2009 Legacy Imductee
Al Ciraldo
Al Ciraldo was born on September 2, 1921 in Akron, Ohio, one of three sons of Italian immigrant Alfredo Ciraldo and Rose Detola Ciraldo. As a boy, Al became a sports whiz kid, not as a participant but as a student of sports trivia. At the age of 15, because of his knowledge of the game of baseball, he became a play by play announcer for the Akron Yankees on WJW and was bitten by the radio bug. After graduating from high school, Ciraldo served his country during World War II. After his service in the Army, he returned to Akron, and soon enrolled at the University of Florida. In 1949, he moved to Atlanta to do play by play of the UGA basketball games on WGBE. In 1954, he joined the staff of WGST as the voice of Georgia Tech football and basketball. Over 38 seasons, Ciraldo called 416 Tech football games and 1,030 Yellow Jacket basketball games. In 1984, he moved with Georgia Tech to WCNN and continued to do Tech Games until the 1992-1993 season, but, served as host for Tech’s pre game, halftime, and post game shows. Ciraldo is remembered for his colorful expressions like: “Toe meets leather”, “brothers and sister, we’ve got a barnburner” and “Gttttttt”. Al Ciraldo is as much a tradition at Georgia Tech as the Ramblin Wreck and Buzz, the Tech mascot. In 1986, he was inducted into the Georgia Tech Athletics Hall of Fame and his microphone was retired. The Al Ciraldo Fund was established to benefit athletic and non athletic scholarships at Georgia Tech as well as the Carlyle Fraser Heart Center at Emory Crawford Long Hospital.
Photos courtesy of the Ciraldo family
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