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{{Short description|US television program}}
{{Otheruses4|the American [[ESPN]] show}}
{{distinguish|text=[[Glossary of baseball terms#around the horn]]}}
{{Infobox Television | show_name=Around the Horn
{{about|the ESPN sports discussion show|the BBC radio comedy|Round the Horne}}
|image=[[Image:AroundtheHorn.JPG|200px]]
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
| format = [[Sports]] [[talk]] and [[debate]]
{{more citations needed|date=February 2016}}
| runtime = 30 minutes
{{Infobox television
| starring = [[Tony Reali]]
| image = Around the Horn logo 2018.jpg
various sports writers, notably [[Woody Paige]] and [[Jay Mariotti]]
| image_alt =
| country = [[United States|USA]]
| caption =
| network = [[ESPN]] (2002-)
| genre = [[Sports]] [[Talk show|talk]]<br />[[Panel show]]<br />[[Debate]]
| first_aired = [[November 4]], [[2002]]
| creator =
| last_aired = Present
| based_on =
| total_episodes = 800 (as of 08/14/06)
| developer =
| writer =
| director =
| creative_director =
| presenter = {{nowrap|[[Max Kellerman]] (2002–2004)<br>[[Tony Reali]] (2004–2025)}}
| starring = See [[#Panelists|panelists]]
| judges =
| voices =
| narrated =
| theme_music_composer = [[Umphrey's McGee]] (2014–2018)
| opentheme =
| endtheme =
| composer =
| country = United States
| language = English
| num_seasons =
| num_episodes = 4,953
| list_episodes =
| executive_producer = James Cohen<br />Erik Rydholm<br />[[Mark Shapiro (media executive)|Mark Shapiro]]
| producer = [[Dan Farmer]]<br />Aaron Solomon<br />Bill Wolff
| editor =
| cinematography =
| camera =
| runtime = 30 minutes (with commercials)
| company =
| network = [[ESPN]]
| first_aired = {{start date|2002|11|4}}
| last_aired = {{end date|2025|5|23}}
| related =
}}
'''''Around the Horn''''' ('''''ATH''''') is<!-- Do NOT change to "was", per MOS:TVNOW. --> an American sports [[Round table (discussion)|roundtable discussion]] show, conducted in the style of a [[panel game]], produced by [[ESPN]]. The show premiered on November 4, 2002, as a replacement for ''Unscripted with Chris Connelly'', and aired daily at 5:00 p.m. [[Eastern Time Zone|ET]] on ESPN. The program emanated from [[Washington, D.C.]], where it was located in the same facility as ''[[Pardon the Interruption]]'' (PTI). Production still is based in Washington.<ref>{{cite web | title=ESPN's 'Around the Horn' To Move to the Seaport Studios on Nov. 5 | website=Sports Video Group | date=2018-10-23 | url=https://www.sportsvideo.org/2018/10/23/espns-around-the-horn-to-move-to-the-seaport-studios-on-nov-5/ | access-date=2025-06-15}}</ref> The moderator for the show was [[Tony Reali]], who hosted the program since 2004, replacing [[Max Kellerman]], and also served as the statistician on ''Pardon the Interruption'' until the show's relocation to New York.
 
After ESPN announced the show's cancellation in November 2024, ''Around the Horn'' aired its final episode on May 23, 2025, concluding with 4,953 episodes over a near 23-year span.
'''''Around the Horn''''' is a daily, half-hour [[sport]]s talk program on [[ESPN]] filmed in [[Washington, D.C.]] It airs at 5:00 pm ET, in a sports talk hour with ''[[Pardon the Interruption]]''. ''Around the Horn'' premiered on [[November 4]], [[2002]]. Its official title is ''Around the Horn presented by [[Nissan]]''. The show celebrated its 800th episode on August 14, 2006.
 
==Broadcast history==
''Around the Horn'' follows a standard format. The host (originally [[Max Kellerman]] and now [[Tony Reali]]) moderates discussions of various sports topics among four different sports columnists and awards points for good arguments. In addition, he can mute columnists for 10 seconds, which also subtracts a point from their score. He can also subtract points for poor arguments or when contestants try to change the subject. At the end of the second and third rounds of discussion a columnist is eliminated, until only two are left for the final "Showdown" round. The winner of the showdown is given 15 to 30 uninterrupted seconds to comment on any topic they please in a segment called "Face Time" as well as be awarded a 'gold medal' that appears at the top-left corner of the screen.
[[File:Around the Horn logo.svg|thumb|left|''Around the Horn'' logo from its premiere to November 2, 2018.]]
''Around the Horn'' premiered on November 4, 2002.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/around-the-horn/199807/ |title=Around the Horn |magazine=[[TV Guide]] |access-date=October 30, 2017}}</ref> From its premiere until January 30, 2004, the show was hosted by [[Max Kellerman]], who at the time was largely known strictly as a contributor to ESPN's ''[[Friday Night Fights]]''. In late 2003, Kellerman announced that he would depart from the network for [[Fox Sports]];<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Issues/2004/02/Issue-99/Sports-Media/Muted-Around-The-Horn-Host-Max-Kellerman-Out-At-ESPN.aspx |publisher=Sports Business Daily |access-date=October 30, 2017 |title=Muted: "Around The Horn" Host Max Kellerman Out At ESPN |date=February 11, 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107004502/http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Issues/2004/02/Issue-99/Sports-Media/Muted-Around-The-Horn-Host-Max-Kellerman-Out-At-ESPN.aspx |archive-date=November 7, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://awfulannouncing.com/2013/max-kellerman-new-full-time-co-host-of-sportsnation.html |publisher=Awful Announcing |title=Max Kellerman new full time co-host of SportsNation |access-date=October 30, 2017 |author=Matt Yoder |date=June 24, 2013}}</ref> after the show tried out several replacements, current host Tony Reali was named the permanent host on February 2, 2004, three days after Kellerman's last episode aired.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://heavy.com/entertainment/2014/09/tony-reali-gma-good-morning-america-wife-sami-baby-salary-net-worth/ |publisher=Heavy.com |title=Tony Reali, 'Good Morning America': 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know |author=Lauren Weigle |date=September 7, 2014}}</ref> As of September 23, 2019, [[Woody Paige]] has the most wins in the history of the show, with more than six hundred.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://thebiglead.com/2017/08/16/who-is-on-the-all-time-around-the-horn-panel/ |title=thebiglead.com/2017/08/16/who-is-on-the-all-time-around-the-horn-panel/ |publisher=The Big Lead |author=Kyle Koster |date=August 16, 2017}}</ref> Despite early negative reviews due to its now-defunct argumentative formatting,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/16/sports/tv-sports-this-debate-show-is-all-con.html |newspaper=New York Times |title=TV SPORTS; This Debate Show Is All Con |author=RICHARD SANDOMIR |date=July 16, 2004}}</ref> the show went on to last 23 years on the air, becoming a staple on ESPN.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.si.com/more-sports/2014/09/07/tony-reali-around-horn-pti-espn-good-morning-america |title=Nice Guys Finish First: An unorthodox TV arc for ESPN's Tony Reali |date=September 7, 2014 |magazine=Sports Illustrated |author=Richard Deitsch}}</ref> The show became less combative and more playful over the years, and in 2018, changed its look with augmented reality of the panel with Reali standing in an enhanced studio at ESPN's [[South Street Seaport]] studios with a continuation of the relaxed tone of the show since the mid-2010s.
 
