The Tony Kornheiser Show
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''The Tony Kornheiser Show'' is a sports
podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...
talk show out of
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, hosted by
Tony Kornheiser Anthony Irwin Kornheiser (; born July 13, 1948) is an American television sports talk show host and former sportswriter and columnist. Kornheiser is best known for his endeavors in three forms of media: as a writer for ''The Washington Post'' from ...
, which was originally a sports radio talk show appeared on
WTEM WTEM (980 AM) is a commercial sports radio station licensed to serve Washington, D.C. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station services the Washington metropolitan area as the flagship station of the Washington Wizards. WTEM is also the co-flagship st ...
from 1992 to 1997; on
ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN". ...
between 1998 and 2004; back on WTEM from 2004 to 2006; and on WTWP and then
WWWT WTOP-FM (103.5 FM) – branded ''WTOP Radio'' and ''WTOP News'' – is a commercial all-news radio station licensed to serve Washington, D.C. Owned by Hubbard Broadcasting, the station serves the Washington metropolitan area, extending its re ...
in 2007 and 2008; and back on WTEM from 2009 and 2016. The show also appeared on
XM Satellite Radio XM Satellite Radio (XM) was one of the three satellite radio (SDARS) and online radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Holdings. It provided pay-for-service radio, analogous to subscription cable television. Its s ...
between February 28, 2005, and April 28, 2006, between March 5, 2007, and June 28, 2007, and between January 21, 2008, and June 27, 2008. In 2012, Kornheiser was ranked No. 8 as the 100 most important sports talk radio hosts in America by
Talkers Magazine ''Talkers Magazine'' is a trade-industry publication related to talk radio in the United States. Its slogan is "The Bible of Talk Radio and the New Talk Media". In addition to radio, it also covers talk shows on broadcast and cable television, a ...
. In 2016, Kornheiser was ranked No. 1 as America's Top 20 Local Sports Midday Shows for 2015 by Barrett Sports Media.


History


WTEM (1992–1997)

When ''The Tony Kornheiser Show'' launched on May 25, 1992, the show was originally produced by Mitch Levy. The sports director on
WTEM WTEM (980 AM) is a commercial sports radio station licensed to serve Washington, D.C. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station services the Washington metropolitan area as the flagship station of the Washington Wizards. WTEM is also the co-flagship st ...
,
Andy Pollin Andrew Pollin (born August 3, 1958) is an American radio and TV personality. He currently co-hosts, with Rob Long, about half of the episodes of The Mid-Atlantic Sports Report on MASN. He helped launch Washington, D.C. sports talk station WTEM in ...
, was both
sidekick A sidekick is a slang expression for a close companion or colleague (not necessarily in fiction) who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to the one they accompany. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, ...
and news reporter of the show. Greg Garcia (who would later create the sitcom ''
My Name is Earl ''My Name Is Earl'' is an American television sitcom created by Greg Garcia that aired on the NBC television network from September 20, 2005, to May 14, 2009, in the United States. It was produced by 20th Century Fox Television and starred Jaso ...
'') worked as a board operator on the show. After three months, Gary Braun succeeded Garcia as the board operator. At the beginning, Kornheiser basically had two rules and a mission statement: * No athletes as guests because Kornheiser thought their interviews are boring and hard to get the points Kornheiser wants. * When callers called in, Kornheiser requested them to go straight to the topic without pleasantries. If a caller asks "how are you doing?" a "Banned from the Tony Kornheiser Show"
soundbite A sound bite or soundbite is a short clip of speech or music extracted from a longer piece of audio, often used to promote or exemplify the full length piece. In the context of journalism, a sound bite is characterized by a short phrase or sentence ...
would be played and that call would end. * Kornheiser's mission statement: help your friend, crush your enemy, and have free food. Kornheiser dislikes "how are you doing?" to start a call; he prefers that callers and e-mailers have funny and creative comments: John from D.C. always said "T.K. Stack Money" when he called in; Steve the Sycophant from Virginia, always said "Tony, my liege and idol" on the phone. When
Andy Pollin Andrew Pollin (born August 3, 1958) is an American radio and TV personality. He currently co-hosts, with Rob Long, about half of the episodes of The Mid-Atlantic Sports Report on MASN. He helped launch Washington, D.C. sports talk station WTEM in ...
did the news update, Kornheiser often interrupted him with his comments on the news. During the first few years, Kornheiser would let a then
WTEM WTEM (980 AM) is a commercial sports radio station licensed to serve Washington, D.C. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station services the Washington metropolitan area as the flagship station of the Washington Wizards. WTEM is also the co-flagship st ...
traffic reporter Janet Elliott (then called Janet Delaney or Janet O'Connor, and also known as Janet "From Another Planet") sing
show tune A show tune is a song originally written as part of the score of a work of musical theatre or musical film, especially if the piece in question has become a standard, more or less detached in most people's minds from the original context. ...
s in a segment and then praise her. During the show, the sales representatives of
WTEM WTEM (980 AM) is a commercial sports radio station licensed to serve Washington, D.C. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station services the Washington metropolitan area as the flagship station of the Washington Wizards. WTEM is also the co-flagship st ...
sent free food to the studio, which prompted Kornheiser to say, "This show is about free food." If the food was not delivered on time, Kornheiser would go ballistic on the air. Because Kornheiser needed to focus on writing his Style column in ''
the Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' weekly, he usually did not host the show on Thursdays. Usually
Andy Pollin Andrew Pollin (born August 3, 1958) is an American radio and TV personality. He currently co-hosts, with Rob Long, about half of the episodes of The Mid-Atlantic Sports Report on MASN. He helped launch Washington, D.C. sports talk station WTEM in ...
, the Sports Director at WTEM, would guest-host Tony's Show on Thursdays. Between November 1995 and December 1996,
Warner Wolf Warner William Wolf (born November 11, 1937) is an American television and radio sports broadcaster, perhaps best known as a local news sports anchor in Washington, D.C. and New York City, and for his catchphrase "Let's go to the videotape!" He w ...
was named the guest host of ''the Tony Kornheiser Show'' on Thursdays until he moved to
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
as a sports anchor on
WCBS-TV WCBS-TV (channel 2) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside Riverhead, New York–licensed independent station WL ...
. Other Thursday guest hosts were Kevin Kiley,
Johnny Holliday John Holliday Bobbitt (born October 15, 1937), known professionally as Johnny Holliday, is an American radio and television sportscaster and a former Top 40 radio disc jockey. He has maintained a long association with the University of Maryland ...
, the voice of the
Maryland Terrapins The Maryland Terrapins, commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 19 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, College Park in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divis ...
,
Al Koken AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media * Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera * Al (''Fullmetal ...
, etc. Late in this tenure, Kornheiser started to read emails from his listeners. This segment was called ''Tony's Mailbag''. The jingle introducing the segment was sung by Gary Braun, a member of the original incarnation of the show. He always ended his radio show by saying "If you're out on your bike tonight, do wear white" as a tribute to the
Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...
. The last show before he moved to
ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN". ...
was broadcast on November 14, 1997.


ESPN Radio (1998–2004)

