Columnist Roger Grossman recalls ‘A life-changing day’

Roger Grossman
News Now Warsaw

Sunday was a day I won’t ever forget.

Being in a room full of people is normal for me. Sometimes that’s in a gym. It happens every Sunday at church.

But this … this was very different.

This gathering was, in part, to honor me!

Imagine a huge room inside the clubhouse of a golf course. One whole wall made of windows that overlooks the first tee and the ninth green.

The course is immaculate, and it’s busy on this summer-like Sunday afternoon.

In this room are people of all ages. Some of those in attendance are members of the Indiana Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.

Some have already been inducted into their hall of fame.

Some were there to be inducted, and some are family members and friends of those to be honored.

Ten people were honored in total. Four of them received the ISSA’s annual awards. Those awards are named after famous members of the Indiana sports media.

Among the winners of those awards was Rob Blackman, the play-by-play voice of Purdue basketball and the pregame and postgame host of Purdue football on the radio.

I admit to being completely intimidated by the people in attendance.

Let me perfectly clear — there was absolutely no reason for me to feel that way. From the people who checked my wife and me in to the people sitting around us, we couldn’t have been treated any better than we were.

But one of my greatest flaws — or at least one of my most self-annoying qualities — is that I default to being intimidated by people.

The meal was delicious, and the staff at Valle Vista Golf Club and Conference Center couldn’t have been nicer.

After the meal, it was time for the awards, starting with the annual awards.

Then it was time for the ceremony.

They were going in alphabetical order, so I knew I was second. Knowing that was important because I might have been a little nervous in the moment. If you figure out when your turn is going to be, it takes some of the edge off.

Right before me was my good friend and colleague, Anthony Anderson.

One of the best parts of this experience was sharing it with Anthony. He and I have known each other for a long time, and we have leaned on each other for scouting reports and nuggets about upcoming games we were covering.

Then the person introducing those being honored started to read my biography.

I walked up on the stage and got my picture taken with my trophy and ISSA President Greg Rakestraw, whose name and voice you might recognize from hosting the Colts postgame show and the IHSAA pairings shows that we air on News Now Warsaw.

Then I delivered my speech.

My remarks are all over the internet and social media, so if you’d like to hear what I had to say, please take a minute to find the video and listen.

I would, however, like to share the main theme of my six minutes on stage—gratitude.

I am thankful for my radio station family, who came through big time in honoring me over the last three weeks. They threw me a wonderful open house at the station two weeks ago and were well represented at the ceremony on Sunday.

I am thankful that my wife could be there. She’s been my biggest supporter despite knowing that I was never going to make much money, my side of the bed would always be vacant in the morning, and I would be gone on cold winter weekends.

And, above all, I thank the Lord for making it all happen.

I pointed out to those who were listening that too many things had to fall perfectly into place for my broadcasting career to turn out the way it has.

It was “too many coincidences to be a coincidence.”

Monday morning, the alarm went off at 4 a.m., like always.

But I must be completely honest with you, I felt different.

Even as I walked into that room Sunday afternoon, there was a part of me that felt like it wasn’t real.

It was never my goal to be a “hall of fame broadcaster,” but I am that now.

Does it make me a different person? Absolutely not. I am still me, and I don’t ever want that to be different.

But someday someone is going to ask, “Who was Roger Grossman?” Hopefully, the person answering will start their response with something like “he was a really nice, Christian guy,” and shortly after that, the conversation will shift to what happened on Sunday in that big room in Greenwood, when the son of a tractor mechanic and a stay-at-home mom experienced the life-changing moment of becoming a hall of fame broadcaster.