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.
1900-49
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.
No. 50 -- Chris Evert
Jan 22, 1999
No description available.
No. 49 -- O.J. Simpson
Jan 29, 1999
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No. 48 -- Pete Sampras
Feb 5, 1999
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No. 47 -- Edwin Moses
Feb 12, 1999
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No. 46 -- Eric Heiden
Feb 19, 1999
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No. 45 -- Bill Tilden
Feb 26, 1999
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SportsCenter of the Decade: 1950s
Mar 9, 1999
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No. 44 -- Bobby Jones
Mar 12, 1999
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No. 43 -- Julius Erving
Mar 19, 1999
No description available.
No. 42 -- Sandy Koufax
Apr 2, 1999
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No. 41 -- Wilma Rudolph
Apr 9, 1999
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No. 40 -- Lawrence Taylor
Apr 16, 1999
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No. 39 -- Walter Payton
Apr 23, 1999
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No. 38 -- Ben Hogan
Apr 30, 1999
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No. 37 -- Mickey Mantle
May 7, 1999
No description available.
SportsCenter of the Decade: 1960s
May 21, 1999
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No. 36 -- Oscar Robertson
May 14, 1999
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The Greatest Coaches of the Century
May 22, 1999
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No. 35 -- Secretariat
May 21, 1999
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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.
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.
No. 34 -- Lou Gehrig
May 28, 1999
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No. 33 -- Mark Spitz
Jun 4, 1999
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Greatest Games
Jun 5, 1999
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No. 32 -- Johnny Unitas
Jun 11, 1999
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No. 31 -- Bobby Orr
Jun 18, 1999
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No. 30 -- Larry Bird
Jun 25, 1999
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SportsCenter of the Decade: 1970s
Jul 9, 1999
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No. 29 -- Arnold Palmer
Jul 2, 1999
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No. 28 -- Red Grange
Jul 9, 1999
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No. 27 -- Jerry Rice
Jul 16, 1999
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No. 26 -- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Jul 23, 1999
No description available.
No. 25 -- Joe Montana
Jul 30, 1999
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No. 24 -- Sugar Ray Robinson
Jul 30, 1999
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No. 23 -- Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Aug 6, 1999
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No. 22 -- Joe DiMaggio
Aug 20, 1999
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SportsCenter of the Decade: 1980s
Sep 17, 1999
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No. 21 -- Gordie Howe
Sep 3, 1999
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No. 20 -- Ty Cobb
Sep 17, 1999
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No. 19 -- Martina Navratilova
Sep 24, 1999
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No. 18 -- Bill Russell
Oct 1, 1999
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No. 17 -- Magic Johnson
Oct 8, 1999
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No. 16 -- Ted Williams
Oct 8, 1999
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No. 15 -- Jackie Robinson
Oct 15, 1999
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No. 14 -- Hank Aaron
Oct 29, 1999
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No. 13 -- Wilt Chamberlain
Oct 29, 1999
No description available.
No. 12 -- Carl Lewis
Nov 5, 1999
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No. 11 -- Joe Louis
Nov 19, 1999
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No. 10 -- Babe Didrikson
Dec 3, 1999
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No. 9 -- Jack Nicklaus
Dec 3, 1999
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No. 8 -- Willie Mays
Dec 10, 1999
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No. 7 -- Jim Thorpe
Dec 10, 1999
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No. 6 -- Jesse Owens
Dec 17, 1999
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No. 5 -- Wayne Gretzky
Dec 17, 1999
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No. 4 -- Jim Brown
Dec 24, 1999
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No. 3 -- Muhammad Ali
Dec 24, 1999
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No. 2 -- Babe Ruth
Dec 26, 1999
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No. 1 -- Michael Jordan
Dec 26, 1999
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SportsCenter of the Decade: 1990s
Mar 26, 2000
No description available.
Yogi Berra
Oct 13, 2003
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Derek Jeter
Oct 17, 2003
No description available.
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.
Brian Piccolo
Nov 2, 2001
No description available.
Casey Stengel
Oct 3, 2000
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No. 50 - Chris Evert
Jan 22, 1999
No description available.
Joe DiMaggio
Jul 10, 2000
No description available.
Willie Mays
Jul 25, 2000
No description available.
Billy Martin
Aug 7, 2000
No description available.
Don Larsen
Oct 23, 2000
No description available.
