Hockey Players Are The Greatest Humans In The World. ESPN's Words, Not Mine
If you didn’t already know that today is the worst day of the year, the ESPY’s are on tonight. Which means there are no NHL games, no NBA games, no NFL games and no MLB games scheduled for tonight. 0/4 on major sports and I don’t even think there’s anything scheduled for the Ultimate Frisbee League either. Just a miserably slow 24 hours in the sports world. But what you’ll see at the ESPY’s tonight is Calgary Flames captain Mark Giordano winning this year’s “Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award”.
ESPN – Known to many as simply “Gio,” Calgary Flames captain Mark Giordano has distinguished himself as a difference-making star on the ice. Despite going undrafted, his hard work and dedication to achievement played a critical role in his realizing the goal of a successful professional hockey career.
It’s that spirit of dedication that Giordano brings to his off-the-ice efforts with an impressive commitment to giving back and helping others, which led to his recognition as the winner of the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award at the third annual Sports Humanitarian Awards on Tuesday in Los Angeles.
Wow. Truly an incredible and humbling award for Gio. But more importantly, such an incredible and humbling award for hockey players all across the world. You take one good look at a hockey handshake line in the playoffs and you know these guys are nothing but class. Some of the most humble guys on the planet. Just do everything they can to better themselves and the people around them every day. It’s just nice that hockey players are now getting the recognition they deserve from ESPN with this Greatest Human Alive Award.
In case you’re wondering what Mark Giordano did to win such an award, he has his “5 for 5″ campaign that he started back in 2011. The program works with Habitat for Humanity and funds the construction for 5 homes. One in Ethiopia, one in Kenya, one in India, one in the Philippines and another in the Calgary area. The significance of the #5 obviously being on his sweater. So hats off to Gio for that.
Meanwhile we’ve got Max Domi raising a shit ton of money for diabetes awareness.
So yeah. Hockey guys. They may beat the shit out of each other on the ice but off the ice? They’re just out there saving the world like a bunch of beauties.