SportsCentury
1999 · 5 seasons · 123 episodes · Ended · ESPN Classic
Documentary
TMDB 9.0 · 1 votes
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
- S01E65Casey Stengel2000-10-0330m
- S01E011900-491999-01-2130m
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.
- S01E02No. 50 -- Chris Evert1999-01-2230m
- S01E03No. 49 -- O.J. Simpson1999-01-2930m
- S01E04No. 48 -- Pete Sampras1999-02-0530m
- S01E05No. 47 -- Edwin Moses1999-02-1230m
- S01E06No. 46 -- Eric Heiden1999-02-1930m
- S01E07No. 45 -- Bill Tilden1999-02-2630m
- S01E08SportsCenter of the Decade: 1950s1999-03-0930m
- S01E09No. 44 -- Bobby Jones1999-03-1230m
- S01E10No. 43 -- Julius Erving1999-03-1930m
- S01E11No. 42 -- Sandy Koufax1999-04-0230m
- S01E12No. 41 -- Wilma Rudolph1999-04-0930m
- S01E13No. 40 -- Lawrence Taylor1999-04-1630m
- S01E14No. 39 -- Walter Payton1999-04-2330m
- S01E15No. 38 -- Ben Hogan1999-04-3030m
- S01E16No. 37 -- Mickey Mantle1999-05-0730m
- S01E17SportsCenter of the Decade: 1960s1999-05-2130m
- S01E18No. 36 -- Oscar Robertson1999-05-1430m
- S01E19The Greatest Coaches of the Century1999-05-2230m
- S01E20No. 35 -- Secretariat1999-05-2130m
- S01E21Most Influential People in Sports1999-05-2330m
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.
- S01E22Greatest Dynasties1999-05-3030m
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.
- S01E23No. 34 -- Lou Gehrig1999-05-2830m
- S01E24No. 33 -- Mark Spitz1999-06-0430m
- S01E25Greatest Games1999-06-0530m
- S01E26No. 32 -- Johnny Unitas1999-06-1130m
- S01E27No. 31 -- Bobby Orr1999-06-1830m
- S01E28No. 30 -- Larry Bird1999-06-2530m
- S01E29SportsCenter of the Decade: 1970s1999-07-0930m
- S01E30No. 29 -- Arnold Palmer1999-07-0230m
- S01E31No. 28 -- Red Grange1999-07-0930m
- S01E32No. 27 -- Jerry Rice1999-07-1630m
- S01E33No. 26 -- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar1999-07-2330m
- S01E34No. 25 -- Joe Montana1999-07-3030m
- S01E35No. 24 -- Sugar Ray Robinson1999-07-3030m
- S01E36No. 23 -- Jackie Joyner-Kersee1999-08-0630m
- S01E37No. 22 -- Joe DiMaggio1999-08-2030m
- S01E38SportsCenter of the Decade: 1980s1999-09-1730m
- S01E39No. 21 -- Gordie Howe1999-09-0330m
- S01E40No. 20 -- Ty Cobb1999-09-1730m
- S01E41No. 19 -- Martina Navratilova1999-09-2430m
- S01E42No. 18 -- Bill Russell1999-10-0130m
- S01E43No. 17 -- Magic Johnson1999-10-0830m
- S01E44No. 16 -- Ted Williams1999-10-0830m
- S01E45No. 15 -- Jackie Robinson1999-10-1530m
- S01E46No. 14 -- Hank Aaron1999-10-2930m
- S01E47No. 13 -- Wilt Chamberlain1999-10-2930m
- S01E48No. 12 -- Carl Lewis1999-11-0530m
- S01E49No. 11 -- Joe Louis1999-11-1930m
- S01E50No. 10 -- Babe Didrikson1999-12-0330m
- S01E51No. 9 -- Jack Nicklaus1999-12-0330m
- S01E52No. 8 -- Willie Mays1999-12-1030m
- S01E53No. 7 -- Jim Thorpe1999-12-1030m
- S01E54No. 6 -- Jesse Owens1999-12-1730m
- S01E55No. 5 -- Wayne Gretzky1999-12-1730m
- S01E56No. 4 -- Jim Brown1999-12-2430m
- S01E57No. 3 -- Muhammad Ali1999-12-2430m
- S01E58No. 2 -- Babe Ruth1999-12-2630m
- S01E59No. 1 -- Michael Jordan1999-12-2630m
- S01E60SportsCenter of the Decade: 1990s2000-03-2630m
- S01E61Yogi Berra2003-10-1330m
- S01E62Derek Jeter2003-10-1730m
- S01E63Brian Piccolo2001-11-0230m
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.
- S01E64Brian Piccolo2001-11-0230m
- S01E102No. 50 - Chris Evert1999-01-2230m
- S01E103Joe DiMaggio2000-07-1030m
- S01E104Willie Mays2000-07-2530m
- S01E105Billy Martin2000-08-0730m
- S01E106Don Larsen2000-10-2330m
