Who's Now
"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, 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.
Broadcast schedule
One matchup from each bracket per day.
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.
The complete bracket
Michael Jordan region
Muhammed Ali region
Billie Jean King region
Babe Ruth region
Final Four
Theme song
The theme song was a special remix of the song "Big Things Poppin'" by rapper T.I..