By Hannah Moore
As a kid, Justin Allegri and his brother played sports video games such as Ken Griffey Jr. Baseball for Nintendo 64 and called the games for fun. Little did the young Santa Cruz native know at the time, broadcasting real sports games would become his future career.
“We would joke around and try to call the games ourselves,” Allegri said. “(It was) nothing serious and I never thought I would be a broadcaster. But looking back at that now … I never thought even being a voice on a game was an option.”
The 29-year-old has since been the voice during many games: Allegri broadcasts football, baseball and basketball for San Jose State and part-time for the San Jose Giants. His voice is also featured on Playstation’s MLB the show.
For Allegri, it was love at first broadcast.
“As soon as I got on the air, I loved it,” he said. “I can’t get enough of the job. It’s addicting, being on air. At least for me. I think you have to love every part of the job because it can be grueling at times. The travel is a lot. There’s ups and downs with the long season. But if you don’t love every moment of it, it’s going to show on air.”
Allegri’s first broadcast was for a SJSU baseball game back in 2007, when he was a student at the school. He received both his Bachelors in Radio, TV and Film and his Masters in Journalism from SJSU.
“Calling games now for my alma mater, it sometimes is hard to not be a fan,” Allegri said. “You want to be a little impartial and as even-keeled as possible, but at the same time, me rooting for my team comes out every once in awhile.”
His broadcasting voice is the same as his speaking voice — enthusiastic and clear.
The only on-air flub that Allegri recalls having was during his seventh or eighth game which he forgot a student-athlete’s name. Allegri was still a student at the time himself.
“I had this student-athlete on a post-game show and I had no idea who the kid was,” Allegri said. “I was just completely embarrassed … when you’re a young broadcaster, if you do the smallest thing, it seems like the end of the world. It’s this blown-out thing. And you’re always your worst critic. So I thought that was the end of my broadcasting career. But it ended up being fine.”
SJSU football Color Commentator and broadcast partner Kevin Richardson described his partner as a pro.
“He knows the technical side and the broadcasting side,” Richardson said. “He’s a trustworthy guy. If he says he’s going to do something, he does it, and that’s unique in the broadcasting world.”
Allegri said that his best childhood memories involve Santa Cruz, baseball and family. He grew up about three blocks away from the beach. He said that he still plays softball during the summers with his brother and dad.
“Growing up in Santa Cruz was pretty easy and laid back,” he said. “My family is really close. A lot of my fun childhood memories were with family vacations, family get-togethers, loud and obnoxious Italian dinners.”
Aside from family, Allegri said that his biggest childhood heroes were Giants players such as Barry Bonds, Jeff Kent and Matt Williams.
“The heroes when I was eight or nine years old were all Giants players,” Allegri said. “Those were the guys that I looked up to when I was growing up because baseball was life. When you’re a little kid, if you love something, you stick with it. And when I was a kid, it was baseball.”
After graduating high school and having played baseball throughout high school, Allegri said that he came to a crossroads of whether he would keep playing sports or focus on studying. He decided to focus on studying.
“I knew I wasn’t good enough to play division one ball,” he said. “I wanted to stay in sports, I liked sports, (but) didn’t know what I wanted to do. So I went to junior college and got into journalism, liked it and kind of decided that, hey, maybe I can try this whole sportscasting thing and see how it goes.”
Kirby St. John, MLB game designer and script writer, worked with Allegri on the game and has been friends with him since before that.
“He’s really willing to do whatever it takes to make sure the product comes out well,” St. John said. “He’s a great friend, really caring and he’s the same way with his family. He’s good about keeping up with people. He’s a hard worker and passionate about what he does. He pursues his passions.”
As for future goals, Allegri said he hopes to work with a professional organization at some level. He also got engaged almost four weeks ago to his fiancee, who he met at SJSU in 2008.
“My goal is to try and take a step every year,” Allegri said. “Whether it be at San Jose State, whether it be with PlayStation, whether it be another job or getting a job broadcasting TV games … I don’t limit myself to say it has to be a baseball team, it has to be a football team. I just want to make a move and be the best broadcaster that I can and keep improving.”
