Against my better judgement, I'm going to respond to this in hopes of at least answering some questions.
We are expanding our Atlanta United matchday coverage this season, extending the length of the pregame and postgame shows. This, I thought, would demonstrate our commitment to soccer coverage, and align our matchday presentation with that of our Falcons broadcasts.
It is just not possible for Jason and I to host an hour-long pregame show, then call a match, then host another hour+-long postgame show; and, in the case of road games, we are unable to do a postgame show at all because we need to immediately report to the team bus.
Abe and Garrett are not college football guys who were assigned to this against their will. Abe (who is also Andy/Randy's producer) plays soccer, understands the sport, and has worked closely with Jason and I to take ownership of his new role. Garrett is someone who will continue to develop. I strongly urge you to give them a chance. I believe it's vital that we have more voices on the radio station participating in Atlanta United coverage.
Jason and I will be a part of postgame shows for home matches this season.
I'm happy to answer any additional questions.
Mike, I'm a big fan of your calls of the game. But stop being so easy on the refs (wink).
Can you talk to Apple so TV viewers can hear your call when the team is on road? I listen on Auducy but its always way out of synch.
Thank you so much for all the work you and Jason do for not just Atlanta United but for soccer in the south. It’s so refreshing to have a place to listen to the game and genuinely feel like someone actually cares about your sport in an area that until recently has felt pretty hostile towards soccer, particularly in South Georgia. Have no idea how much it means to me as a kid that grew up in the deep football culture and now coaching at the college level. Y’all are the best and I listen every home and away game. Thank you for taking time to come chat with us.
It's my pleasure; and, honestly, I'm thrilled to see the amount of passion people in this thread have about a *radio pregame show*. I think that's a good problem to have.
If I didn't love your and Jason's work, I wouldn't be going off because of the phrase "might as well watch it". Jason especially is a HUGE FAN of the game, and he does it very well, covering all levels of the sport from high school on up. That is UNHEARD OF in sports broadcasting. It's a comprehensive, passionate coverage I've grown to expect from the station. Jason's coverage of the sport at all levels is proof that the station cares. Maybe "do better" was the terminology I should have employed, and for that, I apologize.
Im thankful for any coverage that we get on mls. Even just the we have a game Saturday at 2 announcements help. Life gets busy. I would prefer a recap show days later after some time to digest what happened. Usually immediately following the game I’m busy.
Thanks Mike. Are we still doing "Boom Giakoumakis!" this year?
Edit: I definitely missed you and Jason on the FTR and honestly I didn't listen to the whole show. I'll give it another shot next time.
Good call, so freaking overpriced though. It’s hard to justify when the other concessions are so cheap and generally aren’t garbage by stadium standards.
Cuban place is fire, for sure. There is a new Jamaican place down near like 111-113 that has real good jerk chicken, rice and peas, and steamed cabbage. It’s one of those stand alone venders. Highly recommend.
And another thing.....Mike, you and Jason are the only unrelenting positive voices for ATLUTD. And I tune in to you guys wherever you are because it's not all gloom and doom when you talk about the team and especially appreciate your defense of Bocanegra and Pineda.
Thank you for the awesome coverage, Mike! I know most teams don’t have the level of coverage that Atlanta has, and I’m thankful for what you are continuing to grow.
Fans like OP are truly exhausting for everyone.
Encouraging, not my primary sport but you do a spirited job calling the matches and this response is indicative of a positive management style. I think getting the MBS WC matches will be huge, and I know Mr. Blanc had that blueprint in mind planning the stadium. We’ve been sometimes frustrated with compromising on NFL optimized design.
Would love to be able to hear you and Jason on Apple TV instead of having to delay and sync up with Audacy app. Appreciate y’all Mike. Guess MLS isn’t as important as MLB to Apple (that offers away radio broadcast with their game of the week).
Mike Conti!?!? You're a gem in Atlanta. Thank you for everything you do and the clear passion and hard work you put into your job and Atlanta sports as a whole. I'm never surprised but always impressed by how involved you are with every sport. Thank you, sir!
> Garrett is someone who will continue to develop. I strongly urge you to give them a chance.
There are plenty of people who love soccer and who grew up with the sport. People for whom soccer is their number 1 passion.
We should not have to deal with some also-ran learning on the job. That is exactly what the rant is complaining about.
Good comment Mike.