''The Tony Kornheiser Show'' on
ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN". ...
debuted on January 5, 1998. The show aired between 1 pm and 4 pm ET. The original producer was Denis Horgan, Jr. and the sports update was anchored by Dan 'The Duke' Davis. Because of Kornheiser's duties in ''The Washington Post'', ''The Tony Kornheiser Show'' had two studios: one in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
where Kornheiser and Pollin lived and the other in
Bristol, Connecticut Bristol is a suburban city located in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, southwest-west of Hartford. The city is also 120 miles southwest from Boston, and approximately 100 miles northeast of New York City. As of the 2020 census, the ...
, where the producing staff and Davis stayed. One of the features of the show was that when Davis reported the updates, Kornheiser would interrupt the Duke's updates and make comments. At first the Duke was not amused with Kornheiser's interruptions and it took Davis a while to get used to it. Later on they found chemistry and Tony described the Duke as the glue of the show. During the first two years, Kornheiser did not host the show when he wrote a column for ''
ESPN The Magazine ''ESPN The Magazine'' was an American monthly sports magazine published by the ESPN sports network in Bristol, Connecticut. The first issue was published on March 11, 1998. Initially published every other week, it scaled back to 24 issues a year i ...
''.
Andy Pollin Andrew Pollin (born August 3, 1958) is an American radio and TV personality. He currently co-hosts, with Rob Long, about half of the episodes of The Mid-Atlantic Sports Report on MASN. He helped launch Washington, D.C. sports talk station WTEM in ...
,
Bob Ryan Robert P. Ryan (born February 21, 1946) is an American sportswriter, formerly with ''The Boston Globe'', and author. He has been described as "the quintessential American sportswriter" and a basketball guru, and is well known for his coverage of ...
of ''
The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'', or others would guest-host the show. On November 16, 1998,
WTEM WTEM (980 AM) is a commercial sports radio station licensed to serve Washington, D.C. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station services the Washington metropolitan area as the flagship station of the Washington Wizards. WTEM is also the co-flagship st ...
moved ''The Tony Kornheiser Show'' to the 4–7 p.m. slot as a tape delay show. Kornheiser did not like the idea because he would lose the callers from the WTEM broadcasting area. On September 13, 1999,
ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN". ...
moved ''The Tony Kornheiser Show'' to his favorite 10 am-1 p.m. ET slot to make room for ''
The Dan Patrick Show ''The Dan Patrick Show'' is a syndicated radio and television sports talk show, hosted by former ESPN personality Dan Patrick. It is currently produced by Patrick and is syndicated to radio stations by Premiere Radio Networks, within and indepen ...
''. WTEM accommodated the move by reducing ''
The Jim Rome Show ''The Jim Rome Show'' is a sports radio talk show hosted by Jim Rome. It airs live for three hours each weekday from 9 a.m. to noon Pacific Time. The show is produced in Los Angeles, syndicated by CBS Sports Radio, and can be heard on affilia ...
'' to 2 hours.
Jim Rome James Phillip Rome (born October 14, 1964) is an American sports radio host. His talk show, ''The Jim Rome Show'', is syndicated by CBS Sports Radio. Broadcasting from a studio near Los Angeles, California, Rome hosts ''The Jim Rome Show'' on ...
was furious at the move. He voiced his displeasure on the air, attacked Kornheiser and demanded WTEM give him his third hour back. Kornheiser responded to Rome's attack by his usual sarcastic humor. The producing staff of ''The Tony Kornheiser Show'' even played several Rome parodies. The "Snackdown" was one of the most famous parodies in the history of ''The Tony Kornheiser Show''. Two phrases, "Clahhsic!" and "Epic!", both said in a tone mocking Rome, became the staples of ''The Tony Kornheiser Show''. Also, Kornheiser's nickname "Mr. Kornmissioner" was derived from this segment. Kornheiser also mocks Rome's "tour stops" from time to time on his show, and states that Rome's "takes" are not his own opinions, but rather made-up opinions from staff members that he pays to write his takes. ''Tony's Mailbag'' concluded the show on ESPN Radio with Kornheiser reading emails from his listeners. The jingle introducing the segment still used the version sung by Gary Braun. The music that plays in the background during this segment is "Tea for Two Cha Cha" by Roy Battle (pronounced Bah-tell by Tony) and the Altones. The band is dubbed "The official house band of the Tony Kornheiser Show". Later on, Gadget White and opera singer
Denyce Graves Denyce Graves (born March 7, 1964) is an American mezzo-soprano opera singer. Early life Graves was born on March 7, 1964, in Washington, D.C., to Charles Graves and Dorothy (Middleton) Graves-Kenner. She is the middle of three children and w ...
created alternate opening jingles for this segment. Although ''The Tony Kornheiser Show'' is a sports-talk show, Kornheiser spends a lot of segments discussing current events, music, entertainment and life surrounding himself, including his dog, Maggie. During Fridays Tony would discuss movies with either
Stephen Hunter Stephen Hunter (born March 25, 1946, Kansas City, Missouri) is an American novelist, essayist, and film critic. Life and career Hunter was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and grew up in Evanston, Illinois. His father was Charles Francis Hunter, ...
or Joe Barber of WTOP. His love of the music in 1960s inspired a radio segment called ''Old Guy Radio''. His other-stuff talk makes his talk show much more interesting when there is no big sports event. In essence, his non-sports talk becomes a talk show version of his ''Washington Post'' Style Section columns. A collection of memorable clips of witty, sarcastic, or funny sayings from famous movies, television shows, callers, interviewees, and cast members have been turned into sound bites that are played regularly on the show, depending on the situation and circumstance. Kornheiser, a self-admitted agitator stemming from his time as a young adult in the late 1960s, would do many things to provoke wrath from his bosses, fellow ESPN employees, (especially the on-air TV "heads") and from ESPN Radio's usual core audience, which only wanted intense sports talk as opposed to stories about how to cook a chicken, his mischievous Brittany spaniel, Maggie, whether or not the Packers would win on Sunday (a statement used by emailers to mock hardcore sports fans which exists to this day), or him kvetching about the people he dislikes, his old age, his kids, and his lack of hair. The on-air TV "heads" were featured prominently on the show in a comedic game called the ESPN Fantasy Head League. It is based on fantasy sports leagues, except the athletes consist only of ESPN/ABC sports personalities. The people who appeared regularly on the show (Andy,
Phil Ceppaglia Phil may refer to: * Phil (given name), a shortened version of masculine and feminine names * Phill, a given name also spelled "Phil" * Phil, Kentucky, United States * Phil (film), ''Phil'' (film), a 2019 film * -phil-, a lexical fragment, used as ...
, Kevin Stanfield, Ray Necci and Kornheiser himself) participated in a mock fantasy draft of the on-air personalities, which featured people such as
Dan Patrick Dan Patrick may refer to: * Dan Patrick (ice hockey) (born 1938), Canadian ice hockey player * Dan Patrick (politician) (born 1950), Lieutenant Governor of Texas and political and sports radio journalist * Dan Patrick (sportscaster) (born 1956), Ame ...
,
Mike Tirico Mike Tirico (; born December 13, 1966) is an American sportscaster. He is currently the NFL play-by-play announcer on NBC's '' Sunday Night Football'', having replaced Al Michaels in 2022. From 2006 to 2015, Tirico served as a play-by-play an ...
,
Stuart Scott Stuart Orlando Scott (July 19, 1965 – January 4, 2015) was an American Sports commentator, sportscaster and anchor on ESPN, most notably on ''SportsCenter''. Well known for his hip-hop style and use of catchphrases, Scott was also a regular ...
,
Dana Jacobson Dana Jacobson (born November 5, 1971) is a host and correspondent for CBS News currently serving as a co host for ''CBS Saturday Morning''. She is also an anchor & reporter for CBS Sports and CBS Sports Network. She joined CBS News in 2015, 2 y ...
, and
Neil Everett Neil Everett Morfitt (born ) is an American sportscaster for ESPN. He is the co-anchor of the West Coast edition of '' SportsCenter'' alongside Stan Verrett. Early life and education Everett was born in Portland, Oregon and raised in Spokane, W ...
. Each person on the show would earn points for the types of shows each head appeared on. More points were given to higher profile spots, such as the 11 pm SportsCenter, or an ABC Sports program. Proof of his agitative nature occurred during his second mock fantasy draft. Management heard about the draft and immediately pulled the activity while Tony's show was in commercial. In late 2001, Kornheiser decided to leave the microphones on when his show went to a commercial break, as a treat to his internet radio listeners. The result was the infamous yet wildly popular "Internet Show", where online listeners could hear what the people on the show really thought about sports, entertainment, politics, and other stuff. Two popular internet show segments involved
Rich Eisen Richard Eisen (; born June 24, 1969) is an American television sportscaster and radio host. Since 2003, he has worked for NFL Network as a host of various pregame, halftime, and postgame shows. He also hosts a daily sports radio show, ''The Ric ...
telling the
Bea Arthur Beatrice Arthur (born Bernice Frankel; May 13, 1922 – April 25, 2009) was an American actress and comedian. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City, Arthur began her career on stage in 1947, attracting critical acclaim before achieving ...
joke, and Kornheiser ripping an angry emailer who proclaimed that he hated Tony's show. Eisen heard the
Bea Arthur Beatrice Arthur (born Bernice Frankel; May 13, 1922 – April 25, 2009) was an American actress and comedian. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City, Arthur began her career on stage in 1947, attracting critical acclaim before achieving ...
joke at the Friar's Club comedy roast of
Jerry Stiller Gerald Isaac Stiller (June 8, 1927 – May 11, 2020) was an American actor and comedian. He spent many years as part of the comedy duo Stiller and Meara with his wife, Anne Meara, to whom he was married for over 60 years until her death in 2015 ...
in 1999, where the joke was told by Jeffrey Ross. Kornheiser's tirade against the angry emailer, red89hawk@aol.com, was peppered with foul language and vitriolic sentiment, a hallmark of the Internet Show, and Kornheiser's rants in general. The red89hawk segment also featured an E-mail Jihad, a barrage of angry emails from listeners directed at the person criticizing Kornheiser. The Internet Show was a forum of real emotions from real people engaging in informal conversations, and would regularly contain explicit topics and foul language. As Kornheiser once said during the
Rich Eisen Richard Eisen (; born June 24, 1969) is an American television sportscaster and radio host. Since 2003, he has worked for NFL Network as a host of various pregame, halftime, and postgame shows. He also hosts a daily sports radio show, ''The Ric ...
internet show segment, "That's why we always say, this is the X-Rated portion of the show." The Internet Show was canceled on January 4, 2002, when it was alleged that racist remarks were made during one of the segments. It was reinstated in February 2002. The Internet Show was pulled off the air for good in the summer of 2002, when show producer Denis Horgan Jr., a friend of Kornheiser, was fired for inappropriate e-mail conduct. Tony criticized management on the air for Horgan's firing, and was subsequently suspended from ESPN Radio for one week. This suspension became known as Kornheiser's "Vacation" when the topic of his "disappearance" arose. The continuous arguments with
ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN". ...
management led to Kornheiser's departure. Ray Necci replaced Horgan as the show's producer in the summer of 2002. 14 months later, Chadd Scott replaced Necci as producer. Kornheiser's last show on
ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN". ...
was aired on March 26, 2004.


WTEM (2004–2006) and Extreme XM (2005–2006)

On November 10, 2004, Kornheiser returned to
WTEM WTEM (980 AM) is a commercial sports radio station licensed to serve Washington, D.C. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station services the Washington metropolitan area as the flagship station of the Washington Wizards. WTEM is also the co-flagship st ...
with the cast of *
Andy Pollin Andrew Pollin (born August 3, 1958) is an American radio and TV personality. He currently co-hosts, with Rob Long, about half of the episodes of The Mid-Atlantic Sports Report on MASN. He helped launch Washington, D.C. sports talk station WTEM in ...
(co-host and news reporter) * Gary Braun (co-host) * Keven Sheehan (news reporter) * Marc Sterne (producer, who is nicknamed "Nigel" and uses a British accent. His authenticity was questioned on March 24, 2006, but had proof that he was from England, showing his English Badge on Channel 8. However, the authenticity of his daily appearances on Channel 8 is also in extreme doubt, so the mystery remains). Actually, the origins of the "Nigel" character can be traced to an episode of the show in which Tony was reflecting on a story he'd seen the night before that was similar to the kind of contests on Man vs. Beast, a Mr. Tony favorite. Gary Braun said that he and Marc Sterne had reconstructed the origins of story (it was a program from England involving little people and lions or something like that). Braun and Sterne then launched into a very funny skit in which it was posited that the entire program was the result of an English bar bet. But, so taken was Tony with Sterne's British accent that he asked him to read all the sports updates in that accent. He nicknamed that character "Nigel" and after a while, ceased referring to Sterne by his actual name, and referred to him exclusively as "Nigel". From time to time, actual Englishmen would write into the show asking after Nigel's credentials saying things like: "He sounds a little like
Dick Van Dyke Richard Wayne Van Dyke (born December 13, 1925) is an American actor, entertainer and comedian. His award-winning career has spanned seven decades in film, television, and stage. Van Dyke began his career as an entertainer on radio and telev ...
in
Mary Poppins It may refer to: * ''Mary Poppins'' (book series), the original 1934–1988 children's fantasy novels that introduced the character. * Mary Poppins (character), the nanny with magical powers. * ''Mary Poppins'' (film), a 1964 Disney film sta ...
, is he for real?" at which point Tony, ever the one to push the inside joke, insisted that not only was Nigel for real, but he was in the country illegally. This incident is typical of the show, in that it is a long-running inside joke that the listener has to have been in on for some time. (The mocking of Jim Rome and the constant references to the non-existent simulcast on Channel 8, two of the others.) The show was heard online on SportsTalk 980 from 9 am to 11 am ET, after which the show was repeated until 1 pm ET.
XM Satellite Radio XM Satellite Radio (XM) was one of the three satellite radio (SDARS) and online radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Holdings. It provided pay-for-service radio, analogous to subscription cable television. Its s ...
began broadcasting the show on February 28, 2005, from 11 am through 1 pm on
Extreme XM Extreme Talk was a talk radio channel available on iHeartRadio. Owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., Extreme Talk featured terrestrial radio show simulcasts and tape delay broadcasts from across the United States. The station lineup included: syndicated ...
. Since Clear Channel programs Extreme, Kornheiser was not compensated for this additional venue. In this tenure, ''The Tony Kornheiser Show'' included a sports score update segment that was called "Andy Polley's Happy Funtime Sports Extravaganza". The Extravaganza was usually the sports update at 20 minutes past the hour during the second hour of the show, and was introduced by carnival music and a random
soundbite A sound bite or soundbite is a short clip of speech or music extracted from a longer piece of audio, often used to promote or exemplify the full length piece. In the context of journalism, a sound bite is characterized by a short phrase or sentence ...
from the show's database. Also,
Darius Rucker Darius Carlos Rucker (born May 13, 1966) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He first gained fame as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of rock band Hootie & the Blowfish, which he founded in 1986 at the University of South Ca ...
of
Hootie and the Blowfish Hootie & the Blowfish are an American soft rock band that were formed in Columbia, South Carolina, in 1986. The band's lineup for most of its existence has been the quartet of Darius Rucker, Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, and Jim Sonefeld. The band w ...
recorded another version of the opening jingle for ''Tony's Mailbag''. During this time, the holdovers from the ESPN message board days, referred to as ''bloggers'' by Kornheiser, held a members-only golf tournament on August 1, 2005. Kornheiser spent time in the months before the tournament, which he dubbed "The First and Last Annual Nerds in Paradise Golf Closed Invitational" (derided by Gary Braun using the acronym "FAGLAP"), trying to make deals with golf courses and hotels in the Washington DC area for the best deal. Finally, the winning host emerged as Reston National Golf Club, in
Reston, Virginia Reston is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia and a principal city of the Washington metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, Reston's population was 63,226. Founded in 1964, Reston was influenced by the Garden City movem ...
. They, led by hotel manager Mark Driscoll, gave the bloggers the "Mr. Tony Treatment," including an extravagant dinner after the golfing that evening. To the shock of people like Andy Polley and Kevin Stanfield, noted curmudgeon Kornheiser was visibly moved by the whole affair. Some of the better-known bloggers that attended were AJ in Nashville, Korry in Virginia, and Brandon Borzelli, who Kornheiser noted wrote the funniest emails in the show's history. ''The Tony Kornheiser Show'' on
WTEM WTEM (980 AM) is a commercial sports radio station licensed to serve Washington, D.C. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station services the Washington metropolitan area as the flagship station of the Washington Wizards. WTEM is also the co-flagship st ...
ended on April 28, 2006, so that Kornheiser could change his sleep schedule to accommodate his future role as the color analyst on ESPN's ''
Monday Night Football ''ESPN Monday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''MNF'' and also known as ''ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC'' for simulcasts) is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games currently airing on ESPN, AB ...
''. Kornheiser had stated that he planned on returning to radio after the NFL Football Season. From time to time, Kornheiser would call in to his replacements, Andy Pollin and
Steve Czaban ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve ...
, to discuss matters such as
The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based American Mafia, Italian-American mobster, portraying h ...
,
American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...
, and 24.


