In sports, timing is everything. So, too, in sports awards.
Tuesday night brought the sixth annual Greater Washington Sports Alliance “Sneakerball” fundraiser to the National Building Museum, and with it the organization’s slate of awards for local sports figures.
And wouldn’t you know it, there in the program was Serena Williams, nominated for the “Solid Character” award. (Williams was the Washington Kastles’ marquee player for a portion of their summer season.)
Williams, you may recall, was defaulted out of her U.S. Open semifinal match and fined $10,000 for telling a line judge that she felt like “taking this [expletive] ball and shoving it down your [expletive] throat.”
In the end, the award went to the Redskins’ Chris Cooley.
The annual event is the only day on the Washington social calendar when you can get away with wearing your favorite sneakers with your best black-tie ensemble. And the crowd of 1,000-plus included a sampling of every athletic team in the District.
Redskins cheerleaders danced to Rihanna onstage while a player on the Maryland Nighthawks did fancy basketball tricks through his legs, around his back and on his head (fun sighting: WUSA 9’s Angie Goff showing the Nighthawk her own “spidering” skills with the ball). In the silent auction area — where popular items like tickets to the 2010 Masters tournament and a signed Alex Ovechkin jersey were being bid on — you found the Kastles’ mascot “Topspin” shaking hands with Cooley and the Baltimore Ravens’ Troy Smith. And what athletic black-tie event would be complete with its bling? We spotted several members the Washington Wizards dance team eyeing the Boone & Sons “icing” station.
Emcees and sports broadcasters Steve Buckhantz and Lindsay Czarniak opened the event in costumes almost as big as the Washington Nationals’ “Teddy Roosevelt’s” head when they appeared in fat padded sumo wrestler outfits.
Also spotted: Ovechkin and teammate Mike Green at a table along with about six other Caps players; Mayor Adrian Fenty; Redskins uberfans the “Hogettes”; NFL Hall of Famer Darrell Green; Miss D.C. Jen Corey; and Washington Mystics owner Sheila Johnson.