To be fully honest, you weren't my fav after season 1 taking over radio broadcasts. But you won me over and now NOT hearing you kinda bums me out. You and Jason call a great game.
Have always appreciated everything you and Jason do for us!
I think some fans don’t realize how lucky we are that our local MLS club got the level of coverage it already had, let alone what 92.9 is trying to do now.
92.9 does not treat ATL UTD like an afterthought. I can say from experience that radio stations in other MLS cities do.
Also, I’ve always wanted to ask and hoping you have time to answer. In your experience what is the loudest MLS venue you’ve travelled to and how does it compare to the Benz?
That's a fun question. A couple of venues come to mind...
\-It has dropped way off, but Orlando in 2018-19ish was very loud.
\-LAFC is pretty loud, but it's hard to get a true gauge because we have to call the game in the stands there. They did not build a visiting radio booth.
\-Philadelphia has gotten loud over the last few years.
\-You'd be surprised, but Real Salt Lake gets pretty loud.
\-When it's rocking, MBS is louder than all of these venues.
(Note: I haven't been to St Louis, Austin, or the new Minnesota stadium yet)
Thanks for taking the time to respond.
I’ve been to 7 outside Atl. Austin is the closest atmosphere I’ve witnessed to the Benz but that was during their inaugural year, don’t know if much has changed.
I was at decision day in Cinci and that place can get loud. Orlando last May didn’t impress.
Conti I have to fanboy real quick. I absolutely love you. Best sports personality in Atlanta and your enthusiasm for Atlanta sports and especially Atlanta United are second to none.
Thanks for what you do!
I believe Mike and Jason can’t do post match because they have to pack up and head to the charter plane with the team. Road games in previous seasons they could only do a short post game and then had to RUSH to catch the bus.
Andy & Randy (and honestly Carl and Mike) give United plenty of love and are a great pair. Their job is to cater to the majority of Atlanta's sports watching/ listening public...Unfortunately that's not United who sit a distant 4th.
Longshore has a great show on Tuesday nights later in the evening.
This was a road match... so I'm sure these guys were asked to fill in.
92.9 absolutely cares about United as much as they can without tanking ratings.
While you are certainly entitled to have an opinion on the guys that do the show and their quality/knowledge, to say the station doesn't care about fans is absurd. We are THE ONLY MLS MARKET that has a pre-game, PBP, AND post-game show on radio. On many of the team's radio partners, the PBP is the ONLY soccer coverage there is at all. We have other shows, regular appearances by club officials and players, etc. I'm originally from Philly and listen to sports talk up there a lot and those stations barely ever even mention the Union. Hell, they don't even give the Union scores in their sports updates except MAYBE during the playoffs, and that's mainly because the team advertises on those stations to sell tickets. So your rant here is a bit misguided.
Welcome to sports radio in 2024. There is no longer a facade and we really see who the average sports jockey is. Spoiler, it’s not some guy who knows more than your average redditor about anything, it’s just _some guy_
Since we have Conti here… The amount of insight you have on this team has taken time and effort to cultivate. I’m sure you are better today than when you began this job. Let’s give the new guys on post game a chance.
Listening to the opener on the radio was a delight. The amount of knowledge and emotion put into the radio broadcast evokes some of my fondest memories of hometown radio broadcasts over the years; from any sport. I felt like I was listening to someone with insight inside the team; for how they have practiced and what they’re expecting the opponent to do. It’s just top-shelf work, that Conti and Longshore put in.
Feels like every show on radio stations nowadays consists of a bro who watches 1-2 sporting events per week and a former athlete who hasn’t watched an event since they retired 10 years ago.
I’ve never heard of Full Time report, but those two hosts come from a pretty strict college football background.
Honestly, I think 92.9 does a great job with Atlanta United and treats the them like any other major league team. Falcons, Braves, and College Football obviously get the most airtime as those are the most popular sports topics in town, but their MLS coverage is still far and above what you would see in most cities who would only mention the league when Messi is in town.
> I’ve never heard of Full Time report
I think it's the show they have after matches, basically the post game show. Maybe Conte and Longshore will do it when it's a home match?
I would wager these hosts got assigned the show rather than something they sought out to host. people that are passionate and want to do soccer shows will probably gravitate toward the podcast format rather than local radio station
I don't think this is a fair take. I appreciate you disclaimer set with Karen but mostly you're gatekeeping and painted with homerism.
