What started off as just a typical phone call between two teenage boys discussing sports has now made its way to the audio streaming app Spotify for the world to hear. North Atlanta senior Cooper Burke and Matthew Keller, who is Burke’s best friend from his hometown of Columbia, South Carolina, are both avid sports fans. 

Now, the pair are letting their enthusiasm for sports drive their production of a brand new podcast called “Cageside with Matt and Coop.” The show debuted on December 18, 2020, just as the pandemic began to take a turn for the worse. “After watching one of our favorite sports like professional football or MMA we would call each other to discuss our predictions for the next sporting event,” said Burke.

Burke – whose favorite football team is the Georgia Bulldogs – hasn’t missed a single game of his beloved football team since Bulldog running back legend Todd Gurley was a freshman. New episodes of the podcast are typically released every week with the boys being high achievers in their academics and extracurriculars. When he is not spending time completing homework and studying for exams, Burke likes to direct his focus to the golf course, specifically the Bobby Jones Golf Course on Northside Drive. “During the summer Matt was studying abroad in France and I was away at camp so we kind of feel off with production,” Burke said. “Now that we are back in school things are still a little crazy but we are hoping to get back on track and release weekly content.”

For the podcast to be as organized and as entertaining as it is, one might think that there is a lot of preparation and planning that takes place. In reality, Burke and Keller simply log on to Zoom, record their conversation, and upload their session to Spotify via the podcast creator app Anchor. “Uploading our episodes takes all of 10 minutes,” Burke said. “ We are grateful to have this be such an easy and fun thing and have the ability to express our opinions in a non-judgmental environment.” 

As a fellow listener of the “Cageside with Matt and Coop” podcast, this reporter can definitely say it’s a favorite for listening (next to the reporter’s own music, of course). All those interested in sports, or looking to support a fellow North Atlanta student, should tune in for the next episode. For sports fanatics of North Atlanta, it’s must-listen content.