ESPN SportsCentury
SportsCentury is an ESPN biography program that reviews the people and athletic events that defined sports in North America throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. In 1999, ESPN counted down the Top 50 Athletes of the 20th Century, selected from North American athletes and voted on by a panel of sports journalists and observers, premiering a new biography highlighting each top athlete every week throughout the year. The episodes for the top two athletes, Michael Jordan and Babe Ruth, appeared on a special combined edition broadcast on Christmas Day on ABC. The top two names were announced in no particular order, and the final positioning was announced at the conclusion of the two episodes. An additional list of numbers 51-100 were announced on the ESPN SportsCentury website. Themed specials such as Greatest Games, Greatest Coaches, Greatest Dynasties, and Most Influential Individuals were premiered throughout the year, as well as six SportsCenter of the Decade programs. After the initial run was complete, the episodes were rerun at various times on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Classic. The original plan for the series was to expand to include #51-#100. Ultimately, the series featured nearly every athlete from #51-#100, and numerous other personalities, especially those who were recently deceased, or notable for more recent accomplishments.
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Season 1
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1
E1
1900-49
The SportsCentury begins with this two-hour reflection of the major sports events that endeared themselves to the American conscience in the first half of the 20th Century. Dave Anderson, Dick Schaap, and Curt Gowdy sit around newspaper offices as the ""hosts"" in this newsreel-type retrospective.
Jan 21, 1999 · 30m -
2
E2
No. 50 -- Chris Evert
Jan 22, 1999 · 60m -
3
E3
No. 49 -- O.J. Simpson
Jan 29, 1999 · 30m -
4
E4
No. 48 -- Pete Sampras
Feb 5, 1999 · 30m -
5
E5
No. 47 -- Edwin Moses
Feb 12, 1999 · 30m -
6
E6
No. 46 -- Eric Heiden
Feb 19, 1999 · 30m -
7
E7
No. 45 -- Bill Tilden
Feb 26, 1999 · 30m -
8
E8
SportsCenter of the Decade: 1950s
Mar 9, 1999 · 120m -
9
E9
No. 44 -- Bobby Jones
Mar 12, 1999 · 30m -
10
E10
No. 43 -- Julius Erving
Mar 19, 1999 · 30m -
11
E11
No. 42 -- Sandy Koufax
Apr 2, 1999 · 30m -
12
E12
No. 41 -- Wilma Rudolph
Apr 9, 1999 · 30m -
13
E13
No. 40 -- Lawrence Taylor
Apr 16, 1999 · 30m -
14
E14
No. 39 -- Walter Payton
Apr 23, 1999 · 30m -
15
E15
No. 38 -- Ben Hogan
Apr 30, 1999 · 30m -
16
E16
No. 37 -- Mickey Mantle
May 7, 1999 · 30m -
17
E17
SportsCenter of the Decade: 1960s
May 21, 1999 · 30m -
18
E18
No. 36 -- Oscar Robertson
May 14, 1999 · 120m -
19
E19
The Greatest Coaches of the Century
May 22, 1999 · 30m -
20
E20
No. 35 -- Secretariat
May 21, 1999 · 120m -
21
E21
Most Influential People in Sports
Counts down the ten non-athletes who left the greatest impact on the sports world in the 20th Century. Profiles include: Walter O'Malley, Branch Rickey, Pette Rozelle, David Stern, Roone Arledge, and Marvin Miller.
May 23, 1999 · 120m -
22
E22
Greatest Dynasties
The teams that dominated their sport–the New York Yankees, Boston Celtics, Montréal Canadiens, UCLA Bruins, Notre Dame Fighting Irish–are profiled. So are the Dallas Cowboys, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Bulls, and San Francisco 49ers.