The show went on hiatus from March 16, 2020 to May 8, 2020, as a result of a national emergency being declared due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], which caused the suspension of sports leagues around the world. Between May 11, 2020 and July 10, 2020, ''Around the Horn'' aired for 20 minutes with commercials at 4:40 p.m. EDT as ''Around the Home'' under a new format where Tony Reali, along with three panelists, discussed sports issues from their own homes. The ''Around the Home'' format became semipermanent beginning with the July 13, 2020 episode, which saw the show expand back to its normal length. The show returned to its regular format when it returned to the studio in September 2020.
==Rounds==
* '''Introduction''': Usuallyu opens with Tony saying "Welcome to the show of competitive banter." The panelists are introduced and given a first word. Most of the panelists use this time for jokes or criticism of the host or other panelists. Some also take mutes for their comments during this part. Occasionally (usually on Fridays), there are "themed" introductions, including [[karaoke]], "big words", and movie lines. Current host Reali often awards extra points for quotes from ''[[Goodfellas]]'' or ''[[Napoleon Dynamite]]'', and often subtracts points when any panelist makes a joke about his [[Italian people|Italian]] heritage or his close relationship with his mother. ([[Tim Cowlishaw]] often makes gratuitous ''Goodfellas'' references in a blatant attempt to get extra points, but Reali rarely obliges him.)
* '''The First Word''': Two relevant sports headlines of the day are discussed.
* '''Buy or Sell''': The columnists are asked to buy or sell (be for or against) three different concepts, also drawn from the relevant sports headlines.
* '''1st Cut''': The contestant with the lowest point total is eliminated. In the case of ties, Reali often breaks them by miscellaneous things, like whose hair is better combed and what not.
* '''Out of Bounds''': The remaining columnists discuss off-the-field sports issues or [[United States|American]] [[popular culture]] (favorite [[film|movies]], ''[[American Idol]]'', best pop divas, etc.), often including quasi-sports stories or other controversial issues. This segment will sometimes be used to tackle a more serious subject than the others, such as [[gambling]] [[scandals]] or other substantial topics.
* '''2nd Cut''' The next contestant with the lowest point total is removed, leaving just two.
* '''Showdown''' Mentioned above, the two remaining columnists take sides on any sports or cultural stories remaining. The winner is determined in a best-of-three set of questions, though there have been contestants that lost up 2-0. There are two or three questions, depending on the amount of time left (some shows only have two questions total when pressed for time), or (usually) whether a tie-breaker is necessary. The third topic is sometimes - though not always - a non-sports related issue, usually dealing in some way with pop culture. In rare cases, Reali has decided to give a contestant the win after only one topic. One example is when Bill Plaschke and Woody Paige were disscussing snowboarding in the Olympics. While Paige gave a fantastic argument, Plaschke did not answer the topic and changed the subject to Sasha Cohen and her silver medal. Reali felt that the difference in argument quality between Bill and Woody was so lopsided toward Woody that he punished Bill by giving Woody 5 points and the win while giving Bill -3 points and hitting his Mute button several times, despite the fact that there were two more topics left.
* '''Facetime''': The winner of the showdown and therefore winner of that particular episode gets 15 to 30 seconds (depending on remaining time) to talk about anything he/she wishes to discuss. Most of the time these are sports related, but often their own personal life or an issue in pop culture is discussed. For example in a May 2006 episode Michael Smith made a tribute to his newborn baby girl.
* '''Paper Toss''': Signature sign off of the show with Reali throwing paper at the camera. Sometimes Reali will toss something else, such as a [[Nerf]] football on [[August 15]], [[2006]].
 
It was announced on November 20, 2024, that ''Around the Horn'' will come to an end by summer 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Glasspiegel |first=Ryan |date=2024-11-20 |title=Exclusive {{!}} 'Around the Horn' ending in 2025 after 23-year run on ESPN |url=https://nypost.com/2024/11/20/sports/around-the-horn-ending-in-2025-after-23-year-run-on-espn/ |access-date=2024-11-21 |website=[[New York Post]] |language=en-US}}</ref> Shortly after this announcement, daily episodes were added to [[Disney+]].<ref>https://www.disneyplus.com/browse/entity-f75f1b7c-6c85-4253-9fc3-5be8b127e3d4</ref> On March 4, 2025 it was announced by ESPN that the final episode of ''Around the Horn'' would air on May 23, 2025.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2025/03/04/around-the-horn-canceled-espn-reactions/81449455007/ |title=Sports world mourns as ESPN's 'Around the Horn' to air final show May 23 |date=March 4, 2025|magazine=USA Today |author=John Hoefling}}</ref>
==Points==
The show is unique as it "scores the argument." The awarding of points is done at the discretion of the host. In the Kellerman era, the two final contestants generally had about 25 points. Before becoming host, Tony Reali as a guest host awarded a show record 51 points to Bill Plaschke. Reali is now much stingier in awarding points. The two finalists rarely have more than 30 points at the end of the show.
 
==The set==
The rewarding - and deduction - of points has changed throughout the series. Originally, being muted cost a panelist five points. Later, while Kellerman was still hosting the show, the scoring was at its most strict: "good" answers were awarded two points, "great" answers were given three, and a mute subtracted three points from a panelist's score. Around the time Reali took over the show, the host was allowed to give points at his own discretion (Reali may give a single point for a weak argument, or many points for a particularly strong case backed by statistical information), and the penalty for a mute was reduced to a single point.
The original set was in the same Atlantic Video complex as the set for ''[[Pardon the Interruption]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://stage.sb.adweek.com/tvnewser/around-the-horn-pardon-the-interruption-now-in-hd/87314 |publisher=SPORTSNEWSER |title=Around the Horn & Pardon the Interruption Now In HD |author=Marcus Vanderberg |date=September 27, 2010 }}{{Dead link|date=October 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> It featured the host's desk with the point triggers<ref>{{cite web |url=http://bleacherreport.com/articles/704492-popular-espn-show-around-the-horn-scored-fairly-by-host-tony-reali |title=Popular ESPN Show, Around the Horn, Scored Fairly by Host, Tony Reali? |author=AZARIAH GEBO |date=May 17, 2011 |website=[[Bleacher Report]]}}</ref> and mute buttons.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-around-the-horn-parody-20150106-story.html |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] |title='Around the Horn' parody makes a mute point |date=January 6, 2015 |author=Phil Thompson}}</ref> The judge of the show scores four panelists, that are shown on four different screens.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tv.com/shows/around-the-horn/reviews/|title=Around The Horn|publisher=TV.com|access-date=9 September 2023|archive-date=3 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200203070024/http://www.tv.com/shows/around-the-horn/reviews/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Behind the host's desk was a map of the contiguous United States of America with the cities the sportswriters on the show appeared from. The map, divided into time zones, displayed the names of five newspapers representing each time zone. The ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' represented the Pacific Time Zone, the ''[[Denver Post]]'' the Mountain Time Zone, the ''[[Dallas Morning News]]'' and ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'' both represented the Central Time Zone, and the ''[[Boston Globe]]'' represented the Eastern Time Zone. This was to create a regionally biased discussion, but this was later phased out.
 
