XII Players of the Year. Vince Young led his team to a last minute victory in the Rose Bowl and became the first person to pass for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in the same season. Cat Osterman had a 38-4 record this season with a 0.42 ERA. She pitched 36 complete games with 28 shutouts, 5 no-hitters, 11 one-hitters, 12 two-hitters and also set a CWS record with 18 strikeouts in a single game.

So it’s not too surprising that Cat and Vince were also nominated for the same award at the 2006 ESPYS. Cat won an award for best female college athlete, Young won for “championship performance” and UT’s victory over Southern California in the Rose Bowl was named best game.

Lance Armstrong emceed the event and did a great job as a deadpan comedian, proving that Saturday Night Live wasn’t just a fluke.  He pointed out Austin’s Mathew McConaughey in the audience as the “sexiest man alive” and then chided the audience that you don’t all have to look at him, we know what he looks like, then he motioned to Gyllenhaal, the co-star of “Brokeback Mountain,” and said “Up here Jake, eyes front!”  Answering his own question “What am I doing here” he said he told the producers “Are you kidding, I would give my left ball” to do the gig.

“Lance Armstrong raised eyebrows – and got laughs – as host of Wednesday night’s ESPY Awards, where he cracked crude jokes about new best friends Jake Gyllenhaal and Matthew McConaughey.” – People

The actors, who’ve been photographed recently clad in Spandex and biking with Armstrong, were in the audience at Hollywood’s Kodak Theatre. Armstrong, in a reference to Gyllenhaal’s Brokeback Mountain role, asked why Gyllenhaal was sitting in the front when Armstrong thought he preferred to be “in the rear”. . . Of the theater, people.” – People

 

Armstrong took a punch at the World Cup runner-up French Soccer team, saying “all their players tested positive … for being assholes.”  Part of the Lance Love Hate French thing.

 

People: At the afterparty at the Mondrian Hotel’s Skybar, Armstrong, McConaughey and Gyllenhaal hung out with actors Cole Hauser and Matthew Perry, while Arizona Cardinals footballer Matt Leinart stuck with Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo. Other guests included Ashley Judd, Brandy, Venus and Serena Williams and Kiefer Sutherland.

 

And there were the young Afghan girls who were honored by the ESPYs with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award for defying Taliban authorities to play soccer.