Emotions were on full display during final episode of ESPN's ‘Around the Horn'
The mute button was pressed for the last time on 'Around the Horn.'
The legendary show produced its final broadcast on Friday after a two-decade run on ESPN spanning nearly 5,000 episodes.
The network announced in March that 'Around the Horn' would conclude on May 23, and a replacement has yet to be revealed.
Vibes on the last show were somber from start to finish, with longtime host Tony Reali opening with an emotional tribute to everyone who has worked on the show.
During the episode, Reali invited on some of the most prominent panelists from 'Around the Horn' for a final 'Face Time' with each of them thanking the show.
Longtime panelist Bob Ryan pointed out how much has changed in the sports world since the show's inception in 2002.
'When we came on the air on Nov. 4, 2002, the following things that were true are no longer true,' Ryan said. 'Pitchers did not get a ticker tape parade for seven innings. There was a thing called traveling, and the so-called Eurostep was confined to Europe and maybe South America.
'We knew who the heavyweight champion was and an American occasionally won a tennis major. The Curry making all those threes, his name was Dell. LeBron James was in high school, and Caitlin Clark was nine months old. But life goes on and we thank you for all of these years.'
J.A. Adande took his time to show respect to fellow panelist and 'Around the Horn' wins leader Woody Paige, who was also on the final show, and compared his performance on the broadcast to that of Michael Jordan.
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Around the Horn on X
'Michael Jordan once told me that Woody was his favorite panelist. Game recognizes game. GOAT recognized GOAT,' Adande said.
Reali, who took over as host of 'Around the Horn' from Max Kellerman in 2004, spent the final minutes of the show explaining how the scoring system works, and it was nothing short of emotional.
'I decided that not every topic needs to be scored the same,' Reali said. 'Because life begets life. And life finds a way and so does the scoring system.'
Reali, 46, continued to explain the parallels between the scoring system and life
3 Sports journalists Tony Reali and Tim Cowlishaw attend ESPN The Party at Basketball City – Pier 36 – South Street on January 31, 2014 in New York City.
Michael Loccisano
'I wanted to host the most real show I could so I engineered the scoring system to be real and lifelike,' Reali said. 'The system, totally and purposefully unpredictable, is just like life. Intentionally changing, just like life. Some days, stats got you big points and other days the exact opposite.
'Life scores us all differently every day with a rulebook that changes every day and you have to roll with it through good and bad, that's how I feel. That's the secret right there. Because what works one day might not work the next, but you'll work through it through the good people around you. It was a very good system, and it worked for a very long time, and now it's all over.'
3 Tony Reali on the final episode of 'Around the Horn' on May 23, 2025.
AroundTheHorn/X
Reali then concluded his final monologue with come comments that will surely pull at the heartstrings of fans.
'I was 24 when I started on this show and I grew up on this show,' Reali said. 'This show helped me grow up and maybe some of you feel the same way too. Life came fast then slow as it does, then gradually, then suddenly, I shared through it all. The highs and lows because I believe that life is best when shared in full.'
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