SportsCentury is an ESPN biography television program that reviews the people and events that defined sports in North America throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, using stock footage, photographs and on-camera interviews.
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 through #100. Ultimately, the series featured just over half of the athletes from #51 to #100, and instead expanded to include over 150 other athletes, coaches, owners, personalities, and notable moments in sports history. Acknowledgements were given to athletes that were notable for more recent accomplishments, even if they spent only a small part of their career in the 20th century (e.g., Tiger Woods, Tom Brady), or were recently deceased (e.g. Pat Tillman, Dale Earnhardt). Special subsets of episodes were created revolving around a particular event, including athletes associated with the particular sport. They would typically air in the days leading up to those events. (e.g., Winter Olympics, golf majors, Indianapolis 500, etc.)
ESPN Classic began to feature the program, with host Chris Fowler, as the highlight of its weeknight prime-time programing, airing five nights a week. After cycling through the entire series several times, and after debuting several new episodes, it was removed as a nightly program. , reruns of the documentary series airs Monday through Friday at 4 p.m. Eastern time. The last original program was that of Shaquille O'Neal, which aired in November 2007.
Controversy The final order of choices led to debate, some of which came from the SportsCentury camp. Bob Costas, one of the series' voters, said, "I had Babe Ruth as my number one, but I think the list they came up with was a good one. Everybody more or less deserved to be there." ESPN writer Bud Morgan conceded that the Secretariat pick "was kind of controversial because a lot of people took the attitude 'What is a four-legged animal doing on this list?'"
Tony Kornheiser, whose ballot was topped by Ruth, Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan, said, "I can't conceive of how Ruth didn't finish number one. He had the greatest impact of anybody on a sport by far... Michael Jordan didn't have as many championships as Bill Russell and didn't score as many points as Wilt Chamberlain, and really didn't do anything to advance his sport, so maybe in retrospect I upgraded him a bit too much because the way he performed was so spectacular, and because of television I got to see highlights. They may have overpersuaded a lot of us... Did Jim Thorpe get the praise he deserved? Probably not, because there weren't enough people old enough to really remember him."
ESPN anchor Charley Steiner said "I think picking [Jordan] number one was a generational decision, not a historical one. Babe Ruth deserved it more."Miller, James and Shales, Tom, Those Guys Have All the Fun, Little Brown & Co., 2011, pgs. 420–422
Don King lawsuit In 2005, Don King and his promotional company, Don King Productions, Inc. filed a $2.5 billion defamation suit against the Walt Disney Company, the current owners of ESPN and ABC Cable Networks Group, and Advocate Communications, after a documentary alleged that King had "killed, not once, but twice", threatened to break Larry Holmes' legs, had a hospital invest into a film that was never made, cheated Meldrick Taylor out of $1 million, and then threatened to have Taylor killed. Though the documentary repeated many claims that were already made, King said he had now had enough. King's attorney said "It was slanted to show Don in the worst way. It was one-sided from day one, Don is a strong man, but he has been hurt by this."
The case was dismissed on summary judgment with a finding that King could not show "actual malice" from the defendants, and that King had failed to prove that any of the challenged statements were false. The judgement also pointed out that the studio had tried on a number of occasions to interview King for the documentary, but he had declined; while not suggesting that King had a legal obligation to do so, the court sympathized with ESPN's circumstances on those grounds. King appealed the decision and, 3 years later, the Second District Court of Appeals upheld the summary judgement, but disagreed with the original finding that none of the statements were false. In any case, Judge Dorian Damoorgian ruled, "Nothing in the record shows that ESPN purposefully made false statements about King in order to bolster the theme of the program or to inflict harm on King".
Recognition SportsCentury won a Peabody Award in 1999 "for overall excellence in sports broadcasting."59th Annual Peabody Awards, May 2000.
