Around the Horn

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Image:AroundtheHorn.JPG Around The Horn is a daily, half-hour sports talk program on ESPN. It airs at 5:00 ET, immediately preceding ESPN's most successful sports talk program, Pardon the Interruption. Around The Horn premiered on November 4, 2002. Its official title is Around the Horn Presented by Nissan. The show recently aired its 600th episode on September 13, 2005.

Around The Horn follows a standard format. The host, 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. 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 20 or 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.

1 Rounds
2 Hosts
3 Panelists
4 Miscellaneous
5 Around the Horn Unofficial Statistics
6 External links

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Rounds

Introduction 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. 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.
The First Word The relevant sports headlines of the day are discussed.
Buy or Sell Where the columnists are asked to buy or sell a certain concept, also drawn from the relevant sports headlines.
1st Cut The contestant with the lowest point total is eliminated.
Out of Bounds Where the remaining columnists discuss American popular culture (favorite movies, best pop divas, etc.), often including quasi-sports stories or other controversial issues.
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 stories left. The winner is determined in a best-of-three set of questions. 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.
Paper Toss Signature sign off of the show with Reali throwing paper at the camera.

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Hosts

Max Kellerman (November 4, 2002- January 30, 2004)
Tony Reali (February 2, 2004 - present)
Zachariah Selwyn (guest host from June 8-11, 2004)

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Panelists

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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.

Around the Horn Group. Woody Paige, Tony Reali, Bob Ryan, Tim Cowlishaw, and J.A. Adande read and reply daily to fan emails and questions. http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/ESPNsAroundTheHorn/

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