When panelist Woody Paige was based in New York, the logo of ''[[Cold Pizza]]'' was added to the Eastern Time Zone side of the map as Paige also appeared on that program. Eventually, the logo of the ''Boston Globe'' was replaced by the word "Boston" as many of the contributors from Boston were no longer writing for the Globe. The map was eventually revised in this way for the other cities on the map, but the cities of other contributors were not added to the board (possibly due to a lack of space) before the map was removed. Panelists still appear from left to right as on a map of the United States, from the westernmost on the left to the easternmost on the right.
Reali also makes bets occasionally with the panelists on sporting events, with the panelist gaining or losing a large amount of points based on the outcome. Memorable examples:
* [[Jay Mariotti]] made a bold guarantee in 2005, stating he'd be docked 30 points if Tiger Woods wins a major golf tournament. After Woods won the Masters and Mariotti was proven incorrect, the next day he was so far behind that he failed to even reach positive figures before being eliminated.
* In June of 2006, [[Tim Cowlishaw]] guaranteed an Edmonton Oilers win in Game 7 of the [[2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs|Stanley Cup Finals]], and lost 15 points for it. In both incidents, the panelist failed to make it past the first elimination.
* Throughout the August 3, 2006 episode, [[Woody Paige]] drank an entire five-gallon water-cooler bottle, barely finishing it as winner Kevin Blackistone's face time expired. Reali told Paige at the beginning of the show that if Paige were to finish the whole bottle in the show's 30 minutes, he would get 100 points at the start of the next show. The next day, Reali revealed that cameras were installed in Woody's studio, which showed him pouring water from the bottle into a cooler. Because of his cheating, Reali gave him a mute instead of the points.
 
On September 27, 2010, ''Around the Horn'' and ''Pardon the Interruption'' began broadcasting in [[high-definition television|high definition]] and moved from the Atlantic Video complex to facilities in the [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] Washington bureau, where high definition sets were built for both shows.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2009/12/07/daily83.html |title=ESPN's "PTI" and "Around The Horn" going HD next fall |first=John |last=Ourand |date=December 11, 2009 |work=[[Washington Business Journal]] |access-date=September 24, 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101002143119/http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2009/12/07/daily83.html| archive-date= 2 October 2010 | url-status= live}}</ref> In 2014, Reali relocated to New York, with a studio built in ABC's [[Times Square Studios]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://awfulannouncing.com/2014/around-the-horn-host-tony-reali-to-join-good-morning-america.html | title="Around the Horn" host Tony Reali to join "Good Morning America" | date=10 April 2014 }}</ref> In 2018, in conjunction with the conclusion of Reali's work on ''[[Good Morning America]]'', the show moved to ESPN's [[South Street Seaport]] Studios with an enhanced set featuring augmented reality.
Points are also taken away for self-promotion, which Reali calls "the mating call of the mute button."
 
Each panelist appears either in the offices of their newspaper, in front of a screen representing the city in which they are located, or in another studio. Dallas, Denver, and Los Angeles (when Bill Plaschke is appearing) still use their newspaper offices as studio space while Washington, Miami, Chicago, and Boston each have their own screens. (Los Angeles employs this as well when J.A. Adande is a panelist.) Newspaper office space is rarely used in today's iteration.
 
==Hosts==
* [[Max Kellerman]] (November 4, 2002 - January 30, 2004)
* [[Tony Reali]] (February 2, 2004 -– present)May 23, 2025)
===Guest hosts===
* [[Zachariah Selwyn]] (guest host from June 8-11, 2004)
* [[DukeZachariah CastiglioneSelwyn]] (guestJune host8, from2004 July 3-5 June 11, 20062004)
* [[Duke Castiglione]] (July 3, 2006 - July 5, 2006)
* [[Rob Stone (sportscaster)|Rob Stone]] (June 30, 2008 - July 4, 2008 and July 28, 2008 - August 1, 2008)
* Woody Paige (April 1, 2009 and April 1, 2019, both as [[April Fools' Day]] pranks)
* Pablo S. Torre (Recurring guest host from March 12, 2014 to July 14, 2017)
* Michael Smith (August 25, 2016 - August 26, 2016 and July 9, 2018 - July 26, 2018)
* Kate Fagan (August 21, 2017 - August 25, 2017, June 11, 2018 - June 15, 2018, and August 27, 2018 - August 30, 2018)
* [[Kevin Blackistone]] (June 5, 2018 - June 8, 2018)
* Clinton Yates (August 31, 2018, August 12, 2019, August 30, 2019, October 18–22, 2021, March 15–16, 2022, March 27–31, 2023, and March 25–29, 2024)
* Sarah Spain (August 13–14, 2019, August 26–29, 2019, August 28, 2020, June 24–25, 2021, October 28, 2021, and March 21–25, 2022)
* Frank Isola (June 18, 2021, October 25–27, 2021, January 31, 2022 - February 1, 2022, March 14, 2022, March 20–24, 2023, December 20–21, 2023, March 18–20, 2024, July 22–23, 2024, July 29–31, 2024, August 1–2, 2024, August 28, 2024, March 17 - 19, 2025, and April 22-23, 2025.)
* Elle Duncan (April 21, 2023)
* Courtney Cronin (July 24–25, 2024, August 22–23, 2024, August 26–27, August 29, 2024, and March 24 - 28, 2025)
 
