Jim Rome Is Burning (originally titled Rome Is Burning and often abbreviated as JRIB) is a sports conversation and opinion show hosted by Jim Rome. Debuting on May 6, 2003 as Rome Is Burning, it was originally a weekly show in primetime at 7:00 PM ET on Tuesday nights on ESPN. After a short hiatus in 2004, it returned with a new name, Jim Rome Is Burning, and a late-night Thursday timeslot. In February 2005, JRIB became a daily program airing each afternoon at 4:30 PM in between NFL Live and Around the Horn. After ESPN expanded NFL Live to sixty minutes, JRIB moved to ESPN2 as part of its new afternoon lineup on September 12, 2011. It was produced by Mandt Bros. Productions in association with ESPN Original Entertainment and taped in Los Angeles as opposed to ESPN's Bristol, Connecticut headquarters. This was due to his daily radio commitment.
The show ended on January 27, 2012 with the announcement that Rome had agreed to a contract with CBS, CBS Sports Network, and Showtime. Outside of some 4:3 non-essential game footage camera angles used in play analysis during NFL Matchup, Rome is Burning was the final program in the ESPN family of networks outside ESPN Classic to be produced in standard definition and never upgraded to high definition.
Rome Is Burning: Rome gave takes on four or five of the top sports-related stories of the day and always opened with the statement "Here's what I am burning on."
Alone with Rome: Interview segment with current and former athletes, coaches, sports writers/columnists, and celebrities.
The Forum: Rome was joined by a reporter, sports figure, or entertainer, usually for an entire week, to discuss various sports topics. Until 2011 there were usually two panelists joining Rome for The Forum.
Correspondents: Generally, a player gave a tour of one of their team's sports facilities or took Rome and the TV audience through a normal day in the life of a sports athlete. The correspondents included David Wright, Nick Swisher, Tywon Lawson, Tony Gonzalez, Delonte West and Donté Stallworth. For special occasions such as the NFL Draft, there was a group of correspondents. The players who appeared as correspondents were said to attain good "JRIB karma" afterwards.
Final Burn: The last segment of the show, in which Rome gave one or two final takes. He then thanked the show's guests and signed off with "I will see you next time. I am out."
These segments almost always ran in the above order, with Correspondents pieces about once per week. On rare occasions, if the Forum guest was late to the studio or the remote location, that segment would air after the Forum. On other occasions, the segments were in a different order by design. A show might end with a Correspondents piece instead of a Final Burn.
U Smack 2 (formerly known as Smack Back): Rome responded to phone calls and e-mails. Discontinued in late 2005.
These were guests to the program who appeared occasionally. Guest hosts and forum guests usually served that role for a full calendar week.
Eric Adelson: ESPN contributor
Nick Bakay: actor, writer, and television producer; ESPN contributor
Marcos Breton: The Sacramento Bee
Bryan Burwell: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Nick Canepa: The San Diego Union-Tribune
Jeff Cesario: Sportalicious.com
Jeffri Chadiha: ESPN.com
Curtis Conway: former NFL wide receiver
Josh Elliott: former SportsCenter anchor and ESPN reporter (now with Good Morning America)
Ashley Fox: The Philadelphia Inquirer
Kevin Frazier: former Entertainment Tonight co-host and SportsCenter anchor (now with Insider and Fox College Football coverage)
Tom Friend: ESPN The Magazine
Doug Gottlieb: host of The Pulse on ESPN Radio
Seth Greenberg: Virginia Tech Hokies basketball head coach
Kevin Hench: Foxsports.com
Jon Heyman: Newsday, Sports Illustrated
Jemele Hill: ESPN.com Page2
Denny Hocking: former MLB outfielder
Michael Holley: author; radio host; former Around the Horn panelist
John Ireland, ESPN Radio
Scoop Jackson: ESPN.com Page2
Seth Joyner: former NFL linebacker
Mark Kriegel: FoxSports.com
Erik Kuselias: ESPN Radio host & Host of Fantasy Football Now, one of the hosts of College Football Live
Jim Lampley: HBO World Championship Boxing commentator
Roger Lodge: Blind Date host; actor
Chris Mannix: Sports Illustrated
Eamon McAnaney: SportsNet New York contributor
Patrick McEnroe: ESPN tennis analyst; CBS U.S. Open correspondent
Steve Moore: ESPN Radio
Terence Moore: AOL FanHouse
Eric Neel: ESPN.com Page2
Amy K. Nelson: ESPN.com
Petros Papadakis: KLAC radio host; FSN college football analyst; Pros vs Joes host
Shaun Powell: NBCSports.com
Ray Ratto: San Francisco Chronicle
Drew Sharp: Detroit Free Press
Dan Shaughnessy: The Boston Globe
Andrew Siciliano: FSN Final Score anchor
Bill Simmons: ESPN The Magazine's "The Sports Guy"; ESPN.com Page2
Randy Sklar: Cheap Seats co-host
Jason Smith: host of AllNight with Jason Smith on ESPN Radio
Matt "Money" Smith: Los Angeles Lakers pre- and post-game host
Rick Telander: Chicago Sun-Times
Vincent Thomas: SLAM Magazine
Ross Tucker: SI.com
Kyle Turley: NFL offensive lineman
Mark Whicker: The Orange County Register
Ralph Wiley: Former sports journalist (deceased)
Mike Wise: The Washington Post
Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo! Sports
Todd Zeile: former MLB third baseman and first baseman
Bonnie Bernstein: substitute host for NFL Live, Outside the Lines and ESPN First Take in addition to JRIB
Adam Carolla: comedian and former host of Comedy Central's The Man Show
Josh Elliott: SportsCenter anchor; ESPN reporter
Dwight Freeney: current NFL player for the Indianapolis Colts
Doug Gottlieb: College GameNight analyst
Jim Gray: ESPN and ABC NBA reporter
Jeffri Chadiha: ESPN.com
Jemele Hill: ESPN.com Page2
Keyshawn Johnson: ESPN NFL analyst
Erik Kuselias: Guest Co-host for Mike and Mike in the Morning, Host of Fantasy Football Now on ESPN.com
Patrick McEnroe: ESPN Tennis analyst; CBS U.S. Open correspondent
Lisa Salters: ESPN NBA and ABC Saturday Night Football reporter
Marcellus Wiley: ESPN NFL analyst and former Dallas Cowboys player
Mark Schlereth: ESPN NFL analyst
Michael Smith: ESPN and ESPN.com NFL reporter and analyst; Around the Horn panelist
Stephen A. Smith: NBA Shootaround analyst; The Philadelphia Inquirer
Jason Whitlock: formerly of ESPN.com Page2; now with FOXSports.com
