Latest news with #SportsShouting
USA Today
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
What is Tony Reali doing after Around The Horn signs off for good?
What is Tony Reali doing after Around The Horn signs off for good? After 23 seasons, ESPN's Around The Horn has finally concluded for good. The last paper has been tossed at the camera and all the familiar faces stopped by to say their farewells. Host Tony Reali opened the series finale with an homage to his favorite movie Goodfellas, Woody Paige cooked up the perfect chalkboard sign and we (FINALLY!) got an explanation on how the wonky scoring system works. But that's not the only long-awaited answer fans got while tuning in. One of the biggest mysteries over the last few months has been what Reali will do now that the show is over. AROUND THE HORN: Tony Reali's show evolved beyond 'Sports Shouting' and into ESPN's pantheon In a beautiful speech wrapping up what the show has meant to him, Reali confirmed he's not leaving sports and will continue creating content on his new YouTube page and website. Watch his full sign off here. If you've tuned in for any episode ever, this will certainly connect with you. See you soon, Tony. We can't wait to follow along.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The final Around The Horn opened with one last 'Goodfellas' tribute
Friday was an emotional day for fans of ESPN's iconic talk show Around the Horn, which broadcast its final episode after more than 23 years on the air. For longtime viewers, however, the show began with a perfect callback. Tony Reali, who has hosted the show since 2004, is a major fan of the movie "Goodfellas" and has previously acted out parodies from the film. To begin the final episode, Reali reenacted a prior bit in which he performed a studio tour in the vein of the iconic club scene from "Goodfellas." AROUND THE HORN: Tony Reali's show evolved beyond 'Sports Shouting' and into ESPN's pantheon To begin the final episode, Reali referenced the iconic Henry Hill line in the opening scene, "As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster." In Reali's version, he said, "As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a sportscaster." As far back as I can remember I always wanted to be a sportscaster... — Around the Horn (@AroundtheHorn) May 23, 2025 For reference, here's the scene from "Goodfellas." (Warning: The following clip contains NSFW language and content) As mentioned above, it was not only an homage to the movie but also to one of the most iconic moments in the history of "Around the Horn," in which Reali performed a studio tour themed to the movie during the early days of the show's run. While the more than two-decade run of "Around the Horn" is coming to an end, there was plenty of fan service to be found in the show's final episode. This article originally appeared on College Sports Wire: Around the Horn: Last episode begins with final 'Goodfellas' tribute
USA Today
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Tony Reali finally explained Around the Horn's absurd scoring system
Tony Reali finally explained Around the Horn's absurd scoring system Tony Reali saved the moment we've all been waiting for until the moment many hoped would never come: On Around the Horn's last show on Friday after 23 years, the host finally explained his unique scoring system. AROUND THE HORN: Tony Reali's show evolved beyond 'Sports Shouting' and into ESPN's pantheon Very opaque and often nonsensical, Reali's been using this unclear scoring system to award or dock points to competitors on the ESPN game show — along with employing his famous mute button. Around the Horn's final show featured Bill Plaschke, Woody Paige, J.A. Adande and Bob Ryan in the first segment, and Tim Cowlishaw, Kevin Blackistone, Jackie MacMullan and Frank Isola in the second segment. And Reali used his scoring system for one last time as the competitors debated light topics, like the GOAT athlete during the show's two-decade run. And then, Reali explained how his Around the Horn scoring system works. How is it scored? It's "scored very well," he joked before actually getting into it with Pablo Torre on the set. Simply, Reali made the scoring system resemble life: unpredictable with different rules and enforcement on different days. "The thesis was: It was impossible to score sports debates, Pablo," Reali said. "The scoring was like hugging smoke." "You're not just supposed to have an opinion," the host added. "You're just supposed to prove why your opinion is best at this time. But through it all, you needed to avoid the mutes."
USA Today
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Around the Horn evolved beyond 'Sports Shouting' and into ESPN's pantheon
Around the Horn evolved beyond 'Sports Shouting' and into ESPN's pantheon Way back in 2009, Around The Horn got the honor of a lifetime... sort of. The ESPN show known for Tony Reali giving or docking points from a daily panel of sports journalists -- and occasionally hitting them with a MUTE with a slam of his hand on a giant button -- was lampooned by none other than 30 Rock in its Season 4 episode, "The Problem Solvers." Tracy Jordan (played by Tracy Morgan) mentions he's a frequent guest on Sports Shouting, a show featuring four talking heads, well, shouting at the same time. The very clear nod to ATH was a shot across the bow, perhaps a commentary about the whole "Embrace Debate" ethos that took over ESPN in the 21st century. But when Tina Fey is making a joke about you, it means you're a cultural touchstone. I bring this up because Around The Horn is about to air its final show on Thursday, ending a 23-year run that's remarkable in this era of television. And what we've seen since that 30 Rock cutaway gag is the evolution of a show that deserves to be in the ESPN pantheon with names like SportsCenter, The Sports Reporters, Outside the Lines, College GameDay, and Pardon the Interruption. Back in 2019, I had the chance to visit the new set of the debate show in downtown New York City and spent a day with the charismatic Tony Reali, who famously went from the baby-faced 23-year-old Stat Boy on PTI to the respectful ringmaster of the circus that was getting four journalists to express themselves in quick segments, scoring them in a wacky game show format. Besides the fact that everyone you speak to about Reali talks about what a good person he is -- PTI's Michael Wilbon told me back then that Reali was "a prince among men" -- there was also the way that he and the show led the charge to make it more than "Sports Shouting." I watched ATH for years and saw that evolution. Sure, the show was still about coming up with a take for the topic of the day, backing it up with stats and angles that weren't cliches (lest you get the MUTE button for spouting one). As someone who's written on the internet for a couple of decades, I can tell you how that show taught me how to sharpen my tools. But when the sports news of the day wasn't always just about sports -- Reali and producer Aaron Solomon both talked about the 2005 episode in which panelists did an unscored segment on Tony Dungy's son James committing suicide -- Around The Horn stepped into the fire, feet first. Just recently, Mina Kimes used her time after a win to talk about the Trump administration purging Jackie Robinson from its web pages. It was perfect. That's what the legacy of the show should be. Yes, we'll all remember the scoring that no one could figure out, watching names like Kevin Blackistone, J.A. Adande, Tim Cowlishaw, Bill Plaschke, Jackie MacMullan and Bob Ryan go toe-to-toe and Woody Paige's Hall of Fame run that included all those whimsical daily chalkboard messages. But it's the way in which the show became thoughtful and honest -- led by Reali refusing to shy away from any of it, even from the devastating loss of one of his twin babies -- that should be what we all focus on as the curtains fall on a two-plus decades run. The panelists became a more diverse group -- Kimes, Clinton Yates, Sarah Spain, Pablo Torre and Israel Gutierrez among them -- and the topics had more inclusion. In an era in which words like "diversity" and "inclusion" have turned into politicized weapons, it's all the more crushing to see a show like Around the Horn leave the airwaves. Could it have gone 23 more years? Probably not, because nothing lasts forever, especially these days. To quote Reali's beloved Goodfellas, "That's the hardest part. Today, everything is different." But when Reali, the producers and the entire run of journalists take a bow after Thursday's show, they should be proud of the work they did to advance from shouting about sports to thinking deeper about them.
