SportsCentury
| SportsCentury | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Genre | Documentary |
| Written by | Michael Husain (11 episodes, 2001-2006) Pat Smith (1 episode, 1999) Michael Douglas Callan (1 episode, 2001) Michael Strom (unknown episodes) |
| Directed by | Michael Husain (2 episodes, 2001-2005) Michael Douglas Callan (1 episode, 2001) Sean Waters (1 episode, 2006) |
| Presented by | Chris Fowler |
| Composer(s) | Geoff Zanelli (8 episodes, 2000-2003) Gregg Lehrman (3 episodes, 2004-2005) Robert Leslie Bennett (2 episodes, 2000-2003) Pedro Bromfman (2 episodes, 2003-2005) Ramón Balcázar (1 episode, 2000) Robin Lynn (1 episode, 2000) Charles A. Wolschon (1 episode, 2003) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 261 |
| Production | |
| Cinematography | Jim Grieco (87 episodes, 1999-2006) Jared Manders (8 episodes, 2000-2005) Doug Longwill (5 episodes, 2001-2004) |
| Running time | 30—60 minutes |
| Production company(s) | ESPN |
| Distributor | ESPN, Inc. |
| Release | |
| Original network | ESPN |
| Original release | 1999 – 2007 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Beyond the Glory |
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. Using stock footage, on-camera interviews, and photographs of their athletic lives, who grew up.
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.)
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