List of SportsCenter segments and specials

This is a list of current and former "SportsCenter" segments seen since that show debuted on September 7, 1979.

egments

In-show

#

*4 Downs: The segment when professor John Clayton goes head-to-head with the quarterback Sean Salisbury on four different topics once a week during the football season.

B

*Barry's Best: Former NHL coach Barry Melrose picks his top hockey highlights of the night which are divided into the top goals, saves, and hits. With Melrose resuming coaching duties in the 2008-09 season with the Tampa Bay Lightning, this segment has been discontinued.
*Baseball Tonight Extra: Highlights of Major League Baseball games in progress. They are presented and shown by the evening's host and analyst of "Baseball Tonight".
*Budweiser Hot Seat: A figure (sports or non-sports) will be interviewed usually out-of-studio, in which they are asked to take sides on issues, teams, etc.
*Bud Light Freeze Frame: This is a Wednesday segment in which images (still photos) from the past week are shown, followed by an ESPN.com poll question and viewer Emails about the week's images.
*By the Numbers: Numerical stats. Example: 10—the number of World Series championships won by the St. Louis Cardinals.

C

*Call of the Day: Often seen during the "Top Ten" segment, this features a radio and/or television call from a play-by-play and/or color commentator benefiting from the day's sports highlight.
*Chris Berman's 2-Minute Drill: In this weekly segment, which airs on Fridays during the NFL season, Berman previews the week's top NFL matchups, and takes his picks from that week's key games (i.e. Chicago Bears vs. New England Patriots). "Swami Slate" (Berman's records for the week and season) and "Swami Sez" (Berman's game picks) are usually seen towards the end of the segment.
*Closing Number: This segment, which is seen at the end of the 6:00pm ET editions, shows the day's closing number. Example: 19,921, the number of "SportsCenter" broadcasts from Studio A of the ESPN studios (where the show was produced at from 1994-2004 before it moved to the Digital Center on 2004-06-07)
*Contender or Pretender: Usually an analyst(s) will debate whether a team can contend for a pennant, division, or championship.
*Coors Light Cold Hard Facts: A six pack of questions directed to an analyst on a certain sport.

D

*Diamond Cutters: Baseball analysts are asked questions involving baseball, similar to "Coors Light Cold Hard Facts" and "Gatorade Cooler Talk." This segment, which is sponsored by Chevrolet, is seen during the baseball season.
*Did You Know?: At the end of each show, an interesting and usually hardly known fact would be presented regarding a major issue in the sports headlines that day. This segment is now seen during (but not at the end of) the show on occasion.

E

*ESPN Deportes Update: An ESPN Deportes personality highlights the day in sports outside the U.S. This segment is seen in the late editions of "SportsCenter".

F

*Fact or Fiction: Usually an analyst(s) will debate whether something is plausible or not. Example: Sammy Sosa will make the Hall of Fame.
*Film Session:
*Football Fix: The segment that focuses on all of the day's news in either college football or the NFL. Seen during the football season.

G

*Gatorade Cooler Talk: Seen on "SportsCenter" and during ESPN's telecast of the NBA, this is where reporters of their respective sports are asked questions involving certain news, similar to "Coors Light Cold Hard Facts" and "Diamond Cutters."
*GMC Postgame: Stuart Scott, Steve Young, and Emmitt Smith recap the night's "Monday Night Football" game, along with highlights and analysis from the site of that night's game.
*Good Call, Bad Call: A Tuesday segment seen during the college football season with ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit. This segment is sponsored by Miller Lite.

H

*Hammerin' Hank: Hank Goldberg's NFL game picks. Seen on Sunday mornings during the NFL season.
*Hardly the Usual Top Ten (formerly the Not Top Ten): The 10 worst plays of the week in sports (the opposite of the aforementioned "Top Ten"). However, this had been "Hardly the Usual Top Ten" in later weeks, due to sponsorship from Mike's Hard Lemonade. In that case, some of the plays could be good as well as bad. In either case, the background music here was much more goofier than the normally upbeat background music in a standard Top Ten. This particular segment is now seen occasionally.
*Hummer Press Pass: This segment, first introduced in the spring of 2007, gave viewers an all-access pass to a certain school preparing for the upcoming college football season. Recently, this segment focused on a variety of different subjects, such as the MLB trade deadline winners and losers.

I

*Inside the Huddle: This segment is hosted by NFL insider John Clayton, in which he updates all the news and notes from around the league.

