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LOS ANGELES -- Sidney Crosby has earned the ESPY Award as Best NHL Player. The Pittsburgh Penguins captain beat out Henrik Lundqvist, Alex Ovechkin, Martin St. Louis, and John Tavares for the honour on Wednesday night in Los Angeles. Another Canadian, Andrew Wiggins of Thornhill, Ont., accepted the Gatorade National Male Athlete of the Year prior to the main ceremony. LeBron James padded his trophy collection, receiving three at the ESPY Awards, including male athlete of the year for helping the Miami Heat win a second straight NBA championship. James also won in the championship performance and NBA player categories, completing a sweep of the three awards he won last year. He shared in the best team award Wednesday night. "We went through so much adversity," teammate Ray Allen said. "We did everything we could to fight, scratch and claw to put ourselves in that moment." James beat out Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers, Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson and Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps for male athlete honours. James mentioned his fellow nominees, then told them, "This is for all four of us, man, but Im just keeping it at my house." Serena Williams won two awards, including female athlete of the year. She defeated a pair of Olympians, gymnast Gabby Douglas and swimmer Missy Franklin, and former Baylor basketball star Brittney Griner. Williams didnt attend because shes playing a tournament in Sweden. Peterson and Phelps also won two awards each. Canadian snowboarder Mark McMorris was nominated for best male action sports athlete, but the 19-year-old Regina native did not win. Jon Hamm, the star of AMCs "Mad Men" and a noted St. Louis Cardinals fan, hosted the 21st annual show from the Nokia Theatre. He joked it was "the worlds largest gathering of people wearing sunglasses indoors" as the cameras caught James and NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick behind shades. Hamm got in some digs about former Los Angeles Lakers centre Dwight Howard. "We thought it would be nice to honour Dwight Howard with his greatest moments with the Lakers," Hamm said as no film clips appeared on the screen behind him while the crowd laughed. Hamm noted the talk about possible suspensions resulting from baseballs latest drug investigation has included Alex Rodriguez. "Thats OK, Yankee fans are used to him not showing up for the second half of the season,"he joked. Quarterback Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M won male college athlete honours after flying in earlier from Hoover, Ala., where he attended SEC media day. Griner, who now plays for the WNBAs Phoenix Mercury, won female college athlete. Peterson won trophies for NFL player and best comeback, while Cabrera won as best MLB player. Williams won female tennis player, giving her eight career ESPYs. Phelps also claimed best male Olympian, while teenage swimming sensation Missy Franklin won best female Olympian. Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers won as breakthrough athlete. Rick Pitino won as coach-manager for guiding the Louisville Cardinals to a national basketball championship. The best game was Game 6 of the NBA finals between the Heat and San Antonio Spurs. The award for best upset went to Florida Gulf Coasts mens basketball team, a No. 15 seed that upset No. 2 seed Georgetown in the NCAA tournament. The best moment award singled out 7-year-old Jack Hoffmans 69-yard touchdown run at Nebraskas spring game in April, which was replayed on national TV and viewed more than 2 million times on YouTube. The boy from Atkinson, Neb., has brain cancer. As his father spoke, Jack held the big trophy that blocked part of his face. Sidney Crosby won NHL player, while Thierry Henry of the New York Red Bulls won MLS player. South Carolina football player Jadeveon Clowney won best play for his hit on Michigans Vincent Smith in which he knocked the runner on his back with a helmet-toppling smack, then reached out with one hand to snare the ball. Helping out Hamm with comedy bits were Jack McBrayer of "30 Rock" as a befuddled NFL replacement referee and Jay Pharoah of "Saturday Night Live" as Jay-Z explaining how in his new gig as a sports agent he only represents winners. Former "SNL" star Bill Hader spoofed Russian president Vladimir Putin, who was accused by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft of stealing his 2005 Super Bowl ring. In the bit, Hader showed off his other sports collectibles, including the Stanley Cup, some of Phelps Olympic gold medals and "the ring Kobe gave his wife that one time for no reason." The Arthur Ashe Courage award went to "Good Morning America" co-anchor Robin Roberts, who underwent a bone marrow transplant last fall to treat a life-threatening blood and bone marrow disease. She was off work for five months before returning to her TV job. James presented Roberts with the award, and