==Panelists==
 
===Current panelists===
===Final panelists===
* [[J.A. Adande]], ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''
* [[J. A. Adande]] (Chicago): Former columnist for the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' and NBA reporter for ESPN. Left ESPN in August 2017 to focus full-time on his position as director of sports journalism at [[Northwestern University]] but returned in January 2018.
* [[Jim Armstrong]], ''[[The Denver Post]]''
* [[Bill Barnwell]] (Boston): Staff writer for ESPN.com.
* [[Kevin Blackistone]], ''former columnist for [[The Dallas Morning News]]''
* [[TimKevin CowlishawBlackistone]] (Washington, D.C.): ''[[The Washington Post]]'', former columnist for ''[[The Dallas Morning News]]''.
* Kevin Clark (New York City): Host of ''This Is Football'' on ESPN radio. Former Ringer senior football writer and ''[[The Wall Street Journal|WSJ]]'' NFL columnist.
* [[Jackie MacMullan]], ''[[The Boston Globe]]''
* [[Tim Cowlishaw]] (Dallas): ''The Dallas Morning News'' columnist and former reporter for [[NASCAR on ESPN|ESPN's NASCAR coverage]]. Based in Dallas at the headquarters of the ''Morning News''.
* [[Jay Mariotti]], ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]''
* [[Courtney Cronin]] (Chicago): [[Chicago Bears]] reporter for [[ESPN]].
* [[Woody Paige]], ''[[Cold Pizza]]''
* David Dennis Jr. (Atlanta): Senior writer for ESPN.com's ''[[Andscape]]''.
* [[Bill Plaschke]], ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''
* [[Elle Duncan]] (Bristol, CT): [[SportsCenter]] 6 PM co-anchor.
* [[Bob Ryan]], ''[[The Boston Globe]]''
* [[Israel Gutierrez]] (Miami/Ft. Lauderdale): co-host of ''[[Highly Questionable]]'', based in Miami at ESPN's studios at the Clevelander Hotel. Background currently shows Ft. Lauderdale.
* [[Michael Smith (sports reporter)|Michael Smith]], ''[[ESPN]].com columnist''
* [[Frank Isola (sportswriter)|Frank Isola]] (New York City): columnist for ''[[The Athletic]]'' and former columnist for the ''[[New York Daily News]]''.
* Martenzie Johnson (Washington, D.C.): Writer for ESPN.com's ''[[Andscape]]''.
* [[Emily Kaplan]] (Chicago): Writer, Reporter, Podcaster. Lead NHL reporter and insider for [[NHL on ESPN|ESPN]]/[[NHL on ABC|ABC]] and ''In the Crease'' with [[Linda Cohn]]. Previously NFL w/ MMQB, ''[[Philly Inquirer]]''.
* [[Mina Kimes]] (Los Angeles): Senior writer for ''ESPN The Magazine'' and former co-host of ''[[Highly Questionable]]''. Based at network's base in Los Angeles.
* [[Jen Lada]] (Milwaukee): Radio host for [[WKTI|94.5 ESPN Milwaukee]] and [[College GameDay (football TV program)|College GameDay]] features reporter.
* Marcel Louis-Jacques (Miami): ESPN NFL Nation Reporter for the Miami Dolphins.
* Harry Lyles Jr. (Atlanta): Staff writer for ESPN.com, co-host of ''Countdown to GameDay.''
* [[Monica McNutt]] (New York City): college basketball & WNBA analyst.
* [[Woody Paige]] (Denver): ''[[Colorado Springs Gazette]]'' columnist and previously columnist at ''[[The Denver Post]]''. Based in Denver at [[KMGH-TV]]. Was based in New York during his time on ''[[1st and 10 (ESPN TV series)|1st and 10]]''. Although he left the ''Denver Post'' in 2016, he continued to be based there while in Denver until February 2017.
* [[Bill Plaschke]] (Los Angeles): Based in Los Angeles at the headquarters for the ''[[Los Angeles Times]].''
* [[Bob Ryan]] (Boston): ''[[Boston Globe]]'' ''Columnist emeritus'', substitute host of ''PTI''.
* [[Jorge Sedano]] (Los Angeles): Radio host for ESPN Radio stations, [[NBA on ESPN]] sideline reporter, college football play by play and Radio host for KSPN 710 Los Angeles. Based at the Networks base in Los Angeles.
* [[Ramona Shelburne]] (Los Angeles): Senior writer for ESPN.com. Co-host of ''TMI with Beadle & Shelburne'' on ESPN Los Angeles 710. Based in Los Angeles at network's base.
* Lindsey Thiry (Los Angeles): National NFL reporter for ESPN.
* Justin Tinsley (Washington, D.C.): Senior writer for ESPN.com's ''[[Andscape]]''.
* [[Pablo S. Torre]] (New York City or Miami): Co-host of ''High Noon'' alongside Bomani Jones, writer for ''ESPN The Magazine'' and ESPN.com, former reporter for ''Sports Illustrated'', and occasional co-host of ''[[The Dan Le Batard Show]]''. Also the designated substitute host. Usually based in New York, but sometimes based in Miami.
* Clinton Yates (Los Angeles): Senior writer for ESPN.com's The Undefeated.
 
===Former panelists===
* [[Jim Armstrong (sports journalist)|Jim Armstrong]] (Denver): Former columnist for ''The Denver Post''. Was a frequent fill-in for Woody Paige.
* [[Charlie Pierce]], ''[[The Boston Globe]]''
* [[Josh Elliott]] (New York City): Former panelist of defunct show "[[Jim Rome is Burning]]," former contributor to [[ESPN the Magazine]] and [[ESPN.com]], anchor of live morning ''[[SportsCenter]]'' with [[Hannah Storm]]. Left ESPN to become news anchor for ''[[Good Morning America]]'', later moving to [[NBC Sports]] and most recently to [[CBS News]].
* [[Tony Reali]], [[ESPN]]
* [[Kate Fagan (sportswriter)|Kate Fagan]] (New York City): Columnist for espnW, contributor to ''[[Outside the Lines]].''
* [[T.J. Simers]], ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''
* [[Domonique Foxworth]] (Washington, D.C.): Former [[National Football League|NFL]] cornerback who played in the league from 2005 to 2011 with the [[Denver Broncos]], [[Atlanta Falcons]] and [[Baltimore Ravens]]. He remains at ESPN as a writer with The Undefeated and is also a regular guest on The Mike O'Meara Show and other ESPN Radio talk shows such as [[First Take (TV series)|First Take]] and [[Highly Questionable]].
* [[Jemele Hill]] (Washington, D.C.): Columnist for ESPN.com's The Undefeated; former co-host of ''[[SportsCenter|SportsCenter at 6]]'' and ''[[His & Hers (ESPN)|His & Hers]]'', both alongside Michael Smith.
* [[Michael Holley]] (Boston): Former columnist for ''The Boston Globe'' and co-host on [[Comcast SportsNet New England|CSN New England]] and the [[WEEI-FM|WEEI]] radio talk shows "Dale and Holley" and "The Big Show", based in Boston. Originally a semi-regular, Holley left the show and ESPN to contribute to ''[[I, Max]]'' on [[Fox Sports Net]] and currently co-hosts the NBC show ''Brother from Another'' with Michael Smith, another ''ATH'' alumnus.
* [[Bomani Jones]] (New York City): Former co-host of ''High Noon'' alongside Pablo S. Torre, co-host of ''[[Highly Questionable]]'', host of ''The Right Time with Bomani Jones'', writer for ESPN.com. Based in New York; formerly based in [[Raleigh, North Carolina]], and later Miami.
* [[Richard Justice (sports journalist)|Richard Justice]] (Houston): Former correspondent for [[MLB.com]] and former columnist for the ''[[Houston Chronicle]]''.
* [[Andy Katz]] (Unknown): Former [[ESPN]] college basketball analyst.
* Joon Lee (New York City): Staff writer for ESPN.com who contributes to ESPN's MLB telecasts; former writer for ''[[Bleacher Report]] and ''[[Boston Herald]].
* [[Jackie MacMullan]] (Boston): ESPN.com NBA columnist and freelance writer; former columnist for ''[[The Boston Globe]].''<ref>{{cite news | url=http://shots.bostonsportsmedia.com/2008/04/jackie-mack-taking-latest-globe-buyout/ | title=Jackie Mack Taking Latest ''Globe'' Buyout | publisher=Boston Sports Media Watch | last=Scott | first=David | date=2008-04-01 | access-date=2008-04-03 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080407113327/http://shots.bostonsportsmedia.com/2008/04/jackie-mack-taking-latest-globe-buyout/ | archive-date=7 April 2008 | url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Jay Mariotti]] (Chicago, Los Angeles): Fanhouse.com, former columnist for the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-080826mariotti-resigns,0,1339701.story|title=Chicagotribune.com|website=[[Chicago Tribune]] }}</ref> Was arrested on May 11, 2011, and was charged with assault, stalking and domestic violence after approaching his ex-girlfriend, who he was ordered by a court to avoid,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/05/espn-personality-jay-mariotti-charged-with-felony-stalking-and-assault-after-allegedly-confronting-ex-girlfriend.html |title=Former ESPN personality Jay Mariotti charged with felony stalking and assault |first=Andrew |last=Blankstein |date=May 11, 2011 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=February 19, 2012}}</ref> and was based in Los Angeles at the time of his arrest. Had been based at the headquarters of the ''Sun-Times''. Mariotti appeared 1549 times on the show, with 329 wins.
* [[Charlie Pierce]] (Boston): ''The Boston Globe.''
* [[Tony Reali]]: ''[[Pardon the Interruption]]'' (before hosting; Reali was originally referred to as "Stat Boy", his former nickname on ''PTI''), contributed from the ''PTI'' set
* [[Dianna Russini]] (New York City): NFL reporter and host who contributes to ESPN's year-round coverage of the National Football League. Her multi-faceted role includes reporting, hosting, analysis and features. She contributes to NFL Live, Sunday NFL Countdown, Fantasy Football Now and SportsCenter, and she often breaks NFL news stories.
* [[Adam Schefter]] (Unknown): Former reporter for ''The Denver Post'' and [[NFL Network]], currently with [[ESPN]] as an NFL Insider. Schefter was still based in Denver when he appeared on ''Around The Horn''.
* [[T. J. Simers]] (Los Angeles): One of the original regulars along with Woody Paige, Jay Mariotti, Tim Cowlishaw, and Bob Ryan. Based at the ''Los Angeles Times''. Left show in 2003.
* [[Michael Smith (sports reporter)|Michael Smith]] (Miami): Occasional co-host of ''Highly Questionable'', former ''Boston Globe'' and ESPN.com columnist, former host of ''His & Hers'' and ''SportsCenter at 6'', both alongside Jemele Hill. He currently co-hosts the NBC show ''Brother from Another'' with fellow ''Globe'' and ''ATH'' alumnus Michael Holley.
* [[Sarah Spain]] (Chicago): Columnist for espnW, co-host of ESPN Radio's ''Spain and Fitz'', occasional contributor to ''Highly Questionable''.
* [[Jon Weiner|Jon "Stugotz" Weiner]] (Miami): Co-host of [[The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz]].
* [[Gene Wojciechowski]] (Chicago): [[ESPN.com]], [[columnist]] for ''[[ESPN.com|ESPNChicago.com]]''. Based at the site of the [[Chicago Sun-Times]].
 