*"I love week ____": This segment, which was seen towards the end of the Sunday night edition of "SportsCenter" through the NFL season, was a barrage of thinly related football highlights linked together with awkwardly worded lyrics to the tune of the short-lived Coors Light commercials which were related to that week's action (the trademark line "...and twins!" was also featured in these highlight songs). This segment was discontinued after the 2005 NFL season and was replaced by the "NFL Blitz" segment, which in turn, debuted on the first week of the 2006 NFL season on September 10th of that year.

K

*Keys to Victory: Seen on Mondays after "Monday Night Football" during the NFL season, Sean Salisbury joins the show for post-game analysis. This segment, which is sponsored by GMC, ends with the "Keys to Victory" poll.
*King of the Night: Presented your way by Burger King. Seen on Tuesdays.

M

*Miller Lite Countdown to Kickoff: Seen towards the end of "SportsCenter Monday Kickoff" with ESPN NFL analyst and former Chicago Bears head coach Mike Ditka.

N

*"NASCAR Now" Pit Pass: News from the day in NASCAR, presented by the evening's host and analysts of "NASCAR Now". This segment is seen during the NASCAR (Nationwide Series and Sprint Cup) season.
*NFL Blitz: Airs every Sunday in the 11:00 p.m. ET edition during the NFL season, where Chris Berman and Tom Jackson show clips of some of the NFL games from that day, with Boomer and T.J. giving their analysis of the game, similar to "NFL Primetime". The segment is sponsored by Nike.
*NFL Field Pass: In this weekly segment, which airs on Thursdays and Fridays during the NFL season, the league's top games for the weekend are previewed. Contributors for this segment include John Clayton, Ron Jaworski, Mark Schlereth, and Sean Salisbury.
*NFL Quick Hits: Daily headlines from around the league. Seen during the NFL season.

O

*Open Mike: In this segment, which appears early in the week during the NFL season, ESPN NFL analyst and former Chicago Bears head coach Mike Ditka and former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin gave their respective takes on the NFL games from the past week.

P

*PTI's Big Finish: "Pardon the Interruption" hosts Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon (both of whom are referred to by the anchors as the "PTI Guys") debate one sports topic, followed by the "Big Finish." This segment, which debuted in the summer of 2005, is seen only on the 6 p.m. ET edition of "SportsCenter" every weeknight (except when PTI is pre-empted by other programming, such as golf).
*Pump Up The Volume: A segment where they show certain sports highlights, along with the radio call from the play-by-play announcers of the team benefiting from the highlight (i.e. a touchdown pass, field goal block, etc.).

Q

*Question of the Night: A segment in which the night's poll question, along with the choices, are seen on both "SportsCenter" and ESPN.com. Example: Who do you think Ohio State's opponent will be in the BCS title game? A. Michigan; B. Notre Dame; C. USC; D. Florida. Results of the poll question are shown either at the end of the show or at the end of the following night's show.

R

*Road Coverage: This segment, which is sponsored by State Farm, features a recap of the day's NASCAR Nationwide or Sprint Cup Series race and analysis. Seen during the NASCAR season.

*Spanning the Globe: A reporter or anchor stands in front of a graphic containing a map of the world and narrates segments on different sports issues transpiring throughout the U.S., as well as the rest of the world. The segment, which generally appears on Sundays, is hosted by ESPN Radio's Colin Cowherd.
*SportsCenter Express: A brief video recap of sports highlights from the day or night before.
*SportsCenter Home Video: This occasional segment, which debuted in the summer of 2006, features home video footage of a sports highlight (such as a last-second shot at the buzzer in a high school basketball game). The anchor then talks to one of the people who appeared in that home video highlight.
*SportsCenter Reset: A segment in which the anchors reprise the day's and night's top stories.
*Stock Up, Stock Down: Debuted 2008-08-11, this segment seen in the daytime editions of "SportsCenter" looks at the day's and/or week's (or weekend's) highs and lows of a certain sports star and/or team. (Example: Stock Up: Redeem Team's gold medal win at the 2008 Summer Olympics; Stock Down: Washington Nationals' 12-game losing streak)
*Sunday Conversation: An interview with a newsmaker. This segment, which is seen on the 11 p.m. broadcast on Sunday nights, is sponsored by Subaru.

T

*Take Your Pick: Usually an analyst(s) will pick who will win a regular season game, or a postseason game or series, similar to "Fact or Fiction" and "Contender or Pretender."
*The Bracket: An occasional segment where the Sklar Brothers debate a number of things and decide the "winner".
*The Buzz/Morning Buzz: Debuted 2008-08-11, this segment seen at the start of the daytime editions of "SportsCenter", features a brief summary of the day's top sports stories.
*The Vent: The segment, which debuted on 2006-07-11, features a sportswriter who reacts to the results of several poll questions on ESPN.com.
*The Week that Was: Segment seen on Sundays, which re-airs clips seen on the ESPN family of networks from the past week.
*Top Stories from ESPN.com: This segment, which is seen towards the end of the 6 p.m. edition, features the top sports news stories of the day from ESPN.com. This is also similar to "Top Ten".
*Top Ten (a.k.a. Top Plays): The 10 best plays of the day, week, month, or year in sports.