SportsCentury: Top 50 American Athletes of the 20th Century (Original series)
Number Athlete Sport 1 Basketball 2 Baseball 3 Boxing 4 Football 5 Ice hockey 6 Track and field 7 Multiple sports 8 Baseball 9 Golf 10 Multiple sports 11 Boxing 12 Track and field 13 Basketball 14 Baseball 15 Baseball 16 Baseball 17 Basketball 18 Basketball 19 Tennis 20 Baseball 21 Ice hockey 22 Baseball 23 Track and field 24 Boxing 25 Football 26 Basketball 27 Football 28 Football 29 Golf 30 Basketball 31 Ice hockey 32 Football 33 Swimming 34 Baseball 35 Horse racing 36 Basketball 37 Baseball 38 Golf 39 Football 40 Football 41 Track and field 42 Baseball 43 Basketball 44 Golf 45 Tennis 46 Speed skating, cycling 47 Track and field 48 Tennis 49 Football 50 Tennis
SportsCentury: 51–100
Number Athlete Sport 51 Boxing 52 Boxing 53 Track and field 54 Diving 55 Ice hockey 56 Baseball 57 Horse racing 58 Basketball 59 Tennis 60 Baseball 61 Baseball 62 Basketball 63 Baseball 64 Football 65 Tennis, golf 66 Horse racing 67 Baseball 68 Track and field 69 Speed skating 70 Football 71 Baseball 72 Football, baseball 73 Baseball 74 Football, baseball 75 Football 76 Football 77 Baseball 78 Track and field 79 Football 80 Auto racing 81 Tennis 82 Ice hockey 83 Baseball 84 Horse racing 85 Ice hockey 86 Football 87 Boxing 88 Football 89 Baseball 90 Auto racing 91 Track and field 92 Auto racing 93 Football 94 Basketball 95 Football 96 Track and field 97 Horse racing 98 Tennis 99 Golf 100 Boxing
Athlete statistics
By sport Baseball: 22 Football: 20 Track/Field: 12 Basketball: 11 Tennis: 8 Boxing: 7 Hockey: 6 Golf: 6 Horse racing: 5 (2 jockeys, 3 horses) Auto racing: 3 Swimming / Diving: 2 Speed skating: 2 Gymnastics: 1
By gender 89 male 8 female 3 thoroughbred horses
Additional SportsCentury episodes
Athletes
Affirmed & Alydar Andre Agassi Lyle Alzado Lance Armstrong Arthur Ashe Charles Barkley Chuck Bednarik Albert Belle Johnny Bench Yogi Berra Moe Berg Barry Bonds Terry Bradshaw Tom Brady Kobe Bryant Roy Campanella Jennifer Capriati Steve Carlton Rubin Carter Roger Clemens Cynthia Cooper Jim Craig John Daly Ernie Davis Oscar De La Hoya Dale Earnhardt Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dennis Eckersley John Elway Brett Favre Bob Feller Mark Fidrych Charlie Finley Carlton Fisk Peggy Fleming Tim Flock Curt Flood Richmond Flowers Doug Flutie Cheryl Ford George Foreman Bevo Francis Joe Frazier Dan Gable Kevin Garnett Zina Garrison Mark Gastineau Frank Gifford Jeff Gordon Steffi Graf Red Grange Rocky Graziano Hank Greenberg Florence Griffith Joyner Marvin Hagler Dorothy Hamill Mia Hamm Connie Hawkins Evander Holyfield Paul Hornung Sam Huff Allen Iverson Reggie Jackson Dan Jansen Bruce Jenner Derek Jeter Nile Kinnick Anna Kournikova Michelle Kwan Don Larsen Sugar Ray Leonard Ray Lewis Eric Lindros Sonny Liston Nancy Lopez Jerry Lucas Karl Malone Peyton Manning Pete Maravich Roger Maris Billy Martin (2-part) Pedro Martínez Gene Mauch Bill Mazeroski John McEnroe Mark McGwire Denny McLain Jim McMahon Rick Mears Phil Mickelson Archie Moore Randy Moss Alonzo Mourning Greg Norman Shaquille O'Neal Terrell Owens Pelé Brian Piccolo Jimmy Piersall Jacques Plante Gary Player Jim Plunkett Cal Ripken Jr. Frank Robinson