Jay Mariotti (pronounced /mæriˈɒti/; born June 22, 1959) is a former sports columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times who has done work as a panelist on the ESPN show Around the Horn.

Mariotti was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and attended Ohio University. He has appeared as a panelist on Around the Horn and has guest hosted Pardon the Interruption. Prior to his work with ESPN, he co-hosted a daily sports talk radio program on One on One Sports/Sporting News Radio.

Mariotti is a long time sports columnist, starting with The Detroit News in the early 1980s. He moved to The Denver Post in the late 1980s, where he met Woody Paige, a fellow regular panelist on Around the Horn. Mariotti and Paige were said to have been in a long-running feud during their time together in Denver, which eventually resulted in Mariotti leaving the Post for the paper's then rival, the Rocky Mountain News; the rivalry was something that was mentioned at times in the early episodes of Around the Horn. Both have stated that the feud is over and the rivalry between them is now a friendly one. Mariotti left Denver and joined the Chicago Sun-Times in 1991, staying with the paper until 2008.

Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Paige, Jr. (born June 27, 1946) is a sports columnist for The Denver Post, author, and a regular panelist on the ESPN sports-talk program Around the Horn. He was also a co-host of Cold Pizza and its spin-off show 1st and 10 until November 4, 2006, when it was announced that Paige would return to the Post. Paige is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee and is a Baseball Hall of Fame voter.

Paige attended the University of Tennessee and, after graduating, began his career with the Whitehaven Press in 1963. He went on to write for the Knoxville Journal, The Commercial Appeal of Memphis, and the Rocky Mountain News of Denver.

Paige joined the Denver Post in 1981. As of 2007, he writes four columns per week.

In 2001 there was a controversy over one of Paige's articles. He reported that an employee at Invesco, which had the naming rights to the Denver Broncos stadium, Invesco Field at Mile High, claimed that the nickname for the stadium inside the company was "The Diaphragm," after its shape (which slightly resembles a contraceptive device with the same name). The CEO of the company threatened Paige and the Post with legal action over the allegations, but had to retract the lawsuit when it was discovered that the story was true.

Jay Moriarity (June 16, 1978–June 15, 2001) was a surfer from Santa Cruz, California. He was an accomplished surfer, waterman, and adventurer. As a surfer, he made his reputation surfing Mavericks in Half Moon Bay, California. At age 16, he was made internationally famous when his wipeout at Mavericks was caught on film and made the cover of Surfer (magazine). Four days later at Mavericks, on a smaller wave, legendary Hawaiian big wave surfer Mark Foo drowned. Although a successful competitor, Jay is remembered as a soul surfer, winning many sportsmanship awards throughout his career.

Born in Georgia in 1978, Moriarity and his family moved to Santa Cruz, California, soon after his birth. His father was Green Beret parachutist and a surfer, who introduced his son to surfing when he was 9 years-old. He immediately took to surfing and quickly became a respected surfer in Santa Cruz. Not limited to either a shortboard or a longboard, he was known as a versatile surfer who appreciated all aspects of surfing. This appreciation was rooted in an overall love for the ocean, seen in his accomplishments as a swimmer, paddler, diver, and fisherman. Achieving success in surfing as a youngster, he became increasingly interested in surfing Mavericks, north of Santa Cruz in Half Moon Bay. After intense physical and mental training he began surfing Mavericks at 16 years of age, and soon became a respected regular in the line-up.

Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963) is a retired American professional basketball player, active entrepreneur, and majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats. His biography on the National Basketball Association (NBA) website states, "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time." Jordan was one of the most effectively marketed athletes of his generation and was considered instrumental in popularizing the NBA around the world in the 1980s and 1990s.

After a three-season career at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a member of the Tar Heels' national championship team in 1982, Jordan joined the NBA's Chicago Bulls in 1984. He quickly emerged as a league star, entertaining crowds with his prolific scoring. His leaping ability, illustrated by performing slam dunks from the free throw line in slam dunk contests, earned him the nicknames "Air Jordan" and "His Airness". He also gained a reputation for being one of the best defensive players in basketball. In 1991, he won his first NBA championship with the Bulls, and followed that achievement with titles in 1992 and 1993, securing a "three-peat". Although Jordan abruptly retired from basketball at the beginning of the 1993–94 NBA season to pursue a career in baseball, he rejoined the Bulls in 1995 and led them to three additional championships (1996, 1997, and 1998) as well as an NBA-record 72 regular-season wins in the 1995–96 NBA season. Jordan retired for a second time in 1999, but returned for two more NBA seasons from 2001 to 2003 as a member of the Washington Wizards.

LeBron Raymone James (/ləˈbrɒn/; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he was a three-time "Mr. Basketball" of Ohio in high school, and was highly promoted in the national media as a future NBA superstar while a sophomore at St. Vincent – St. Mary High School. He was selected with the number one pick in the 2003 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Listed as a small forward, James has set numerous youngest player records since joining the league. He was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2003–04, was named the NBA Most Valuable Player in 2009, 2010, and 2012 and has been both an All-NBA selection and an All-Star every season since 2005. In 2010, a much-publicized free agency process ended with James signing with the Miami Heat.

James led the Cleveland Cavaliers to consecutive playoff appearances from 2006 through 2010. In 2007, the Cavaliers advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history, but lost to the San Antonio Spurs. In 2011, James and the Miami Heat advanced to the NBA Finals but lost to the Dallas Mavericks. James has been a member of the USA national team, winning a bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics and gold at the 2008 Olympics.