SportsCentury

SportsCentury

1999 · Documentary · 5 Seasons · 123 Episodes · 9.0

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.

Episodes

Season 1 Season 2 Season 3 Season 4 Season 5

E11. 1900-4930m · 1999-01-21The 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.E22. No. 50 -- Chris Evert30m · 1999-01-22 E33. No. 49 -- O.J. Simpson30m · 1999-01-29 E44. No. 48 -- Pete Sampras30m · 1999-02-05 E55. No. 47 -- Edwin Moses30m · 1999-02-12 E66. No. 46 -- Eric Heiden30m · 1999-02-19 E77. No. 45 -- Bill Tilden30m · 1999-02-26 E88. SportsCenter of the Decade: 1950s30m · 1999-03-09 E99. No. 44 -- Bobby Jones30m · 1999-03-12 E1010. No. 43 -- Julius Erving30m · 1999-03-19 E1111. No. 42 -- Sandy Koufax30m · 1999-04-02 E1212. No. 41 -- Wilma Rudolph30m · 1999-04-09 E1313. No. 40 -- Lawrence Taylor30m · 1999-04-16 E1414. No. 39 -- Walter Payton30m · 1999-04-23 E1515. No. 38 -- Ben Hogan30m · 1999-04-30 E1616. No. 37 -- Mickey Mantle30m · 1999-05-07 E1717. SportsCenter of the Decade: 1960s30m · 1999-05-21 E1818. No. 36 -- Oscar Robertson30m · 1999-05-14 E1919. The Greatest Coaches of the Century30m · 1999-05-22 E2020. No. 35 -- Secretariat30m · 1999-05-21 E2121. Most Influential People in Sports30m · 1999-05-23Counts 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.E2222. Greatest Dynasties30m · 1999-05-30The teams that dominated their sportâ€“the New York Yankees, Boston Celtics, MontrÃ©al Canadiens, UCLA Bruins, Notre Dame Fighting Irishâ€“are profiled. So are the Dallas Cowboys, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Bulls, and San Francisco 49ers.E2323. No. 34 -- Lou Gehrig30m · 1999-05-28 E2424. No. 33 -- Mark Spitz30m · 1999-06-04 E2525. Greatest Games30m · 1999-06-05 E2626. No. 32 -- Johnny Unitas30m · 1999-06-11 E2727. No. 31 -- Bobby Orr30m · 1999-06-18 E2828. No. 30 -- Larry Bird30m · 1999-06-25 E2929. SportsCenter of the Decade: 1970s30m · 1999-07-09 E3030. No. 29 -- Arnold Palmer30m · 1999-07-02 E3131. No. 28 -- Red Grange30m · 1999-07-09 E3232. No. 27 -- Jerry Rice30m · 1999-07-16 E3333. No. 26 -- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar30m · 1999-07-23 E3434. No. 25 -- Joe Montana30m · 1999-07-30 E3535. No. 24 -- Sugar Ray Robinson30m · 1999-07-30 E3636. No. 23 -- Jackie Joyner-Kersee30m · 1999-08-06 E3737. No. 22 -- Joe DiMaggio30m · 1999-08-20 E3838. SportsCenter of the Decade: 1980s30m · 1999-09-17 E3939. No. 21 -- Gordie Howe30m · 1999-09-03 E4040. No. 20 -- Ty Cobb30m · 1999-09-17 E4141. No. 19 -- Martina Navratilova30m · 1999-09-24 E4242. No. 18 -- Bill Russell30m · 1999-10-01 E4343. No. 17 -- Magic Johnson30m · 1999-10-08 E4444. No. 16 -- Ted Williams30m · 1999-10-08 E4545. No. 15 -- Jackie Robinson30m · 1999-10-15 E4646. No. 14 -- Hank Aaron30m · 1999-10-29 E4747. No. 13 -- Wilt Chamberlain30m · 1999-10-29 E4848. No. 12 -- Carl Lewis30m · 1999-11-05 E4949. No. 11 -- Joe Louis30m · 1999-11-19 E5050. No. 10 -- Babe Didrikson30m · 1999-12-03 E5151. No. 9 -- Jack Nicklaus30m · 1999-12-03 E5252. No. 8 -- Willie Mays30m · 1999-12-10 E5353. No. 7 -- Jim Thorpe30m · 1999-12-10 E5454. No. 6 -- Jesse Owens30m · 1999-12-17 E5555. No. 5 -- Wayne Gretzky30m · 1999-12-17 E5656. No. 4 -- Jim Brown30m · 1999-12-24 E5757. No. 3 -- Muhammad Ali30m · 1999-12-24 E5858. No. 2 -- Babe Ruth30m · 1999-12-26 E5959. No. 1 -- Michael Jordan30m · 1999-12-26 E6060. SportsCenter of the Decade: 1990s30m · 2000-03-26 E6161. Yogi Berra30m · 2003-10-13 E6262. Derek Jeter30m · 2003-10-17 E6363. Brian Piccolo30m · 2001-11-02A 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.E6464. Brian Piccolo30m · 2001-11-02 E6565. Casey Stengel30m · 2000-10-03 E102102. No. 50 - Chris Evert30m · 1999-01-22 E103103. Joe DiMaggio30m · 2000-07-10 E104104. Willie Mays30m · 2000-07-25 E105105. Billy Martin30m · 2000-08-07 E106106. Don Larsen30m · 2000-10-23

Cast