One of the aforementioned shows, Around the Horn is hosted by 28-year-old Tony Reali, a Marlboro, New Jersey native and graduate of Christian Brothers Academy in Lincroft. ATH is much like the political debate shows that dominate the cable news landscape, with the only differences being that various sports topics are not-so-politely discussed, and the four panelists who are elected from around the country are awarded (or penalized) points for their opinions by the host, Reali.

I recently conducted a QnA with Anthony Joseph Reali to learn what it’s like to be hosting a nationally-televised program before age 30, how he got his start, if his new-found fame is affecting his life, as well as how he is able to strategically work an Anchorman reference into almost every episode.

Concha: It's almost every kid's dream to either grow up to be a professional athlete or sportscaster/anchor/host on ESPN. Given the competitive nature of the industry, could you ever imagine hosting your own nationally televised show by age 25?

Reali: Never in a million years. Nor would I have ever imagined the way that I got the job. I snuck in the fire escape when nobody was looking. Got a call at 11 o'clock on a Sunday night saying "Wear a suit to work tomorrow. We need you to fill-in at the Horn."

Monday morning I put on the suit, wore out my rosary beads and properly greased my hair. Then came the show and it was a blur. Don't really remember it. Probably the low point in the history of television, though. I can't imagine I was cogent. They asked me back Tuesday, so I had to buy a new tie. They asked me back Wednesday so I needed a new shirt. And by the next week when they told me the old host - my friend Max Kellerman - wasn't coming back, it was time to buy a new suit. By the end of the month I was pretty sure I had the job, but it wouldn't be for another year and a half until I was actually hired.

Concha: Did you play sports in High School or at Fordham?

Reali: Kornheiser says every sports reporter is a bitter, failed pro athlete. I'm a bitter, failed high school athlete. My growth spurt came real late. I was like 5'0" 95 lbs junior year in high school. So I played a lot of soccer and baseball, and some CYO basketball, but nothing great and nothing more than intramurals at Christian Brothers Academy. When I got to Fordham I finally passed for a grown man and I played Club Rugby.

Concha: How did you get your first broadcasting job at WPIX?

Reali: WPIX wasn't a broadcasting job. It was a job as sportswriter for the nightly news. I would work with the sportscasters -Sal Marchiano and Sean Kimerling - cut their video and write their scripts. Occasionally I would cover games, too. Got the job thanks a Fordham connection.

Concha: How did you make the jump to ESPN and eventually PTI and Around the Horn?

Reali: While at WPIX I heard about a spin-off to the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire franchise. It was to be a sports trivia game show. That's the part I was born to play, baby. Interviewed and got the job as a researcher for the show before I even knew it was going to be on ESPN.

It turned into the Two Minute Drill with Kenny Mayne.

By season 2 I was a writer for the show. By season 3 the show got yanked - this was September 2001 - and that's when I heard about PTI. I interviewed for that job - it was to be a researcher—not yet Stat Boy—and left New York for Washington, DC.

PTI was a different show from the start. A different look, a different sound. It had bells, whistles, heads-on-sticks and a lot of junk on the screen. And I wasn't sure it was going to work. Who wants to listen to grown men argue like a married couple? Not me.

Wrong. If I wasn't working for the show right now, I'd be watching it everyday. It's terrific. Tony (Kornheiser) and Mike (Wilbon)...I love those guys. And I will tithe to them for the rest of my life.

About two weeks before the show was to debut Tony said he wanted a sidekick on air. Somehow that became me. Wilbon then came up with the name "Stat Boy."

Inside Information: The show is taped about an hour before you see it. And it's taped over a 60 minute span. That means I have about 60 minutes to find the errors in the show. Yeah, I know. I'm a fraud. I catch a lot of them quickly because I've always had a mind for that. That's what 4 years in high school without a date will do: Make you a killer in sports trivia.

Concha: During those dateless years, who did you admire most in the broadcasting when growing up?

Reali: The Yankees radio broadcaster John Sterling, The Knicks play-by-play guy Mike Breen, and the Nets guys' Bob Papa and Chris Carrino. Not sure I can stand Sterling anymore, but Breen has always been a guy I wanted to be. He did games, but was also on the Imus Show. He was a sports guy that could go outside of sports -- and had a great sense of humor.

Concha: My buddy who works for the Nets will appreciate the Carino reference. So, what is your typical day like preparing for and taping Around the Horn?

Reali: In by 8ish. Check out the sports sections of the Washington Post, NY Times, NY Post. Check in with espn.com and deadspin. Read the columns of the guys on the show that day. Discuss with the producers which 10 topics deserve to be in the show.

Then by 9, it’s time to start writing the show. I write everything for the simple reason that I have serious performance anxiety reading other people's material. Just couldn't do it…butcher job. And it was good stuff, just not in my voice.

So I write the show for about an hour, and then talk to the 4 panelists for the day on a conference call. I tell them the topics, and let them air it out for a bit without a mute button. After that, time for makeup - which I wouldn't recommend...it gave me pimples like I was in high school. Then I’m on the set for the show. Much like PTI, the show is taped over an hour.

I love the show. It's a goof. Four panelists playing a make believe game of competitive banter. That doesn't even make sense. But it's not really supposed to. It’s Just a way to talk about the topics of the day.