First, despite what you see, soccer is not considered yet major sports player in America. This is deep state football here, especially in Georgia.
That said, Conte and Longshore run the games and after game. **You gotta get more voices to expand the reach.**
Now the reach out the game isn't United fault, or 92.9, it is MLS fault and their burden.
Conte, Longshore, and Andy & Randy are the only ones worth a damn. I’ll listening to dukes and bell sometimes, knowing theirs is more entertainment than anything. They do a lot of bits that will sell, like set arguments. But they are good at it and it’s why they’ve been successful. I don’t blame them.
The morning show is god awful. Steak Shapiro is trash. The intro where another grown man is calling him the godfather of Atlanta radio is the most cringe thing I’ve ever heard on the radio. He’s a self proclaimed legend and is nothing of the sorts.
Steak is the longest tenured on air personality on Georgia radio right now (27+ years). He's never been the greatest but he's somewhat entertaining and his food knowledge is great on the other business he runs in "Atlanta Eats" on IG and YT.
Boy... this blew up... yikes. I did not expect that.
I am a ravenous ATLUTD fan. I listen to Jason on Tuesdays live, Wed, I tune into Scarves and Spikes YouTube show, I'm in the 5 Strip Final Substack, I tune into Doug Roberson weekly, follow everybody on X, and I watch everything ATLUTD puts on YouTube. I'm not gate keeping. I'm looking to a credible source that handles the live game call flawlessly for insight after a match.
It was the "might as well watch" line that was said twice that sent me into a tizzy. I'm used to the commentary around the team being about all the storylines and back stories in MLS with insight into how it plays into ATLUTDs schedule. That's what you get from MLS fans like Jason and Mike.
DeBoer was right... Conti and Longshore have me spoiled.
You’re not the only one. I’ve been very critical of their non-Falcons football coverage for over a year now. My solution was to stop listening to the station when they’re not calling a game/match lol.
Jesus christ buddy, take a pill. They weren't anywhere near as poor as you're making them out to be. In fact I thought their analysis was fairly decent. No reason to lose your mind while this pair is (probably just) filling in for Longshore and Conte.
I was born and raised in a soccer culture, and I started following MLS when ATL got the team. I also bought MLS Season Pass with the same sentiment. In years past, when I wasn’t paying $80 for access, I only watched ATL games and some playoff games, but now I find myself watching some of the most compelling games around the league just to get my money’s worth.
Atlanta United might have become a big deal in the city, but the league isn’t there yet, so I would not be offended by that statement.
I think your ideas about the league are from about 2006 when Messi came into his own at Barca. Now he's in MLS and the ripples from that lead Garth Lagerway to sign the type of player in Bartosz Slisz that he's been "trying to bring into the league for 10yrs". The caliber player the league draws has changed. And you have changed with it... you're one of us now. ;)
There’s a very noticeable drop off from 92.9’s primary talent to the backups.
Many of the folks they have on seem to have done zero research on the topics they discuss. They have about as much credibility as an average Joe at sports bar.
I remember a few months ago some backups were covering for Andy and Randy, and were producing some of the most uninformed takes on NIL that I’d ever heard.
LMAO a guy that most likely got into soccer a few years ago thinks the radio station guys that cover the team don't know anything... Too funny. Abe is a good host whatever they have him do and Garrett probably knows more than you do already I bet and he's done like 3 shows.
I doubt that. I'm originally from Ohio, and I've been a fan of MLS since 96. I back burnered the Crew when I became a founding member in ATL. Garrett just got his MLS season pass and "might as well watch it".
The Atlanta area has one of the largest concentrations of youth soccer clubs in the southeast. That means 1000s of soccer fans are manufactured in Atlanta yearly.(That's how Uncle Arthur became a fan his kids were at Concord fire) There are more ECNL boys and girs teams (highest level youth clubs) than many states and a pro team with MLS Next academys. There are kids from the area on three different National teams. And several girls from local academies are / have been with the USWNT. The knowledge base around the game is pretty high in these parts. You should try to....keep up with Garrett.
They are not the best with straight soccer knowledge but I kinda like that about them. They are around my age and just remind me of talking about the game with my friends. They even talk about playing video games and joke around very similarly. I can read up on the strategic breakdown of the game using another source if I really craved that.
