Indiana Sportswriters & Sportscasters Hall of Fame

Some good news to break up the doom & gloom. This is a good profession and, at least in our parts, six journalists are going to be honored ...
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The Indiana Sportswriters & Sportscasters Association is set to induct three members into its Hall of Fame. They are:

*-Howard Kellman (34 years as Indianapolis Indians play-by-play voice, also has done weekly HS football and basketball games for Indy-area TV station for well over 20 years).
*-Mike Lopresti (Gannett News Service columnist, native of and resident of Richmond, IN)
*-Pat McKee (longtime former Indy Star reporter who covered colleges, preps and just about everything else).

Also, 3 annual award winners will be recognized:
*-Mike Beas (formerly of the Anderson Herald-Bulletin, Corky Lamm Indiana Sportswriter of the Year)
*-Tony Kale (WCLS-FM Bloomington, Marv Bates Indiana Sportscaster of the Year)
*-John Heisler (Notre Dame SID, Bob Williams Helping Hand Award)

They will all be honored at an April 11 banquet in Indianapolis. If you want further info on the banquet or the ISSA, PM me or go to www.indianassa.org.

 

Howard Kellman has the best wig in minor-league baseball, God love him.

 

MIke Lopresti has to be one of the nicest people in this profession. A few years ago, he wrote a really heartfelt column about a guy who was a prep basketball whiz in some small town in Indiana and actually had a bit part in "Hoosiers." He was a farmer whose wife had left him, and one afternoon he committed suicide.

The column dealt with depression and how debilitating it can be and how devastating it can be for friends and family when it gets so bad that a person takes his-her own life.

I sent Lopresti an e-mail telling him how much his column moved me, and detailed some of my struggles with depression. The very next day, I got an e-mail back thanking me for writing and talking about his own emotional ups and downs.

Great guy and this is a well-deserved honor.

 

I cannot believe, as a Ball State grad, that I've never met Lopresti. A real oversight on my part.

 

Heisler got a Helping Hand award?

 

A much-deserved hand for Pat McKee. The go-to guy for preps in Indiana for years.