U

*Ultimate Highlight: A weekly segment that shows a montage of sports highlights from the past week, accompanied by a song from various musical artists or groups, such as Fall Out Boy, Black Eyed Peas, and Papa Roach. This segment, which is sponsored by Gatorade, is seen on the 11:00 p.m. ET "SportsCenter" broadcast on Sunday nights.

V

*Victory Lane: This weekly segment is hosted by NASCAR insider Mike Massaro, in which he recaps all off the happening following the previous race on Sunday.

W

*What 2 Watch 4: The final segment of most shows, which promotes broadcasts of key games or events either later in the day or in the coming days, many on ESPN. This is usually shown at the end of the show, after the last commercial break.
*Word on the Street:

Out of show

*SportsCenter 30 at 30: This is a short segment that appears for thirty seconds every thirty minutes in primetime from 7pm ET to 11pm ET. The anchor of this segment, which varies, delivers three big news stories and sometimes a highlight. Anchors of "30 at 30" have included Bill Pidto, John Buccigross, Scott Reiss and Matt Winer.
*SportsCenter In-Game: This segment appears during a live game telecast, when the studio host gives up to the minute highlights of a game going on, when someone scores or when something of importance happens.
*SportsCenter Minute: This is a short segment, very similar to "SportsCenter 30 at 30" (as shown above), that appears during a game that is broadcast on ABC. The current presenting sponsor for the "SportsCenter Minute" is Vizio.
*SportsCenter Right Now: This is a minute-long update on the hour during the afternoon hosted by one of the anchors of the upcoming "SportsCenter". This segment is also seen during the show.

pecial

There are special editions of "SportsCenter" that have aired recently (in chronological order):
*SportsCenter Old School ran from 2004-08-08 to 2004-08-12 to celebrate the show and the network's 25th anniversary and paired former "SportsCenter" hosts Craig Kilborn, Charley Steiner, Gayle Gardner, Greg Gumbel, and George Grande with current anchors Dan Patrick, Bob Ley, Stuart Scott, and Chris Berman. The show's graphics resembled those that appeared on ESPN in the early 1980s.

*50 States in 50 Days aired on "SportsCenter" from 2005-07-17 to 2005-09-05. The program visited every American state and the District of Columbia, covering various sporting events from the grassroots to the big leagues. The segment featuring Louisiana aired only once because it was scheduled for around the same time as Hurricane Katrina. The song, "Open Road" by Bryan Adams, was used as the theme song.

*My Wish is an annual week-long series of episodes on ESPN, usually in late June and/or early July. The first series aired on "SportsCenter" from 2006-07-09 to 2006-07-20, and ran through 10 episodes over two weeks. These features are about children with various illnesses that have their sports dreams fulfilled in conjunction with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The Walt Disney Company made a large donation to the foundation to help pay for the logistics of the segments. The children wrote about their experiences for ESPN.com. A full recap of the 2006 "My Wish" series aired on the 6pm ET edition of "SportsCenter" on 2006-07-27. "My Wish" returned with 5 new segments and aired from 2007-06-24 to 2007-06-28, again in conjunction with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. A full recap of the 2007 "My Wish" series aired on the 6pm ET edition of "SportsCenter" on 2007-06-29. The 2008 "My Wish" series was aired from 2008-06-29 through 2008-07-03, with a full recap aired on 2008-07-04. The song, "My Wish" by Rascal Flatts, is used as the theme song.

*ESPN the Weekend is an annual series of episodes on ESPN, usually in March. There are usually nine episodes during their time at the Walt Disney World theme park, two on Friday, three on Saturday, and four on Sunday. Various anchors appear on location at Disney World, while others remain at the network's Bristol, Connecticut studios.

*Who's Now was a daily series that aired throughout July 2007, in which fans and ESPN.com users helped "SportsCenter" determine the ultimate sports star by considering both on-field success and off-field buzz. Based on fan nominations, ESPN Research selected the 32 finalists, who then squared off in a single-elimination bracket. The segments began airing on 2007-07-01, concluding with the final results of "Who's Now", which were announced on the 2007-08-05 editions of "SportsCenter". Tiger Woods was selected as the winner of "Who's Now", receiving 65.1% of the fans' vote. LeBron James, who was the runner-up, received 34.9% of the fans' vote. The song, "Big Things Poppin'" by T.I., was used as the theme song.