Andy Roddick Dennis Rodman Seabiscuit Curt Schilling Willie Shoemaker Emmitt Smith Seattle Slew Sammy Sosa Latrell Sprewell Bart Starr Casey Stengel Tony Stewart Darryl Strawberry Maurice Stokes Picabo Street Isiah Thomas Pat Tillman Lee Trevino Mike Tyson Al Unser Sr. Bill Vukovich Bill Walton Bud Wilkinson Chris Webber Reggie White Jayson Williams Venus & Serena Williams Tyrone Willingham Tiger Woods Carl Yastrzemski Sourceshttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt0281438/episodes?ref_=tt_ql_6
Coaches, owners, and other personalities
Sparky Anderson Red Auerbach Bobby Bowden Larry Brown Bear Bryant Al Davis Woody Hayes Phil Jackson Willie Jeffries Don King Bob Knight Mike Krzyzewski Tom Landry Vince Lombardi Bill Parcells Rick Pitino Pete Rozelle Adolph Rupp Don Shula Dean Smith George Steinbrenner Bill Veeck Dick Vermeil John Wooden
Games, teams, and other special episodes 1972 Olympic Men's Basketball Final 1977 British Open Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals ("The Flu Game") Ball Four Epic in Miami (Chargers vs. Dolphins) New York Yankees Jerry's Cowboys Bears 46 defense Villanova vs. Georgetown (1985 NCAA Championship) Disciples of Jackie Robinson 1999 Ryder Cup
Special episodes
SportsCentury: Greatest Games of the 20th Century "Greatest Games" was a top ten countdown of the best games/matches voted on from a wide variety of team and individual sports. "The Greatest Game Ever Played" – (1958 NFL Championship): Baltimore Colts vs. New York Giants (1958) The Shot Heard 'Round the World – Bobby Thomson's home run (1951) Super Bowl III – New York Jets defeat Baltimore Colts (1969) Miracle on Ice – U.S.A defeats U.S.S.R. (1980) "Thrilla in Manila" – Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier (1975) "Ice Bowl" – Green Bay vs. Dallas (1967) Game 6 of the 1975 World Series – Carlton Fisk's home run (1975) Tiger Woods wins the Masters (1997) Willis Reed and Knicks beat Lakers in Game 7 (1970) Borg-McEnroe Wimbledon thriller (1980)
SportsCentury: Greatest Coaches of the 20th Century "Greatest Coaches" was a top ten countdown of the best coaches voted on from a wide variety of team sports Vince Lombardi John Wooden Red Auerbach Dean Smith Bear Bryant John McGraw George Halas Don Shula Paul Brown Knute Rockne
SportsCentury: Greatest Dynasties New York Yankees Boston Celtics Montreal Canadiens John Wooden's UCLA Bruins (1960s and 1970s) Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team (1946–1949) Dallas Cowboys (1990s) Atlanta Braves (1990s) Chicago Bulls (1990s) San Francisco 49ers (1980s)
SportsCentury: Most Influential Individuals Another top ten countdown special, focusing on influential figures in sports during the twentieth century, namely off-the-field contributors.
Branch Rickey Pete Rozelle Roone Arledge Marvin Miller Kenesaw Mountain Landis David Stern Avery Brundage Walter O'Malley George Halas Mark McCormack
SportsCentury: The Year in Review
1980 Year in Review 1981 Year in Review 1982 Year in Review 1983 Year in Review 1984 Year in Review 1985 Year in Review 1986 Year in Review 1987 Year in Review 1988 Year in Review 1989 Year in Review 1990 Year in Review 1991 Year in Review 1992 Year in Review 1993 Year in Review