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"Who's Now" was a daily series aired during SportsCenter throughout July 2007, in which viewers helped ESPN determine the ultimate sports star by considering both on-field success and off-field buzz. Based on fan nominations, ESPN Research selected 32 finalists to square off in a single-elimination bracket. The show received more than 5 million votes on ESPN.com,[1] and on August 5, 2007 ESPN announced that Tiger Woods was the winner. The show received heavy criticism from fans and sportswriters, citing it as nonsensical and irrelevant.[2]
[edit] Broadcast schedule
One matchup from each bracket per day.
[edit] Format
The athletes compete in a single-elimination, bracketed tournament (like the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship or a typical tennis tournament).
Participants were placed in one of four eight-way "regions" named for historic athletes that, in the judgment of ESPN, best exemplify the qualities of "now": Michael Jordan, Muhammed Ali, Babe Ruth, and Billie Jean King.
Oddly enough, fan voting was not the sole factor in deciding who moved one. The panel consisting of ESPN figureheads and pop culture icons (Jessica Biel, for example) counted for 30% of the vote. This was enough to overturn the fan decisions of Barry Bonds over Jeff Gordon.
[edit] The complete bracket
[edit] Michael Jordan region
[edit] Muhammed Ali region
[edit] Billie Jean King region
[edit] Babe Ruth region
[edit] Final Four
[edit] Theme song
The theme song was a special remix of the song "Big Things Poppin'" by rapper T.I..
ESPN aired the month-long series, The Greatest Highlight with Chris Berman during SportsCenter throughout February 2008, using a similar single-elimination, bracket-style format. Unlike Who's Now, which selected 32 finalists as mentioned above, The Greatest Highlight selected 16 finalists. Segment host Chris Berman announced on the March 2, 2008 editions of SportsCenter that the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team's Miracle on Ice was the greatest sports highlight of all time, receiving 59% of the fans' votes. The Boise State Broncos' Statue of Liberty play in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl was the runner-up with 41%.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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