About this season
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 (70)
65. Casey Stengel
Aired 3 October 2000 • 30 min
1. 1900-49
Aired 21 January 1999 • 30 min
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.
2. No. 50 -- Chris Evert
Aired 22 January 1999 • 30 min
3. No. 49 -- O.J. Simpson
Aired 29 January 1999 • 30 min
4. No. 48 -- Pete Sampras
Aired 5 February 1999 • 30 min
5. No. 47 -- Edwin Moses
Aired 12 February 1999 • 30 min
6. No. 46 -- Eric Heiden
Aired 19 February 1999 • 30 min
7. No. 45 -- Bill Tilden
Aired 26 February 1999 • 30 min
8. SportsCenter of the Decade: 1950s
Aired 9 March 1999 • 30 min
9. No. 44 -- Bobby Jones
Aired 12 March 1999 • 30 min
10. No. 43 -- Julius Erving
Aired 19 March 1999 • 30 min
11. No. 42 -- Sandy Koufax
Aired 2 April 1999 • 30 min
12. No. 41 -- Wilma Rudolph
Aired 9 April 1999 • 30 min
13. No. 40 -- Lawrence Taylor
Aired 16 April 1999 • 30 min
14. No. 39 -- Walter Payton
Aired 23 April 1999 • 30 min
15. No. 38 -- Ben Hogan
Aired 30 April 1999 • 30 min
16. No. 37 -- Mickey Mantle
Aired 7 May 1999 • 30 min
17. SportsCenter of the Decade: 1960s
Aired 21 May 1999 • 30 min
18. No. 36 -- Oscar Robertson
Aired 14 May 1999 • 30 min
19. The Greatest Coaches of the Century
Aired 22 May 1999 • 30 min
20. No. 35 -- Secretariat
Aired 21 May 1999 • 30 min
21. Most Influential People in Sports
Aired 23 May 1999 • 30 min
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
Aired 30 May 1999 • 30 min
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
Aired 28 May 1999 • 30 min
24. No. 33 -- Mark Spitz
Aired 4 June 1999 • 30 min
25. Greatest Games
Aired 5 June 1999 • 30 min
26. No. 32 -- Johnny Unitas
Aired 11 June 1999 • 30 min
27. No. 31 -- Bobby Orr
Aired 18 June 1999 • 30 min
28. No. 30 -- Larry Bird
Aired 25 June 1999 • 30 min
29. SportsCenter of the Decade: 1970s
Aired 9 July 1999 • 30 min
30. No. 29 -- Arnold Palmer
Aired 2 July 1999 • 30 min
31. No. 28 -- Red Grange
Aired 9 July 1999 • 30 min
32. No. 27 -- Jerry Rice
Aired 16 July 1999 • 30 min
33. No. 26 -- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Aired 23 July 1999 • 30 min
34. No. 25 -- Joe Montana
Aired 30 July 1999 • 30 min
35. No. 24 -- Sugar Ray Robinson
Aired 30 July 1999 • 30 min
36. No. 23 -- Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Aired 6 August 1999 • 30 min
37. No. 22 -- Joe DiMaggio
Aired 20 August 1999 • 30 min
38. SportsCenter of the Decade: 1980s
Aired 17 September 1999 • 30 min
39. No. 21 -- Gordie Howe
Aired 3 September 1999 • 30 min
40. No. 20 -- Ty Cobb
Aired 17 September 1999 • 30 min
41. No. 19 -- Martina Navratilova
Aired 24 September 1999 • 30 min
42. No. 18 -- Bill Russell
Aired 1 October 1999 • 30 min
43. No. 17 -- Magic Johnson
Aired 8 October 1999 • 30 min
44. No. 16 -- Ted Williams
Aired 8 October 1999 • 30 min
45. No. 15 -- Jackie Robinson
Aired 15 October 1999 • 30 min
46. No. 14 -- Hank Aaron
Aired 29 October 1999 • 30 min
47. No. 13 -- Wilt Chamberlain
Aired 29 October 1999 • 30 min
48. No. 12 -- Carl Lewis
Aired 5 November 1999 • 30 min
49. No. 11 -- Joe Louis
Aired 19 November 1999 • 30 min
50. No. 10 -- Babe Didrikson
Aired 3 December 1999 • 30 min
51. No. 9 -- Jack Nicklaus
Aired 3 December 1999 • 30 min
52. No. 8 -- Willie Mays
Aired 10 December 1999 • 30 min
53. No. 7 -- Jim Thorpe
Aired 10 December 1999 • 30 min
54. No. 6 -- Jesse Owens
Aired 17 December 1999 • 30 min
55. No. 5 -- Wayne Gretzky
Aired 17 December 1999 • 30 min
56. No. 4 -- Jim Brown
Aired 24 December 1999 • 30 min
57. No. 3 -- Muhammad Ali
Aired 24 December 1999 • 30 min
58. No. 2 -- Babe Ruth
Aired 26 December 1999 • 30 min
59. No. 1 -- Michael Jordan
Aired 26 December 1999 • 30 min
60. SportsCenter of the Decade: 1990s
Aired 26 March 2000 • 30 min
61. Yogi Berra
Aired 13 October 2003 • 30 min
62. Derek Jeter
Aired 17 October 2003 • 30 min
63. Brian Piccolo
Aired 2 November 2001 • 30 min
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
Aired 2 November 2001 • 30 min
102. No. 50 - Chris Evert
Aired 22 January 1999 • 30 min
103. Joe DiMaggio
Aired 10 July 2000 • 30 min
104. Willie Mays
Aired 25 July 2000 • 30 min
105. Billy Martin
Aired 7 August 2000 • 30 min
106. Don Larsen
Aired 23 October 2000 • 30 min