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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Cast
Seasons
- Ep 65
65.Casey Stengel
03-10-200030m - Ep 1
1.1900-49
21-01-199930mThe 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 A...
- Ep 2
2.No. 50 -- Chris Evert
22-01-199930m - Ep 3
3.No. 49 -- O.J. Simpson
29-01-199930m - Ep 4
4.No. 48 -- Pete Sampras
05-02-199930m - Ep 5
5.No. 47 -- Edwin Moses
12-02-199930m - Ep 6
6.No. 46 -- Eric Heiden
19-02-199930m - Ep 7
7.No. 45 -- Bill Tilden
26-02-199930m - Ep 8
8.SportsCenter of the Decade: 1950s
09-03-199930m - Ep 9
9.No. 44 -- Bobby Jones
12-03-199930m - Ep 10
10.No. 43 -- Julius Erving
19-03-199930m - Ep 11
11.No. 42 -- Sandy Koufax
02-04-199930m - Ep 12
12.No. 41 -- Wilma Rudolph
09-04-199930m - Ep 13
13.No. 40 -- Lawrence Taylor
16-04-199930m - Ep 14
14.No. 39 -- Walter Payton
23-04-199930m - Ep 15
15.No. 38 -- Ben Hogan
30-04-199930m - Ep 16
16.No. 37 -- Mickey Mantle
07-05-199930m - Ep 17
17.SportsCenter of the Decade: 1960s
21-05-199930m - Ep 18
18.No. 36 -- Oscar Robertson
14-05-199930m - Ep 19
19.The Greatest Coaches of the Century
22-05-199930m - Ep 20
20.No. 35 -- Secretariat
21-05-199930m - Ep 21
21.Most Influential People in Sports
23-05-199930mCounts 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...
- Ep 22
22.Greatest Dynasties
30-05-199930mThe 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,...
- Ep 23
23.No. 34 -- Lou Gehrig
28-05-199930m - Ep 24
24.No. 33 -- Mark Spitz
04-06-199930m - Ep 25
25.Greatest Games
05-06-199930m - Ep 26
26.No. 32 -- Johnny Unitas
11-06-199930m - Ep 27
27.No. 31 -- Bobby Orr
18-06-199930m - Ep 28
28.No. 30 -- Larry Bird
25-06-199930m - Ep 29
29.SportsCenter of the Decade: 1970s
09-07-199930m - Ep 30
30.No. 29 -- Arnold Palmer
02-07-199930m - Ep 31
31.No. 28 -- Red Grange
09-07-199930m - Ep 32
32.No. 27 -- Jerry Rice
16-07-199930m - Ep 33
33.No. 26 -- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
23-07-199930m - Ep 34
34.No. 25 -- Joe Montana
30-07-199930m - Ep 35
35.No. 24 -- Sugar Ray Robinson
30-07-199930m - Ep 36
36.No. 23 -- Jackie Joyner-Kersee
06-08-199930m - Ep 37
37.No. 22 -- Joe DiMaggio
20-08-199930m - Ep 38
38.SportsCenter of the Decade: 1980s
17-09-199930m - Ep 39
39.No. 21 -- Gordie Howe
03-09-199930m - Ep 40
40.No. 20 -- Ty Cobb
17-09-199930m - Ep 41
41.No. 19 -- Martina Navratilova
24-09-199930m - Ep 42
42.No. 18 -- Bill Russell
01-10-199930m - Ep 43
43.No. 17 -- Magic Johnson
08-10-199930m - Ep 44
44.No. 16 -- Ted Williams
08-10-199930m - Ep 45
45.No. 15 -- Jackie Robinson
15-10-199930m - Ep 46
46.No. 14 -- Hank Aaron
29-10-199930m - Ep 47
47.No. 13 -- Wilt Chamberlain
29-10-199930m - Ep 48
48.No. 12 -- Carl Lewis
05-11-199930m - Ep 49
49.No. 11 -- Joe Louis
19-11-199930m - Ep 50
50.No. 10 -- Babe Didrikson
03-12-199930m - Ep 51
51.No. 9 -- Jack Nicklaus
03-12-199930m - Ep 52
52.No. 8 -- Willie Mays
10-12-199930m - Ep 53
53.No. 7 -- Jim Thorpe
10-12-199930m - Ep 54
54.No. 6 -- Jesse Owens
17-12-199930m - Ep 55
55.No. 5 -- Wayne Gretzky
17-12-199930m - Ep 56
56.No. 4 -- Jim Brown
24-12-199930m - Ep 57
57.No. 3 -- Muhammad Ali
24-12-199930m - Ep 58
58.No. 2 -- Babe Ruth
26-12-199930m - Ep 59
59.No. 1 -- Michael Jordan
26-12-199930m - Ep 60
60.SportsCenter of the Decade: 1990s
26-03-200030m - Ep 61
61.Yogi Berra
13-10-200330m - Ep 62
62.Derek Jeter
17-10-200330m - Ep 63
63.Brian Piccolo
02-11-200130mA 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...
- Ep 64
64.Brian Piccolo
02-11-200130m - Ep 102
102.No. 50 - Chris Evert
22-01-199930m - Ep 103
103.Joe DiMaggio
10-07-200030m - Ep 104
104.Willie Mays
25-07-200030m - Ep 105
105.Billy Martin
07-08-200030m - Ep 106
106.Don Larsen
23-10-200030m
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