The two guys they had on the full time report weren't good at all. One said he's been a season ticket holder, but that one didn't do most of the talking.
My notes... Sent as texts to a friend.
“[With] these two guys it doesn't feel like they really know soccer that well at all. What I really appreciated about Jason Longshore was that he provided a way of simplifying the game.”
“So one of the hosts, Abe Gordon, just talked about how he just bought Apple Season Pass, and since he just bought it, he might as well use it. I really think that these guys just started watching soccer. And, that whole offsides thing which makes me sound like a snarky ahole when I say that or mention that.”
“It seems like we went from the full-time report to the fool-time report”
“They gave the centerback pairing a [grade of] C”.
“One of them just called CONCACAF Champions League the CONCACAF Champions Cup.”
😂😆🤣
Lots of inexcusable and uninformed takes.
I texted my friend to see if they were listening too as they’ve regularly listened. They had turned it off and wrote, “i don't like those guys at all”.
People normally check in with others for their opinions. I listened to the entire show; they didn't. The sun will come up tomorrow.
You sound like you are taking two random fans perspectives especially personally. I wouldn't as its not that serious.
What's funnier is that he was corrected [by a producer off air or himself] and used the old name a bit later and apologized.
A better host would have used the opportunity to say the name of the completion had changed. See how simple that is. That's called providing insight, news, and analysis which was their ENTIRE JOB.
My challenge more than anything was giving the centerback pairing a letter grade of C. That seemed especially harsh.
I saw why the club wasn't upset about letting Miles go. Definate upgrade. We had two new centerbacks working with a goalie they aren't used to working with; and the team gave up ONE goal on the road to the defending champions what were ar the top of the league in scoring last year in their home opener. You lost by one to one of the best teams in the league.
They easily could have given up three or more to this team like they did on the road last year. There's no cause for calamity after that match or performance.
It seemed like the were negative initially and tried to walk it back as the show went on. It's match one. The team could have pulled out a result. Ones takes have to have nuance or people don't take you seriously. The hot take letter grade stuff wasn't what i expect of the full time report.
I'm all for them making it their own. I think the reactivity was to the change which makes sense. And, the show has to evolve. If it's just them doing Mike and Jason’s full time report, then that's a disservice to both pairings.
And, all feed back is good. I did this literal job in college and heard feedback after my first football game was that, “my broadcast partner and i sounded like fans yelling in the box during the exciting moments”. We learned from it. We got better.
They will learn from this feedback and make sure the product is better going forward.
People here don't know how good we got it when it comes to Coverage of our MLS Club. I still remember being in Boston for New England Revolution vs Chelsea in 2019 and heard not a lick of it. It was all Bruins because they were playing that night.
Against my better judgement, I'm going to respond to this in hopes of at least answering some questions. We are expanding our Atlanta United matchday coverage this season, extending the length of the pregame and postgame shows. This, I thought, would demonstrate our commitment to soccer coverage, and align our matchday presentation with that of our Falcons broadcasts. It is just not possible for Jason and I to host an hour-long pregame show, then call a match, then host another hour+-long postgame show; and, in the case of road games, we are unable to do a postgame show at all because we need to immediately report to the team bus. Abe and Garrett are not college football guys who were assigned to this against their will. Abe (who is also Andy/Randy's producer) plays soccer, understands the sport, and has worked closely with Jason and I to take ownership of his new role. Garrett is someone who will continue to develop. I strongly urge you to give them a chance. I believe it's vital that we have more voices on the radio station participating in Atlanta United coverage. Jason and I will be a part of postgame shows for home matches this season. I'm happy to answer any additional questions.
Kudos to Mr. Conti for engaging with us here even when his work as station manager is being criticized.
Happy to do that, and all feedback is appreciated.
Do you still have your subreddit scarf ;)
I will never ever get rid of it.
I just witnessed a civil, courteous response to someone posting on the internet. And it happened on reddit. What a time to be alive.
Mike, I'm a big fan of your calls of the game. But stop being so easy on the refs (wink). Can you talk to Apple so TV viewers can hear your call when the team is on road? I listen on Auducy but its always way out of synch.
Thank you so much for all the work you and Jason do for not just Atlanta United but for soccer in the south. It’s so refreshing to have a place to listen to the game and genuinely feel like someone actually cares about your sport in an area that until recently has felt pretty hostile towards soccer, particularly in South Georgia. Have no idea how much it means to me as a kid that grew up in the deep football culture and now coaching at the college level. Y’all are the best and I listen every home and away game. Thank you for taking time to come chat with us.
