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For the BBC radio comedy see Round the Horne

File:AroundtheHorn.JPG
Around the Horn's current logo.

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. The show recently aired its 600th episode on September 13, 2005.

Around The Horn follows a standard format. The host (currently 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, 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 opine on any topic.

Around The Horn premiered on November 4, 2002. Its official title is Around the Horn Presented by Nissan.

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.
  • 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.
  • 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.

Hosts

Regular panelists

Former panelists

Guest panelists

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. Tony Reali idiosyncratically ends the show by saying how much time will elapse before the next show, for example: "We're on a twenty-three and a half hour break." Kellerman did the same thing.

All Time Wins

  1. Jay Mariotti - 123 wins
  2. Woody Paige - 122 wins
  3. Bill Plaschke - 69 wins
  4. Tim Cowlishaw - 68 wins
  5. J.A. Adande - 50 wins
  6. Bob Ryan - 49 wins
  7. Michael Smith - 45 wins
  8. Michael Holley - 34 wins
  9. Kevin Blackistone - 23 wins
  10. T.J. Simers - 10 wins
  11. Jackie MacMullan - 9 wins
  12. Jim Armstrong - 5 wins
  13. Josh Elliott - 5 wins
  14. Charlie Pierce - 5 wins
  15. Gene Wojciechowski - 3 wins
  16. Tony Reali - 2 wins
  17. Adam Schefter - 2 wins
  18. Mark Cuban - 1 win
  19. Ron Borges - 0 wins
  20. Richard Justice - 0 wins
  21. Mark Kiszla - 0 wins
  22. John Powers - 0 wins
  23. Dan Shanoff - 0 wins

All Time Appearances

Total number of shows: 624

  1. Jay Mariotti - 588
  2. Woody Paige - 523
  3. Bill Plaschke - 256
  4. Tim Cowlishaw - 233
  5. J.A. Adande - 186
  6. Michael Smith - 160
  7. Michael Holley - 120
  8. Bob Ryan - 119
  9. Kevin Blackistone - 108
  10. T.J. Simers - 65
  11. Jim Armstrong - 33
  12. Jackie MacMullan - 30
  13. Josh Elliott - 20
  14. Charlie Pierce - 13
  15. Gene Wojciechowski - 11
  16. Tony Reali - 6 (before he became the host)
  17. Adam Schefter - 5
  18. Dan Shanoff - 5
  19. Ron Borges - 4
  20. Richard Justice - 3
  21. Mark Kiszla - 2
  22. Mark Cuban - 1
  23. John Powers - 1

All Time Win Percentages (minimum 10 appearances)

  1. Bob Ryan - 41.9%
  2. Charlie Pierce - 38.5%
  3. Jackie MacMullan - 29.6%
  4. Tim Cowlishaw - 28.5%
  5. Michael Smith - 28.4%
  6. Michael Holley - 28.3%
  7. Bill Plaschke - 27.4%
  8. Gene Wojciechowski - 27.3%
  9. J.A. Adande - 26.1%
  10. Josh Elliott - 25.0%
  11. Woody Paige - 23.5%
  12. Jay Mariotti - 21.2%
  13. Kevin Blackistone - 20.2%
  14. T.J. Simers - 15.4%
  15. Jim Armstrong - 12.9%

References

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