===GuestPanelist panelistsstatistics===
Current stats after the Friday, May 23, 2025, episode<ref name="stats">{{Cite web |url=https://ath.votenow.tv/ |title=All-Time Wins Leaders |website=Around the Horn |publisher=[[ESPN]] |access-date=October 10, 2019 |archive-date=4 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404155639/https://ath.votenow.tv/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Ron Borges]], ''[[The Boston Globe]]''
{| class="wikitable sortable
* [[Mark Cuban]], [[Dallas Mavericks]] owner
|-
* [[Josh Elliott]], [[ESPN]]
! Name !! # wins !! # appearances !! winning % !! Special Notes
* [[Michael Holley]], former columnist for ''[[The Boston Globe]]''
|-
* [[Richard Justice]], ''[[Houston Chronicle]]''
| [[Woody Paige]] || 700 || 2,965 || 23.6% || All-time leader in wins & appearances, 2015 & 2024 Tournament of Champions; 71-70 versus Bob Ryan; 20th Anniversary show winner; 20.9 Pts/Show
* [[Mark Kiszla]], ''[[The Denver Post]]''
|-
* [[John Powers (sportswriter)|John Powers]], ''[[The Boston Globe]]''
| [[Tim Cowlishaw]] || 551 || 2,114 || 26.1% || First show: November 5, 2002; 2018 & 2021 Tournament of Champions; 82-80 versus Woody Paige; 24-10 versus Frank Isola, fourth lowest score (-99)
* [[Adam Schefter]], ''[[The Denver Post]]''
|-
* [[Dan Shanoff]], [[ESPN]].com columnist
| [[Bill Plaschke]] || 428 || 1,758 || 24.3% || First show: April 16, 2003; 2014 Tournament of Champions, third lowest score (-108), 74-66 versus Woody Paige, 21-15 versus Frank Isola, 13-9 versus Sarah Spain
* [[Gene Wojciechowski]], [[ESPN]].com columnist
|-
| [[Kevin Blackistone]] || 386 || 1,608 || 24.0% || First show: January 21, 2003; 2011 Tournament of Champions, 39-38 versus Bill Plaschke, 61-53 versus Woody Paige; 21.1 Pts/Show
|-
| [[J. A. Adande]] || 339 || 1,298 || 26.1% || First show: November 11, 2002; 2012 Tournament of Champions, 44-37 versus Tim Cowlishaw
|-
| [[Jay Mariotti]] || 329 || 1,549 || 21.2% || Hasn't appeared on the show since August 2010; Consecutive shows record (265 episodes); Won 2009 April Fools episode hosted by Woody Paige, only episode to be scored with golf score procedure (lowest points wins).
|-
| [[Jackie MacMullan]] || 259 || 891 || 29.1% || First show: November 12, 2002; 2nd lowest score (-474); 37-35 versus Woody Paige; Last show 12/22/2021, retired after 19 years on ATH and 39 years at ESPN; 22.8 Pts/Show
|-
| [[Israel Gutierrez]] || 228 || 868 || 26.3% || First show: March 18, 2008; 7x Halloween Champ; 2023 Tournament of Champions; 20.6 Pts/Show
|-
| [[Bob Ryan]] || 224 || 756 || 29.6% || 8-6 versus Bill Plaschke; 21.6 Pts/Show
|-
| [[Frank Isola (sportswriter)|Frank Isola]] || 192 || 905 || 21.2% || First show: September 27, 2013; 2016 Tournament of Champions, Lowest active winning percentage (minimum 100 appearances), 7-5 versus Jorge Sedano, 5-1 versus Emily Kaplan
|-
| [[Bomani Jones]] || 160 || 561 || 28.5% || First show: October 22, 2010; 23.4 Pts/Show
|-
| [[Pablo S. Torre]] || 138.75 || 606 || 22.9% || First show: October 25, 2012; 2013 Tournament of Champions; Most points ever (176); 2nd most points ever (136); 2nd most points lost (-336); Third lowest score (-286); 9-5 versus Sarah Spain
|-
| [[Michael Smith (sports reporter)|Michael Smith]] || 137 || 452 || 30.3% || First show: October 9, 2003; Highest winning percentage (minimum 100 appearances)
|-
| Clinton Yates || 135 || 525 || 25.7% || First show: September 6, 2017; 14-13 versus Tim Cowlishaw
|-
| [[Sarah Spain]] || 127 || 435 || 29.2% || First show: February 25, 2016; 2017 & 2020 Tournament of Champions; highest score (74); 11-9-1 versus Woody Paige, 14-2 versus Tim Cowlishaw; 21.3 Pts/Show
|-
| [[Mina Kimes]] || 89 || 305 || 29.2% || First show: March 30, 2017
|-
| [[Ramona Shelburne]] || 61 || 219 || 27.9% ||First show: July 2016; 22.2 Pts/Show
|-
| [[Courtney Cronin]] || 52 || 180 || 28.9% || First show: June 1, 2022; Won in her debut on the show, first rookie panelist to win Tournament of Champions (2022); 21.5 Pts/Show
|-
| Harry Lyles Jr. || 48 || 200 || 24.0% || First show: October 12, 2021
|-
| [[Jorge Sedano]] || 47.5 || 180 || 26.4% || First show: October 19, 2018; 22.3 Pts/Show
|-
| David Dennis Jr. || 44 || 205 || 21.5% || First show: May 4, 2022; Record for lowest points in a Showdown (-25); Lowest score (-491) and points lost (-501).
|-
| [[Emily Kaplan]] || 43 || 148 || 29.1% || First show: May 10, 2019; Highest Point Avg.: 23.7 Pts/Show (minimum 100 appearances)
|-
| [[Kate Fagan (sportswriter)|Kate Fagan]] || 42 || 158 || 26.6% || First show: October 22, 2014<ref>{{cite web| url-status = live| archive-url = https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/ZXQcj44qErs| archive-date = 2021-12-05| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXQcj44qErs| title = Behind the Horn - 10-22-14 - Introducing Kate Fagan | website=[[YouTube]]| date = 13 January 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
|-
| Justin Tinsley || 41 || 167 || 24.6% || First show: January 28, 2021
|-
| [[Michael Holley]] || 34 || 120 || 28.3% ||
|-
| Kevin Clark || 29 || 92 || 31.5% || First show: September 22, 2023; Won in his debut on the show.
|-
| [[Jemele Hill]] || 23 || 79 || 29.1% ||
|-
| [[Monica McNutt]] || 22 || 87 || 25.3% || First show: February 17, 2021
|-
| [[Elle Duncan]] || 19 || 63 || 30.2% || First show: June 22, 2020
|-
| [[Bill Barnwell]] || 19 || 91 || 20.9% || First show: September 15, 2023
|-
| [[Jim Armstrong (sports journalist)|Jim Armstrong]] || 18 || 75 || 24.0% ||
|-
| Marcel Louis-Jacques || 17 || 60 || 28.3% || First show: June 20, 2023; Won in his debut on the show.
|-
| [[T. J. Simers]] || 10 || 65 || 15.4% || Winner of the first Around the Horn episode
|-
| Joon Lee || 10 || 49 || 20.4% || First show: April 28, 2021
|-
| [[Gene Wojciechowski]] || 9 || 44 || 20.4% ||
|-
| [[Jen Lada]] || 7 || 18 || 38.9% || First show: June 12, 2024; Won in her debut on the show.
|-
| [[Josh Elliott]] || 5 || 23 || 21.7% ||
|-
| [[Charlie Pierce]] || 5 || 13 || 38.5% ||
|-
| [[LZ Granderson]] || 4 || 19 || 21.1% ||
|-
| [[Jon "Stugotz" Weiner]] || 4 || 16 || 25.0% || First show: April 1, 2019
|-
| Lindsey Thiry || 3 || 11 || 27.3% || First show: September 29, 2023; Won in her debut on the show.
|-
| [[Domonique Foxworth]] || 3 || 8 || 37.5% || First show: May 9, 2019
|-
| David Jacoby || 3 || 5 || 60.0% || First show: September 13, 2019
|-
| Martenzie Johnson || 2 || 12 || 16.7% || First show: February 23, 2023; Won in his debut on the show.
|-
| [[Tony Reali]] || 2 || 7 || 28.6% ||
|-
| [[Adam Schefter]] || 2 || 5 || 40.0% ||
|-
| Kimberley A. Martin|| 2 || 4 || 50.0% || First show: December 15, 2021
|-
| [[Richard Justice (sports journalist)|Richard Justice]] || 1 || 5 || 20.0% ||
|-
| [[Dianna Russini]] || 1 || 4 || 25.0% || First show: June 27, 2019
|-
| [[Mark Cuban]] || 1 || 1 || 100.0% || Guest Panelist
|-
| [[Lil Wayne]] || 1 || 1 || 100.0% || Guest Panelist
|-
| Bruce Arthur || 1 || 1 || 100.0% || First Canadian Panelist, First Canadian Winner
|-
| [[Malika Andrews]]|| 1 || 1 || 100.0% || First show: December 12, 2019
|-
| Christine Williamson || 1 || 1 || 100.0% || First show: October 3, 2023; Won in her debut on the show.
|-
| John Powers || 0 || 5 || 0.0% ||
|-
| [[Dan Shanoff]] || 0 || 5 || 0.0% ||
|-
| [[Ron Borges]] || 0 || 4 || 0.0% ||
|-
| Jean Jacques Taylor || 0 || 4 || 0.0% ||
|-
| Mark Kiszla || 0 || 2 || 0.0% ||
|-
| [[Andy Katz]] || 0 || 1 || 0.0% ||
|-
| [[Bob Glauber]] || 0 || 1 || 0.0% ||
|-
|}
 