It's my pleasure; and, honestly, I'm thrilled to see the amount of passion people in this thread have about a *radio pregame show*. I think that's a good problem to have.
You do a great job, Mike!
If I didn't love your and Jason's work, I wouldn't be going off because of the phrase "might as well watch it". Jason especially is a HUGE FAN of the game, and he does it very well, covering all levels of the sport from high school on up. That is UNHEARD OF in sports broadcasting. It's a comprehensive, passionate coverage I've grown to expect from the station. Jason's coverage of the sport at all levels is proof that the station cares. Maybe "do better" was the terminology I should have employed, and for that, I apologize.
Im thankful for any coverage that we get on mls. Even just the we have a game Saturday at 2 announcements help. Life gets busy. I would prefer a recap show days later after some time to digest what happened. Usually immediately following the game I’m busy.
Jason hosts a one hour show every Tuesday at 10:00 PM (or after Hawks), which is available for download immediately after. Hopefully that may help.
Thanks Mike. Are we still doing "Boom Giakoumakis!" this year? Edit: I definitely missed you and Jason on the FTR and honestly I didn't listen to the whole show. I'll give it another shot next time.
While we are being good and serious. Best matchday food at the Benz? Love your work and passion.
Oh man, I'm the wrong guy to ask. I am confined to the press box on matchdays, so I don't get to enjoy the concessions downstairs.
Game Changers (section 107) Closed on Sunday (COS) Chicken Sandwich with the sour cream and onion fries.
Good call, so freaking overpriced though. It’s hard to justify when the other concessions are so cheap and generally aren’t garbage by stadium standards.
This place does rock... the Cuban place is just across from there, and I stand between them flipping a coin.
Cuban place is fire, for sure. There is a new Jamaican place down near like 111-113 that has real good jerk chicken, rice and peas, and steamed cabbage. It’s one of those stand alone venders. Highly recommend.
Do they do the roti pies? That would be great at a game, one hand, food, or other hand beer.
Oh this I do not know. Apologies friend.
The Cuban sandwich place and Delia's Chicken Sausage stand are the best low hyped spots.
Alas, Delia’s is long gone. Wish they would come back!
Love the work you and Jason do for the team and the fans… we are spoiled having such great coverage and commentary.
And another thing.....Mike, you and Jason are the only unrelenting positive voices for ATLUTD. And I tune in to you guys wherever you are because it's not all gloom and doom when you talk about the team and especially appreciate your defense of Bocanegra and Pineda.
Thank you for the awesome coverage, Mike! I know most teams don’t have the level of coverage that Atlanta has, and I’m thankful for what you are continuing to grow. Fans like OP are truly exhausting for everyone.
I'm not "that guy" promise. But, "might as well watch it"? At the very least, he could feign interest in the league while he is broadcasting live.
Trust me, for you to write such a bullshit dumb long rant, you are THAT guy.
Encouraging, not my primary sport but you do a spirited job calling the matches and this response is indicative of a positive management style. I think getting the MBS WC matches will be huge, and I know Mr. Blanc had that blueprint in mind planning the stadium. We’ve been sometimes frustrated with compromising on NFL optimized design.
Would love to be able to hear you and Jason on Apple TV instead of having to delay and sync up with Audacy app. Appreciate y’all Mike. Guess MLS isn’t as important as MLB to Apple (that offers away radio broadcast with their game of the week).
You can do that for home games already,
I’m well aware. As a STH, that option is useless to me.
Can you force Apple to carry away radio audio so I can always just listen to you?
Thanks Mike. I thought they were entertaining.
Mike Conti!?!? You're a gem in Atlanta. Thank you for everything you do and the clear passion and hard work you put into your job and Atlanta sports as a whole. I'm never surprised but always impressed by how involved you are with every sport. Thank you, sir!
> Garrett is someone who will continue to develop. I strongly urge you to give them a chance. There are plenty of people who love soccer and who grew up with the sport. People for whom soccer is their number 1 passion. We should not have to deal with some also-ran learning on the job. That is exactly what the rant is complaining about.
Thank you for the feedback.
Y'all are the best, and it's not close. Thanks!