WTWP/WWWT and XM Sports Nation (2007 and 2008)

After completing the 2006 season on
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
's ''
Monday Night Football ''ESPN Monday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''MNF'' and also known as ''ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC'' for simulcasts) is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games currently airing on ESPN, AB ...
'', Kornheiser considered offers from
WTEM WTEM (980 AM) is a commercial sports radio station licensed to serve Washington, D.C. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station services the Washington metropolitan area as the flagship station of the Washington Wizards. WTEM is also the co-flagship st ...
and WTWP to return to the
Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...
area radio airwaves. On January 23, 2007, Kornheiser decided to go to WTWP to host ''The Tony Kornheiser Show''. Effective February 20, 2007, ''The Tony Kornheiser Show'' aired live on weekdays from 8:30 to 10:30 am, with a repeat that aired immediately afterward (on Fridays the last half-hour was preempted by ''The Politics Program''). WTWP is owned by
Bonneville International Bonneville International Corporation is a media and broadcasting company, wholly owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) through its for-profit arm, Deseret Management Corporation. It began as a radio and TV network ...
and programmed in conjunction with ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
''. The deciding factor for Kornheiser to join WTWP was his desire to work for a station affiliated with ''The Washington Post'', where he had been since 1979. For the new incarnation of the show, Kornheiser retained Marc "Nigel" Sterne as producer.
Andy Pollin Andrew Pollin (born August 3, 1958) is an American radio and TV personality. He currently co-hosts, with Rob Long, about half of the episodes of The Mid-Atlantic Sports Report on MASN. He helped launch Washington, D.C. sports talk station WTEM in ...
and Gary Braun remained at
WTEM WTEM (980 AM) is a commercial sports radio station licensed to serve Washington, D.C. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station services the Washington metropolitan area as the flagship station of the Washington Wizards. WTEM is also the co-flagship st ...
and
Triple X ESPN Radio WTNT (730 AM) is a Spanish hits radio station licensed to Alexandria, Virginia and serving the Washington metro area. WTNT is owned and operated by Metro Radio. 730 kHz is a Canadian and Mexican clear-channel frequency. The station flipped ...
, respectively. The main cast of the show included: * Brennan Haselton, the news reporter * Joe Barber, the entertainment editor of WTOP *
David Aldridge David Aldridge (born ) is an American sports journalist who works as a writer for ''The Athletic''. He was previously a reporter for Turner Sports, contributing to their NBA and MLB coverage. Other outlets that Aldridge has written and contrib ...
of ''
The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...
'' and
TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...
when Barber is away * Jeanne McManus, former food editor of ''The Washington Post'', a.k.a. "my dear friend Nancy" in Kornheiser's ''Washington Post Style'' columns. McManus appeared on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. In McManus's absence,
Sally Jenkins Sally Jenkins (born October 22, 1960) is an American sports columnist and feature writer for ''The Washington Post'', and author. She was previously a senior writer for ''Sports Illustrated''. She has won the AP Sports Columnist of the Year Awa ...
, Liz Clarke, Tracee Hamilton of ''The Washington Post'', or Janet Elliott would fill in. Kevin Stanfield filled in when either Barber or Aldridge was away. Arch Campbell, movie critic of
WJLA-TV WJLA-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Washington, D.C., affiliated with ABC. It is one of two flagship stations of Sinclair Broadcast Group (alongside dual Fox/MyNetworkTV affiliate WBFF hannel 45in Baltimore), and is also sister to ...
, and
John Feinstein John Feinstein (born July 28, 1956) is an American sportswriter, author and sports commentator. Early life Feinstein was born to a Jewish family in New York City on July 28, 1956. His father was heavily involved in the arts having been the Gen ...
also made
cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...
s as co-hosts. On May 9, 2007, for the first time in the show's history on WTWP, there were only female co-hosts when McManus and Clarke co-hosted the show with Kornheiser. Before that show, Clarke said Kornheiser was in the middle of "the
estrogen Estrogen or oestrogen is a category of sex hormone responsible for the development and regulation of the female reproductive system and secondary sex characteristics. There are three major endogenous estrogens that have estrogenic hormonal acti ...
sandwich." It happened again the next day when Hamilton and Jenkins were co-hosts, where Kornheiser called himself "the meat of the estrogen sandwich." Several frequent guests on the show had been limited by their affiliation with ESPN; Kornheiser had stated on-air (most recently on March 13, 2007) that ESPN management enacted a policy that prevents ESPN employees and commentators—the majority of whose work appears on ESPN—from appearing as guests on stations that compete with ESPN Radio affiliates. ESPN has since relaxed this limitation as it applies to Kornheiser. Before speaking with Mel Kiper, Jr. on April 10, 2007, Kornheiser said, "we have dispensation to have a certain amount of ESPN people on." Because the show was broadcast on a long-form talk radio station, Kornheiser was not required to focus primarily on sports. As a result, this incarnation of the show focused more on pop culture, entertainment, news headlines, and the daily lives of Tony and his co-hosts. The last show in 2007 was on June 28, 2007, signalling Tony's return to the ''Monday Night Football'' booth for the 2007 season. Kornheiser vowed to return to WTWP in 2008 and "do the radio seriously." As a tradition when quitting the show from
ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN". ...
and
WTEM WTEM (980 AM) is a commercial sports radio station licensed to serve Washington, D.C. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station services the Washington metropolitan area as the flagship station of the Washington Wizards. WTEM is also the co-flagship st ...
, the last show before hiatus ended by playing "Famous Last Words" by
Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man (song), Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo ...
. With the demise of ''Washington Post Radio'' on WTWP, and the Post affiliation being the key reason Kornheiser joined the station, it was initially unclear whether or not the show would return. However, Kornheiser agreed to return to the station, now known as
WWWT WTOP-FM (103.5 FM) – branded ''WTOP Radio'' and ''WTOP News'' – is a commercial all-news radio station licensed to serve Washington, D.C. Owned by Hubbard Broadcasting, the station serves the Washington metropolitan area, extending its re ...
, beginning January 21, 2008. The show aired live from 8 am to 10 am and is replayed from 2 pm to 4 pm ''The Tony Kornheiser Show'' also aired on
XM Satellite Radio XM Satellite Radio (XM) was one of the three satellite radio (SDARS) and online radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Holdings. It provided pay-for-service radio, analogous to subscription cable television. Its s ...
Channel 144, and was available in the United States and Canada, from 9 am to 11 am from March 5, 2007 to June 28, 2007. XM carried the show again, in a live time slot (8-10 a.m.) between January 21, 2008, and June 27, 2008. Starting with the January 23, 2008 edition of the show on 3WT, various listeners and celebrities would do the opening voiceover for the show. Tony aired his dislike of the current 3WT voiceover guy on the January 22, 2008 edition of the show. As a result, he invited his listeners to record an mp3 of the opening sequence ("Previously on the Tony Kornheiser Show..." and "The Tony Kornheiser Show is on now, on 3WT") and submit that recording to Nigel. The list of contributors has included: -Greg Tantum (3WT program director)
-Washington D.C. Mayor
Adrian Fenty Adrian Malik Fenty (born December 6, 1970) is an American politician who served as the sixth mayor of the District of Columbia. He served one term, from 2007 to 2011, losing his bid for reelection at the primary level to Democrat Vincent C. Gray ...

-Dennis Bounds (one of the chief newscasters for Seattle's
KING-TV KING-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Seattle, Washington, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Everett-licensed independent station KONG (channel 16). Both stations share studios at the Home Plate ...
) ''The Tony Kornheiser Show'' went off the air on June 27, 2008, as Kornheiser prepared for ''Monday Night Football''. However, on August 11, 2008, because of the format change, WWWT was canceled and Bonneville stated it would no longer will air ''The Tony Kornheiser Show''.


WTEM (2009–2016)

