Tim Cowlishaw is one of the most emblematic faces of Around the Horn, a newspaper sports columnist with a Texas twang and wacky takes.
So it was only fitting that on his way out the door on the series finale of the long-running ESPN sports game show, Cowlishaw would be the one to uphold the spirit of ATH and its cast. In his final FaceTime to close out the finale, Cowlishaw had some pointed words for the future of the Worldwide Leader and the show that replaces ATH.
Said Cowlishaw on Friday’s Finale:
“I want to thank ESPN for the opportunity that I did not seek and never expected to get back in 2002. I’d also like to say that while ESPN is currently gearing itself more toward hiring athletes instead of journalists, did you not see the 32 points I scored in an intramural game … were you not aware of my birdies on 8 and 16 at Augusta back in 2002? (CBS Sports analyst) Seth Davis was there; he can vouch for them. The fifth-grade spelling bee back at Arapaho Elementary? You guys like spelling bees. Sorry to digress. We had a wonderful 22 years on a show where I felt imposter syndrome every time I walked into this studio. I hope the people on the next show in this time slot have as much fun and bring as many smiles over the next 22 years. I’ll be counting.”
Indeed, the 5 p.m. ET window featuring ATH and Pardon the Interruption was one of the final bastions of journalistic commentary on the network’s airwaves. The cancellation of Outside the Lines, the winding down of E:60, the shuttering of ESPN: The Magazine, and even the decrease in 30 for 30 projects have given ESPN a very different feel in 2025 than it had when ATH premiered in 2002.
Today, the network’s stars include Kirk Herbstreit, Pat McAfee, Ryan Clark, Jason Kelce, and Kendrick Perkins.
Cowlishaw also baked a prediction into his final words on the network: That the next show at 5 p.m. won’t last two decades like ATH did. Given the direction of cable and how much of an outlier ATH was, this may be an easy prediction to make. But it does call into question the network’s decision to move on from a recognizable brand in favor of the unknown.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.