ESPN25

On September 7, 2004, ESPN celebrated its 25th anniversary. During the run-up to the anniversary, the network counted down the top sports moments of the last 25 years (the "ESPN era"). The list featured concentrated almost exclusively on moments involving Americans. Each Tuesday, a new 25-to-1 list was unveiled, as was the next headline in that 25-to-1 countdown. In addition, each day during SportsCenter, the next moment in the list of the top 100 moments of the ESPN era was shown. The celebration concluded by declaring the Miracle on Ice hockey game between the United States and the Soviet Union at the 1980 Olympics the #1 moment, game, and headline of the last 25 years.

The Headlines

ESPN also had a weekly series, "The Headlines", hosted by Bob Ley, counting down the top 25 stories since 1979, "stories that at some point jumped off the sports page, and onto the front page."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Miracle on Ice
• O.J. Accused of Murder
• Tiger Wins 1997 Masters
• Magic is HIV Positive
• Baseball Bans Pete Rose
• McGwire and Sosa Chase Maris
• Kobe Bryant Charged with Sexual Assault
• Sept. 11 Attacks Shut Down Sports
• Arthur Ashe Announces He Has AIDS
• Bird and Magic Revitalize the NBA
• Ripken Eclipses Gehrig
• U.S. Boycotts Moscow Olympics
• Strike Cancels World Series
• Armstrong Wins Tour de France
• Earnhardt Dies at Daytona
• Bias Dies of Cocaine Overdose
• Ben Johnson Stripped of Gold Medal
• Venus & Serena Dominate Tennis
• Tyson Convicted of Rape
• U.S. Captures Women's World Cup
• Kerrigan Attacked
• Seles Attacked During Match
• Indiana Fires Bob Knight
• The Jordan Era Ends
• The Dream Team