Marchand Sports Media The inspiring story of how Jason Benetti became elite
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In the 41-minute sports media podcast, Fox Sports and Detroit Tigers’ play-by-player Jason Benetti joins “The Main Event with Andrew Marchand.” Benetti, 41, is asked how he ascended to become one of the best broadcasters in the business and his life with cerebral palsy. Here’s what you need to know:
* How the Bulls, White Sox, Nintendo, DirecTV and a high school radio station shaped him
* The crazy story of how he almost didn't get into Syracuse
* How he went camping once and almost missed his ESPN big break
* The life changing job of being hired to call his hometown White Sox
* Why Ian Eagle has been an inspiration for him
* Why he left his childhood dream job with the White Sox for the Tigers
* How he moved from ESPN to Fox in 2022 and how NBC was in play
* His admiration for Fox Sports' Brad Zager and NBC's Sam Flood
* What it meant to him as someone with cerebral palsy to be named the lead voice of NBC/Peacock's MLB package
* How a TV executive told him to focus on radio, which he felt was directly related to how he looked
* How he was born prematurely, which led to growing up in rehabilitation
* His parents influence on him
* How middle school was a difficult place for someone with cerebral palsy
* How his middle school shop teacher/basketball coach, Bill Menig, made him an assistant coach, not a manager, and how that was so impactful
* His inspiring advice for kids with a disability
* His total admiration for Bill Walton
* Bill Walton licking his Grateful Dead tie
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