What happened behind the scenes?
ESPN.com

ESPN.com was on the scene at the 2000 ESPY Awards live from Las Vegas and the MGM Grand Hotel. Here is a transcript of our ESPY's backstage notebook as the night progressed.

11:07 p.m. ET
That will wrap it up from backstage at the 2000 ESPY Awards from Las Vegas and the MGM Grand Hotel.

The ESPN.com crew is off to the big ESPN party with all the celebrities!

What .... we don't have tickets?

Guess it's back to the nickel slots.

11 p.m. ET
Things are winding down now backstage after a surge of bedlam following the sign off. Jimmy Smits is making his way through the crowd for wrap up interviews and he looks like he just went 10 rounds.

10:46 p.m. ET
pp <-- That is what a 3 year old in a tux came up and typed. Don't know who he was, but he had an entourage.

10:41 p.m. ET
Bobby Bowden (Florida State football coach) is with us:

ESPN.com: Are you getting tired of winning awards?

Bobby Bowden:
I tell you, we have won more awards this year then we ever have. So far I'm not tired of it.

ESPN.com: How are you going to repeat next year?

Bobby Bowden:
It is going to be hard. But we do have a good nucleus of a football team. It will take a little luck. You have to be good and you have to be lucky. I think we will be good and I hope for a little luck with it.

ESPN.com: Do you have fun on a night like this?

Bobby Bowden:
I do. But I wish I had been on first so I could relax because until you are on you sit there wondering what you are going to say. But yes, I do enjoy it.

ESPN.com: Have you won any money in the casino?

Bobby Bowden:
I haven't gambled since I was in college. And I learned in college ... don't gamble.

10:37 p.m. ET
Rick Schroder (NYPD Blue) joins us:

ESPN.com: Was there one person you were looking forward to meeting tonight?

Rick Schroder:
Wayne Gretzky. We got to talk a little about hockey and how important it is for kids to not get to competitive too early and to love and enjoy the game.

10:32 p.m. ET
Brandi Chastain is headed our way:

ESPN.com: What is the stupidest question anyone asked you tonight?

Brandi Chastain:
Someone asked me where my dress was from. Like who cares? I'm not a fashion model. When I told them it was from off the rack, they gasped and were in shock. Come on!

10:20 p.m. ET
Mia Hamm, Brandi Chastain and Julie Foudy from the U.S. Women's National Soccer members are scarfing popcorn next to our table like they haven't eaten for days. But they are in 400 times better shape then any of us, so they can get away with it.

10:10 p.m. ET
Cybill Shepard asked everyone in the Green Room, "Is anyone from the old generation?"

One guy shyly raised his hand and she said, "Hang in there, it's not over yet!"

9:58 p.m. ET
Track star Michael Johnson is in the room:

ESPN.com: What is the best part of a night like this for you?

Michael Johnson:
Taking home the hardware is certainly the best thing. But it is great to be recognized. As athletes we are usually more in control of the outcomes of events, but with events like this you never know. You have to keep an open mind -- you might get it, you might not. You couldn't do anything different like in a sporting event. It is great, it is a great honor.

ESPN.com: What is the dumbest question anyone has asked you tonight?

Michael Johnson:
You know, I have been doing pretty good tonight. I have talked to quite a few media types and usually you get a lot of dumb questions. But it has actually been pretty good tonight. I can't think of one dumb question.

ESPN.com: What lies ahead for you in the immediate future?

Michael Johnson:
Certainly the big goal is the Olympic Games. But prior to that I have to make the Olympic team and this year the Olympics are in September which is at the end of the end of our season. So there are plenty of races between now and then. So I just hope to have a good season, stay healthy and go back to the games and repeat.

ESPN.com: How do you feel right now?

Michael Johnson:
I feel good. I'm healthy, no injuries and that will be the key to this year. If I can stay healthy, I think I can be successful in the 200 and 400.

9:33 p.m. ET
A reporter asked Tiger Woods what he does on his days off: "Not talk to you."

He was joking. Maybe.