On May 18, 2009, ESPN announced that Kornheiser stepped down from the Monday Night Football booth and was replaced by former Oakland Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach
Jon Gruden Jon David Gruden (born August 17, 1963) is a former American professional football coach who was a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons. He held his first head coaching position with the Raiders franchise during thei ...
, which swirled a lot of rumors where Kornheiser would host a radio show. Then Kornheiser decided to return to WTEM, which was broken on
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
by Jim Zinzi, a longtime Kornheiser listener whose wife ran into Kornheiser at the beach. Effective September 8, 2009, ''The Tony Kornheiser Show'' aired live on weekdays from 10 am to 12 pm This incarnation retains the "softcore sports talk format" from the previous one at 3WT. On every show, Kornheiser and producer "Nigel" are joined by two rotating co-hosts, usually a "guy chair" and a "chick chair." The main cast of characters include: *
David Aldridge David Aldridge (born ) is an American sports journalist who works as a writer for ''The Athletic''. He was previously a reporter for Turner Sports, contributing to their NBA and MLB coverage. Other outlets that Aldridge has written and contrib ...
(co-host) of ''
Turner Sports Warner Bros. Discovery Sports (WBD Sports) is the division of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) that is responsible for sports broadcasting, sports broadcasts on its parent company's various channels in the United States, including TBS (American TV ch ...
'' * Gary Braun (co-host) of ''
WTEM WTEM (980 AM) is a commercial sports radio station licensed to serve Washington, D.C. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station services the Washington metropolitan area as the flagship station of the Washington Wizards. WTEM is also the co-flagship st ...
'' and Vice President of Braun Films & Video, Inc. *
Chris Cillizza Christopher Michael Cillizza (; born February 20, 1976) is an American political commentator, who worked for the television news channel CNN from 2017-2022. Prior to joining CNN, he wrote for ''The Fix'', the daily political blog of ''The Washing ...
(co-host) of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' * Liz Clarke (co-host) of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' * Torie Clarke (co-host), former ''
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs The Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, or ATSD (PA), is the principal staff advisor and assistant to the Secretary of Defense and Deputy Secretary of Defense for public information, internal information, community relations, ...
'' * Jeanne McManus (co-host), formerly of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' * Kevin Sheehan (news reporter) of ''
WTEM WTEM (980 AM) is a commercial sports radio station licensed to serve Washington, D.C. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station services the Washington metropolitan area as the flagship station of the Washington Wizards. WTEM is also the co-flagship st ...
'' * Scott Linn (news reporter) of ''
WTEM WTEM (980 AM) is a commercial sports radio station licensed to serve Washington, D.C. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station services the Washington metropolitan area as the flagship station of the Washington Wizards. WTEM is also the co-flagship st ...
'' * Marc "Nigel" Sterne (producer) Other notable guest co-hosts include: * Kim Burton, wife of Gary Braun and former radio host on ''
WASH-FM WASH (97.1 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station owned and operated by iHeartMedia and located in Washington, D.C. Known on-air as "WASH-FM," the station airs an adult contemporary radio format. Studios and offices are on Rockville Pike (Maryland ...
'' * Arch Campbell, former movie critic for ''
WJLA-TV WJLA-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Washington, D.C., affiliated with ABC. It is one of two flagship stations of Sinclair Broadcast Group (alongside dual Fox/MyNetworkTV affiliate WBFF hannel 45in Baltimore), and is also sister to ...
'' *
Lindsay Czarniak Lindsay Ann Czarniak (born ) is an American sports anchor and reporter. She currently works for Fox Sports as a sideline reporter for NFL games. After spending six years with WRC-TV, the NBC owned-and-operated station in Washington, D.C., Cza ...
of ''
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
'' *
Howard Fineman Howard David Fineman (born November 17, 1948) is an American journalist who is global editorial director of the AOL Huffington Post Media Group. Prior to his move to Huffington Post in October 2010, he was Newsweek's chief political corresponde ...
of ''
The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'' * Mike Freeman of ''
Bleacher Report Bleacher Report (often abbreviated as B/R) is a website that focuses on sport and sports culture. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, with offices in New York City and London. Bleacher Report was acquired by Turner Broadcasting System in Aug ...
'' * Tracee Hamilton of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' *
Leon Harris Leon Harris (born April 20, 1961, in Akron, Ohio) is an American journalist and newscaster. Harris was born to Leon Sr. and Lorrene Harris in Akron, Ohio. He has three brothers: Marcus, Jerry, and J.J., who still reside in Akron; and a sister, K ...
of ''
WJLA-TV WJLA-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Washington, D.C., affiliated with ABC. It is one of two flagship stations of Sinclair Broadcast Group (alongside dual Fox/MyNetworkTV affiliate WBFF hannel 45in Baltimore), and is also sister to ...
'' * Sue Palka of ''
WTTG-TV WTTG (channel 5) is a television station in Washington, D.C., airing programming from the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside MyNetworkTV outlet WDCA (channel 20). WTTG and WDCA share ...
'' *
Adam Ferrara Adam Ferrara is an American actor and comedian known for playing the role of Chief "Needles" Nelson on the FX series '' Rescue Me''. He was a co-host on the U.S. version of ''Top Gear'' and played NYPD Sgt. Frank Verelli opposite Edie Falco on ...
, actor, host, and comedian *
Bill Simmons William John Simmons III (born September 25, 1969) is an American sports analyst, author, podcaster, and former sports writer who is the founder and CEO of the sports and pop culture website '' The Ringer''. Simmons first gained attention with ...
of ''
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
'' and ''
Grantland ''Grantland'' was a sports and pop-culture blog owned and operated by ESPN. The blog was started in 2011 by veteran writer and sports journalist Bill Simmons, who remained as editor-in-chief until May 2015. ''Grantland'' was named after famed ...
'' * Wendy Rieger of ''
WRC-TV WRC-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Washington, D.C., airing programming from the NBC network. It is owned-and-operated station, owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Class A television se ...
'' *
Andy Pollin Andrew Pollin (born August 3, 1958) is an American radio and TV personality. He currently co-hosts, with Rob Long, about half of the episodes of The Mid-Atlantic Sports Report on MASN. He helped launch Washington, D.C. sports talk station WTEM in ...
of ''
WTEM WTEM (980 AM) is a commercial sports radio station licensed to serve Washington, D.C. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station services the Washington metropolitan area as the flagship station of the Washington Wizards. WTEM is also the co-flagship st ...
'' *
Luke Russert Lucas Russert (born August 22, 1985), best known as Luke Russert, is an American broadcast news correspondent, who worked for NBC News from 2008 to 2016. His reporting was seen on ''NBC Nightly News'', ''Today (U.S. TV program), TODAY'', NBCNews. ...
of ''
NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...
'' * Kevin Stanfield of ''
WTEM WTEM (980 AM) is a commercial sports radio station licensed to serve Washington, D.C. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station services the Washington metropolitan area as the flagship station of the Washington Wizards. WTEM is also the co-flagship st ...
'' *
Pam Ward Pam Ward is an on-air personality for the cable sports television network ESPN, serving as one of the play-by-play announcers for ESPN's coverage of the 2012 and 2013 Women's College World Series of Softball. She is a graduate of the University of ...
of ''
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
'' The new incarnation also saw the debut of several new features, including: * Daily ''
PTI PTI may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Pardon the Interruption'', an American television sports show * PTI, a musical group on the WTII Records label Organizations * Pacific Torah Institute, a yeshiva high school in Vancouver, British Columb ...
'' preview with PTI producer Matt Kelliher * Every Thursday or Friday during the football season,
Ron Jaworski Partner owner , highlights= * Pro Bowl (1980) * Bert Bell Award (1980) * Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Fame ;NFL record * Longest touchdown pass: 99 yards (tied) , statlabel1= TD– INT , statvalue1=179–164 , statlabel2=Yards , statvalue2=28,19 ...
and
James Carville Chester James Carville Jr. (born October 25, 1944) is an American political consultant, author, and occasional actor who has strategized for candidates for public office in the United States and in at least 23 nations abroad. A Democrat, he is an ...
offer their picks to select NFL and college football games. Jaworski's picks are then compared against those of the show's resident monkey ''Reginald'' in a showdown called "Jaws vs. the Monkey." The other running in joke is Carville's seemingly made up lines on sports games. In 2012, with Carville unavailable at the start of the football season, Courtney Cummz started to offer one pick to select an NFL game. * Winter weather forecast by Sheehan, usually announcing between late November and early December. * Starting February 27, 2013, the mailbag theme songs are played by the listeners submitted to the show in the
MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...
format. Inspired by the creativity of the listeners, the show held a contest for giveaways. Later on it became a regular feature. The
WTEM WTEM (980 AM) is a commercial sports radio station licensed to serve Washington, D.C. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station services the Washington metropolitan area as the flagship station of the Washington Wizards. WTEM is also the co-flagship st ...
show was available immediately after airing via podcast on
iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
. Previously, between May 27, 2011, and March 20, 2015, the show had to wait 24-hours to distribute the podcast due to contract restrictions, which was ridiculed by Kornheiser's loyal listeners, and was a frequent joke on his program. Fans started a #FreeMrTony hashtag and complained frequently to the station. On March 23, 2015, Kornheiser announced the podcast of his radio show would now be available without a 24-hour delay. On May 2, 2016, ''the Tony Kornheiser Show'' moved to 11:00 a.m. through 1:00 p.m. to make room for the new morning show ''Cooley & Sheehan'', hosted by
Chris Cooley Christopher Ken Cooley (born July 11, 1982) is a former American football tight end who played for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Utah State University, and was drafted by the Redski ...
and
Kevin Sheehan Kevin Vincent Sheehan OAM (born 1 August 1953) is a former Australian rules footballer for Geelong and the current Australian Football League (AFL) National Talent and International Manager, a member of the AFL football operations sub-commit ...
. Scott Linn replaced Sheehan as the news reporter. On June 2, WTEM announced that Kornheiser would do his last show on WTEM near the end of June 2016. Kornheiser said that he would launch a podcast in September 2016. Kornheiser said in a statement, “I have loved every minute on the radio at WTEM, but I felt it was time to pursue a new and appealing challenge. I will be launching a podcast this September. I am excited that this endeavor will allow me to continue to work with so many of the people who have been a part of my radio show for over the past 20 years. But I will miss all of my friends and colleagues at WTEM.” On Kornheiser's last show aired on June 28, 2016, Kornheiser said, :"''I’m gonna miss pretty much people my age, but you should understand this: the opportunity to do this, I walked away from two years left on a contact ... I don’t know what is being written or what is being said, but the truth of the matter is, I walked away with two years left on a contract, which at my age is so stupid and an indefensible position. And why did I do it? Because I thought it might be nice to see if I could get otpeople to pay for it on a daily basis, but advertisers who I could bring them a certain amount of listeners: smart, funny, affluent people all around the country. Maybe we could get ads. Maybe we could get a sponsor from all around the country.''"


Podcast-Only (2016-Present)

The show relaunched as a podcast-only show on September 6, 2016. According to Kornheiser on June 6, 2016, the reason to do a podcast-only show was to own his content and did podcast a little closer to his home, but the show format would still be the same as the radio show. As for what will be different, Kornheiser said his new podcast will probably be 60 to 70 minutes instead of the 80 minutes he fills on his radio show. Kornheiser's son, Michael, would be the executive producer and handled the social media
@ThisShowStinks
on
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
) for the podcast and launched a website
www.tonykornheisershow.com
with information about how to subscribe. The podcast-only show is produced in partnership with sports talent agency
IMG img or IMG is an abbreviation for image. img or IMG may also refer to: * IMG (company), global sports and media business headquartered in New York City but with its main offices in Cleveland, originally known as the "International Management Group ...
and on-demand audio company DGital Media. All co-hosts from the previous
WTEM WTEM (980 AM) is a commercial sports radio station licensed to serve Washington, D.C. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station services the Washington metropolitan area as the flagship station of the Washington Wizards. WTEM is also the co-flagship st ...
show moved with Kornheiser to the podcast-only format. Sheehan returns to appear annually on the podcast to give his "Winter Weather Forecast". The podcast was initially recorded at a private studio, but in 2017 moved to a reserved space within Chatter (a restaurant Kornheiser co-owned with former
University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...
basketball coach
Gary Williams Gary Bruce Williams (born March 4, 1945) is an American university administrator and former college basketball coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Maryland, the Ohio State University, Boston College, and American University. I ...
, TV personality
Maury Povich Maurice Richard Povich (born January 17, 1939) is an American retired television personality, best known for hosting the tabloid talk show '' Maury'' which aired from 1991 to 2022. Povich began his career as a radio reporter, initially at WWDC ...
, and philanthropist Alan Bubes) in the
Friendship Heights Friendship Heights is an urban commercial and residential neighborhood in northwest Washington, D.C. and southern Montgomery County, Maryland. Though its borders are not clearly defined, Friendship Heights consists roughly of the neighborhoods a ...
neighbourhood of
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
Production at the restaurant allowed for direct personal interaction with fans visiting the restaurant for breakfast, as the podcast is typically recorded in the morning. Following the closure of Chatter in 2019, production was shifted once again to a private recording studio. With the onset of gathering restrictions due to the global
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
in early 2020, production moved to Kornheiser's personal residence (where he also remotely records
Pardon the Interruption ''Pardon the Interruption'' (abbreviated ''PTI'') is an American sports talk television show that airs weekdays on various ESPN TV channels. It is hosted by Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon, who discuss, and frequently argue over, the top storie ...
for
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
) in the
Chevy Chase Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor and writer. He became a key cast member in the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'', where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment became a staple of the ...
neighbourhood of
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
At that time, the
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
feed for the show stopped being maintained and the main core of co-hosts that featured on the most recent
WTEM WTEM (980 AM) is a commercial sports radio station licensed to serve Washington, D.C. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station services the Washington metropolitan area as the flagship station of the Washington Wizards. WTEM is also the co-flagship st ...
incarnation of the program stopped appearing regularly on the show. Since that time, they have only appeared very sporadically via call-in. As of 2022, the show is regularly produced with only Kornheiser, his son Michael, and producer Marc "Nigel" Sterne appearing on the podcast with two call-in guest segments per episode. It is released approximately three times a week (typically Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) but ultimately subject to Kornheiser's personal schedule and whims. The podcast is available at 11 a.m. ET via
iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
,
Google Play Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store and formerly the Android Market, is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certified devices running on the Android (operating sys ...
,
Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...
,
Stitcher Stitcher is a media company that specializes in the creation, distribution, and monetization of podcasts. Stitcher creates original shows through networks such as Earwolf and Witness Docs. Stitcher provides ad sales and distribution services to ...
,
TuneIn TuneIn is a global audio streaming service delivering live news, radio, sports, music, and podcasts to over 75 million monthly active users. TuneIn is operated by the company TuneIn Inc. which is based in San Francisco, California. The company ...
, and ART19. Famous fans of the show include
Adam Ferrara Adam Ferrara is an American actor and comedian known for playing the role of Chief "Needles" Nelson on the FX series '' Rescue Me''. He was a co-host on the U.S. version of ''Top Gear'' and played NYPD Sgt. Frank Verelli opposite Edie Falco on ...
,
Ian Kahn Ian R. Kahn (born April 21, 1972) is an American stage, television actor and podcast host, perhaps best known for his roles on '' Turn: Washington's Spies'', ''Dawson's Creek'', ''Bull'', ''The Unusuals'' and ''As the World Turns''. He portrayed ...
,
Tom Cotton Thomas Bryant Cotton (born May 13, 1977) is an American politician, attorney, and former military officer serving as the junior United States senator for Arkansas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served in the U.S. House of R ...
,
Brian Polian Brian Stewart Polian (born December 22, 1974) is an American college football coach and former player. He is the special teams coordinator for LSU. He is the former head coach of the Nevada Wolf Pack football team. He is the son of former Natio ...
, and
Barry Levinson Barry Lee Levinson (born April 6, 1942) is an American filmmaker, comedian and actor. Levinson's best-known works are mid-budget comedy drama and drama films such as '' Diner'' (1982); ''The Natural'' (1984); ''Good Morning, Vietnam'' (1987); ' ...
.


WSBN (2019-Present)

WSBN WSBN (630 kHz) is a commercial AM sports radio station licensed to Washington, D.C. and serving the Washington metro area. It operates with 10,000 watts in the daytime and 2,700 watts at night using a directional antenna around the clock. WSBN's ...
announced that it would air the Kornheiser's podcast show starting September 10, 2019. The truncated podcast show airs between 12 p.m. through 1 p.m. weekdays.


