UCLA hosts Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Sports Awards

Over two dozen professional and Olympic athletes walked across the orange carpet outside of Pauley Pavilion prior to last week’s Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Sports Awards. These widely renowned sports figures were not there to promote their own image or bring extra attention to themselves.

No, this day was for the kids.

“I’m glad to be here. My son’s having a good time, and that’s why I’m here,” said Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, who has been selected to eight Pro Bowls so far during his 10-year NFL career.

Athletes like Fitzgerald, soccer star David Beckham, NBA player Nate Robinson and others came to the inaugural Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Sports Awards at Pauley Pavilion on Thursday with their children. They strolled down the orange carpet alongside their own kids, while also shaking hands with and giving high-fives to the young fans who were chanting their names from behind the orange-carpet railings.

“My kids brought me here. It was (my son’s) birthday yesterday, and he wanted me to come,” said Robinson, a guard for the Denver Nuggets and a three-time NBA slam dunk contest champion. “(My son has) been begging me for like a couple weeks and I was like ‘you know what, why not surprise him.'”

Not only were kids the reason behind some of the athletes attending the Kids’ Choice Sports Awards, but they were also responsible for determining the winners of the 14 different awards handed out during the awards show itself. The award winners were those who received the most votes via an online ballot at Nick.com.

The kids really were the stars of the night, illuminating the darkened interior of Pauley Pavilion with thousands of glowing neon wristbands and brightening the atmosphere with their continuous cheers and laughter.

In what may have been the highlight of the night, 15 year-old Ricardo Jacobo Jr. won the $50,000 Kids’ Choice Sports Half-Court Shot Contest” with a high-arcing heave that reached the bottom of the net, causing the Pauley Pavilion crowd of over 8,000 to erupt. Just after the ball traveled through the net, Jacobo Jr. jumped into the arms of show host, NFL Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Strahan, who lifted Jacobo Jr. off the ground with a congratulatory hug.

Other highlights of the 90-minute award show included a performance by Grammy award-winning musician Pharrell, a hockey shoot-out between actor/comedian Will Arnett and New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, and many instances of the Nickelodeon-trademarked “sliming,” or pouring bright slime-like liquid over a person.

Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch, as well as Beckham, were all slimed during the course of the show, as were several other athletes.

All in all, this show connected globally known athletes and kids, while also reuniting some athletes with their childhood selves.

“I’m a Nickelodeon fan, so like, I’m a big kid,” said Pro Bowl cornerback Brandon Flowers of the San Diego Chargers. “I love being around kids, love being around Nickelodeon, like I said, and just meeting a lot of NBA guys, NFL guys.”