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SportsCentury Season 1

January. 21,1999

7.2

| Documentary

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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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SportsCentury Season 1 Full Episode Guide

Episode 106 - Don Larsen

First Aired: October. 23,2000

Episode 105 - Billy Martin

First Aired: August. 07,2000

Episode 104 - Willie Mays

First Aired: July. 25,2000

Episode 103 - Joe DiMaggio

First Aired: July. 10,2000

Episode 102 - No. 50 - Chris Evert

First Aired: January. 22,1999

Episode 64 - Brian Piccolo

First Aired: November. 02,2001

Episode 63 - Brian Piccolo

First Aired: November. 02,2001

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.

Episode 62 - Derek Jeter

First Aired: October. 17,2003

Episode 61 - Yogi Berra

First Aired: October. 13,2003

Episode 60 - SportsCenter of the Decade: 1990s

First Aired: March. 26,2000

Episode 59 - No. 1 -- Michael Jordan

First Aired: December. 26,1999

Episode 58 - No. 2 -- Babe Ruth

First Aired: December. 26,1999

Episode 57 - No. 3 -- Muhammad Ali

First Aired: December. 24,1999

Episode 56 - No. 4 -- Jim Brown

First Aired: December. 24,1999

Episode 55 - No. 5 -- Wayne Gretzky

First Aired: December. 17,1999

Episode 54 - No. 6 -- Jesse Owens

First Aired: December. 17,1999

Episode 53 - No. 7 -- Jim Thorpe

First Aired: December. 10,1999

Episode 52 - No. 8 -- Willie Mays

First Aired: December. 10,1999

Episode 51 - No. 9 -- Jack Nicklaus

First Aired: December. 03,1999

Episode 50 - No. 10 -- Babe Didrikson

First Aired: December. 03,1999

Episode 49 - No. 11 -- Joe Louis

First Aired: November. 19,1999

Episode 48 - No. 12 -- Carl Lewis

First Aired: November. 05,1999

Episode 47 - No. 13 -- Wilt Chamberlain

First Aired: October. 29,1999

Episode 46 - No. 14 -- Hank Aaron

First Aired: October. 29,1999

Episode 45 - No. 15 -- Jackie Robinson

First Aired: October. 15,1999

Episode 44 - No. 16 -- Ted Williams

First Aired: October. 08,1999

Episode 43 - No. 17 -- Magic Johnson

First Aired: October. 08,1999

Episode 42 - No. 18 -- Bill Russell

First Aired: October. 01,1999

Episode 41 - No. 19 -- Martina Navratilova

First Aired: September. 24,1999

Episode 40 - No. 20 -- Ty Cobb

First Aired: September. 17,1999

Episode 39 - No. 21 -- Gordie Howe

First Aired: September. 03,1999

Episode 38 - SportsCenter of the Decade: 1980s

First Aired: September. 17,1999

Episode 37 - No. 22 -- Joe DiMaggio

First Aired: August. 20,1999

Episode 36 - No. 23 -- Jackie Joyner-Kersee

First Aired: August. 06,1999

Episode 35 - No. 24 -- Sugar Ray Robinson

First Aired: July. 30,1999

Episode 34 - No. 25 -- Joe Montana

First Aired: July. 30,1999

Episode 33 - No. 26 -- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

First Aired: July. 23,1999

Episode 32 - No. 27 -- Jerry Rice

First Aired: July. 16,1999

Episode 31 - No. 28 -- Red Grange

First Aired: July. 09,1999

Episode 30 - No. 29 -- Arnold Palmer

First Aired: July. 02,1999

Episode 29 - SportsCenter of the Decade: 1970s

First Aired: July. 09,1999

Episode 28 - No. 30 -- Larry Bird

First Aired: June. 25,1999

Episode 27 - No. 31 -- Bobby Orr

First Aired: June. 18,1999

Episode 26 - No. 32 -- Johnny Unitas

First Aired: June. 11,1999

Episode 25 - Greatest Games

First Aired: June. 05,1999

Episode 24 - No. 33 -- Mark Spitz

First Aired: June. 04,1999

Episode 23 - No. 34 -- Lou Gehrig

First Aired: May. 28,1999

Episode 22 - Greatest Dynasties

First Aired: May. 30,1999

The 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.

Episode 21 - Most Influential People in Sports

First Aired: 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.

Episode 20 - No. 35 -- Secretariat

First Aired: May. 21,1999

Episode 19 - The Greatest Coaches of the Century

First Aired: May. 22,1999

Episode 18 - No. 36 -- Oscar Robertson

First Aired: May. 14,1999

Episode 17 - SportsCenter of the Decade: 1960s

First Aired: May. 21,1999

Episode 16 - No. 37 -- Mickey Mantle

First Aired: May. 07,1999

Episode 15 - No. 38 -- Ben Hogan

First Aired: April. 30,1999

Episode 14 - No. 39 -- Walter Payton

First Aired: April. 23,1999

Episode 13 - No. 40 -- Lawrence Taylor

First Aired: April. 16,1999

Episode 12 - No. 41 -- Wilma Rudolph

First Aired: April. 09,1999

Episode 11 - No. 42 -- Sandy Koufax

First Aired: April. 02,1999

Episode 10 - No. 43 -- Julius Erving

First Aired: March. 19,1999

Episode 9 - No. 44 -- Bobby Jones

First Aired: March. 12,1999

Episode 8 - SportsCenter of the Decade: 1950s

First Aired: March. 09,1999

Episode 7 - No. 45 -- Bill Tilden

First Aired: February. 26,1999

Episode 6 - No. 46 -- Eric Heiden

First Aired: February. 19,1999

Episode 5 - No. 47 -- Edwin Moses

First Aired: February. 12,1999

Episode 4 - No. 48 -- Pete Sampras

First Aired: February. 05,1999

Episode 3 - No. 49 -- O.J. Simpson

First Aired: January. 29,1999

Episode 2 - No. 50 -- Chris Evert

First Aired: January. 22,1999

Episode 1 - 1900-49

First Aired: January. 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.