You know them, 17s. You've heard their voices rise when an Atlanta United player scores a game-winning goal, whether at Mercedes-Benz Stadium or on the road. Their broadcast calls have coined catchy phrases to describe the club's best plays on the pitch.
Play-by-play announcer Mike Conti and analyst Jason Longshore have long been part of narrating Atlanta United's most memorable moments. This week, their peers in Atlanta media awarded them back. The voices of Atlanta United soccer on 92.9 The Game were selected to receive the GABBY Award for best sports play-by-play for large market radio.
"It's really a tribute to the whole taem effort," Conti said. "It's not just Jason and I. It's our producers, our engineers, our pregame and postgame hosts, my bosses at 92.9 The Game, our bosses here with the club who give us the ability to do this. I'm proud to say it's a team award. Jason and I, our names are on the plaque, but this is really a group effort, and I'm very proud for everyone involved."
"It's crazy because there's so many great broadcasts in the state of Georgia, and to be in that level, I would've never guessed that would have happened," Longshore said. "You're talking about legacy types of properties like Georgia football and the Braves, the Hawks and the Falcons. For the local soccer team to be on that kind of level with radio broadcasts, it's beyond anything I could have ever imagined."
The honors from the Georgia Association of Broadcasters focused on content produced during the 2023 calendar year, and they won based on the submission of the match between Atlanta United and San Jose Earthquakes on February 25, 2023. During that match former Atlanta United midfielder Thiago Almada scored a brace in second-half stoppage time, including a goal on a direct free kick, that led Atlanta United to a come-from-behind victory.
It was one of the most memorable performances during Almada's career in Atlanta and blew the roof off at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The broadcast call on Almada's second goal was particularly noteworthy. The direct free kick scored with seconds ticking down left Conti "speechless" and Longshore cackling in the background from the sheer spectacle of Almada's strike.
Conti and Longshore have won the same award twice before. They most recently were selected in 2022. But this one holds special meaning. This time around signifies the last they worked with Miller Pope, who passed away earlier this year.
As their sound engineer, Pope worked closely with the two voices. Conti credited Pope with bringing balance when their voices grew loud in big moments like the call in the San Jose match. He said Pope's imprints were on their winning submission.
"To have it in our last full season with Miller is really meaningful," Longshore said. "That was the first thing I thought of... I'm not what I am without him being our engineer from day one. He gave me confidence. He made me feel like I'd been doing this for a lot longer than I had, and anything that we've accomplished is because of his support in getting us to that point."
While the moment called for reflection, it also was a moment of appreciation. Atlanta United's video and broadcast production director Matt Moore along with video project manager Holly Vera arranged a small congratulatory celebration for Conti and Longshore prior to kickoff between Atlanta United and Nashville SC on September 14. In the press box, the two broadcasters were greeted with cheers from local media and club staff along with a decadent strawberry cake.
"All we're doing, really, is telling the story of the club. That's really all we're doing," Conti said. "We've just been very, very lucky to be able to tell their story, and fortunately, the story has been compelling enough that the judges thought it was worth awarding."
