50 States in 50 Days

On Sunday, July 17, 2005, ESPN's "SportsCenter" debuted a segment called "50 States in 50 Days." Each day, for 50 days of the summer of 2005, a "SportsCenter" anchor traveled to a different state to discover anything and everything sports and what that particular state had to offer: people, history, and events - from the large scale (such as the Yankees-Red Sox Rivalry in Massachusetts featured on the first night because it is so well-known) to the much more obscure (such as cardboard boat racing in Arkansas); the latter being needed to fill out states with no obvious pro or college sports candidate during the series' late-summer run. The purpose of "50 States in 50 Days" was to "celebrate the uniqueness of each of our 50 states", as Kenny Mayne stated on Day 11 in Montana. It was also essentially a follow-up to ESPN's 25th Anniversary celebrations in 2004, this time celebrating America's sporting pastimes.

50 States in 50 Days was sponsored by Coca-Cola Zero, Bud Light, and American Express.

"50 States in 50 Days" began in Boston, Massachusetts on July 17 and ended with its final stop in Washington, D.C. on September 5, which was the 51st day (added at the end of the series, see below).

Ironically, the day the segment was supposed to showcase Louisiana was the day Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and other cities in the state. Due to the disaster, ESPN never showed the Louisiana segment.

Daily locations

A day-by-day schedule of the 50 States event, with the names of the anchors if available:
*July 17: Boston, Massachusetts (Fenway Park: New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox) Chris Berman and Stuart Scott
*July 18: Manchester, New Hampshire (New Hampshire Fisher Cats minor league baseball) Stuart Scott
*July 19: Nampa, Idaho ("Snake River Stampede" professional rodeo)
*July 20: Dyersville, Iowa (Field of Dreams) Scott Van Pelt
*July 21: Fairbanks, Alaska (World Eskimo-Indian Olympics)
*July 22: Staunton, Virginia (Foosball Spectacular: 4th annual "Thunder in the Mountains" event)
*July 23: Oakes, North Dakota (Cal Ripken Baseball Tournament)
*July 24: WaKeeney, Kansas (95th Annual Trego County Fair)
*July 25: Newport, Rhode Island (Swan American Regatta yacht race/Longest professional baseball game in history)
*July 26: Hood River, Oregon (U.S. Windsurfing National Championships) Neil Everett
*July 27: Lost Prairie, Montana (Skydiving Jump Meet) Kenny Mayne
*July 28: Philadelphia, Mississippi (Harness Racing at the Neshoba County Fair)
*July 29: Seattle, Washington (Freestyle disc Championship)Neil Everett
*July 30: Heber Springs, Arkansas (Cardboard Boat Racing Championship)
*July 31: Grand Blanc, Michigan (PGA Tour Buick Open)
*August 1: Durham, North Carolina (Durham Bulls minor league baseball)
*August 2: St. Louis, Missouri (Busch Stadium: Florida Marlins vs. St. Louis Cardinals) Dan Patrick
*August 3: Las Vegas, Nevada (National Darts Championship)Steve Levy
*August 4: Los Angeles, California (X Games XI) Linda Cohn
*August 5: Cody, Wyoming (Hot air balloon competitions)
*August 6: Maui, Hawaii (Hawaiian Canoe Racing Championships) Neil Everett
*August 7: Indianapolis, Indiana (NASCAR's Allstate 400 at The Brickyard)Brian Kenny
*August 8: Canton, Ohio (NFL Hall of Fame Game)Stan Verrett
*August 9: Atlanta, Georgia (Turner Field: San Francisco Giants vs. Atlanta Braves)John Barr
*August 10: Sturgis, South Dakota (Sturgis Motorcycle Rally)
*August 11: Surprise, Arizona (Surprise Fightin' Falcons of the Golden Baseball League)
*August 12: Ocean City, New Jersey (South Jersey lifeguard race)
*August 13: Memphis, Tennessee (Elvis 5K road race)
*August 14: Sparta, Kentucky (IRL Bluegrass 300)
*August 15: New York, New York (Rucker League basketball)
*August 16: Winooski, Vermont (Vermont Expos minor league baseball)
*August 17: Odessa, Texas ("Friday Night Lights" High School Team: Permian Panthers)
*August 18: Snowshoe Mountain, West Virginia (NORBA Mountain Biking)
*August 19: Wilmington, Delaware (Wilmington Blue Rocks minor league baseball)
*August 20: Machias, Maine (Blueberry Pie-Eating Contest)
*August 21: St. Paul, Minnesota (St. Paul Inline Skating Marathon)
*August 22: Chicago, Illinois (Wrigley Field: Atlanta Braves vs. Chicago Cubs/Chicago Air & Water Show)
*August 23: South Williamsport, Pennsylvania (Little League World Series) Chris McKendry
*August 24: Colorado Springs, Colorado (Armed Forces Women's Softball at Peterson Air Force Base)
*August 25: Jacksonville, Florida (Alltel Stadium: Preseason matchup between the Atlanta Falcons and Jacksonville Jaguars)Dan Patrick
*August 26: New Haven, Connecticut (Pilot Pen Tennis)
*August 27: Port Republic, Maryland (Jousting Tournament)
*August 28: Gueydan, Louisiana (Gueydan Duck Festival) George Smith (Never shown due to the events of Hurricane Katrina)
*August 29: Salt Lake City, Utah (Salt Lake Stingers Minor League baseball)Rece Davis
*August 30: Albuquerque, New Mexico (World Senior Racquetball Championship)
*August 31: Lincoln, Nebraska (Nebraska Cornhuskers football practice)
*September 1: Columbia, South Carolina (College Football: UCF vs. South Carolina) Rece Davis
*September 2: McAlester, Oklahoma (Prison rodeo)
*September 3: Auburn, Alabama (College Football: Georgia Tech vs. Auburn)
*September 4: Waukesha, Wisconsin (Highland Games)Brian Kenny

Notes/trivia

*The segment was also called "SportsCenter" Across America".
*The theme music was Canadian singer Bryan Adams' song "Open Road" from his album "Room Service".
*The segments from Louisiana did not air as part of the 11:00 p.m. show on August 28, nor on the next day's re-airings, due to the approach of and preparations for Hurricane Katrina.
*On the February 22, 2006 edition of the ESPN2 morning show "Cold Pizza", fill-in host Tom Rinaldi, who interviewed Cal Ripken, Jr. in the Maryland segment of "50 States in 50 Days", asked Ripken the same question he had asked him during the segment: "What is the state sport of Maryland?" The answer, to which Ripken incorrectly responded on the Maryland segment as well as on "Cold Pizza", was jousting.
*The September 1st and 3rd editions coincided with the season premiere of ESPN's college football coverage, which featured Steve Spurrier's first game as coach at South Carolina.

*The blueberry-pie eating contest that aired from Machias was also featured in promotions for X Games 7 in 2001. The pie crusts in those ads were shaped in the form of the letter "X."

External links

* [http://sports.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/fiftyfifty/index ESPN.com - 50/50 Index]
* [http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/fiftyfifty/news/story?id=2110899 50-50 Blog]