Max Kellerman will host ESPN's newest show -- Around the Horn -- a 30-minute program which will debut October 28 and air at 5 p.m. ET Monday-Friday featuring passionate opinions on the day's hot-button issues.
Kellerman, ESPN2 Friday Night Fights studio analyst, will likely call on the knowledge gained from watching that sport's referees in his role as moderator of this fast-paced, no-holds-barred production. He will be charged with breaking up verbal exchanges among noted sports columnists from around the country.
THE SCORING
Kellerman will also serve as ringside judge from his Washington, D.C. studio where he'll rate and score the strength of each journalist's comments. Each point he gives or deducts will have a direct correlation to how much time they have for closing comments.
THE COMBATANTS
Each afternoon, Around the Horn will select four columnists from five newspapers in various time zones and geographic regions to join Kellerman from their respective newsrooms. The papers and primary participants, chosen on the basis of news from their parts of the country that day, are:
Bob Ryan, Boston Globe
Woody Paige, Denver Post
Jay Mariotti, Chicago Sun-Times
Tim Cowlishaw, Dallas Morning News
T.J. Simers, Los Angeles Times
THE PRODUCTION
Similar television programs involve panelists via satellite, and the subsequent slight time lapse is noticeable in the hesitancy of Q&A's between the studio and remote sites. Around the Horn will eliminate that hesitancy by featuring high-tech fiber optic connections in the newsrooms to ensure every discussion and argument will be delivered in real time.
Around the Horn is an ESPN Original Entertainment production and will lead into Pardon the Interruption with Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon, and the evening edition of SportsCenter to create a daily block of lively sports news, highlights and opinion.
