MEDIA
INFORMATION
December 26, 2007
Contact: Jason Wille, Sports Information Director
E–Mail: jwille@ihsaa.org
DECATUR’S
BOB ADAMS TO BE HONORED WITH IHSAA MEDIA AWARD SATURDAY
A
veteran of both print and electronic media, Decatur resident Bob Adams has been
named as this year’s recipient of the IHSAA Distinguished Media Service
Award for District II.
Adams will be honored by
members of the IHSAA Staff and Executive Committee in a special ceremony prior
to the Bellmont-Adams Central boys basketball game on Saturday, Dec. 29, in
Monroe.
He has published 21
different books over the years including "Hoosier High School
Basketball," “Silenced Bells: A Pictorial History of Former Indiana
High Schools," "Popcorn and Gym Shoes" and “More Popcorn
and Gym Shoes," both of which contain interior and exterior photographs of
old high school gyms around the state. He also has published a CD-Rom called
"Indiana High School Basketball History," an unmatched collection of
historical data on over 1,100 Hoosier high schools.
Also among those are 13
different books he has penned about the basketball history of Adams County high
schools, both current and those that were part of the consolidation movement.
Adams currently is a sports
writer for the Tri-Weekly News in
Berne and also has written for the Decatur
Daily Democrat. His weekly column, “Below the Rim”, which
documents area basketball history, has been a weekly fixture in one paper or
the other for the last 12 years.
In 1999, he began calling
play-by-play and color commentary on WZBD-FM in Berne for area high school
contests in basketball, volleyball, baseball, softball and track. The last
three seasons, he has added play-by-play duties on Friday nights calling area
football games. He also plays host to a pair of radio programs on WZBD –
the Hitzer Stoves High School Sports Weekly and the Leichty Brothers Plumbing
and Heating Adams County Football Coaches Show.
He estimates he’s seen
well in excess of 1,000 area basketball games over the years and calls
broadcasting state championship events in baseball, volleyball, basketball
among his favorite sports memories. But Adams points to a game when he
didn’t have the headset on or a pen in hand as one of his favorites as
well. As a fan, he truly enjoyed watching his alma mater, Delta High
School’s run to a state runner-up finish in the last single class boys
basketball state tournament in 1997.
He was a member of the
Muncie school’s second graduating class in 1969 having attended Eaton
High School before the consolidation into Delta. During his prep days, he
played basketball and wrestled for a year each. He later attended Manchester
College and Ball State University and also was licensed by the IHSAA to
officiate wrestling matches in the mid-1970s.
Adams and his wife of 35
years, Terri, have two children, Kari (Dan) Veenstra and Andy (Kelly) Adams and
four grandchildren. Adams is a self-employed locksmith and his family has
called Decatur home for the last 20 years.
This is the 23rd year the IHSAA has recognized outstanding members of
the Indiana news media from each of the three IHSAA legislative districts for
excellence in the coverage of high school sports. District II covers 28
counties across northern and central Indiana. This is the second of three
presentations this school year following Mike Hole and the late Chuck Akers of
WFLQ Radio in French Lick who were honored in November.
On behalf of its 407 member schools, the Indiana High School Athletic
Association proudly salutes Bob Adams for his dedicated service to high school
athletics in the state of Indiana.
Previous award winners from
northeastern
Hilliard Gates, WKJG-TV,
Fort Wayne, 1984-85
Jim Costin, Fort Wayne
News-Sentinel, 1987-88
Ken Hill, Sports Hotline,
Dick DeFay, WKJG-TV, Fort
Wayne, 1990-91
George Frye,
Len Davis, WGL Radio, Fort
Wayne, 1994-95
Jim Brunner, WBAT, Marion,
1998-99
Dean Pantazi, WPTA-TV, Fort
Wayne, 1999-00
Rob Weaver, WPGW AM FM,
Dick Stimpson, WNUY AM &
FM, Bluffton, 2006-07
IHSAA
07-08/18