May 30, 1999 · 30m -
23
E23
No. 34 -- Lou Gehrig
May 28, 1999 -
24
E24
No. 33 -- Mark Spitz
Jun 4, 1999 · 30m -
25
E25
Greatest Games
Jun 5, 1999 -
26
E26
No. 32 -- Johnny Unitas
Jun 11, 1999 · 30m -
27
E27
No. 31 -- Bobby Orr
Jun 18, 1999 · 30m -
28
E28
No. 30 -- Larry Bird
Jun 25, 1999 · 30m -
29
E29
SportsCenter of the Decade: 1970s
Jul 9, 1999 · 30m -
30
E30
No. 29 -- Arnold Palmer
Jul 2, 1999 · 120m -
31
E31
No. 28 -- Red Grange
Jul 9, 1999 · 30m -
32
E32
No. 27 -- Jerry Rice
Jul 16, 1999 · 30m -
33
E33
No. 26 -- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Jul 23, 1999 · 30m -
34
E34
No. 25 -- Joe Montana
Jul 30, 1999 · 30m -
35
E35
No. 24 -- Sugar Ray Robinson
Jul 30, 1999 · 30m -
36
E36
No. 23 -- Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Aug 6, 1999 · 30m -
37
E37
No. 22 -- Joe DiMaggio
Aug 20, 1999 · 30m -
38
E38
SportsCenter of the Decade: 1980s
Sep 17, 1999 · 30m -
39
E39
No. 21 -- Gordie Howe
Sep 3, 1999 · 120m -
40
E40
No. 20 -- Ty Cobb
Sep 17, 1999 · 30m -
41
E41
No. 19 -- Martina Navratilova
Sep 24, 1999 · 30m -
42
E42
No. 18 -- Bill Russell
Oct 1, 1999 · 30m -
43
E43
No. 17 -- Magic Johnson
Oct 8, 1999 · 30m -
44
E44
No. 16 -- Ted Williams
Oct 8, 1999 · 30m -
45
E45
No. 15 -- Jackie Robinson
Oct 15, 1999 · 30m -
46
E46
No. 14 -- Hank Aaron
Oct 29, 1999 · 30m -
47
E47
No. 13 -- Wilt Chamberlain
Oct 29, 1999 · 30m -
48
E48
No. 12 -- Carl Lewis
Nov 5, 1999 · 30m -
49
E49
No. 11 -- Joe Louis
Nov 19, 1999 · 30m -
50
E50
No. 10 -- Babe Didrikson
Dec 3, 1999 · 30m -
51
E51
No. 9 -- Jack Nicklaus
Dec 3, 1999 · 30m -
52
E52
No. 8 -- Willie Mays
Dec 10, 1999 · 30m -
53
E53
No. 7 -- Jim Thorpe
Dec 10, 1999 · 30m -
54
E54
No. 6 -- Jesse Owens
Dec 17, 1999 · 30m -
55
E55
No. 5 -- Wayne Gretzky
Dec 17, 1999 · 30m -
56
E56
No. 4 -- Jim Brown
Dec 24, 1999 · 30m -
57
E57
No. 3 -- Muhammad Ali
Dec 24, 1999 · 30m -
58
E58
No. 2 -- Babe Ruth
Dec 26, 1999 · 30m -
59
E59
No. 1 -- Michael Jordan
Dec 26, 1999 · 30m -
60
E60
SportsCenter of the Decade: 1990s
Mar 26, 2000 · 120m -
61
E61
Yogi Berra
Oct 13, 2003 -
62
E62
Derek Jeter
Oct 17, 2003 -
63
E63
Brian Piccolo
A profile of the late Brian Piccolo, the 1964 ACC Player of the Year at Wake Forest and later a member of the Chicago Bears, where he formed a friendship with Gale Sayers that was depicted in the 1971 film “Brian's Song.” Piccolo died of cancer in 1970.
Nov 2, 2001 -
64
E64
Brian Piccolo
Nov 2, 2001 -
65
E65
Casey Stengel
Oct 3, 2000 -
102
E102
No. 50 - Chris Evert
Jan 22, 1999 -
103
E103
Joe DiMaggio
Jul 10, 2000 -
104
E104
Willie Mays
Jul 25, 2000 -
105
E105
Billy Martin
Aug 7, 2000 -
106
E106
Don Larsen
Oct 23, 2000