first lady Michelle Obama saluted her via video. Roberts received a standing ovation and noted her friendship with the late Ashe. "At this moment Im filled with such gratitude," she said. The Jimmy V Award for Perseverance was given to father-and-son duo Dick and Rick Hoyt by actor-director Ben Affleck. The younger Hoyt was born with cerebral palsy and is unable to use his hands and legs. His 73-year-old father Dick pushes him in a custom-made running chair, and together they have participated in more than 1,000 endurance events, including 31 Boston Marathons. "I dont think you could find two guys more proud to represent the city of Boston," Dick Hoyt said. His son spoke through computer-generated voice technology, saying, "I cant hardly believe we are here. Thirty-seven years ago nobody would even talk to us ... It only proves the wisdom of Jimmy vs words, Dont give up, dont ever give up." The winners in most categories were determined by fan voting.Custom Magic Jersey China . Burris threw two TD passes, including a key 15-yard fourth-quarter strike to Bakari Grant that effectively countered a Toronto comeback bid and led Hamilton to a 33-19 victory. Custom Penny Hardaway Jersey . -- Whether Jeremy Hill deserves a prominent role in LSUs offence this early in the season is a matter for debate. http://www.custommagicjersey.com/ . -- The Bishops Gaiters are showing they belong among the countrys top varsity football teams. Cheap Magic Jerseys . In Europe, top teams seem to be largely happy with their squads after spending nearly $1 billion in the off-season. And although English league clubs are unlikely to splash cash in January, Arsenal and Chelsea could be tempted to strengthen their squads with new strikers. Wholesale Custom Magic Shirts . The Browns coaching search remains incomplete.At 11-9, Charlotte is right in the thick of things in the Eastern Conference. The same cant be said for the Dallas Mavericks, who at 4-15 languish at the bottom of the Western Conference.Hornets coach Steve Clifford has received contributions up and down his roster while Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle recently met with Dallas owner Mark Cuban about salvaging the season, saying, Were going to slug this thing out.Shorthanded and hurting, Dallas might seem like easy pickings for Charlotte when the two meet in Dallas on Monday night.Dallas is missing future Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki. He didnt play when the two teams met just a few days ago on Dec. 1 in Charlotte -- a 97-87 Hornets win -- and he wont play either on Monday.But if the Hornets think theyll be able to roll over the Mavericks, they might want to take a closer look at the video from Saturday night.Dallas bounced back from that loss to Charlotte and, without Nowitzki in uniform, the Mavericks handed the Chicago Bulls a 25-point loss on Saturday.Wes Matthews poured in a team-high and season-high-tying 26 points and buried a season-high seven of his 11 3-point attempts to give him 19 3s in his past four games.I am really happy for him, Carlisle said of Matthews. He is our leader right now with Dirk out. He really sets the tone for us in the locker room and on the floor.Matthews and Harrison Barnes are the veterans in the clubhouse, along with Andrew Bogut. Barnes leads the Mavs in scoring at 20.4 points per game and Bogut leads the team in rebounds at 10.7, but both are in their first season with Dallas. Thats why Carlisle believes its important for Matthews to take a leadership role.ddddddddddddut theres no doubt the Mavs are not close to being the same team without Nowitzki. And there are some who might believe, the 19-year veteran is done. Dont tell that to Nowitzki.Im all-in. I want to play, Nowitzki told ESPN in front of his locker after his teammates pulled off the Mavs most lopsided win of the season.Theres still a lot of season left. December just started. We know that theres a lot of games coming, so hopefully sometime soon Ill be out there and then stay out there, he said. I dont want to jump in and out of the lineup with soreness or fight this whole year. Id love to be healthy and stay out there once I go.The Mavericks not only miss the offense from the sixth leading scorer in NBA history, they miss his leadership.Likewise, the Hornets are looking for more consistency from its leader, Kemba Walker, who leads the team with 23.8 points per game. In a loss to Minnesota on Saturday, the Hornets blew a seven-point lead with less than two minutes left.Thats when the intensity goes up this high, thats when you have to be at your best, Clifford said. Thats when its the most physical. Thats when guys have to step up and make plays.Unfortunately for the Hornets, it was the Timberwolves who made the plays. The loss has left a bad taste in the Hornets mouths.A lot of mistakes on the defensive end, Walker said. Too many mistakes. Gave up some big baskets, just some missed rotations by a few of us. We just got to be better down the stretch. ' ' '