50 States in 50 Days
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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) to the much more obscure (such as cardboard boat racing in Arkansas). 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.
"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.
Daily locations
- July 17: Boston, Massachusetts (Fenway Park: New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox)
- July 18: Manchester, New Hampshire (New Hampshire Fisher Cats minor league baseball)
- July 19: Nampa, Idaho (Snake River Stampede professional rodeo)
- July 20: Dyersville, Iowa (Field of Dreams)
- 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)
- July 27: Lost Prairie, Montana (Skydiving Jump Meet)
- July 28: Philadelphia, Mississippi (Harness Racing at the Neshoba County Fair)
- July 29: Seattle, Washington (Freestyle disc Championship)
- 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)
- August 3: Las Vegas, Nevada (National Darts Championship)
- August 4: Los Angeles, California (X Games XI)
- August 5: Cody, Wyoming (Hot air balloon competitions)
- August 6: Maui, Hawaii (Hawaiian Canoe Racing Championships)
- August 7: Indianapolis, Indiana (NASCAR's Allstate 400 at The Brickyard)
- August 8: Canton, Ohio (NFL Hall of Fame Game)
- August 9: Atlanta, Georgia (Turner Field: San Francisco Giants vs. Atlanta Braves)
- 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: Williamsport, Pennsylvania (Little League World Series)
- 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)
- August 26: New Haven, Connecticut (Pilot Pen Tennis)
- August 27: Port Republic, Maryland (Jousting Tournament)
- August 28: Gueydan, Louisiana (Gueydan Duck Festival)
- August 29: Salt Lake City, Utah (Salt Lake Stingers Minor League baseball)
- 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)
- September 2: McAlester, Oklahoma (Prison rodeo)
- September 3: Auburn, Alabama (College Football: Georgia Tech vs. Auburn)
- September 4: Waukesha, Wisconsin (Highland Games)
- September 5: Washington, D.C.
Notes/trivia
- The segment was also called "SportsCenter Across America".
- The theme music was 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.
- On the June 8th, 2006 segment of SportsCenter, a preview for the upcoming Disney/Pixar movie Cars came up with the song "Life Is A Highway" by Rascal Flatts was playing in the background. Then, co-host Neil Everett jokingly exclaimed "It's 50/50 time!, I'm heading to Montana! Just kidding folks".
External links
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