Frequent call-in guests


Current

*
Andrew Beyer Andrew Beyer (born 17 Nov 1943) is an American expert on horse race betting who designed the Beyer Speed Figure. In the early 1970s, while working for the ''Washington Daily News'', Beyer did extensive work on the concept of speed figures and w ...
of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' *
James Carville Chester James Carville Jr. (born October 25, 1944) is an American political consultant, author, and occasional actor who has strategized for candidates for public office in the United States and in at least 23 nations abroad. A Democrat, he is an ...
, political consultant and author * Chuck Culpepper of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' *
Ron Darling Ronald Maurice Darling Jr. (born August 19, 1960) is an American former professional baseball player and current television sports color commentator. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a right-handed pitcher from to , most notably as a m ...
, color commentator for the ''
New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...
'' * Mark Feinsand of ''
MLB.com MLB.com is the official site of Major League Baseball and is overseen by Major League Baseball Advanced Media, L.P. (a subsidiary of MLB). MLB.com is a source of baseball-related information, including baseball news, statistics, and sports column ...
'' *
Adam Ferrara Adam Ferrara is an American actor and comedian known for playing the role of Chief "Needles" Nelson on the FX series '' Rescue Me''. He was a co-host on the U.S. version of ''Top Gear'' and played NYPD Sgt. Frank Verelli opposite Edie Falco on ...
, actor, host, and comedian *
Pat Forde Pat Forde is a sports journalist who is a national columnist for ''Sports Illustrated''. He previously worked for ESPN, ''The Courier-Journal'' in Louisville, Kentucky, and ''Yahoo Sports''. Personal life and education Forde is a native of C ...
of ''
Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...
'' * Greg Garcia, TV producer/creator and former'' Tony Kornheiser Show'' board operator * Neil Greenberg of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' *
Ann Hornaday Ann Hornaday is an American film critic. She has been film critic at ''The Washington Post'' since 2002 and is the author of ''Talking Pictures: How to Watch Movies'' (2017). In 2008, she was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. Ear ...
of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' *
Sally Jenkins Sally Jenkins (born October 22, 1960) is an American sports columnist and feature writer for ''The Washington Post'', and author. She was previously a senior writer for ''Sports Illustrated''. She has won the AP Sports Columnist of the Year Awa ...
of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' * Richard Justice of ''
Texas Monthly ''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. ''Texas Monthly'' was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy and has been published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. since 1998 and is ...
'' *
Tim Kurkjian Tim Kurkjian (; born December 10, 1956) is a Major League Baseball (MLB) analyst on ESPN's '' Baseball Tonight'' and ''SportsCenter''. He is also a contributor to '' ESPN The Magazine'' and ''ESPN.com''. On December 7, 2021, Kurkjian was named ...
of ''
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
'' *
Jason La Canfora Jason La Canfora (born April 14, 1974) is an American sportswriter, radio host, and television sports analyst. Career Television La Canfora joined NFL Network and NFL.com before the 2009 season and served as an NFL insider and reporter unti ...
of ''
WJZ-FM WJZ-FM (105.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Catonsville, Maryland, and serving the Baltimore metropolitan area. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. through licensee Audacy License, LLC, and it broadcasts a sports radio format ...
'' *
Abbe Lowell Abbe David Lowell (born April 28, 1952) is an American defense attorney who has represented several high-profile defendants. Lowell has represented numerous high-profile political figures, including Bob Menendez, John Edwards, Jared Kushner, Hunte ...
, defense attorney * Jeff Ma, ''
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
'' executive and co-host of ''Bet the Process'' *
Booger McFarland Anthony Darelle "Booger" McFarland (born December 18, 1977) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Louisiana State University and wa ...
of ''
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
'' *
Buster Olney Robert "Buster" Olney (born ) is an American sports journalist for ESPN, ''ESPN: The Magazine'', and ESPN.com. He previously covered the New York Giants and New York Yankees for ''The New York Times''. He is also a regular analyst for the ES ...
of ''
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
'' *
Jeff Passan Jeffrey Scott Passan (born September 21, 1980) is an American baseball columnist with ESPN and author of ''New York Times'' Best Seller ''The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports''. He is also co-author ...
of ''
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
'' *
Bob Ryan Robert P. Ryan (born February 21, 1946) is an American sportswriter, formerly with ''The Boston Globe'', and author. He has been described as "the quintessential American sportswriter" and a basketball guru, and is well known for his coverage of ...
, retired from ''
The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'' *
Jason Samenow Jason Samenow is an American meteorologist and weather journalist. He is the weather editor for the ''Washington Post''. Early life and education Samenow is a native of Washington, D.C. area,
of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' *
Steve Sands Steven Sands is an American golf television personality. He is best known as the lead interviewer for NBC's golf coverage. He also works with NBC's cable outlet, Golf Channel, as a studio host and play-by-play announcer. He was given the nickna ...
of ''
The Golf Channel Golf Channel (also verbally referred to as simply Golf) is an American sports television network owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Founded in Birmingham, Alabama, it is currently based out of NBC Sp ...
'' *
Charley Steiner Charley Steiner (born ) is an American sportscaster and broadcast journalist. He is currently the radio play-by-play announcer for the Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers, paired with Rick Monday. Early career Steiner grew up a Bro ...
, play-by-play announcer for the ''
Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
'' * Barry Svrluga of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' *
Chuck Todd Charles David Todd (born April 8, 1972) is an American television journalist who is the 12th and current moderator of NBC's ''Meet the Press''. He also hosts ''Meet the Press Now'', its daily edition on NBC News Now and is the Political Directo ...
of ''
NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...
'' *
Michael Wilbon Michael Wilbon (; born ) is an American commentator for ESPN and former sportswriter and columnist for ''The Washington Post''. He is an analyst for ESPN and has co-hosted ''Pardon the Interruption'' on ESPN since 2001. Early life and education ...
of ''
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
'' * Brian Windhorst of ''
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
''


Past

*
Mitch Albom Mitchell David Albom (born May 23, 1958) is an American author, journalist, and musician. His books have sold over 40 million copies worldwide. Having achieved national recognition for sports writing in his early career, he turned to writing the ...
of ''
Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, US. The Sunday edition is titled the ''Sunday Free Press''. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep (reflected in the paper's web address, www.freep.com). It primari ...
'' * Fred Barbash of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' * Joe Barber of '' WTOP'' *
Dan Barreiro Dan Barreiro is a sports radio talk-show host on KFAN 100.3-FM in the twin cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul. Born in Gary, Indiana, Barreiro was a sports columnist at the '' Star Tribune'' for 17 years after previously working for the '' Dallas M ...
of '' KFAN'' *
Thomas Boswell Thomas M. Boswell (born October 11, 1947, in Washington, D.C.) is a retired American sports columnist. Career Boswell spent his entire career at the ''Washington Post'', joining it shortly after graduating from Amherst College in 1969. He became ...
of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' *
Norman Chad Norman A. Chad (born 1958) is an American sportswriter, poker player and syndicated columnist who is seen on the sports channel ESPN. He also was an occasional guest host on the ESPN show ''Pardon the Interruption'' and has appeared as both ho ...
of ''
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
'' * David DuPree of ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'' * Tarik El-Bashir of ''
Comcast SportsNet Washington NBC Sports Washington is an American regional sports network owned by Ted Leonsis's Monumental Sports & Entertainment, and operates as an affiliate of NBC Sports Regional Networks. Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, the channel broadcasts reg ...
'' * John "Junior" Feinstein, author *
Howard Fineman Howard David Fineman (born November 17, 1948) is an American journalist who is global editorial director of the AOL Huffington Post Media Group. Prior to his move to Huffington Post in October 2010, he was Newsweek's chief political corresponde ...
of
HuffPost ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
*
Stephen Hunter Stephen Hunter (born March 25, 1946, Kansas City, Missouri) is an American novelist, essayist, and film critic. Life and career Hunter was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and grew up in Evanston, Illinois. His father was Charles Francis Hunter, ...
, retired from ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' *
Ron Jaworski Partner owner , highlights= * Pro Bowl (1980) * Bert Bell Award (1980) * Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Fame ;NFL record * Longest touchdown pass: 99 yards (tied) , statlabel1= TD– INT , statvalue1=179–164 , statlabel2=Yards , statvalue2=28,19 ...
of ''
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
'' *
Larry King Larry King (born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger; November 19, 1933 – January 23, 2021) was an American television and radio host, whose awards included 2 Peabodys The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program ...
of ''
CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
'' *
Mel Kiper, Jr. Mel Kiper Jr. (; born July 25, 1960) is an analyst covering American football for ESPN. He has appeared on ESPN's annual NFL draft coverage since 1984, providing in-depth information on the nation's potential draft picks. Career Kiper said th ...
of ''
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
'' *
Dan Le Batard Dan Le Batard is an American newspaper sportswriter, ex radio host, podcast host and television reporter based in Miami, Florida. He has also worked at ESPN, and for his hometown paper, the ''Miami Herald'', for which he wrote from 1990 to 2016. ...
of ''
The Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a city in western Miami-Dade County and the Miami metropolitan area, several miles west of Downtown Miami.Mike Lupica Michael Lupica (; born May 11, 1952) is an author and former American newspaper columnist, best known for his provocative commentary on sports in the ''New York Daily News'' and his appearances on ESPN. Biography Lupica was born in Oneida, ...
of ''
New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...
'' * Mark Maske of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' *
Al Michaels Alan Richard Michaels (born November 12, 1944) is an American television sportscaster currently working as the play-by-play announcer for ''Thursday Night Football'' on Prime Video and in an emeritus role for NBC Sports. He has worked on netwo ...
of ''
NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its d ...
'' *
Brent Musburger Brent Woody Musburger (born May 26, 1939) is an American sportscaster, currently the lead broadcaster and managing editor at Vegas Stats and Information Network (VSiN). With CBS Sports from 1973 until 1990, he was one of the original members ...
of ''
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
'' and ''
ABC Sports ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
'' *
Joe Morgan Joe Leonard Morgan (September 19, 1943 – October 11, 2020) was an American professional baseball second baseman who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Colt .45s / Astros, Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants, ...
, formerly of ''
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
'' * Rachel Nichols of ''
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
'' * Jim O'Connell of ''
The Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
'' *
Dick Schaap Richard Jay Schaap (September 27, 1934 – December 21, 2001) was an American sportswriter, broadcaster, and author. Early life and education Born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, and raised in Freeport, New York, on Long Island, Schaap began writ ...
, formerly of ''
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
'' *
Dan Shaughnessy Dan Shaughnessy (born July 20, 1953) is an American sports writer. He has covered the Boston Red Sox for ''The Boston Globe'' since 1981. In 2016, he was given the J. G. Taylor Spink Award by the Baseball Hall of Fame. Shaughnessy is often refe ...
of ''
The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'' * Dave Sheinin of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' * Ron Sirak of ''
Golf World ''Golf World'' was a weekly magazine covering the game of golf published by Condé Nast. It was in circulation between 1947 and 2014. Currently, ''Golf World'' still available in digital form and from May 13, 2019 to April 8, 2022, the brand has b ...
'' *
Sam Smith Samuel Frederick Smith (born 19 May 1992) is an English singer and songwriter. After rising to prominence in October 2012 by featuring on Disclosure's breakthrough single "Latch", which peaked at number eleven on the UK Singles Chart, they ...
of ''ChicagoBulls.com'' *
Pam Ward Pam Ward is an on-air personality for the cable sports television network ESPN, serving as one of the play-by-play announcers for ESPN's coverage of the 2012 and 2013 Women's College World Series of Softball. She is a graduate of the University of ...
of ''
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
'' * Greg Cote of ''
The Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a city in western Miami-Dade County and the Miami metropolitan area, several miles west of Downtown Miami.Lisa de Moraes, formerly of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' *
Marc Fisher Marc Fisher (born December 15, 1958) is a senior editor for ''The Washington Post'', where he writes about national, foreign and local issues. He was previously a ''Post'' enterprise editor, leading a team of writers experimenting with new types ...
of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' * Mike Freeman of ''
Bleacher Report Bleacher Report (often abbreviated as B/R) is a website that focuses on sport and sports culture. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, with offices in New York City and London. Bleacher Report was acquired by Turner Broadcasting System in Aug ...
'' *
Andy Greenwald Andy Greenwald (born May 19, 1977) is an American author, critic, podcaster, screenwriter, and television producer. Life and career Greenwald grew up in Philadelphia and currently lives in Los Angeles, California. He graduated from Friends' C ...
, formerly of ''
Grantland ''Grantland'' was a sports and pop-culture blog owned and operated by ESPN. The blog was started in 2011 by veteran writer and sports journalist Bill Simmons, who remained as editor-in-chief until May 2015. ''Grantland'' was named after famed ...
'' * Bob Kravitz of ''
The Athletic ''The Athletic'' is a subscription-based sports website that provides national and local coverage in 47 North American cities as well as the United Kingdom. ''The Athletic'' also covers national stories from top professional and college sports ...
'' *
Ray Ratto Ray Ratto has been a San Francisco Bay Area sportswriter since the 1970s and a sports columnist since the 1980s. A lifelong resident of Alameda, California, Ratto was a Senior Insider for the TV station '' NBC Sports Bay Area'' (''formerly Comcas ...
of ''
Comcast SportsNet Bay Area NBC Sports Bay Area (sometimes abbreviated as NBCS Bay Area) is an American regional sports network owned as a joint venture between NBCUniversal and the San Francisco Giants, and operates as an affiliate of NBC Sports Regional Networks. Headquart ...
'' * Bill Livingston of ''
The Cleveland Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. In fall 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily and 15th on Sunday. As of Ma ...
''