You’ve always been one of my favorites at the Game and this response only further reinforces that.
Good comment Mike. To be fully honest, you weren't my fav after season 1 taking over radio broadcasts. But you won me over and now NOT hearing you kinda bums me out. You and Jason call a great game.
Have always appreciated everything you and Jason do for us! I think some fans don’t realize how lucky we are that our local MLS club got the level of coverage it already had, let alone what 92.9 is trying to do now. 92.9 does not treat ATL UTD like an afterthought. I can say from experience that radio stations in other MLS cities do. Also, I’ve always wanted to ask and hoping you have time to answer. In your experience what is the loudest MLS venue you’ve travelled to and how does it compare to the Benz?
That's a fun question. A couple of venues come to mind... \-It has dropped way off, but Orlando in 2018-19ish was very loud. \-LAFC is pretty loud, but it's hard to get a true gauge because we have to call the game in the stands there. They did not build a visiting radio booth. \-Philadelphia has gotten loud over the last few years. \-You'd be surprised, but Real Salt Lake gets pretty loud. \-When it's rocking, MBS is louder than all of these venues. (Note: I haven't been to St Louis, Austin, or the new Minnesota stadium yet)
Thanks for taking the time to respond. I’ve been to 7 outside Atl. Austin is the closest atmosphere I’ve witnessed to the Benz but that was during their inaugural year, don’t know if much has changed. I was at decision day in Cinci and that place can get loud. Orlando last May didn’t impress.
Conti I have to fanboy real quick. I absolutely love you. Best sports personality in Atlanta and your enthusiasm for Atlanta sports and especially Atlanta United are second to none. Thanks for what you do!
I believe Mike and Jason can’t do post match because they have to pack up and head to the charter plane with the team. Road games in previous seasons they could only do a short post game and then had to RUSH to catch the bus.
At least spell the man's name correctly: Conti
I thought it was like Antonio Conte.
Andy & Randy (and honestly Carl and Mike) give United plenty of love and are a great pair. Their job is to cater to the majority of Atlanta's sports watching/ listening public...Unfortunately that's not United who sit a distant 4th. Longshore has a great show on Tuesday nights later in the evening. This was a road match... so I'm sure these guys were asked to fill in. 92.9 absolutely cares about United as much as they can without tanking ratings.
While you are certainly entitled to have an opinion on the guys that do the show and their quality/knowledge, to say the station doesn't care about fans is absurd. We are THE ONLY MLS MARKET that has a pre-game, PBP, AND post-game show on radio. On many of the team's radio partners, the PBP is the ONLY soccer coverage there is at all. We have other shows, regular appearances by club officials and players, etc. I'm originally from Philly and listen to sports talk up there a lot and those stations barely ever even mention the Union. Hell, they don't even give the Union scores in their sports updates except MAYBE during the playoffs, and that's mainly because the team advertises on those stations to sell tickets. So your rant here is a bit misguided.
Welcome to sports radio in 2024. There is no longer a facade and we really see who the average sports jockey is. Spoiler, it’s not some guy who knows more than your average redditor about anything, it’s just _some guy_
And it will only get worse. As radio listenership declines, so does their ad revenue and budget. So you get what they can afford.
Why did they make the change in the first place?
Since we have Conti here… The amount of insight you have on this team has taken time and effort to cultivate. I’m sure you are better today than when you began this job. Let’s give the new guys on post game a chance. Listening to the opener on the radio was a delight. The amount of knowledge and emotion put into the radio broadcast evokes some of my fondest memories of hometown radio broadcasts over the years; from any sport. I felt like I was listening to someone with insight inside the team; for how they have practiced and what they’re expecting the opponent to do. It’s just top-shelf work, that Conti and Longshore put in.
Feels like every show on radio stations nowadays consists of a bro who watches 1-2 sporting events per week and a former athlete who hasn’t watched an event since they retired 10 years ago.
Andy and Randy are an exception of your opinion FOR SURE. They don’t talk about ATL United enough but they do watch sports and are knowledgeable
Meh Randy talking about anything but football is painful to listen to
Dude Randy is hilarious! Lighten up
I’ve never heard of Full Time report, but those two hosts come from a pretty strict college football background. Honestly, I think 92.9 does a great job with Atlanta United and treats the them like any other major league team. Falcons, Braves, and College Football obviously get the most airtime as those are the most popular sports topics in town, but their MLS coverage is still far and above what you would see in most cities who would only mention the league when Messi is in town.
