SportsCentury Season 1
January. 21,1999
Trailer
Synopsis
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.
Episode 106 : Don Larsen
October. 23,2000
Episode 105 : Billy Martin
August. 07,2000
Episode 104 : Willie Mays
July. 25,2000
Episode 103 : Joe DiMaggio
July. 10,2000
Episode 102 : No. 50 - Chris Evert
January. 22,1999
Episode 64 : Brian Piccolo
November. 02,2001
Episode 63 : Brian Piccolo
November. 02,2001
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.
Episode 62 : Derek Jeter
October. 17,2003
Episode 61 : Yogi Berra
October. 13,2003
Episode 60 : SportsCenter of the Decade: 1990s
March. 26,2000
Episode 59 : No. 1 -- Michael Jordan
December. 26,1999
Episode 58 : No. 2 -- Babe Ruth
December. 26,1999
Episode 57 : No. 3 -- Muhammad Ali
December. 24,1999
Episode 56 : No. 4 -- Jim Brown
December. 24,1999
Episode 55 : No. 5 -- Wayne Gretzky
December. 17,1999
Episode 54 : No. 6 -- Jesse Owens
December. 17,1999
Episode 53 : No. 7 -- Jim Thorpe
December. 10,1999
Episode 52 : No. 8 -- Willie Mays
December. 10,1999
Episode 51 : No. 9 -- Jack Nicklaus
December. 03,1999
Episode 50 : No. 10 -- Babe Didrikson
December. 03,1999
Episode 49 : No. 11 -- Joe Louis
November. 19,1999
Episode 48 : No. 12 -- Carl Lewis
November. 05,1999
Episode 47 : No. 13 -- Wilt Chamberlain
October. 29,1999
Episode 46 : No. 14 -- Hank Aaron
October. 29,1999
Episode 45 : No. 15 -- Jackie Robinson
October. 15,1999
Episode 44 : No. 16 -- Ted Williams
October. 08,1999
Episode 43 : No. 17 -- Magic Johnson
October. 08,1999
Episode 42 : No. 18 -- Bill Russell
October. 01,1999
Episode 41 : No. 19 -- Martina Navratilova
September. 24,1999
Episode 40 : No. 20 -- Ty Cobb
September. 17,1999
Episode 39 : No. 21 -- Gordie Howe
September. 03,1999
Episode 38 : SportsCenter of the Decade: 1980s
September. 17,1999
Episode 37 : No. 22 -- Joe DiMaggio
August. 20,1999
Episode 36 : No. 23 -- Jackie Joyner-Kersee
August. 06,1999
Episode 35 : No. 24 -- Sugar Ray Robinson
July. 30,1999
Episode 34 : No. 25 -- Joe Montana
July. 30,1999
Episode 33 : No. 26 -- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
July. 23,1999
Episode 32 : No. 27 -- Jerry Rice
July. 16,1999
Episode 31 : No. 28 -- Red Grange
July. 09,1999
Episode 30 : No. 29 -- Arnold Palmer
July. 02,1999
Episode 29 : SportsCenter of the Decade: 1970s
July. 09,1999
Episode 28 : No. 30 -- Larry Bird
June. 25,1999
Episode 27 : No. 31 -- Bobby Orr
June. 18,1999
Episode 26 : No. 32 -- Johnny Unitas
June. 11,1999
Episode 25 : Greatest Games
June. 05,1999
Episode 24 : No. 33 -- Mark Spitz
June. 04,1999
Episode 23 : No. 34 -- Lou Gehrig
May. 28,1999
Episode 22 : Greatest Dynasties
May. 30,1999
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.
Episode 21 : Most Influential People in Sports
May. 23,1999
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.
Episode 20 : No. 35 -- Secretariat
May. 21,1999
Episode 19 : The Greatest Coaches of the Century
May. 22,1999
Episode 18 : No. 36 -- Oscar Robertson
May. 14,1999
Episode 17 : SportsCenter of the Decade: 1960s
May. 21,1999
Episode 16 : No. 37 -- Mickey Mantle
May. 07,1999
Episode 15 : No. 38 -- Ben Hogan
April. 30,1999
Episode 14 : No. 39 -- Walter Payton
April. 23,1999
Episode 13 : No. 40 -- Lawrence Taylor
April. 16,1999
Episode 12 : No. 41 -- Wilma Rudolph
April. 09,1999
Episode 11 : No. 42 -- Sandy Koufax
April. 02,1999
Episode 10 : No. 43 -- Julius Erving
March. 19,1999
Episode 9 : No. 44 -- Bobby Jones
March. 12,1999
Episode 8 : SportsCenter of the Decade: 1950s
March. 09,1999
Episode 7 : No. 45 -- Bill Tilden
February. 26,1999
Episode 6 : No. 46 -- Eric Heiden
February. 19,1999
Episode 5 : No. 47 -- Edwin Moses
February. 12,1999
Episode 4 : No. 48 -- Pete Sampras
February. 05,1999
Episode 3 : No. 49 -- O.J. Simpson
January. 29,1999
Episode 2 : No. 50 -- Chris Evert
January. 22,1999
Episode 1 : 1900-49
January. 21,1999
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.
Episode 0 : Casey Stengel
October. 03,2000