Famous catch phrases, nicknames, references, and soundbites

* Help your friends, crush your enemies, and get a good table at a restaurant: The oft-repeated mission statement for the show. * 36-inch waist: The claimed pant size of
John Feinstein John Feinstein (born July 28, 1956) is an American sportswriter, author and sports commentator. Early life Feinstein was born to a Jewish family in New York City on July 28, 1956. His father was heavily involved in the arts having been the Gen ...
that Tony ridicules as a gross misuse of
vanity sizing Vanity sizing, or size inflation, is the phenomenon of ready-to-wear clothing of the same nominal size becoming bigger in physical size over time. This has been documented primarily in the United States and the United Kingdom. The use of US standa ...
. * Activate your glutes!: The shows insistence that athletic performance can be enhanced by "activating your
glutes The gluteus maximus is the main extensor muscle of the hip. It is the largest and outermost of the three gluteal muscles and makes up a large part of the shape and appearance of each side of the hips. It is the single largest muscle in the human ...
" as emphasized by
Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records. * * * Woods is widely regarded as ...
proclaiming that he couldn't perform due to his inability to activate his glutes at the 2015 Farmers Insurance Open. * Aloha Tower: A long defunct Chinese restaurant located in
Valley Stream, New York Valley Stream is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York (state), New York, United States. The population in the Village of Valley Stream was 37,511 at the 2010 ...
frequented by the local Jewish population. Both Kornheiser and
Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
broadcaster
Charley Steiner Charley Steiner (born ) is an American sportscaster and broadcast journalist. He is currently the radio play-by-play announcer for the Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers, paired with Rick Monday. Early career Steiner grew up a Bro ...
share memories of frequenting it with their families as children and now share custody of a small promotional calendar/thermometer given away by the restaurant that dates from the late 1960s. Possession of the calendar/thermometer is exchanged biannually at a ceremony performed at the DC location of The Palm restaurant. * Andy Polley: The nickname given to co-host Andy Pollin when his name was mistakenly mispronounced in an argument with an irate caller. It was later revealed during the course of the show that Pollin's annual clothing budget was $200, providing a source for many enduring cheapskate jokes. * Avocados: Thr purported favorite produce item of
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
baseball reporter
Tim Kurkjian Tim Kurkjian (; born December 10, 1956) is a Major League Baseball (MLB) analyst on ESPN's '' Baseball Tonight'' and ''SportsCenter''. He is also a contributor to '' ESPN The Magazine'' and ''ESPN.com''. On December 7, 2021, Kurkjian was named ...
. Kurkjian mentioned a minor affinity for avocados in passing during an on-air conversation about stocking up at a supermarket for a future storm event. This quickly turned into listeners deluging Kurkjian with avocado references in his daily life, going as far as asking him to autograph actual
avocados The avocado (''Persea americana'') is a medium-sized, evergreen tree in the laurel family (Lauraceae). It is native to the Americas and was first domesticated by Mesoamerican tribes more than 5,000 years ago. Then as now it was prized for i ...
at public appearances. * The answers to all your questions is money: Kornheiser often uses this quote by
NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its d ...
executive
Don Ohlmeyer Donald Winfred Ohlmeyer Jr. (February 3, 1945September 10, 2017) was an American television producer and president of the NBC network's west coast division. He received notoriety for firing Norm Macdonald from ''Saturday Night Live'' in early ...
to rationalize any strange and illogical decision that sports figures or television executives may make. * Beltway Mitterrand: Kornheiser's nickname for
Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...
relief pitcher
Sean Doolittle Sean Robert Doolittle (born September 26, 1986) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Washington Nationals organization. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics, Cincinnati Reds, Seattle Mariners a ...
who supports socialist political causes, in reference to former socialist French president Francois Mitterrand. * Bootsie, the Hammer, and the Captain: The nicknames for the three masculine Kornheiser grandchildren (Walker, Henry, and Reed) all fathered by Michael Kornheiser. * Camp Keeyumah: A Jewish sleepaway camp in the
Pocono Mountains The Pocono Mountains, commonly referred to as the Poconos , are a geographical, geological, and cultural region in Northeastern Pennsylvania. They overlook the Delaware River and Delaware Water Gap to the east, Lake Wallenpaupack to the north, W ...
of
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
that Kornheiser attended in his youth. The camp is often the subject of very specific memories and anecdotes. Hall of Fame
NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
coach Larry Brown was one of Kornheiser's camp councillors. * Cheeseboy: Tony's derisive nickname for Dan Steinberg, author of
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...
''D.C. Sports Bog'', for allegedly stealing his ideas. * Chesapeake Bay Bridge: Kornheiser possess an irrational fear of being stuck in his car on large bridges over open water. This must be often confronted when travelling between his home in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
and his vacation home in
Rehoboth Beach Rehoboth Beach ( ) is a city on the Atlantic Ocean along the Delaware Beaches in eastern Sussex County, Delaware. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the population was 1,327, reflecting a decline of 161 (11.2%) from the 1,488 counted in the 2000 ce ...
,
Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...
, which requires frequent trips over the
Chesapeake Bay Bridge The Chesapeake Bay Bridge (also known locally as the Bay Bridge) is a major twin bridges, dual-span bridge in the U.S. state of Maryland. Spanning the Chesapeake Bay, it connects the state's rural Eastern Shore of Maryland, Eastern Shore regio ...
. * Chessie: Kornheiser's current dog, a mixed-breed rescue. Chessie is the frequent subject of various anecdotes involving dog-walking, frisbee eating, and sod destruction. Chessie can often be heard barking in the background of the podcast. Kornheiser previously had a Brittany spaniel named Maggie that ate everything, including $20 bills. * Choking dogs: A dishonorable moniker applied to any sports team that habitually loses in the face of near victory. This label was most notably repeatedly applied to the
Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL) ...
prior to their
2018 Stanley Cup Finals The 2018 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 2017–18 season and the culmination of the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Eastern Conference champion Washington Capitals defeated the Western Con ...
victory. * Cillizza Seats: The first row of seating behind the catcher at
Nationals Park Nationals Park is a baseball stadium A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into the infield, an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined, and the outfield, where dimen ...
, frequented by show co-host
Chris Cillizza Christopher Michael Cillizza (; born February 20, 1976) is an American political commentator, who worked for the television news channel CNN from 2017-2022. Prior to joining CNN, he wrote for ''The Fix'', the daily political blog of ''The Washing ...
. * Clean out the mouse cages, Harry, and carry the urine specimens upstairs: Purported title of Kornheiser's upcoming novel in which he crushes his enemies. The "Harry" in question is believed to be Harry Jaffe of ''Washingtonian Magazine'', who claimed that Kornheiser was unavailable to comment on a story he was writing, when in fact he had never contacted Kornheiser. * C'mon man. What we doin' out here man?: A soundbite of
Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...
linebacker
Brian Orakpo Brian Ndubisi Orakpo (born July 31, 1986) is a former American football outside linebacker who played 10 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Texas, was recognized as a unanimous All-A ...
questioning the effort of his teammates while on the sidelines. The quote and soundbite is used any time someone on the show questions the outcome of a poor decision. Similar sentiment and usage was extended to a soundbite of
Formula 1 Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
racing driver
Sebastian Vettel Sebastian Vettel (; born 3 July 1987) is a German racing driver who competed in Formula One from 2007 to 2022 for BMW Sauber, Scuderia Toro Rosso, Toro Rosso, Red Bull Racing, Red Bull, Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari, and Aston Martin in Formula One ...
exclaiming ''"What the f@*k are we doing here?!"'' through his helmet microphone. * Connective tissue: The term used by Kornheiser to describe the robust community and connections created by the show in an organic manner without any direct action by Kornheiser himself. * Courtney: The mononym used by the show for adult film star Courtney Cummz, who used to call in to the show with her NFL picks on a weekly basis during the show's final
WTEM WTEM (980 AM) is a commercial sports radio station licensed to serve Washington, D.C. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station services the Washington metropolitan area as the flagship station of the Washington Wizards. WTEM is also the co-flagship st ...
version. Her stage surname was never used on the broadcast of the show. The juxtaposition of her profession versus that of fellow show NFL prognosticator
James Carville Chester James Carville Jr. (born October 25, 1944) is an American political consultant, author, and occasional actor who has strategized for candidates for public office in the United States and in at least 23 nations abroad. A Democrat, he is an ...
was often played up to great comedic effect by all parties. * Crack-Dealing Point Guard: An often used reference to the ineptitude of the
Binghamton Bearcats Men's Basketball The Binghamton Bearcats men's basketball team represents Binghamton University and is located in Vestal, New York. The team currently competes in the America East Conference and plays its home games at the Binghamton University Events Center. Sin ...
team, once embroiled in a
scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way. Th ...
where their starting point guard, Tiki Mayben, had been arrested for dealing cocaine. * The Browseabout: An unpretentious book shop located in
Rehoboth Beach Rehoboth Beach ( ) is a city on the Atlantic Ocean along the Delaware Beaches in eastern Sussex County, Delaware. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the population was 1,327, reflecting a decline of 161 (11.2%) from the 1,488 counted in the 2000 ce ...
,
Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...
, where Kornheiser owns a vacation home. The shop has long been used as a reference by Kornheiser for the assumed location of the ultimate final iteration of the show where he sits around idly kvetching with friends but where the show is no longer recorded or broadcast to anyone except passers-by in the bookstore. * David Aldridge Moment: A reference to the feeling Kornheiser gets when he sees someone he knows personally on television. The origin of this was regularly seeing frequent show co-host
David Aldridge David Aldridge (born ) is an American sports journalist who works as a writer for ''The Athletic''. He was previously a reporter for Turner Sports, contributing to their NBA and MLB coverage. Other outlets that Aldridge has written and contrib ...
on
Turner Sports Warner Bros. Discovery Sports (WBD Sports) is the division of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) that is responsible for sports broadcasting, sports broadcasts on its parent company's various channels in the United States, including TBS (American TV ch ...
NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
broadcasts. This saying has now been extended to listeners every time they have an interaction with anyone even remotely connected to the show (co-hosts, guests, emailers, Loyal Littles, Bigs, etc.) * Death Star Radio: A term used by Kornheiser to describe the show's tone when he is setting up to crush someone, usually in service of a personal vendetta. It is often accompanied by the playing of the Imperial March from
The Empire Strikes Back ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back'') is a 1980 American epic film, epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner from a screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, based o ...
. * Do you know who I am?: A reference used when Kornheiser discusses his position in popular culture and how to use it to his advantage, often accompanied with a soundbite of
Alex Rocco Alex Rocco (born Alessandro Federico Petricone Jr.; February 29, 1936 – July 18, 2015) was an American actor. Known for his distinctive, gravelly voice, he was often cast as villains, including Moe Greene in ''The Godfather'' (1972) and his Pr ...
's performance of the line as
Moe Greene Morris "Moe" Greene is a fictional character appearing in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel ''The Godfather'' and the 1972 film of the same name. Both Greene's character and personality are based on Bugsy Siegel: his affiliation with the mob in Los Ang ...
in
The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 novel of the same title. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, ...
. The origin of this reference goes back to when
John Feinstein John Feinstein (born July 28, 1956) is an American sportswriter, author and sports commentator. Early life Feinstein was born to a Jewish family in New York City on July 28, 1956. His father was heavily involved in the arts having been the Gen ...
portrayed Kornheiser as an egotistical sportswriter trying to get his way at a hotel check-in desk and saying the line in his
young adult novel Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...
''Last Shot: A Final Four Mystery''. The portrayal of Kornheiser in this negative light is the source of some ill will between him and Feinstein. * Dr. HOF-WOF: A self-reverential honorific Tony gave to himself to indicate he had been give an honorary
Doctor of Humane Letters The degree of Doctor of Humane Letters (; DHumLitt; DHL; or LHD) is an honorary degree awarded to those who have distinguished themselves through humanitarian and philanthropic contributions to society. The criteria for awarding the degree differ ...
by his alma mater
Binghamton University The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public university, public research university with campuses in Binghamton, New York, Binghamton, Vestal, New York, Vestal, and Johnson City, New Yor ...