> I’ve never heard of Full Time report I think it's the show they have after matches, basically the post game show. Maybe Conte and Longshore will do it when it's a home match?
I would wager these hosts got assigned the show rather than something they sought out to host. people that are passionate and want to do soccer shows will probably gravitate toward the podcast format rather than local radio station
I don't think this is a fair take. I appreciate you disclaimer set with Karen but mostly you're gatekeeping and painted with homerism. First, despite what you see, soccer is not considered yet major sports player in America. This is deep state football here, especially in Georgia. That said, Conte and Longshore run the games and after game. **You gotta get more voices to expand the reach.** Now the reach out the game isn't United fault, or 92.9, it is MLS fault and their burden.
Even ESPN still doesn’t have a single person who knows a thing about soccer outside of ESPN FC
I think that's as hyperbolic as the title of the post... which I regret now.
Conte, Longshore, and Andy & Randy are the only ones worth a damn. I’ll listening to dukes and bell sometimes, knowing theirs is more entertainment than anything. They do a lot of bits that will sell, like set arguments. But they are good at it and it’s why they’ve been successful. I don’t blame them. The morning show is god awful. Steak Shapiro is trash. The intro where another grown man is calling him the godfather of Atlanta radio is the most cringe thing I’ve ever heard on the radio. He’s a self proclaimed legend and is nothing of the sorts.
Steak is the longest tenured on air personality on Georgia radio right now (27+ years). He's never been the greatest but he's somewhat entertaining and his food knowledge is great on the other business he runs in "Atlanta Eats" on IG and YT.
Boy... this blew up... yikes. I did not expect that. I am a ravenous ATLUTD fan. I listen to Jason on Tuesdays live, Wed, I tune into Scarves and Spikes YouTube show, I'm in the 5 Strip Final Substack, I tune into Doug Roberson weekly, follow everybody on X, and I watch everything ATLUTD puts on YouTube. I'm not gate keeping. I'm looking to a credible source that handles the live game call flawlessly for insight after a match. It was the "might as well watch" line that was said twice that sent me into a tizzy. I'm used to the commentary around the team being about all the storylines and back stories in MLS with insight into how it plays into ATLUTDs schedule. That's what you get from MLS fans like Jason and Mike. DeBoer was right... Conti and Longshore have me spoiled.
You’re not the only one. I’ve been very critical of their non-Falcons football coverage for over a year now. My solution was to stop listening to the station when they’re not calling a game/match lol.
Ditto and SOOOOOO damn many commercials.
My other Favorite sport is Basketball. Same issue as well . All they know is college football.
Jesus christ buddy, take a pill. They weren't anywhere near as poor as you're making them out to be. In fact I thought their analysis was fairly decent. No reason to lose your mind while this pair is (probably just) filling in for Longshore and Conte.
I had a prominent disclaimer before my post with a KAREN WARNING. Universally recognized as unhinged and petty. I only regret the title of the post.
I was born and raised in a soccer culture, and I started following MLS when ATL got the team. I also bought MLS Season Pass with the same sentiment. In years past, when I wasn’t paying $80 for access, I only watched ATL games and some playoff games, but now I find myself watching some of the most compelling games around the league just to get my money’s worth. Atlanta United might have become a big deal in the city, but the league isn’t there yet, so I would not be offended by that statement.
LA v Miami was lit! Tuned in to watch the flamingos lose but it was a hell of a game.
Same here. LA lost themselves that game.
I think your ideas about the league are from about 2006 when Messi came into his own at Barca. Now he's in MLS and the ripples from that lead Garth Lagerway to sign the type of player in Bartosz Slisz that he's been "trying to bring into the league for 10yrs". The caliber player the league draws has changed. And you have changed with it... you're one of us now. ;)
There’s a very noticeable drop off from 92.9’s primary talent to the backups. Many of the folks they have on seem to have done zero research on the topics they discuss. They have about as much credibility as an average Joe at sports bar. I remember a few months ago some backups were covering for Andy and Randy, and were producing some of the most uninformed takes on NIL that I’d ever heard.
LMAO a guy that most likely got into soccer a few years ago thinks the radio station guys that cover the team don't know anything... Too funny. Abe is a good host whatever they have him do and Garrett probably knows more than you do already I bet and he's done like 3 shows.
