Stars head to LV to collect ESPYs

Victoria Sun

Friday, Feb. 11, 2000 | 9:43 a.m.

Want to get a peek at home run king Mark McGuire before he enters the ESPY Awards? Curious as to what slinky outfit supermodel Tyra Banks will have on for the occasion? Dying to know who Tiger Woods will bring to the show?

Well then bring your cameras and a smile to the MGM Grand east arena parking lot on Monday afternoon at 3.

It's there that you can catch all your favorite sports and other celebrities before the eighth annual ESPY Awards are taped at the MGM Grand Garden at 5 p.m.

"Celebrity arrivals will begin about 3 p.m. and end around 4:30," ESPN spokesman Rob Tobias said. "People can come by and take pictures and watch everyone come in.

"It's just an amazing lineup of athletes, but there will be no autograph signings. This is by far the greatest collection of athletes we've ever had under one roof."

Here's just a sample: Superbowl MVP Kurt Warner of the St. Louis Rams, hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, Las Vegan tennis star Andre Agassi and Mia Hamm, star of the U.S. Women's World Cup championship soccer team, will all be present and accounted for.

Actor Jimmy Smits will be hosting the show that will have an impressive celebrity lineup to match the athletes.

Actors Michael Clarke Duncan, Danny Glover and David Schwimmer are expected to attend, as well as actress Cybil Sheppard.

The house band for the evening is Big Bad Voo Doo Daddy, and a cappella gospel group Take 6 will give a performance during the show.

Tobias is most excited about one addition to the evening's festivities.

"This year, the decade awards are brand new," he said. "The ESPYS are usually to honor performances from the previous year.

"The decade award is to honor excellence throughout the 1990s."

The Arthur Ashe Award for courage, named for the late tennis great who died of AIDS after a faulty blood transfusion, will be given to Dave Sanders, a former coach at Columbine High School. Sanders was killed during last year's tragedy in Colorado when two students stormed the school and went on a shooting spree.

Sanders' wife and daughters will accept the award in his honor.

Tickets to the show starting at $50 are still available. The highest priced tickets remaining go for $750 and can be purchased through the MGM Grand box office.

But if you plan to attend the show and take pictures outside beforehand, be sure to arrive at the Garden early because doors will close promptly at 4:30 p.m.

A portion of all ticket sales will be donated to the V Foundation for Cancer Research, an organization started in 1993 by the late Jim Valvano that is dedicated to finding a cure for cancer.

Valvano, the legendary college basketball coach who led North Carolina State to the 1983 NCAA title, lost his battle with cancer the same year he started the foundation.

Valvano received the ESPY's first Arthur Ashe Award.