==Running gagsReferences==
{{Reflist}}
===General===
*'''Inside Information''': Panelists try to milk Reali's love of the inside scoop for points, who purrs in a song-song tone, "Inside in-for-MA-tion!"
*'''Tony on Camera''': As the sponsors are flashing up on screen between segments, viewers can occasionally see Reali in a variety of activities at his desk, i.e., getting shoes shined, being carried to his desk, or jumping up and down.
*'''Ties''': Reali will occasionally chide a panelist (or multiple panelists) for not wearing a tie. On occasion, all four panelists will be tieless. The fact that Reali sometimes wears pink ties seems to escape criticism.
*'''Culture Clash''': Anyone, but usually Mariotti, making a jab at Reali's Italian roots or attire. This is usually directed right back at the panelists, particularly Smith and Paige. On the 7/24/06 show, Tony blasted the panel for their lack of style, and asked whether Woody was wearing a shower curtain and if Cowlishaw was wearing a pajama shirt.
*'''Good Looking Man''': Term used by Reali when talking about [[Andy Pettitte]] (who bears a resemblance to Reali) or any Italian athletes (such as the Italian World Cup Soccer team).
*'''Movie Quotes''': Panelists are frequently rewarded by Reali with points for quoting pop culture movies such as ''[[The Karate Kid]]'' ("Sweep the Leg"), or ''[[A Few Good Men]]'' ("You can't ''handle'' the truth!"). Sometimes this manifests itself in "Movie Line Friday," where the panelists try to give Reali the best possible movie quote in an effort to get a head-start on points, although sometimes the panelist will get muted.
*'''[[Karaoke]] Friday''': As with "Movie Line Friday," the panelists try to give brief musical performances worthy of point head-starts. Neither "Movie Line Friday" nor "Karaoke Friday" is a regular feature, however.
*'''Conspiracies''': The other panelists often jump on Plaschke and Cowlishaw, whether they're on the show or not, for buying into every [[conspiracy theory]]. (Examples: Leagues prefer to have the New York or Los Angeles teams, or teams with individual superstars such as [[LeBron James]], go deep into the playoffs to get high TV ratings, and, as such, have the officials favor those teams with their calls; League vendettas against certain coaches or owners; Major League Baseball hiding looking the other way on steorid use because fans love home runs; and so on.)
*'''Stat Punk''': Paige often makes a play on words of Reali's nickname, usually resulting in a deduction of his score before the game even begins.
*'''Gene...''': Reali complaining about how Wojciechowski's name doesn't fit on the screen.
*'''Two Men Enter''': When the 2nd Cut is made, and the Showdown panelists are announced, Reali will make some sort of pronouncement, which has included the following:
** "Two men enter, and one man earns a little respect around the neighborhood!"
** "Two men enter, and one man gets one step closer to world domination!"
** "Two men enter, and one man gets 30 seconds of uninterrupted face time!"
** "Two men enter, and one man embarrasses himself a little less!"
** When [[Jackie MacMullan]] is one of the finalists, the phrase gets shortened to a gender-neutral, "Two enter, and one gets..." As of August 2006, MacMullan is the only female panelist in the show's history.
*'''You Two Gentlemen''': As the two panelists with by far the most appearances and the most wins, when the Showdown comes down to Woody and Jay, Reali will occasionally say, "Showdown between Paige and Mariotti! I believe you two gentlemen know each other!" This catchphrase has also been used when the Showdown comes down to Plaschke and Cowlishaw, and down to Adande and Smith.
===Woody===
*'''Look at the Schedule''': Panelists, most frequently Paige, base their predictions on the upcoming schedule for a team, and they are either ridiculed or rewarded for it, based on relevance.
*'''Woody's Age''': At 60, Paige is easily the oldest of the regular panelists, although semi-regular Bob Ryan is four months older. Cowlishaw is 51, Plaschke is 51, Mariotti is 48, Blackistone is 46, Adande is 35, Reali is 28, and Smith is only 27. Woody is often asked what it was like to interview such long-ago sports figures as [[Cy Young]], [[Connie Mack]], and [[Knute Rockne]].
*'''Woody's Chalkboard''': Paige, since his move to New York, always humorously has an odd, [[Non sequitur (absurdism)|non sequitur]] phrase written on a little chalkboard behind him. He often changes the message ''between'' commercial breaks.
*'''Woody's Props''': Paige also uses props more than any guest on the show, often drawing derisive comments from fellow guests, especially Paige's rival Mariotti.
*'''Woody's Career''': Making fun of how Paige's career revolves around the show, since he's stopped writing professionally.
*'''Everybody Hates Woody''': Paige makes some sort of ridiculous pun or prop gesture just before a cut, and is deducted down to whatever the lowest number needed to get him off of the show.
===Jay===
*'''The Michael Jeffrey Jordan Card and other Chicagoisms''': Whenever a discussion of an all-time great player, team or moment comes up, Mariotti, the Chicago correspondent, will find a way connect it, and compare it unfavorably, to "[[Michael Jordan|Michael Jeffrey Jordan]]" and the 1990s [[Chicago Bulls]] [[dynasty]], often using the full name. Reali once penalized Mariotti, saying, "I can't believe you played the Michael Jeffrey Jordan card!" Mariotti will also go on and on about the misfortunes of the [[Chicago Cubs]], the controversies surrounding [[Chicago White Sox]] manager [[Ozzie Guillen]] (to the point where Guillen got in trouble for insinuiating that Mariotti was gay), and the current state of the [[Chicago Bears]], whether good or bad. Mariotti's Chicago-centrism gets so intense that Paige, citing the [[Illinois]] city where the Bears have their training camp, will sometimes say, "Jay, you're so far into [[Lake Forest, Illinois|Lake Forest]] that you can't see the trees!"
*'''Bringing up the rear''': When coming back from commercial to start the "Out of Bounds" sequence, if Mariotti is in third place, Reali used to say, "Jay Mariotti bringing up the rear with (number of points)!" He seems to have dropped this line, though.
===L.A. panelists===
*'''Reverend Bill''': Plaschke's frequent moralizing produces comparisons, especially from Paige, to a prudish clergyman.
*'''Shush!''': Sometimes Plaschke will attempt to "mute" the other panelists by yelling, "Shush!" This usually doesn't work.
*'''East Coast Bias''': ''Los Angeles Times'' columnists Adande and Plaschke frequently blast the network for buying into the sports world's [[Media bias|bias]] of popular [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]] teams, and Reali's supposed bias towards East Coast columnists. They usuallly try to make up for this by hyping the [[University of Southern California|USC]] football team, the [[Los Angeles Lakers]] or (more recently) the [[Los Angeles Clippers|Clippers]], the [[Los Angeles Dodgers]] or (more often Bill than J.A.) the [[Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim]].
*'''The J.A. Adande Lounge''': When Adande wins, he starts his Face Time with "Welcome to the J.A. Adande Lounge here in Los Angeles..." and names various celebrities who are "on hand," some of whom are actually connected with sports. On one occasion, when the showdown came down to Adande and Smith, Smith said, "The lounge is closed today!" Adande won anyway.
===Dallas panelists===
*'''Texas Tim''': Cowlishaw often hypes the Dallas-area teams, the [[University of Texas at Austin|University of Texas]] football team, longtime [[Texas|Texan]] [[Roger Clemens]], and the [[Dallas Cowboys]] -- or, as Reali has begun to call them, the "Cowlishaw Boys." Cowlishaw is one of two regulars who are actually from the area he represents in journalism, the other being Adande, from [[Los Angeles]]. Mariotti is from [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|Pittsburgh]], Paige is from [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]], Blackistone is from the [[Washington, D.C.]] area, Smith is from [[New Orleans]], Ryan is from [[Trenton, New Jersey]], and Plaschke is from [[Louisville, Kentucky|Louisville]].
*'''Nascarded''': Cowlishaw deliberately talking NASCAR news when it's obvious that no one else cares. This usually comes in the Introduction, and Reali usually mutes him mid-thought. This also sometimes happens when Cowlishaw tries to talk about hockey.
*'''Cowlishaw, #3''': Anytime Tim Cowlishaw makes a jab at how rarely Reali gets to the 3rd showdown question.
*'''Blackistone is the Word''': Blackistone making a predictable comment before the show, most frequently "What's happenin' Tony?", often worthy of a few points. Tony replies with, "Everything is everything."
===Boston panelists===
*'''I go to Michael Smith...''': Reali often says, "I go to Michael Smith for my NFL news" when Smith, the Globe's [[New England Patriots]] beat writer, gives a football response. During the 2006 U.S. Open tennis tournament, Smith made what turned out to be a correct prediction, and the next day Reali said, "I go to Michael Smith for my tennis information!"
*'''Smith's rapping''': Michael Smith frequently uses his time during the Introduction to quote recently-popular and classic [[hip hop music|hip hop]] songs, especially those by [[East Coast hip hop|East Coast]] rappers. This occasionally nets him bonus points.
*'''Jackie Mac''': The name Reali refers to MacMullan.
*'''Red Sox Nation''': Despite the [[Boston Red Sox]] having won the [[2004 World Series]], Ryan and MacMullan reflect the angst that never seems to leave Sox fans, especially where their [[nemesis|nemeses]], the [[New York Yankees]], are concerned. To them, Sox fans are always doomed to be unsatisfied; even when it seems the team is doing well, it's just a matter of time before the injuries arrive, a feud between a player and management will start, or the Yankees will come in and start a lengthy Sox slump, and the Sox won't win it all, as if their 2004 title never happened and the [[Curse of the Bambino]] were still in effect. The much-younger Smith, a New Orleans native and a relatively recent arrival in Boston, doesn't seem to do this as much as MacMullan, a Boston native, and Ryan, who attended [[Boston College]] and started working for the ''Globe'' shortly after the Red Sox' [[1967]] "Impossible Dream" pennant, which remains a regular reference point in his columns.
 
