Traveling with Atlanta United for Fox Sports broadcasts has become second nature considering the immense number of away games the team has taken on this season, but the trip to Vancouver was a bit different than the rest.
Not only our first chartered flight, but our first trip actually traveling all together as Atlanta United and Fox Sports South, I was able to make my final road journey alongside one of my co-hosts Kevin Egan for his last match stepping in as the play-by-play commentator. The team sat in the front of the plane without distraction while the rest of us sat in the back conversing and working diligently to prepare for the matchweek.
Landing in British Columbia rewarded us with a three-hour rewind in time difference and plenty of time to explore, but the main focus for me on this trip was to spend as much time with Kevin as possible. For those of you who don’t know, Kevin and I worked together briefly at BEIN Sports before I left and having the opportunity to work with him again covering Atlanta United has been wonderful. We wanted to enjoy our final journey as a broadcast team and truly take in the extra 24 hours we were given in Vancouver, so we hit a local spot for dinner and watched Game 1 of the NBA Finals -- then Friday was all about preparation.
We joined the team for a training session nearby in the morning where we caught up with our third colleague, Dan Gargan. For me, Atlanta United’s training sessions are often part of daily routine, but for Kevin and Dan, it was the first time the three of us were together watching the guys prepare for game day. After training we all went our separate ways to start preparing for our broadcast on Saturday. I sat with my producer Casey for a few hours to go over the show and chat with the guys on topics ahead of the match. Once we are done collaborating, its every man for himself until our pre-match show -- Atlanta United Live! We all have very different ways of preparing for the match which allows us focus on our individual roles -- on match day it all simply comes together.
We made our way to BC Place Saturday morning to get set for Atlanta United’s match against Vancouver Whitecaps. After voicing sound and writing notes, the three of us headed down to the field to get set for Atlanta United Live and to our pleasant surprise, a group of Atlanta supporters were in the stands! There is truly no better feeling than to be thousands of miles from home and look up to see familiar faces in the crowd. Naturally, I pulled out the selfie stick, captured the moment and thanked our fans for not only being so loyal to Atlanta United but for making such a lengthy trip just to watch their club play and cheer them on the red, black and gold.
Our final broadcast as a trio in my mind couldn’t have been better. While the result for our team wasn’t what we hoped for, Greg Garza notched his first goal for the Five Stripes and what a beauty it was. While we say farewell to Kevin Egan, we get set to welcome Alan Green to our Fox Sports team for our next match at Bobby Dodd Stadium on June 17th against Columbus Crew.
