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.
Episode 0
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Episode 1
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.
Episode 2
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Episode 3
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Episode 5
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Episode 7
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Episode 12
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Episode 17
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Episode 18
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Episode 19
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Episode 20
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Episode 21
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 22
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.
Episode 23
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Episode 24
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Episode 25
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Episode 26
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Episode 27
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Episode 40
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Episode 45
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Episode 51
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Episode 61
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Episode 62
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Episode 63
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 64
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Episode 102
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Episode 103
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Episode 104
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Episode 105
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Episode 106
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