==Miscellaneous==
* As ESPN's schedule is made erratic to accommodate the irregular times of the various sports events that it covers, it is quite common for regular shows to be "bumped" by events. To let the audience know of these postponements, most ESPN talk show hosts end the program by telling the audience when their next show will air. Reali (as did Kellerman) idiosyncratically ends the show by saying how much time will elapse before the next show. The most common of these statements is "We're on a twenty-three and a half hour break," which signifies that the show will be back tomorrow at its usual time. On Friday, reflecting the weekend, the sign-off is, "We're on a seventy-one and a half hour break." But when the show is bumped, sometimes Reali will give the break length, and sometimes he'll say to the viewers, "You do the math!"
*In the original format, there were ''no'' eliminations and ''no'' Final Showdown, and the top three point-getters would receive Gold, Silver and Bronze medals, and would get about 15 seconds, 10 seconds and 5 seconds to speak respectively. The specific amount was determined for each of the contestants by the number of total points that they received. It was common for the Producer ("the disembodied voice") to take away a specific number of points from each contestant (along with modifying Kellerman's scoring to reward answers which didn't get their full credit, or got too much) so the total facetime would fit in the remaining time left in the show.
*During the Max Kellerman era and shortly thereafter, every segment would conclude with some way to end a sentence with "around", so "disembodied voice" Bill Wolff could add "...the horn!" This idiosyncrasy remains on the show today in a slightly modified fashion, as Reali often attempts to end a segment with either "around" or a word that rhymes with it before yelling "Horn!" right before the cut to commercial.
*In the show's first couple of years, through Kellerman's tenure and early into Reali's, the "outtro" to the final commercial break nearly always featured a clip of an attractive female celebrity, either from a film, a [[red carpet]] walk, or a [[music video]]. Apparently, both Kellerman and Reali were huge fans of the video for [[Beyoncé Knowles|Beyoncé]]'s smash hit from 2003, ''[[Crazy in Love (Beyoncé song)|Crazy in Love]]''. During one year-long period extending into both of their tenures as host, a segment from the ''Crazy in Love'' video was always shown on Fridays, during an "outtro" to a commercial break about halfway through the episode. [[Jennifer Lopez]]'s video for ''I'm Glad'', featuring her [[homage]] to the film ''[[Flashdance]]'', was also a regular outtro.
*During the July 18, 2006 episode, Tony Reali allowed Tim Cowlishaw to select the winner of the showdown. The question related to Cowlishaw and he chose J.A. Adande's response over Woody Paige's answer.
*Mariotti was not one of the panelists on the August 28, 2006 episode, since he was substituting for [[Tony Kornheiser]] on ''[[Pardon the Interruption]]'', whose studio is in the same Washington, D.C. complex as ''ATH'''s. Since his absence from ''ATH'' is a rarity, prior to each of the first two rounds, Reali asked the panelists if anyone was missing. They all said, "No!" After Adande got his face time on the episode, Mariotti appeared in Tony's chair out of nowhere, and acted like nothing was out of the ordinary. As the sponsors rolled by, the panelists yelled at him, and Reali came storming back into the studio, trying to get him out of the desk. Mariotti then dashed over to the ''PTI'' set to do the show with [[Michael Wilbon]].
*''Around the Horn'' Group. Woody Paige, Tony Reali, Bob Ryan, Tim Cowlishaw, and J.A. Adande, amongst others read and reply daily to fan emails and questions. http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/ESPNsAroundTheHorn/
 
