THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, SEpTEmbEr 22, 2023 Page 11 The Sports Hub hits home in Saugus K Former Sachem Kevin maggiore makes his mark in the sports radio world with much more to come By Joe McConnell evin Maggiore was not unlike most Saugus youngsters, growing up in a town where sports was and continues to be an integral part of their everyday lives. From that first introduction to sports, Maggiore, who grew up on Birchbrook Avenue, has developed it into a career, where he’s now an associate producer of the top-rated Felger & Mazz radio show on 98.5 The Sports Hub. Maggiore’s media fascination started early. “I’ve wanted to be in the communications/sports media field for as long as I can remember,” he said. “At first, I wanted to be a host on ESPN’s SportsCenter. I used to wake up every day and put on ESPN to watch Sportscenter. I had that goal until 2009 when 98.5 The Sports Hub was launched. At that point, my goals shifted toward radio and sports talk.” But while a young Saugus athlete, Maggiore credits his dad John for his interest in sports. “My dad was primarily my coach growing up,” he said. “He meant a lot to my growth in sports, and my love for the games. But all of my youth sports coaches, including my dad again, always made it fun for me and my teammates to play the games, because they’d always tell us at the end of the day it’s just a game.” Besides baseball, Kevin also played hockey, basketball and soccer in town. His mom is Donna, and Monique and Paige are his two older sisters, and just like his dad they have always supported him in sports and his vision to make his media dreams a reality. “Hockey was my favorite sport growing up,” Kevin said. “I spent much of my time playing defense, but occasionally slid up to play forward. Baseball was my second favorite. I was a second baseman. Basketball and soccer, however, took backseats to the other two sports when I was growing up.” Maggiore only played golf in high school under the direction of legendary Saugus High School coach Jeff Mitchell. “Mitch was a terrific coach, who always showed a desire to help me and my teammates improve on a daily basis,” he said. But while he was a Sachem on the links, he credits the town’s cable access station Kevin Maggiore is shown making a chip shot onto the green when he was a senior on the Saugus High School golf team in 2011. He’s now a sports talk show producer at 98.5 The Sports Hub, just beginning his lifelong goal to work in the media. (Courtesy photo) for giving him the experience he needed to get going in the media. “I got worthwhile experience at Saugus Community Television, which had studios in the old high school,” Kevin said. “I was one of the hosts of ‘The Sports Lounge’ for about a year and a half, which provided me with great on-air experience. I also called a football game for the station, and a couple of hockey games, but none that really stuck out as memorable ones for me.” “I can’t say that I previously pretended to produce or host shows before my cable show, while growing up, but I definitely used to practice goal calls or highlight reel calls when playing mini-hockey or other sports in my basement,” he added. Kevin did listen to talk shows growing up to pick up any of those nuances that those hosts might have had to attract a large following. “When I was young, my dad always had WEEI on in the car. He’d listen to ‘The Big Show’ with Glen Ordway. He’d also listen to Michael Holley, who was the one that I can remember the most,” he said. “I also used to love ‘The Whiner Line,’ which was a segment that [Ordway] had at the end of his show that allowed listeners to call-in and leave their voicemail complaints.” Kevin graduated from SauKevin Maggiore – shown trying to help the umpire make a call at second base when he was on the Saugus National Little League Pirates – is now living his dream as a sports talk show producer at 98.5 The Sports Hub. By the way, the umpire overruled Kevin and called the runner safe. (Courtesy photo) Saugus native Kevin Maggiore is shown working the board as a producer at 98.5 The Sports Hub. (Courtesy photo) gus High in 2012, five years after media superstar Jared Carrabis left the Pierce Memorial Drive campus. But Kevin’s career path was well-established long before he met up with his Saugus neighbor. “I wouldn’t say [Jared] was an influence as to why I got into this career since I had already known what I wanted to do before I knew who he was,” said Kevin. “But now knowing his path and how hard he worked to get where he is was definitely an influence on me. His hard work showed me how hard I had to work in order to make it where I wanted to be.” After high school, Maggiore went on to Endicott College, where he majored in communications. “It didn’t have a broadcast-specific major during my time there, but its internship program was huge for me,” he said. “My first internship was spent in Lynn with Saugus native Kevin Maggiore adds his thoughts on a debated subject with a couple of the 98.5 The Sports Hub on-air personalities during the Felger & Mazz radio show recently, while also working as the show’s associate producer. (Courtesy photo) the North Shore Navigators in 2013. I went back to work for them the following summer, as well. During my time with the Navigators, I was able to do play-by-play for about a dozen games. That was big for me to be able to get on-air experience calling baseball games.” “My final internship during my time at Endicott was with NESN on its Boston Bruins production team,” added the former Sachem. “During my time at NESN, I learned so much about what goes into the production of a Boston Bruins game broadcast. From camera setup to in-depth stats to broadcast prep, I was able to learn so much during my time there.” Kevin has countless professionals in the business to thank, who have helped him get to this point in his career. But there’s only one person who he credits for teaching him so much about the broadcast and voiceover world. “If I had to single out any professional in the business that gave me good advice, it would be John Melley, who works in production at Mix 104.1. I consider John my mentor in radio. I began taking voiceover training with John in 2013, and he’s given me so much advice about the radio world that I feel like he has helped me carve out the role that I currently have in it today,” a grateful Maggiore said. Kevin envisions staying in audio production in some capacity, but where that leads him, he’s not sure at this time. Whether it’s still in radio or the audio production field in general, this Saugonian has already succeeded in the market he grew up in, producing shows for those personalities he had regularly listened to over the years.
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