In his more than two decades as a sportscaster and news anchor, Mathai has become a fixture in Bay Area living rooms.
When Raj Mathai was 7 years old, having recently arrived in the U.S. from his family’s native India, he turned on the television and saw something that would change his life.
In his more than two decades as a sportscaster and news anchor, Mathai has become a fixture in Bay Area living rooms, but also a regular at places like Rossotti’s — a spacious, tree-lined beer garden tucked off Alpine Road — since 1987. It was the first stop on his bachelor party in 2002. As we exited, a table of presumably regulars glanced up and said, “Hey, Raj.”
His path to sportscaster is lined with good luck and spontaneous thinking. While a freshman at San Diego State University, where he studied journalism, Mathai said he rode his bike down a giant hill from his dorm to the Chargers stadium — “No appointment, no nothing.” The secretary asked if he had an appointment. He did not. But the Big Man in the back office overheard the conversation and ushered Mathai inside.
After recording a demo reel and sending it to 42 stations around the country, Mathai waited. Eventually, the stations got back to him — all rejections.But then a friend happened to be interviewing with a station in Yuma, Arizona, and, during the interview, the manager revealed their “sports guy” had backed out at the last second. Did he know anyone?
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