*The Mitchell Report was released at 2pm ET on 2007-12-13 during this "SportsCenter Special", which was anchored by Karl Ravech and Bob Ley. This special broadcast ran for six hours, from 1-7pm ET. The early evening edition of "SportsCenter" (anchored by Chris McKendry and Brian Kenny), which aired an hour later than usual at 7pm ET, picked up that lead story.

*The Greatest Highlight with Chris Berman [http://sports.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/highlights/index] was a daily series that aired throughout February 2008, in which fans and ESPN.com users helped "SportsCenter" determine the greatest sports highlight of all time. Based on fan nominations, ESPN Research selected the 16 greatest sports highlights of all time, which then squared off in a single-elimination bracket. The final results of "The Greatest Highlight" were announced by segment host Chris Berman on 2008-03-02. The 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team's "Miracle on Ice" was selected as "The Greatest Highlight", receiving 59% of the votes. The Boise State Broncos' Statue of Liberty play in their 43-42 overtime win over the Oklahoma Sooners in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, which was the runner up, received 41% of the fans' votes.

*TitleTown USA was a month-long segment that aired throughout July 2008. This series began airing on the 4th of July, 2008 and ended 2008-07-28. "SportsCenter" visited 20 finalist cities during the month. Based on online fan voting, Valdosta, Georgia was the winning city of TitleTown USA. This segment was very similar to 2005's "50 States in 50 Days" segment. Switchfoot's song, "This Is Home", from "" movie soundtrack, was the theme song used for the TitleTown USA segment, which was sponsored by Verizon Wireless, Wendy's and Dick's Sporting Goods.

Other special editions

*SportsCenter Monday Kickoff is seen on Mondays during the NFL season, and runs for 16 weeks. It features highlights and analysis of NFL games from the day before, previews the night's "Monday Night Football" matchups, and all of the day's other sports news. The current presenting sponsor for "SportsCenter Monday Kickoff" is Miller Lite.

*SportsCenter Year in Review (a.k.a. Best of SportsCenter) is seen annually during the month of December, featuring a look back at the year that was in sports, including highlights of the top games of the year (such as the 2006 Rose Bowl), as well as the top news stories of the year. This program is also available on DVD; the 2006 version was sold exclusively at Wal-Mart.

*SportsCenter's Top Ten Games of the Year is also seen annually during the month of December, featuring a look back at the calendar year's top ten games, such as the World Series, the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, and the NCAA men's & women's basketball championships.

Vignettes

*"SportsCentury", which later became a documentary series on ESPN Classic, began as a multimedia series in 1998. These included one-minute sponsored vignettes tying significant sports events to the day they occurred. This ran through 1999-12-31.
*"SportsCenter" In 2004, ESPN contributed to the ESPN25 project by counting down the 100 most significant sports events and news stories of the previous 25 years.
*In 2007, ESPN aired "Ultimate NASCAR", a series of one-minute features of significant events in the history of NASCAR. It celebrated the return of coverage rights to the network. These vignettes re-aired through 2007-07-29, when ESPN aired the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. That race was also the network's first NASCAR Sprint Cup telecast since the Atlanta fall race in November 2000 (when the Sprint Cup Series was then known as the Winston Cup Series).
*"After Jackie" was a series of vignettes that honored the role sports has played in the struggle for civil rights in the United States. These one-minute pieces premiered on 2007-03-25 and aired until 2007-04-15, the exact 60th anniversary of the debut of Jackie Robinson in Major League Baseball. This series also led up to the Jackie Robinson commemorative baseball game that night between the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers. Between 2007-04-03 and 2007-04-07, the series was sponsored by Suzuki.
*At the end of the network's final "SportsCenter" of 1999 (December 31, 1999), ESPN played a special seven-minute video called Images of the Century (commonly referred to on various video sites as "ESPN SportsCentury" or similar variants) that recalled some of the most memorable images, plays, athletes, and calls of the previous century of sports. The song used for the video was "Dream On" by Aerosmith. (The "SportsCentury" video can be viewed [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3379432062150187224 here] .)
*"Remembering the House that Ruth Built" was a series of vignettes featuring significant events in the history of Yankee Stadium, the home of Major League Baseball's New York Yankees. The 2008 season was also the ballclub's last at Yankee Stadium, which opened in 1923. These 30-second pieces, narrated by "Baseball Tonight" host and "SportsCenter" anchor Karl Ravech, originally aired on the ESPN family of networks in March 2008. This series was sponsored by Bank of America.

ee also

*"SportsCenter"
*"Pardon the Interruption"
*List of SportsCenter anchors and reporters
*50 States in 50 Days
*Who's Now