, as well as being a member of the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame (HOF) and the DC Sports Hall of Fame, which as he pointed out is really just a series of plaques on a wall (Wall of Fame - WOF) at
Nationals Park Nationals Park is a baseball stadium A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into the infield, an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined, and the outfield, where dimen ...
. *Don't do it Tony!: A soundbite of Irish soccer announcer
Tommy Smyth Tommy may refer to: People * Tommy (given name) * Tommy Atkins, or just Tommy, a slang term for a common soldier in the British Army Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Tommy'' (1931 film), a Soviet drama film * ''Tommy'' (1975 fil ...
used to urge Kornheiser to have second thoughts. * Felix Cavaliere, Eddie Brigati, Gene Cornish, and Dino Danelli: Kornheiser asserts that since he is able to recite the names of the original members of the 1960s rock band
The Rascals ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
on cue he thereore possess abilities that most other humans do not. * Gallantry: A ridiculous superlative bestowed upon lower level college athletes that performed incredibly without the expectation of media praise or national recognition. Originally coined by
John Feinstein John Feinstein (born July 28, 1956) is an American sportswriter, author and sports commentator. Early life Feinstein was born to a Jewish family in New York City on July 28, 1956. His father was heavily involved in the arts having been the Gen ...
when referring to athletes in the
Patriot League The Patriot League is a collegiate athletic conference comprising private institutions of higher education and two United States service academies based in the Northeastern United States. Outside the Ivy League, it is among the most selective gr ...
without a hint of self-awareness. * Gary Math: The concept in which co-host Gary Braun is able to create his own mathematical reality. Every time a mathematical figure is needed on the show, Braun will instantly chime in with an intentional wrong answer. This also extends to numerical concepts he advances, such as "Everything has a 50/50 chance of happening, either it does or it doesn't." * Go measure my penis and let me get on the airplane:
James Carville Chester James Carville Jr. (born October 25, 1944) is an American political consultant, author, and occasional actor who has strategized for candidates for public office in the United States and in at least 23 nations abroad. A Democrat, he is an ...
's answer to Kornheiser's question (January 8, 2010) about full-body scanners being installed at airports in the wake of the
Northwest Airlines Flight 253 The attempted bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 occurred on December 25, 2009, aboard an Airbus A330 as it prepared to land at Detroit Metropolitan Airport following a transatlantic flight from Amsterdam. Attributed to the terrori ...
bomb scare. The quote became an instant hit over the blogosphere later that day (and was even featured in a Saturday Night Live Weekend Update segment), and has since been re-played on the radio show. * The hardest thing in the galaxy!: A facetious reference to
Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...
outfielder
Jayson Werth Jayson Richard Gowan Werth (born May 20, 1979) is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2002 to 2017. His 15-season career was split among the Toronto Blue Jays, Los Angeles Dodgers, P ...
's assertion that he could "figure out how to do algorithms" because hitting a baseball in
MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
is "literally the hardest thing to do. If you can do the hardest thing, you can do anything else . . . There’s nothing harder in the galaxy." * I Have a Piano: A brief, nonsensical, and out of tune song written and performed by listener, Tony Beeson. The melody consists of Beeson randomly plinking piano keys while the lyrics describe his possession of a piano and lack of ability and talent to play it. Kornheiser connects with the ethos of the piece via his similar possession of a piano and complete lack of musical ability. * If you're out on your bike tonight, do wear white: Kornheiser's signature sign-off, which is from the
Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...
' song, " Something Happened To Me Yesterday." * Ingleside: A retirement community near
Rock Creek Park Rock Creek Park is a large urban park that bisects the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. The park was created by an Act of Congress in 1890 and today is administered by the National Park Service. In addition to the park proper, the Rock Cr ...
in DC that his son Michael jokes about taking Tony to when he does something that indicates the possible onset of senility. * It's a television show: Tony's insistence that all sports is produced to get television ratings and the actual athletic competition is secondary. *Jesus, am I speaking Chinese?: A soundbite of
Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...
coach
Paul Silas Paul Theron Silas (July 12, 1943 – December 10, 2022) was an American professional basketball player and head coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). As a player, he was a two-time NBA All-Star and earned five selections to the NB ...
who vas visibly aggravated by a reporter relentlessly asking him about an altercation with player
Eric Snow Eric Snow (born April 5, 1973) is an American basketball coach and former professional player. He played the point guard position in the National Basketball Association from 1995 to 2008 and appeared in three NBA Finals. Known for his defense, ...
. *Jesus wept The stock answer Kornheiser gives when another author asks him to pen a testimonial blurb for their book cover. *Jingles: The jingles are the brief parody songs created and submitted by listeners and played by the show prior to the mailbag segment near the conclusion of the show. Jingles typically consist of the music from popular songs replaced with new songs referring to amusing parts of recent show episodes. The jingles are written, recorded, produced, and performed by a network of ''Loyal Littles'' dubbed ''The Jinglers''. Social meetings of ''The Jinglers'' take place at regulaly held ''Jinglefests'' typically held at DC-area bars. * The John Wooden Story: A reference to
John Feinstein John Feinstein (born July 28, 1956) is an American sportswriter, author and sports commentator. Early life Feinstein was born to a Jewish family in New York City on July 28, 1956. His father was heavily involved in the arts having been the Gen ...
repeatedly telling a dubiously truthful story about meeting
John Wooden John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball coach and player. Nicknamed the Wizard of Westwood, he won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) national championships in a 12-year period as head ...
and his wife in a hotel lobby where everyone stood up and gave them a standing ovation until they reached the elevator. * Johnnie Walker Blue : The premium blend of
Johnnie Walker Johnnie Walker is a brand of Scotch whisky now owned by Diageo that originated in the Scottish burgh of Kilmarnock in East Ayrshire. The brand was first established by grocer John Walker. It is the most widely distributed brand of blended ...
Scotch whisky. It is often used by Kornheiser as the hallmark of status to have Johnnie Walker Blue Label on hand. * Junior!!!: A sound clip of
Sean Connery Sir Sean Connery (born Thomas Connery; 25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. Origina ...
exclaiming ''"Junior!!!"'' from
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade ''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'' is a 1989 American action film, action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, from a story co-written by executive producer George Lucas. It is the third installment in the Indiana Jones, ''Indiana ...
which would be played anyone referred to
John Feinstein John Feinstein (born July 28, 1956) is an American sportswriter, author and sports commentator. Early life Feinstein was born to a Jewish family in New York City on July 28, 1956. His father was heavily involved in the arts having been the Gen ...
. Feinstein reportedly hated the nickname Kornheiser had given to him and the show would playfully ridicule him with additional sound clips that would become part of the show including someone interviewing him opining "Wow, John Feinstein!" or Feinstein himself repeating "This book is devastating" in reference to his own work. * Kornheiser, 71: A reference to a Washington Post article from 2019, where writer Cindy Boren quickly states Kornheiser's age in the first paragraph. Tony took issue with this clear and obvious display of his age that he quickly called for research into her age so that he could enact revenge by referring to her as Boren, "Age". * La Cheeserie!: A reference to the cheese counter in Calvert Woodley Wines & Spirits in Washington, DC. Owned by the family of regular show guest
Steve Sands Steven Sands is an American golf television personality. He is best known as the lead interviewer for NBC's golf coverage. He also works with NBC's cable outlet, Golf Channel, as a studio host and play-by-play announcer. He was given the nickna ...
, Littles started yelling it at Sands at golf tournaments around the world. People also began to yell it after golfers' shots, hoping to be heard on TV. The most notable was a cry of La Cheeserie! being heard live on TV during the 2016 Rio Olympics golf tournament. Today, it is frequently yelled by fans to all show regulars, not just Sands, as a way for Loyal Littles to identify themselves to Bigs. In a recent notable instance of the phrase's invocation, Loyal Little Rick Devens shouted 'La Cheeserie!' after winning a challenge on the American reality game show Survivor. * Lace: The self-anointed nickname of co-host
Chris Cillizza Christopher Michael Cillizza (; born February 20, 1976) is an American political commentator, who worked for the television news channel CNN from 2017-2022. Prior to joining CNN, he wrote for ''The Fix'', the daily political blog of ''The Washing ...
. Likely a reference to a female combatant on American Gladiators. * Les Boulez: Kornheiser's long time nickname for the
Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast D ...
formerly the Washington Bullets. Tony also invented the "Curse of Les Boulez" to describe the circumstances of the perennially hard done by franchise. * The Little House: The smaller house located immediately next to Kornehiser's home in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
He purchased the home in the hopes that his son Michael would move next door. However, Michael has long resisted these overtures and the house has remained vacant for nearly a decade. It is now a frequent viewing spot for local urban wildlife. * Lillehammer Jacket: A very large insulated coat that Kornheiser only breaks out of the closet when the temperature reaches single digits. The ''Lillehammer Jacket'' was originally procured when Tony traveled to cover the
1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fro ...
in
Lillehammer, Norway Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the municip ...
. * Loyal Littles/Bigs: ''Loyal Littles'' are the regular people that listen to the show, ''Bigs'' are the people associated with the show or in Tony's personal world (hosts, co-hosts, guests, producers, friends, relations etc.) * Loomis Chaffee School for the Rich: The nickname Chris Cilizza gave to the prep school where he spent his formative years, the
Loomis Chaffee School The Loomis Chaffee School (; LC or Loomis) is a selective independent, coeducational, college preparatory school for boarding and day students in grades 9–12, including postgraduate students, located in Windsor, Connecticut, seven miles north ...
in
Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
. * Malibu Rum:
Malibu Rum Malibu is a coconut flavored liqueur, made with Caribbean rum, and possessing an alcohol content by volume of 21.0 % (42 proof). As of 2017 the ''Malibu'' brand is owned by Pernod Ricard, who calls it a "flavored rum", where this design ...
is the preferred alcoholic beverage of co-host Chris Cillizza for all occasions. * Mr. Porthouser: The name that
Barbara Bush Barbara Pierce Bush (June 8, 1925 – April 17, 2018) was First Lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993, as the wife of President George H. W. Bush, and the founder of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. She previously was ...
mistakenly called Kornheiser upon meeting him in 1991. * My side of the street: Kornheiser's reference during politically sensitive discussions to his identity as a relatively wealthy, Jewish, Democratic-leaning male. * News Channel 8: A fictitious TV news network that Kornheiser occasionally references as simulcasting the show. * No, we're not gonna f@*king do Stonehenge!!!: A soundbite of actor
Michael McKean Michael John McKean (; born October 17, 1947) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, composer, singer, and musician known for various roles in film and television such as Lenny Kosnowski in '' Laverne & Shirley'', David St. Hubbins in '' ...
from the film
This is Spinal Tap ''This Is Spinal Tap'' (also known as ''This Is Spınal Tap: A Rockumentary by Martin Di Bergi'') is a 1984 American mockumentary film co-written and directed by Rob Reiner (in his feature directorial debut). The film stars Christopher Guest, M ...
that is used when someone asks an irrelevant question. * Now, where's the cake?: A sound bite of a confused
Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast D ...
owner
Abe Pollin Abraham J. Pollin (December 3, 1923 – November 24, 2009) was the owner of a number of professional sports teams including the Washington Capitals in the National Hockey League (NHL), the Washington Mystics in the Women's National Basketbal ...
calling for a ceremonial cake to appear during an impromptu celebration honoring the selection of
Gilbert Arenas Gilbert Jay Arenas Jr. (; born January 6, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player. Arenas attended Grant High School in the Valley Glen district of Los Angeles, and accepted a scholarship offer to the University of Arizona lat ...
and
Antawn Jamison Antawn Cortez Jamison (; born June 12, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player who played 16 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He serves as director of pro personnel for the Washington Wizards. Jamison playe ...
to the
NBA All-Star Game The National Basketball Association All-Star Game is a basketball exhibition game hosted every February by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and showcases 24 of the league's star players. It is the featured event of NBA All-Star Weekend, a ...
. * The Orchid: Kornheiser's nickname for
Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...
pitcher
Stephen Strasburg Stephen James Strasburg (; born July 20, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball (MLB). Strasburg was selected by Washington with the first overall pick in the 2009 Major League ...