==''Around the Horn'' unofficial statistics==
 
As of 09/21/2006 (822 episodes)
 
===All Time Wins===
#[[Woody Paige]] - 160 wins
#[[Jay Mariotti]] - 159 wins
#[[Bill Plaschke]] - 90 wins
#[[Tim Cowlishaw]] - 89 wins
#[[J.A. Adande]] - 74 wins
#[[Michael Smith]] - 64 wins
#[[Bob Ryan]] - 59 wins
#[[Kevin Blackistone]] - 40 wins
#[[Michael Holley]] - 34 wins
#[[Jackie MacMullan]] - 15 wins
#[[T.J. Simers]] - 10 wins
#[[Jim Armstrong]] - 7 wins
#[[Josh Elliott]] - 5 wins
#[[Charlie Pierce]] - 5 wins
#[[Gene Wojciechowski]] - 4 wins
#[[Tony Reali]] - 2 wins (before becoming host)
#[[Adam Schefter]] - 2 wins
#[[Mark Cuban]] - 1 win
#[[Richard Justice]] - 1 win
 
===All Time Appearances===
Total number of shows: 817
 
#[[Jay Mariotti]] - 766
#[[Woody Paige]] - 700
#[[Bill Plaschke]] - 331
#[[Tim Cowlishaw]] - 312
#[[J.A. Adande]] - 251
#[[Michael Smith (sports reporter)|Michael Smith]] - 233
#[[Kevin Blackistone]] - 154
#[[Bob Ryan]] - 144
#[[Michael Holley]] - 120
#[[T.J. Simers]] - 65
#[[Jackie MacMullan]] - 50
#[[Jim Armstrong]] - 48
#[[Josh Elliott]] - 23
#[[Gene Wojciechowski]] - 14
#[[Charlie Pierce]] - 13
#[[Tony Reali]] - 6 (before becoming host)
#[[Richard Justice]] - 5
#[[Adam Schefter]] - 5
#[[Dan Shanoff]] - 5
#[[Ron Borges]] - 4
#[[Mark Kiszla]] - 2
#[[Mark Cuban]] - 1
#[[John Powers (sportswriter)|John Powers]] - 1
 
===All Time Win Percentages===
minimum 40 appearances
 
#[[Bob Ryan]] - 41.0%
#[[J.A. Adande]] - 29.5%
#[[Tim Cowlishaw]] - 28.2%
#[[Michael Holley]] - 28.3%
#[[Jackie MacMullan]] - 28.0%
#[[Michael Smith]] - 27.7%
#[[Bill Plaschke]] - 26.9%
#[[Kevin Blackistone]] - 24.7%
#[[Woody Paige]] - 22.8%
#[[Jay Mariotti]] - 20.8%
#[[T.J. Simers]] - 15.4%
#[[Jim Armstrong]] - 14.6%
 
==External links==
* {{official website|http://espn.go.com/eoe/around_the_horn.html}}
*[http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/ESPNsAroundTheHorn/ "The Largest ''Around the Horn'' Group on the web"]
* {{IMDb title|0377139}}
*[http://espn.go.com/eoe/around_the_horn.html ESPN: ''Around the Horn'']
*[http://joshmadison.com/chalkboard/ List of Woody Paige's chalkboard quips since 2008]
*[http://www.tv.com/around-the-horn/show/16845/summary.html Around the Horn Episode Guide at ''TV.com'']
*[httphttps://p214www.ezboardespn.com/baroundthehornmessageboardespnradio/podcast/archive?id=2839445 An ''Around the Horn'' fan clubPodCenter]
*[https://www.espnfrontrow.com/2012/11/sgt-realis-around-the-horn-club-band-turns-10-2217-shows-and-counting/ Article by ESPN Front Row]
 
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[[Category:2000s TV shows in the United States]]
[[Category:ESPN2002 networkAmerican showstelevision series debuts]]
[[Category:Sports-related2025 showsAmerican television series endings]]
[[Category:ESPN original programming]]
[[Category:2000s American sports television series]]
[[Category:SiriusXM Radio programs]]
[[Category:2010s American sports television series]]
[[Category:2020s American sports television series]]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Around_the_Horn"