Kankakee Valley Broadcasting was given more good news last week after the 17th annual Griddy Awards ceremony in Indianapolis was held.
After 37 years of broadcasting local high school sports, Tony (The Boss) Ross was presented with the Excellence in Football Media Award. Ross, who is the sports director for Kankakaee Valley Broadcasting’s WYMR, has been the voice of Max 98.3 FM sports since its inception in 2014.
Prior to 2014, Ross graduated from Knox High School in 1988 and went to Purdue University where he graduated in the early 90’s. While at Knox, Ross started his young broadcasting career working at WKVI as a board operator for Harold Welter’s sports broadcasts. He then broadcast along side Welter in his first experience on air. Since then, Ross never looked back. He went on to broadcast Marshall County sports and became a staple in the area as a sports broadcaster.
This past Saturday, Tony was featured on WKVI’s Saturday Sports Line. When asked about the longevity of his career Ross said, “It’s about relationships. I think I have done over 300 football games now. That’s a lot and I hadn’t really thought about it but I guess it means I am just getting old.”
When asked about more of his early career Tony said, “I did television and radio down in Lafayette when I finished off college at Purdue. It was great but you really got to see the dark side of media with the bigger you got. It just wasn’t appealing. When I came back home, high school was the route for me and I’m glad that I have received a lot of support in what I have done. I have to admit, I’m like Harold and I have had this conversation with him. You don’t know how many lives you have touched until you are told.”
Ross went on to talk about how much he loves promoting local high school sports. He stated it’s always about the kids and the relationships he has made with their coaches. He said they have welcomed him to many practices and coaches meetings over the years. He added that is what keeps him going.
While the Excellence in Football Media award is an honor, Ross said it has been a privilege to broadcast local high school sports and added he isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Kankakee Valley Broadcasting congratulates Tony Ross on this prestigious award. We are honored to have him as sports director for WYMR Max 98.3 FM.
