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