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NEW YORK - All Sam Rosen wants is a playoff run to extend his final season in the broadcast booth.
Unfortunately for the New City resident, the Rangers are making him sweat this one out.
"I look forward to every game now till the end of the season," Rosen said prior to Saturday's "Salute to Sam" ceremony at Madison Square Garden. "I'm trying to drag this team into the playoffs with me. I walk around the locker room at practice giving them encouragement, ‘Come on, guys, you can do it!’ They're not listening to me, but hopefully that'll change in the next couple of weeks."
The Blueshirts have 12 games remaining to rally for Sam − including only five on home ice − but whether it's mid-April or mid-June, the end is drawing near on a legendary career that's spanned more than 40 years.
"I've been able to focus most of the season just on the games and the travel and the team and the race, and the ups and downs of the team," Rosen said. "But it's getting down to the short numbers."
Sam Rosen exclusive: Legendary broadcaster explains decision to retire
One of the true gentleman of the sports media industry, Rosen is universally adored by a fan base that doesn't agree on much.
The 77-year-old is quite literally the only voice that generations of viewers have known, but a health scare last May made him consider if it was time to hang up his microphone.
"That kind of hits you and you think about, ‘What if you were on the road and you got sick? How would that feel? What would that mean?’" he said. "That's when I kind of started to think about it seriously and talk about it with my wife and my family. This is the right time. And I've always said to my family, ‘If my level of performance falls off at all, you have to tell me, because I don't want to be hanging around.’ When I go out this year, I want to let to have people look at me and say, ‘Boy, we're going to miss you. We really love what you're doing. You're still at the top of your game.'"
The ensuing farewell tour has been met with rock-star treatment in every NHL city, with Rosen greeted by scoreboard tributes, gifts from opposing teams and countless selfie requests from fans.
"This last road trip, I sat and I thought about every city in the league and realized that in every city, I have people that I know very well, care about and care about me," he said. "I realized that I made a lot of friendships and got to know some really wonderful people at all levels."
On Saturday, the kid from Brooklyn felt that appreciation from a Garden crowd that showered him with cheers and gratitude.
"Every time I walk into this building, I know I’m walking into my second home," Rosen told them during a ceremony just prior to the Rangers' afternoon tilt against the Vancouver Canucks.
Earlier that morning, he recalled getting his start filling in for an NBA game in 1977, then eventually being asked to replace his mentor, Jim Gordon, as MSG Network's full-time Rangers play-by-play announcer in 1984.
"Jim had done everything to help me get to where I was, to help me get to Madison Square Garden, and they asked me to take over for him," Rosen said. "That was very, very difficult, but they said, ‘We're going to make a change, and if it's not you, it'll be someone else.’ And I made the decision to take the job, and I'm still here. I hope Jim appreciates that up where he is, looking down on us, because he did a lot for me, and I value that to this day."
Rosen also spoke glowingly of his three broadcast partners − Phil Esposito, John Davidson and Joe Micheletti − each of whom was in attendance to honor their colleague and friend. And, of course, he reminisced about what he called "the greatest moment" − covering the Rangers' 1994 Stanley Cup victory, the franchise's one and only championship during his four-plus decades.
"To do a Game 7 in your home building, for the team that I've rooted for all my life, and to call that game, it can't get any better than that," he said.
Finally, Rosen offered his own salute to the Blueshirts' faithful, saying, "Thank you for being my inspiration all these years."
Vincent Z. Mercogliano is the New York Rangers beat reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Read more of his work at lohud.com/sports/rangers/ and follow him on Twitter @vzmercogliano.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Legendary NY Rangers broadcaster Sam Rosen honored at MSG
Continue reading...
Unfortunately for the New City resident, the Rangers are making him sweat this one out.
"I look forward to every game now till the end of the season," Rosen said prior to Saturday's "Salute to Sam" ceremony at Madison Square Garden. "I'm trying to drag this team into the playoffs with me. I walk around the locker room at practice giving them encouragement, ‘Come on, guys, you can do it!’ They're not listening to me, but hopefully that'll change in the next couple of weeks."
The Blueshirts have 12 games remaining to rally for Sam − including only five on home ice − but whether it's mid-April or mid-June, the end is drawing near on a legendary career that's spanned more than 40 years.
"I've been able to focus most of the season just on the games and the travel and the team and the race, and the ups and downs of the team," Rosen said. "But it's getting down to the short numbers."
Sam Rosen exclusive: Legendary broadcaster explains decision to retire
One of the true gentleman of the sports media industry, Rosen is universally adored by a fan base that doesn't agree on much.
The 77-year-old is quite literally the only voice that generations of viewers have known, but a health scare last May made him consider if it was time to hang up his microphone.
"That kind of hits you and you think about, ‘What if you were on the road and you got sick? How would that feel? What would that mean?’" he said. "That's when I kind of started to think about it seriously and talk about it with my wife and my family. This is the right time. And I've always said to my family, ‘If my level of performance falls off at all, you have to tell me, because I don't want to be hanging around.’ When I go out this year, I want to let to have people look at me and say, ‘Boy, we're going to miss you. We really love what you're doing. You're still at the top of your game.'"
The ensuing farewell tour has been met with rock-star treatment in every NHL city, with Rosen greeted by scoreboard tributes, gifts from opposing teams and countless selfie requests from fans.
"This last road trip, I sat and I thought about every city in the league and realized that in every city, I have people that I know very well, care about and care about me," he said. "I realized that I made a lot of friendships and got to know some really wonderful people at all levels."
On Saturday, the kid from Brooklyn felt that appreciation from a Garden crowd that showered him with cheers and gratitude.
"Every time I walk into this building, I know I’m walking into my second home," Rosen told them during a ceremony just prior to the Rangers' afternoon tilt against the Vancouver Canucks.
Earlier that morning, he recalled getting his start filling in for an NBA game in 1977, then eventually being asked to replace his mentor, Jim Gordon, as MSG Network's full-time Rangers play-by-play announcer in 1984.
"Jim had done everything to help me get to where I was, to help me get to Madison Square Garden, and they asked me to take over for him," Rosen said. "That was very, very difficult, but they said, ‘We're going to make a change, and if it's not you, it'll be someone else.’ And I made the decision to take the job, and I'm still here. I hope Jim appreciates that up where he is, looking down on us, because he did a lot for me, and I value that to this day."
Rosen also spoke glowingly of his three broadcast partners − Phil Esposito, John Davidson and Joe Micheletti − each of whom was in attendance to honor their colleague and friend. And, of course, he reminisced about what he called "the greatest moment" − covering the Rangers' 1994 Stanley Cup victory, the franchise's one and only championship during his four-plus decades.
"To do a Game 7 in your home building, for the team that I've rooted for all my life, and to call that game, it can't get any better than that," he said.
Finally, Rosen offered his own salute to the Blueshirts' faithful, saying, "Thank you for being my inspiration all these years."
Vincent Z. Mercogliano is the New York Rangers beat reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Read more of his work at lohud.com/sports/rangers/ and follow him on Twitter @vzmercogliano.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Legendary NY Rangers broadcaster Sam Rosen honored at MSG
Continue reading...
