Calling The Action

High above Georgia Gwinnett College’s athletic fields each spring and fall, a group of college-aged announcers have learned valuable skills while helping Grizzly Digital Network viewers follow the Grizzlies to success. 

And some of these broadcasters are aspiring to someday be featured in the major leagues – just like the student-athletes that they are following on the baseball and softball diamonds and soccer field.

The Office of Athletics’ GDN has been providing students in the college’s Cinema and Media Arts Production program invaluable internships and behind-the-scenes experiences since 2017. Also, students from the nearby University of Georgia Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications also have been building impressive professional broadcasting portfolios.

All these experiences have come under the mentorship of GGC Athletics Video and Broadcast Coordinator Matt Mahony.

GDN broadcasts all home men’s and women’s soccer matches each fall along with every baseball and softball games during the spring – bringing approximately 150 opportunities annually for more than 20 students to be behind the scenes (as camera operators, directors, graphics operations, and video/sound technicians) or in front of the camera (as play-by-play broadcasters and color commentators). 

“I’m very proud that we’re an entirely student-run broadcast operation – from each’s games’ pregame show to the Grizzly Player of the Game postgame feature,” remarks Mahony.

Taking advantage of these opportunities have been 2021 UGA journalism and mass communications graduates Chris Caray and Jack Sadighian along with upcoming graduates Stefan Caray and Reeves Jackson.

He followed by spending the summer as the play-by-play broadcaster for the San Luis Obispo Blues of the California Collegiate League. Now Sadighian is a broadcast and media assistant for the Mississippi Braves at the Double-A level of Major League Baseball’s minor leagues. He also had been on air for UGA softball games on the SEC Network+.

“I had a baseline talent and worked to improve,” says Sadighan during a recent interview. “Matt was willing to let me develop and call more and more games. I started in 2019 when the softball and baseball teams were both ranked in among the nation’s top five teams for most of the season. It was great getting experience calling very high-level college athletics. When I started the next spring, I could easily notice the improvements in my broadcasts. It was a night-and-day difference, all because Matt gave me a chance to grow through all the games.”

Identical twins Chris and Stefan Caray spent last summer broadcasting in the prestigious Cape Cod League and are beginning their professional baseball careers this summer with the Class AA Amarillo Sod Poodles in Texas.

They are hoping to follow in a family broadcasting tree that includes his father Chip, the television broadcaster of the defending World Series champion Atlanta Braves; late grandfather Skip, another legendary Braves’ voice; and late great-grandfather Harry Caray, a Hall of Fame broadcaster with the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs.

Jackson also spent last summer honing his broadcasting skills in the Cape Code League, following future major leaguers, and has had several opportunities as a sports and news anchor along with being a studio host for pregame and postgame shows.

Mahony remarks, “I made sure to connect these guys every week with our programs, players and coaches. Those relationships paid off in telling those special stories behind the statistics, box scores and player profiles that makes our broadcasts more organic and authentic. It also creates a much deeper connection to the fans.”

In his three seasons Jackson has grown the most and is able to work with anybody on staff. He has called postseason games for the softball and baseball programs. Fans will have the opportunity to hear Jackson call postseason games this season as the Grizzlies host the Continental Athletic Conference softball and baseball tournaments from May 5-9. 

So, when you see or hear Sadighian, Chris and Stefan Caray, and Jackson on national and regional broadcasts in the future, know that the Grizzly Digital Network and GGC Athletics played a role in that success – just like the Grizzlies that they have covered.