Roger Grossman
News Now Warsaw
I get a lot of questions from you all during the course of a normal week, and I think some of them are ones that more people want to ask but don’t.
Without using the names of the questioner, because I wouldn’t do that to them, I’d like to share some of the more popular ones with you.
Hey Roger, do you think the NCAA should expand March Madness?
No, they should not.
The only reason anyone would want to expand from 68 to…more than 68…is to have more games, which makes more money for someone.
But it doesn’t solve any real problem that college basketball has.
It won’t make it easier to figure out who should be in the tournament and who shouldn’t. It doesn’t eliminate the bubble; it simply slides the bubble down to a worse set of teams.
Before long, you will have teams with records at-or-under .500 making it in. That would give us the same feel we get when we see the matchups for college football bowl games.
Think of it this way: How deserving is a program at a shot at the national championship when they are the eighth-best team in their own conference?
Hey Rog, do you ever see a day when Indiana goes back to single-class basketball?
Never.
Class sports, beyond more than just basketball, have done exactly what they were designed to do: give more teams from more schools in more towns a chance to celebrate.
By the way, if you want to know the impact of class sports on small schools, drive to Bourbon or North Manchester and ask them if they think their state championships matter.
Did you ever get offers to move to other cities or jobs?
Yes, and I considered them very strongly.
I won’t identify the stations or towns, but a town in Central Indiana offered me a job that would have had me arriving at 4 a.m., writing and recording local news, becoming a salesperson at 9 a.m., and doing local high school games at night.
I didn’t take it because my base pay would have included my sales time and the games I did, and it was about a thousand dollars more than what I was making here at the time. The difference would have been that I would have made money on commissions, but I would have been exhausted.
By staying here, I got married to the woman I was supposed to spend my life with, and you can’t put a value on that.
Roger, I am worried about the Cubs. Should I be?
The quick answer is, “of course you should be. It is the Cubs we are talking about.”
The longer answer includes concerns about their reworked bullpen, who is going to play right field, and do they have enough power in that lineup to win the division and challenge the Dodgers.
We will find out starting this week.
What’s the most incredible play you’ve ever seen in person?
I have a couple.
Luke Zeller’s half-court shot to beat Plymouth in the 3A State Championship basketball game in 2005 is on the short list.
I was sitting “second chair” with Rita Price when Amber Feldman hit the 3-pointer that gave Triton the 2000 girls 1A state championship at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
Warsaw won a football game against NorthWood at Fisher Field a few years back, where they covered 75 yards in under 30 seconds, including the last 60 on a pass play to Taylor Cone. Cone crossed the goal line with :00.1 left.
The Jordan Stookey 3-pointer that beat Concord in the sectional at Elkhart has to be on there, and so does the 3-point play by Kyle Mangas against Elkhart.
How much longer do you think you are going to do games?
I have no idea.
This time of year, each year, I get quiet and listen to the Lord for new marching orders, and I haven’t been given any yet.
I will say this, though: Teams watch game film, and I listen back to most of my game broadcasts. My promise to myself and to the listeners is that I will get out when I start slipping below the standard I have set for myself in what constitutes a quality broadcast.
Do you have your fishing poles ready yet?
No, but I am going to start working on the boat next week. I need to replace the battery, and I have a side light on the boat trailer that needs to be replaced.
Mentally, though, I am ready to see my bobber disappear on a regular basis.
Love these questions. Please don’t ever stop asking them.