due to the fact that he is seemingly delicate and only able to perform in perfect weather conditions, much like an actual
orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...
. * The Palm: Located south of
Dupont Circle Dupont Circle (or DuPont Circle) is a traffic circle, park, neighborhood and historic district in Northwest Washington, D.C. The Dupont Circle neighborhood is bounded approximately by 16th Street NW to the east, 22nd Street NW ...
The Palm's DC location is seemingly the only restaurant that Kornheiser frequents. It is apparent he prefers it primarily for the interaction among his social circle as he often mentions he either doesn't eat or only gets half an entree. Loyal Littles and Bigs often leave notes or send mail to Kornheiser at this location. * Old People's Network (OPN): A fictitious network that broadcasts programming geared for elderly men and women.
Viagra Sildenafil, sold under the brand name Viagra, among others, is a medication used to treat erectile dysfunction and pulmonary arterial hypertension. It is unclear if it is effective for treating sexual dysfunction in women. It is taken by ...
and
Geritol Geritol is a United States trademarked name for various dietary supplements, past and present. Geritol is a brand name for several vitamin complexes plus iron or multimineral products in both liquid form and tablets, containing from 9.5 to 18&nb ...
commercials are frequently seen on the network. * The person to whom I am related by marriage: Kornheiser's most commonly used politically correct term for his wife, Karril. * Phil's Mom: Phil Ceppaglia's real-life mother, who calls the show before the start of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament to pick the winners of each game. She is famous for picking teams that have little to no chance of winning, not knowing where many of the schools are located, using flawed logic (or none at all) to pick winners, and for mispronouncing the team names. In 2006 she blindly picked
George Mason George Mason (October 7, 1792) was an American planter, politician, Founding Father, and delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, one of the three delegates present who refused to sign the Constitution. His writings, including s ...
, a Cinderella team no one expected to even make the 2006 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, to win the National Championship. Due to George Mason's stunning run through the tournament wherein they advanced to the Final Four, her pick turned out to be far more accurate than anyone thought, which led to Tony's listeners jumping on the bandwagon and proclaiming that they "Roll with Phil's Mom". * Purple Line: A reference to the
Maryland Transit Administration The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) is a state-operated mass transit administration in Maryland, and is part of the Maryland Department of Transportation. The MTA operates a comprehensive transit system throughout the Baltimore-Washingt ...
's currently under-construction light-rail transit Purple Line. The project is a direct and ongoing subject of Kornheiser's ire since it is being built directly though the golf course at the private
Columbia Country Club The Columbia Country Club, located in Chevy Chase, Maryland, is the successor of the Columbia Golf Club, which was organized on September 29, 1898 by nine men. Originally there were twenty members. The golf course, which opened in 1911, was desig ...
, of which Kornheiser is a member, along with
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
,
Michael Wilbon Michael Wilbon (; born ) is an American commentator for ESPN and former sportswriter and columnist for ''The Washington Post''. He is an analyst for ESPN and has co-hosted ''Pardon the Interruption'' on ESPN since 2001. Early life and education ...
, and many others in his social circle. * The Quintessential American Sportswriter: Kornheiser's nickname for sportswriter
Bob Ryan Robert P. Ryan (born February 21, 1946) is an American sportswriter, formerly with ''The Boston Globe'', and author. He has been described as "the quintessential American sportswriter" and a basketball guru, and is well known for his coverage of ...
. * Refugee Safeway: A
Safeway Safeway is an American supermarket chain founded by Marion Barton Skaggs in April 1915 in American Falls, Idaho. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and features a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, d ...
on Connecticut Avenue in Chevy Chase, DC that Kornheiser has referred to as the refugee Safeway because of the patrons and general state of the store. There are occasional references to other similarly monikered Safeways in the DC area, such as the Soviet Safeway and the Social Safeway. * Reginald the Monkey: A fictitious monkey used as a front to present Marc 'Nigel' Sterne's weekly NFL picks. Reginald's picks are included every week to use as a seemingly random barometer against other more professional prognosticators, such as
Ron Jaworski Partner owner , highlights= * Pro Bowl (1980) * Bert Bell Award (1980) * Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Fame ;NFL record * Longest touchdown pass: 99 yards (tied) , statlabel1= TD– INT , statvalue1=179–164 , statlabel2=Yards , statvalue2=28,19 ...
, Jeff Ma,
Chuck Todd Charles David Todd (born April 8, 1972) is an American television journalist who is the 12th and current moderator of NBC's ''Meet the Press''. He also hosts ''Meet the Press Now'', its daily edition on NBC News Now and is the Political Directo ...
, or
James Carville Chester James Carville Jr. (born October 25, 1944) is an American political consultant, author, and occasional actor who has strategized for candidates for public office in the United States and in at least 23 nations abroad. A Democrat, he is an ...
. Every week the picks are presented in a manner where Nigel goes to the Smithsonian National Zoological Park to visit Reginald, where he gives Nigel the picks by regaling him with his stories and photos of past meetings with various celebrities. * Send me a box of that: A catch phrase developed by Kornheiser to indicate he'd like to be sent a box of desired merchandise (by either sponsors or a friend or listener of the show) free of charge. This has resulted in him receiving “tribute” ranging from
Skechers Skechers USA, Inc. is an American multinational footwear company. Headquartered in Manhattan Beach, California, it was founded in 1992 and is now the third largest footwear brand in the United States. History Skechers was founded in 1992 by Ro ...
sneakers, to golf equipment, to cases of wine, to foods like gummi bears, ice cream, and pretzels, and anything else in between he expresses an affinity for. * The Sheehan Boys: The sons of former show newsman Kevin Sheehan that Kornheiser would contract for residential snow removal services. Payment for these services was often rendered in autographed
Pardon the Interruption ''Pardon the Interruption'' (abbreviated ''PTI'') is an American sports talk television show that airs weekdays on various ESPN TV channels. It is hosted by Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon, who discuss, and frequently argue over, the top storie ...
hats and shirts. * The Smartest Man in Washington: Kornheiser's nickname for defense attorney
Abbe Lowell Abbe David Lowell (born April 28, 1952) is an American defense attorney who has represented several high-profile defendants. Lowell has represented numerous high-profile political figures, including Bob Menendez, John Edwards, Jared Kushner, Hunte ...
. * Spike and Ike: The twin sons of co-host Gary Braun. * The Show Killer: The nickname given by Kornheiser to producer Phil Ceppaglia when he botched his call screening duties in 1998. The nickname was amplified when Ceppaglia moved to the
Dan Patrick Show ''The Dan Patrick Show'' is a syndicated radio and television sports talk show, hosted by former ESPN personality Dan Patrick. It is currently produced by Patrick and is syndicated to radio stations by Premiere Radio Networks, within and indepe ...
and has stuck with Ceppaglia his near 25-year career at
ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN". ...
. * Stop the hammering! A soundbite of
MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...
host
Lawrence O'Donnell Lawrence Francis O'Donnell Jr. (born November 7, 1951) is an American television anchor, actor, liberal political commentator, and host of ''The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell'', an MSNBC opinion and news program that airs on weeknights. He ...
repeatedly imploring his crew to find an unattributed hammering noise happening somewhere on his set. Most often used to indicate something is driving Tony nuts. * Talismans and Amulets: Kornheiser has a well known fear of flying but will fly on a commercial flight given that he can be medicated and be given special treatment by meeting the pilot personally prior to takeoff. He also travels with a variety of good luck trinkets that he refers to as "Talismans and Amulets". He also has a very worn shirt that he superstitiously wears on flights, that he refers to as his "Flying Shirt" that eventually met its end on a trip to
Augusta National Golf Club Augusta National Golf Club, sometimes referred to as Augusta or the National, is a golf club in Augusta, Georgia, United States. Unlike most private clubs which operate as non-profits, Augusta National is a for-profit corporation, and it does no ...
in 2017. * Tell Michael: A reference to Kornheiser's son, Michael. After Kornheiser told his listeners a story of a rainy day when he texted Michael to ask if it was raining where Michael was also, listeners started emailing the weather where they were, telling Tony to "tell Michael." * This Show Stinks: Kornheiser's self-deprecation about his show. The show's past and present email addresses, thisshowstinks@espnradio.com, thisshowstinks@sportstalk980.com, thisshowstinks@washpost.com, thisshowstinks@3wtradio.com, and now thisshowstinks@espn980.com are based on this
catch phrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...
. Note that thisshowstinks@espnradio.com was actually selected by his listeners. It has since been adopted as the podcast's dormant Twitter handle. * TK Salute: Kornheiser's reference for giving someone the middle finger. Listeners of the show are encouraged to greet each other using the required salute, especially when spotting a TK bumper sticker on another car. * Tuesdays, I'm Laurie: The purported original title for Kornheiser's 2002 book ''I'm Back for More Cash'', on the cover of which he planned to appear in drag. The title was intended to be a play on the title of his friend
Mitch Albom Mitchell David Albom (born May 23, 1958) is an American author, journalist, and musician. His books have sold over 40 million copies worldwide. Having achieved national recognition for sports writing in his early career, he turned to writing the ...
's bestseller ''
Tuesdays with Morrie ''Tuesdays with Morrie'' is a memoir by American author Mitch Albom about a series of visits Albom made to his former sociology professor Morrie Schwartz, as Schwartz gradually dies of ALS. The book topped the ''New York Times'' Non-Fiction Bes ...
''. * Unnamed Daughter: A reference to co-host Torie Clarke's daughter that at times does not seem to exist since she is constantly only referring to the lives and exploits of her two sons. * Well, I certainly hope you'll die soon: A soundbite of actor
Peter Hackes Peter Hackes (June 2, 1924 – April 17, 1994) was a longtime American TV and radio correspondent who late in life had acting roles in two prominent American films. Early life and education Born in New York City, Peter Sidney Hackes graduated f ...
from the film Broadcast News that is used to wish ill will on someone. * We'll do it live! F@*k it! Do it live! A soundbite of news personality Bill O'Reilly melting down at his producers on the set of
Inside Edition ''Inside Edition'' is an American news broadcasting newsmagazine program that is distributed in first-run syndication by CBS Media Ventures. Having premiered on January 9, 1989, it is the longest-running syndicated-newsmagazine program that is n ...
. The clip is used most often when talking about the complications than can arise while doing both recorded and live broadcasting. Kornheiser holds some disdain for O'Reilly after he witnessed him being obnoxiously loud on an
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
Acela The ''Acela'' ( ; originally the ''Acela Express'' until September 2019) is Amtrak's flagship service along the Northeast Corridor (NEC) in the Northeastern United States between Washington, D.C. and Boston via 13 intermediate stops, includin ...
train for the entire journey between
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
and
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
* Wha' Happened?: A soundbite of actor
Fred Willard Frederic Charles Willard (September 18, 1933 May 15, 2020) was an American actor, comedian, and writer. He was best known for his roles in the Rob Reiner mockumentary film ''This Is Spinal Tap'' (1984); the Christopher Guest mockumentaries ''Wai ...
from the film
A Mighty Wind ''A Mighty Wind'' is a 2003 American mockumentary comedy film about a folk music reunion concert in which three folk bands reunite for a television performance for the first time in decades. Co-written (with Eugene Levy), directed, and composed ...
used to express lack of surprise for events that are not unexpected. * Wilbon's not surprised: An often highlighted circumstance where
Michael Wilbon Michael Wilbon (; born ) is an American commentator for ESPN and former sportswriter and columnist for ''The Washington Post''. He is an analyst for ESPN and has co-hosted ''Pardon the Interruption'' on ESPN since 2001. Early life and education ...
fails to express lack of surprise despite the unlikelihood of an event or outcome. * Winter Weather Forecast: An annual tradition where former newsman Kevin Sheehan gives a bloviating and long-winded overly-specific prediction of winter weather events in the DC area for the upcoming season, usually given in the November–December time frame. The segment is punctuated with a multitude of sponsor breaks related to weather terminology,
NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
scores where he uses different weather euphemisms for one team beating another, overly-complicated digestions of various weather models (NAM, GFS, Euro, etc.), testimonials from his vast network of "weather-watchers", and recaps of his discussions with his DC-area professional weather predicting "colleagues".


See also

* List of ESPN Radio personalities


References and notes


External links

*
''The Tony Kornheiser Show'' on ESPN 980

''The Tony Kornheiser Show'' on 3WT Radio
* ''The Tony Kornheiser Show'' Podcasts o
3WT Radio
an
Washington Post Radio

This Website Stinks! An Unofficial Tony Kornheiser Website
Dedicated to Tony Kornheiser's Radio Show. Include
Andy Polley's Happy Fun Time Message Board Extravaganza!
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tony Kornheiser Show American sports radio programs Radio programs on XM Satellite Radio