The clock is ticking on “Rosen’s Sports Sunday.”
Mark Rosen’s half-hour mix of scores, live interviews and features, which has aired on WCCO in one form or another for nearly 35 years, will end next Sunday with a retrospective special.
Rosen isn’t going anywhere. The market’s most veteran sportscaster will remain at the CBS affiliate and continue to play a major role on Sunday nights when the 10 p.m. newscast extends to an hour.
“Most weeks, there will be less than 30 minutes on sports, but if Mark gets Mike Zimmer or the Vikings are in a playoff game, we’ll do a half-hour on it,” said news director Mike Caputa, who believes the new approach will give the station more flexibility to consider other stories.
The decision was made after a cordial meeting between Rosen and Caputa this month in which the two discussed the resources and time being invested in the program.
“The show was just harder to maintain in this day and age,” Rosen said Saturday from the WCCO newsroom, where he was looking back at tape to highlight over the next two weeks. “I won’t lie. This is going to be emotional. I’ve poured my heart and soul into this show. I could wallow all I want, but sometimes it’s time to turn the page and move on.”
Rosen, who has been at WCCO for more than 46 years, will make the official announcement on this Sunday’s broadcast and take those first steps down memory lane with Vikings analyst Pete Bercich. The May 22 edition will be a more thorough farewell with help from Saints owner Mike Veeck.
Rosen said the decision to end the show for Memorial Day weekend coincided with a relative slowdown of sports in the Twin Cities.
“Not that I couldn’t still fill the time,” he said.