Some people don't get it, and maybe it's not for everybody, but it works for me. A mute button, some inside information, self promotion, looking at the schedule and then PTI…My Pardon the Interruption day is then from 2-to-6.

After work, I'll have to keep an eye on all the games. I have 4 TiVo's at home recording games and I'll make sure to watch SportsCenter before I go to bed.

Concha: Wow…It sounds like there isn’t much time for socializing. Are you single?

We met at a restaurant she was working at. She had never seen the show. It was on at the bar every night and she never noticed. Very few women ever come up to me and it's usually to ask me who their boyfriend should start at quarterback this week in fantasy. Some are sincere fans of the show, but that's rare.

And it's not like I would do anything to capitalize. I have no game. I'm a loser. I'm the commissioner of a fantasy football league that I don't even have a team in. My dream night is going home, putting on some Dean Martin, pouring out three fingers of Sambuca, and watching West Coast baseball.

Concha: Your girlfriend may not be a sports fan, but do those that are stop you on the street and say, "Yo, Stat Boy!"

Reali: Yup. And it's always cool. Even when they're starting with me. I gladly take it, because I know I'd be doing the same exact thing. If I was in a bar or on the street and saw some mook that hosted an ESPN Show with a mute button, no way I'm not breaking his balls.

But you’re overrating it. It isn't fame. Fame is having the power to get Vida Guerra or Eva Mendez. I have the power to get great production out of my backup tight end in fantasy football.

Concha: You have the power of a mute button to quiet the likes of sportswriters Jay Mariotti and Woody Paige. Are there times in real life when that you wish you had that same mute button?

Reali: Yeah. Like right now. How long is this gonna be? Where's the big finish?

Reali: I've always thought we should try to develop the technology to sell it to the public. That being said, it would probably just collect dust in Aisle 3 at Spencer Gifts.

Concha: Something that never gets muted are your Anchorman references on the show (Sex Panther, San Die-ago, etc) which are not lost on me. Is that your favorite movie of all time, or does it simply work well when bantering with your panelists?

Reali: Anchorman is tremendous. Especially considering the work I do. I was warming up with "Unique, New York" before I saw the movie. I constantly—and accidentally—add a question mark to a script in the Teleprompter and get thrown for a loop. Milk quite often is a bad choice.

But Goodfelllas is my favorite movie. By far. It's the high point in cinematic history. Acting, Directing, Cinematography, Editing. The Shinebox. The Copacabana shot. The Layla music cue. The use of Deep Focus. Morrie's Wigs. A character that says everything twice - "I'm gonna go get the papers, get the papers." A flawless movie.

Concha: I think Goodfellas is in every guy’s Top 5, and Anchorman has already become a cult classic on the same level as Napoleon Dynamite. And so, I digress.

Sports writers are famous for overreacting to single games, particular one bad performance, over the course of an entire season. You have an admirable tendency for calling out your panelists for

flip-flopping and overreacting. Are sportswriters like weatherman, where they can be wrong so often, yet keep their jobs and even be promoted?

Reali: I like making a big deal of the flip-flops but they really are the nature of the business. You are asked to have an opinion and make an argument every night. Things change from night to night, and so do opinions. Mariotti has turned that into an art form, so I'm not personally insulted by them. But I'll still kill them for it on air.

Concha: Your job means having to live in DC, where Around the Horn and PTI are taped. What do you miss most about living in New Jersey?

Reali: The pizza. The accent. And people with names like Vinny, Sal, Gina and Tina.

Concha: Have you ever been to Hoboken or the Jersey shore?

Reali: Jersey Shore a ton. Hoboken never. And with it being the birthplace of Francis Albert (Sinatra) and baseball, that's a sin.

Concha: Yes it is, but you still have time to drop in the next time you’re home. Good job knowing Sinatra’s middle name, by the way…

So, Bob Barker recently retired after hosting the Price is Right for 35 years. Do you see yourself still hosting Around the Horn in the year 2041?

Reali: Not a chance. But if I had the Beauties, Plinko and that long skinny microphone... then I'd stick around the horn until 83. And the man tan. Crayola needs to invent an entire new shade somewhere between burnt orange and pumpkin purple called "Barker" in honor of the man.

That's his legacy.

Concha: Your job is to mediate debate and award points primarily for analysis and predictions, but I'd like to hear you make a few of your own. Who will win the Super Bowl, NCAA Football Championship and NBA Championship this year?

Reali: New England Patriots, Ohio State, Dallas Mavericks.

Concha: I like the San Diego Chargers, Michigan and San Antonio Spurs, so I’ll check back with you to see who wins a PTI or RealHoboken t-shirt. Thanks for taking the time, Tony.

And so the moderator becomes prognosticator, at least for one interview. As someone who has had spotty success in breaking into sports broadcasting (freelance on-air commentator work for MSNBC and CNBC and FOX Sports Radio, but nothing full-time…yet), I can only say that what Tony Reali has accomplished only six years out of school is nothing short of amazing. Sports journalism in particular is an extremely competitive field, and for Reali to not only appear on, but host his own show on the most popular sports station ever invented, is quite an accomplishment at any age.

For those who haven’t seen Around the Horn or wouldn’t know Tony Reali if he fell on you, check it out on ESPN sometime (5:00 PM weekdays, Channel 36 on Cablevision and 208 on Direct TV).