SportsCentury 25 years old

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.

Credits

Cast

Name Character
Chris Berman He was 43 , now 68 years old
Dick Miller He was 70 , 90 years old when he died
Wade Boggs He was 40 , now 65 years old
Reggie Jackson He was 52 , now 77 years old
Joe Torre He was 58 , now 83 years old
Yogi Berra He was 73 , 90 years old when he died
Heywood Hale Broun He was 80 , 83 years old when he died
John Blanchard He was 98 , now 123 years old

Crew

Name Job title
SportsCentury poster
SportsCentury (25 years)

Ended

  • First Air Date: 1999-01-21
  • Runtime: [30] minutes
  • Number of Episodes: 123