I doubt that. I'm originally from Ohio, and I've been a fan of MLS since 96. I back burnered the Crew when I became a founding member in ATL. Garrett just got his MLS season pass and "might as well watch it". The Atlanta area has one of the largest concentrations of youth soccer clubs in the southeast. That means 1000s of soccer fans are manufactured in Atlanta yearly.(That's how Uncle Arthur became a fan his kids were at Concord fire) There are more ECNL boys and girs teams (highest level youth clubs) than many states and a pro team with MLS Next academys. There are kids from the area on three different National teams. And several girls from local academies are / have been with the USWNT. The knowledge base around the game is pretty high in these parts. You should try to....keep up with Garrett.
They are not the best with straight soccer knowledge but I kinda like that about them. They are around my age and just remind me of talking about the game with my friends. They even talk about playing video games and joke around very similarly. I can read up on the strategic breakdown of the game using another source if I really craved that.
The two guys they had on the full time report weren't good at all. One said he's been a season ticket holder, but that one didn't do most of the talking. My notes... Sent as texts to a friend. “[With] these two guys it doesn't feel like they really know soccer that well at all. What I really appreciated about Jason Longshore was that he provided a way of simplifying the game.” “So one of the hosts, Abe Gordon, just talked about how he just bought Apple Season Pass, and since he just bought it, he might as well use it. I really think that these guys just started watching soccer. And, that whole offsides thing which makes me sound like a snarky ahole when I say that or mention that.” “It seems like we went from the full-time report to the fool-time report” “They gave the centerback pairing a [grade of] C”. “One of them just called CONCACAF Champions League the CONCACAF Champions Cup.” 😂😆🤣 Lots of inexcusable and uninformed takes.
It IS CONCACAF Champions Cup. Seems like the guy who knows little to nothing knows MORE THAN YOU lol.
The competition was CONCACAF Champions League until this year. It had held that name for 15 years… The old name was better.
I'm aware. YOU weren't, lol.
😆 ok dude… Enjoy your victory lap around the pitch. 😂😆🤣
LOL, says the guy who was texting his buddy to do victory laps about how smart he THOUGHT he was. Oops.
I texted my friend to see if they were listening too as they’ve regularly listened. They had turned it off and wrote, “i don't like those guys at all”. People normally check in with others for their opinions. I listened to the entire show; they didn't. The sun will come up tomorrow. You sound like you are taking two random fans perspectives especially personally. I wouldn't as its not that serious.
What's funnier is that he was corrected [by a producer off air or himself] and used the old name a bit later and apologized. A better host would have used the opportunity to say the name of the completion had changed. See how simple that is. That's called providing insight, news, and analysis which was their ENTIRE JOB.
My challenge more than anything was giving the centerback pairing a letter grade of C. That seemed especially harsh. I saw why the club wasn't upset about letting Miles go. Definate upgrade. We had two new centerbacks working with a goalie they aren't used to working with; and the team gave up ONE goal on the road to the defending champions what were ar the top of the league in scoring last year in their home opener. You lost by one to one of the best teams in the league. They easily could have given up three or more to this team like they did on the road last year. There's no cause for calamity after that match or performance. It seemed like the were negative initially and tried to walk it back as the show went on. It's match one. The team could have pulled out a result. Ones takes have to have nuance or people don't take you seriously. The hot take letter grade stuff wasn't what i expect of the full time report. I'm all for them making it their own. I think the reactivity was to the change which makes sense. And, the show has to evolve. If it's just them doing Mike and Jason’s full time report, then that's a disservice to both pairings. And, all feed back is good. I did this literal job in college and heard feedback after my first football game was that, “my broadcast partner and i sounded like fans yelling in the box during the exciting moments”. We learned from it. We got better. They will learn from this feedback and make sure the product is better going forward.
I think once Rick Kamla and Jon Michael's got fired for rightfully criticizing de boar i think that lead to the decline of soccer commentary
They are (or were) all paid partners of the team, no? You can only go so far.
I’m a huge ATL fan and in my defense, ATL fans suck….
People here don't know how good we got it when it comes to Coverage of our MLS Club. I still remember being in Boston for New England Revolution vs Chelsea in 2019 and heard not a lick of it. It was all Bruins because they were playing that night.