9:18 p.m. ET
Jordan entered the press room and answered about four questions. He turned to leave and the reporters yelled for Wayne Gretzky to answer some questions. So Wayne jumped behind the microphone and before anyone could ask a question, he repeated, verbatim, what Jordan had just said. Great stuff.

9:13 p.m. ET
The man, or we should say the men, are in the house. Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky have made an appearance backstage amid a huge throng of media and well wishers. No one has caused such a stir.

We asked them for a 20-minute chat session. But they declined. We tried.

9:05 p.m. ET
Great line from Michael Jordan. He said Charles Barkley had a job waiting for him with the Washington Wizards -- they need a mascot.

8:56 p.m. ET
Daisy Fuentes joins us:

ESPN.com: How did you decide what you were going to wear tonight?

Daisy Fuentes:
I called my friend Michael Kores who is a buyer for Celine -- fabulous, fabulous stuff.

I just fell in love with this top. But the funny thing is that the shoes that go with it, my friend is wearing here. However, standing back stage my heel broke and my friend gave me her shoes.

ESPN.com: What is the funnest thing you have done since being in Las Vegas?

Daisy Fuentes:
We have been here for two nights and there seems to be a party every night. I haven't even had time to gamble. We have been going out having great dinners and checking out some of the other hotels. So we have just been sightseers.

8:40 p.m. ET
Evander Holyfield is making his way through the backstage area. The man just has an aura about him. Not only is the man solid, but he is a class act to boot.

ESPN.com: What do you think about the awards ceremony tonight?

Evander Holyfield
: It is great. They have the best of the best athletes in the house and it is not all the time that you are able to get all the great athletes like this in one spot. Tonight they are able to do that. It is great.

ESPN.com: The sport of boxing has gotten bad press of late. What are your feelings about that?

Evander Holyfield
: They have been saying bad things about boxing since the 1800s. They say the sport is getting worse and worse. But boxing is never going to be a dying sport. You'll never get rid of it.

ESPN.com: What does the future hold for you?

Evander Holyfield
: I look forward to being the three-time undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. But some young kid will have to come up do it five times.

8:32 p.m. ET
First shocker of the night. Michael Jordan won Basketball Player of the Decade. Wow. Everyone is fainting backstage on that one.

8:18 p.m. ET
The calm before the storm.

Backstage has quieted down considerably now that the show is on stage. But the green room continues to buzz ... with a guy selling glasses. Yes, there is a guy in the back of the green room hawking Calvin Klein sunglasses. No, we didn't buy any.

8:10 p.m. ET
Everyone has heard the myth that TV adds 10 pounds. We would like to revise that to say it adds three inches (height). Pete Sampras is only has about a half inch on Andre Agassi and we always thought he towered over Andre. Those two have been quite buddy-buddy in the green room, posing for pictures. But to set the record straight -- Lindsay Davenport has three inches on them all.

7:57 p.m. ET
We are getting a ton of mail from disgruntled ESPN fans taking us to task for holding the ESPY Awards on Valentine's Day. We feel for you, but deal with it. You can see the TV and computer monitor from the table of your romantic dinner. You can make it work.

7:50 p.m. ET
We might say this again tonight, but we think we have seen it all. Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras on one knee, side-by-side with Mini-me from "Austin Powers" fame.

7:45 p.m. ET
OK. We try and look official, we rent tuxes, put up our ESPN.com logo banner and we still get someone who came up to our table and asked if we were the press check in area. We get no respect.

Plus, we can't find anyone that knows how to tie a bow tie.

7:40 p.m. ET
Greetings ESPN.com users and ESPY fans! The ESPN.com crew is just a short Justin Leonard putt away from the green room where the who's who of the entertainment and sports world are huddled.

So far we have had celebrity sightings of actors Joe Pesci (he's shorter than you think) and James Caan as well as Pete Sampras and Mark McGwire. Also sipping beverages in the way too crowded green room are several members of the USA Women's National Soccer team, who are looking mighty spiffy in their ball gowns.


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