In the age of social media and everything being available on a device in your pocket, TV is hardly appointment viewing for anything other than a live sports telecast. Setting aside time in your day to watch an episode of TV live feels like a thing of the past. Maybe that’s why shows of our childhood are getting cancelled, including ESPN’s “Around the Horn.”
If you’ll indulge me, I’d like to tell you about a typical day in my childhood. Perhaps you or someone you know shared a similar routine.
After a long day of school – boy, we thought the days were long then – the time came to hop on the ol’ cheesewagon for the bus ride home. What happened on the bus is immaterial – nor can the language used be repeated – but after about an hour’s worth of waiting, I was finally home. The time was about 3:45 p.m., which meant I had plenty of time to fix a quick snack and catch the end of “Highly Questionable” with Dan LeBetard. What followed was what I was waiting for.
With my snack in hand – likely a bag of chips or an Uncrustable – I changed the channel to ESPN and watched the final minutes of LeBetard’s show, the segment where he, his father and his co-host would rate a topic with a “Si” or “No.” Following the sign-off, a booming voice signaled the start of ESPN’s “Happy Hour,” usually sponsored by an alcoholic beverage of some kind, which was made up of “Around the Horn” and “Pardon the Interruption," hosted by Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser. ATH host Tony Reali opened the show with a breezy preview of the day’s topics, introducing panelists Bill Plaschke, Jackie MacMullan, Tim Cowlishaw and Woody Paige. Que the jazzy theme music, and away we went.
What made ATH so interesting was that it wasn’t the typical faces you see on ESPN on a daily basis. The show utilized sports writers and journalists from across the country, using their different perspectives to create TV gold. “The Sports Reporters” popularized this format in the 20th century, but that show only aired one day a week. ATH could be seen five days a week on ESPN at 4 p.m. and an hour later on ESPN 2. The panel I used includes voices from Denver, Los Angeles, Dallas and Boston. Chicago, New York, Milwaukee and Miami are other cities with prominent voices on the show.
The show didn’t include hot take artists or TV actors – that came to ESPN much later on. It featured sports writers who covered their community’s sports scenes while having an eye for national storylines. That’s what made the show work. Plus it didn’t hurt that Reali is an engaging, entertaining host who can seamlessly maneuver through various viewpoints from different panelists. And great personalities to appear on the show aren’t just limited to those I mentioned. Bob Ryan, J.A. Adande, Israel Gutierrez, Ramona Shelburne, Kevin Blackistone, Frank Isola, Pablo Torre, Jorge Sedano, Bomani Jones, Michael Smith, Sarah Spain and Jay Marriotti – the less said about him the better – were just a few of the great talents in the show’s two-decade-plus history.
Mariotti, whose legal troubles are a Google search away, went on record last week saying that ATH was canceled because the show went “woke,” a buzzword that seemingly will never go away. The thing is, though, the show never really changed. The premise was to include voices from across the country, white, black, Asian, Hispanic or otherwise. The show wasn’t about race relations or balancing the economy. It was about sports. It is about sports. Just because some of the panelists were outspoken about politics in their free time didn’t make the show political. It was true to what it was, and I’ll always appreciate it for that.
To borrow a segment from the show, “Buy or Sell,” I’m selling Mariotti’s claim.
And finally, there’s the legacy of “Around the Horn.” It may be forgotten in the decades to come, but the impression it left on millions of sports fans cannot be overstated. One person in particular stands above all, and that’s Paige.
His sports knowledge was often unmatched, but what viewers came to love about the longtime Denver-based columnist were his comedic chops, none better showcased than on his infamous blackboard. Witty jokes or clever comments would always sit behind Paige on camera. It would often make you laugh, which is what sports is all about, really. No matter the sport, it’s a game you can play as a kid, and it’s fun. That part gets lost in all the heated debates you see nowadays. Paige may have been the inspiration for “First Take,” but he didn’t create that demon.
Even entire sports, such as baseball, have been eliminated from daily coverage at “The Worldwide Leader of Sports.” With ESPN and MLB severing their TV contract after this season, America’s pastime might be discussed even less than hockey on the network – a sport ESPN has the rights to, yet ignores.
Growing up, I always wanted to work in sports in some form or fashion. Once it became abundantly clear that playing sports wasn’t on the table, being in sports media was the next-best thing. I thought I wanted to be a commentator during high school since I did the announcing for the middle and high school baseball games. Once I got to college, I thought I wanted to work in television. By the time I was done with college, I knew I wanted to be a writer. And after being here in Columbia, sharing opinions is something I wanted to add.
For the longest time, I couldn’t think of who my greatest inspiration was. But the answer was in front of my face the whole time – someone who tries to add humor while simultaneously attempting to give fair, balanced coverage and takes.
It was Woody Paige all along.
