Today, we here at Capitals Outsider wish one of the best play by play announcers in all of sports a very happy 46th birthday, our very own Joe Beninati! Joe was born and raised in Long Island, New York (like yours truly). In high school, he played the one sport that just about every guy plays growing up here: Lacrosse. He attended Bowdoin College where he still holds the school record for saves in a season for a lacrosse goaltender. He got started in broadcasting when he was injured playing hockey in college and some of his friends in college convinced him to go on the college radio station and start talking sports. After college, he was hired to broadcast some American Hockey League games and in 1994 he was hired to be the Caps play-by-play announcer, where he formed his partnership with Craig Laughlin. They have become one of the NHL’s most elite broadcasting duos.
I first got to know Joe’s announcing by watching ESPN’s coverage of lacrosse games and Versus’ hockey games when I was younger and I instantaneously fell in love with the way he called games. He kept me glued to the television and made following the game easier and brought the excitement right to my living room. Nowadays, whenever the Capitals play on TV, I always pray that it’s the Capitals feed of the game so I get to hear his call of the game (and get slightly disappointed when I find out that it’s not.)
Joe’s Wikipedia page once stated that “his voice makes women melt and men worship him,” and that couldn’t be any closer to the truth.
So from us here at Capitals Outsider, Happy Birthday Joe!
