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Series · 1999–2005Ended

SportsCentury

9.0·5 seasons·123 episodes·30 min avg.

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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01
1900-49
1900-49Up next
Jan 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.

02
No. 50 -- Chris Evert
No. 50 -- Chris Evert
Jan 22, 1999
03
No. 49 -- O.J. Simpson
No. 49 -- O.J. Simpson
Jan 29, 1999
04
No. 48 -- Pete Sampras
No. 48 -- Pete Sampras
Feb 5, 1999
05
No. 47 -- Edwin Moses
No. 47 -- Edwin Moses
Feb 12, 1999
06
No. 46 -- Eric Heiden
No. 46 -- Eric Heiden
Feb 19, 1999
07
No. 45 -- Bill Tilden
No. 45 -- Bill Tilden
Feb 26, 1999
08
SportsCenter of the Decade: 1950s
SportsCenter of the Decade: 1950s
Mar 9, 1999
09
No. 44 -- Bobby Jones
No. 44 -- Bobby Jones
Mar 12, 1999
10
No. 43 -- Julius Erving
No. 43 -- Julius Erving
Mar 19, 1999
11
No. 42 -- Sandy Koufax
No. 42 -- Sandy Koufax
Apr 2, 1999
12
No. 41 -- Wilma Rudolph
No. 41 -- Wilma Rudolph
Apr 9, 1999
13
No. 40 -- Lawrence Taylor
No. 40 -- Lawrence Taylor
Apr 16, 1999
14
No. 39 -- Walter Payton
No. 39 -- Walter Payton
Apr 23, 1999
15
No. 38 -- Ben Hogan
No. 38 -- Ben Hogan
Apr 30, 1999
16
No. 37 -- Mickey Mantle
No. 37 -- Mickey Mantle
May 7, 1999
17
SportsCenter of the Decade: 1960s
SportsCenter of the Decade: 1960s
May 21, 1999
18
No. 36 -- Oscar Robertson
No. 36 -- Oscar Robertson
May 14, 1999
19
The Greatest Coaches of the Century
The Greatest Coaches of the Century
May 22, 1999
20
No. 35 -- Secretariat
No. 35 -- Secretariat
May 21, 1999
21
Most Influential People in Sports
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.

22
Greatest Dynasties
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.

23
No. 34 -- Lou Gehrig
No. 34 -- Lou Gehrig
May 28, 1999
24
No. 33 -- Mark Spitz
No. 33 -- Mark Spitz
Jun 4, 1999
25
Greatest Games
Greatest Games
Jun 5, 1999
26
No. 32 -- Johnny Unitas
No. 32 -- Johnny Unitas
Jun 11, 1999
27
No. 31 -- Bobby Orr
No. 31 -- Bobby Orr
Jun 18, 1999
28
No. 30 -- Larry Bird
No. 30 -- Larry Bird
Jun 25, 1999
29
SportsCenter of the Decade: 1970s
SportsCenter of the Decade: 1970s
Jul 9, 1999
30
No. 29 -- Arnold Palmer
No. 29 -- Arnold Palmer
Jul 2, 1999
31
No. 28 -- Red Grange
No. 28 -- Red Grange
Jul 9, 1999
32
No. 27 -- Jerry Rice
No. 27 -- Jerry Rice
Jul 16, 1999
33
No. 26 -- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
No. 26 -- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Jul 23, 1999
34
No. 25 -- Joe Montana
No. 25 -- Joe Montana
Jul 30, 1999
35
No. 24 -- Sugar Ray Robinson
No. 24 -- Sugar Ray Robinson
Jul 30, 1999
36
No. 23 -- Jackie Joyner-Kersee
No. 23 -- Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Aug 6, 1999
37
No. 22 -- Joe DiMaggio
No. 22 -- Joe DiMaggio
Aug 20, 1999
38
SportsCenter of the Decade: 1980s
SportsCenter of the Decade: 1980s
Sep 17, 1999
39
No. 21 -- Gordie Howe
No. 21 -- Gordie Howe
Sep 3, 1999
40
No. 20 -- Ty Cobb
No. 20 -- Ty Cobb
Sep 17, 1999
41
No. 19 -- Martina Navratilova
No. 19 -- Martina Navratilova
Sep 24, 1999
42
No. 18 -- Bill Russell
No. 18 -- Bill Russell
Oct 1, 1999
43
No. 17 -- Magic Johnson
No. 17 -- Magic Johnson
Oct 8, 1999
44
No. 16 -- Ted Williams
No. 16 -- Ted Williams
Oct 8, 1999
45
No. 15 -- Jackie Robinson
No. 15 -- Jackie Robinson
Oct 15, 1999
46
No. 14 -- Hank Aaron
No. 14 -- Hank Aaron
Oct 29, 1999
47
No. 13 -- Wilt Chamberlain
No. 13 -- Wilt Chamberlain
Oct 29, 1999
48
No. 12 -- Carl Lewis
No. 12 -- Carl Lewis
Nov 5, 1999
49
No. 11 -- Joe Louis
No. 11 -- Joe Louis
Nov 19, 1999
50
No. 10 -- Babe Didrikson
No. 10 -- Babe Didrikson
Dec 3, 1999
51
No. 9 -- Jack Nicklaus
No. 9 -- Jack Nicklaus
Dec 3, 1999
52
No. 8 -- Willie Mays
No. 8 -- Willie Mays
Dec 10, 1999
53
No. 7 -- Jim Thorpe
No. 7 -- Jim Thorpe
Dec 10, 1999
54
No. 6 -- Jesse Owens
No. 6 -- Jesse Owens
Dec 17, 1999
55
No. 5 -- Wayne Gretzky
No. 5 -- Wayne Gretzky
Dec 17, 1999
56
No. 4 -- Jim Brown
No. 4 -- Jim Brown
Dec 24, 1999
57
No. 3 -- Muhammad Ali
No. 3 -- Muhammad Ali
Dec 24, 1999
58
No. 2 -- Babe Ruth
No. 2 -- Babe Ruth
Dec 26, 1999
59
No. 1 -- Michael Jordan
No. 1 -- Michael Jordan
Dec 26, 1999
60
SportsCenter of the Decade: 1990s
SportsCenter of the Decade: 1990s
Mar 26, 2000
61
Yogi Berra
Yogi Berra
Oct 13, 2003
62
Derek Jeter
Derek Jeter
Oct 17, 2003
63
Brian Piccolo
Brian Piccolo
Nov 2, 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.

64
Brian Piccolo
Brian Piccolo
Nov 2, 2001
65
Casey Stengel
Casey Stengel
Oct 3, 2000
102
No. 50 - Chris Evert
No. 50 - Chris Evert
Jan 22, 1999
103
Joe DiMaggio
Joe DiMaggio
Jul 10, 2000
104
Willie Mays
Willie Mays
Jul 25, 2000
105
Billy Martin
Billy Martin
Aug 7, 2000
106
Don Larsen
Don Larsen
Oct 23, 2000

Cast

3 credited
Chris Berman
Cast
Chris Fowler
Cast
Dan Patrick
Cast

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