Indiana Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association is pleased to announce its incoming Hall of Fame Class

2022 ISSA MEDIA RELEASE
For the 26th year, the Indiana Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association is pleased to
announce its incoming Hall of Fame Class, set to be inducted at its annual awards
banquet to be held on Sunday, April 10th at Valle Vista Country Club in Greenwood.
This year’s Class of 2022 includes the following people who have graced Hoosier
newspapers, radio stations, and television airwaves during the past several decades:

Dave Calabro, WTHR-TV _ Dave is in his 30th year of delivering the biggest stories in
local sports to viewers across Central Indiana on WTHR-TV. The Indy native attended
Ben Davis High School and Butler University, and spent five years working in Dayton,
Ohio before returning home. In addition to his work at WTHR, Dave has been one of the
voices of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway dating back to 1985, and for many years has
been the lead public address voice of the Indy 500, Brickyard 400, and United States
Grand Prix. Dave has won nine regional Emmys during his illustrious career.
Eric Hansen, South Bend Tribune_ Eric is in his 40th year as a full-time sportswriter,
all of which have come in the Hoosier state after graduating from Ohio State University.
Following brief stops in Columbus and Hammond, Eric spent the next 33 years covering
all things Michiana sports for the South Bend Tribune. Eric recently started a new project
with Rivals.com providing a new forum for his expertise on Notre Dame athletics.
During his tremendous career, Eric’s writing has received 20 national awards, plus
dozens more on a statewide basis.
Jeff Jeffers (deceased), WNDU-TV _ Jeff Jeffers graced the airwaves of South Bend
television for over 40 years before passing away in 2017 at the age of 64. While Jeff
covered all aspects of sports in the region, he was synonymous with coverage of Notre
Dame football. Jeff received an honorary monogram from ND in 2006 for his lifetime
support of the school. Jeff was also enshrined in the Indiana Football Hall of Fame in
2008 for his work of growing the game of football in the South Bend area.
Barry Lewis, Crawfordsville Journal-Review _ While spending time in college sports
information, radio, and even working for the city of Crawfordsville, Barry Lewis will
always be associated with his time writing and editing newspapers in Montgomery
County. Twenty years’ worth of Barry’s 40-year career have taken place at either the
Crawfordsville Journal-Review or The Paper of Montgomery County. Other stops along
the way include Seymour, Greencastle, Warsaw, and St. Mary’s, Ohio. Barry is a member
of both the Southmont Athletics Hall of Fame (his high school alma mater) and the
Montgomery County Basketball Hall of Fame. Barry is considered to be the unofficial
historian for Montgomery County.
Rob Weaver, WPGW Radio _ Rob is in his fifth decade of serving listeners in Portland,
Jay County, and surrounding counties in both Indiana and Ohio. Rob has been the voice
of the Jay County Patriots since 1976. Rob and his wife Mindy are the station owners of
WPGW in addition to WZJR in Portland and WZBD in Berne. Rob was the winner of the
Marv Bates Award as the Sportscaster of the Year from the ISSA in 2013, and has
previously been named as the Portland Citizen of the Year.
David Woods, Indianapolis Star _ The Illinois native has now been a Hoosier since
1994, ever since he joined the ranks of the Indianapolis Star following time spent with the
San Jose Mercury-News and Champaign News-Gazette. David has chronicled both
Olympic sports for the Star as well as the Butler Bulldogs’ meteoric rise from underdog
story to member of the Big East. David was at every Olympic Games from 1996 through
2021, and has authored four books from both of his beats covered with the Star. During
his over 40-year career, David has claimed dozens of regional and national sportswriting
honors.
In addition to these new Hall of Famers, the Indiana Sportswriters and Sportscasters
Association will recognize winners of annual honors such as the Marv Bates Sportscaster
of the Year,the Corky Lamm Sportswriter of the Year, the Bob Williams Helping Hand
Award, and the Ron Lemasters Lifetime Achievement Award. Those winners are as
follows:
Marv Bates Sportscaster of the Year: Andrew Smith, New Pal Radio/voice of Indy
Fuel _ Andrew serves as the voice of both the football and basketball programs at New
Palestine High School, where he also serves as a teacher. Andrew also serves as the voice
of the Indy Fuel, and was named the East Coast Hockey League’s broadcaster of the year
in 2021. Before his teaching days, Andrew was a sports reporter and editor in both
Greencastle and Greenfield for 10 years.
Corky Lamm Sportswriter of the Year: Kyle Neddenriep, Indianapolis Star _ Kyle

has now spent 14 years on the staff of the Indianapolis Star, and for the majority of that
time has served as the paper’s top high school sportswriter. Prior to his days in
Indianapolis, Kyle wrote for the Springfield (MO) News-Leader upon graduation from
Missouri State University. In 2020, he was named as the Indiana Sportswriter of the Year
by the National Sports Media Association.
Bob Williams Helping Hand Award: Ray Simmons, Director of Athletic
Communications University of Southern Indiana _ Ray has served in his current role
at Southern Indiana since August of 1989, which has included helping to tell the story of
multiple national championships for the Screaming Eagles. In addition to his role in
assisting media in their coverage of the team, Ray has also served as the host media
coordinator for multiple NCAA Division II championship events in Evansville, including
five men’s basketball championship games at either Roberts Stadium or the Ford Center.
Ron Lemasters Lifetime Achievement Award: Tom Kubat, Lafayette Journal &
Courier (retired) _ Tom was inducted into the Indiana Sportswriters and Sportscasters
Hall of Fame back in 2007. Tom spent over 40 years with the Journal & Courier,
spending 27 seasons as the Purdue beat writer for basketball and football. Tom also
authored a book on the late Joe Tiller, the former Purdue football coach titled, ‘Tiler: Not
Your Average Joe.’ Since his retirement in 2008, Tom has been a part of the ISSA board,
and has served as the board president since 2014.
These ten honorees will be recognized at the association’s annual banquet on April 10th,
which begins at 2 p.m. at Valle Vista Country Club in Greenwood. Tickets are available
with meal included for $30. To order tickets, send a check for $30 to Fred Inniger, ISSA
Treasurer, 3011 Noble Hawk Drive, Kendallville, IN 46755.
Also, those wanting to renew their memberships to the ISSA, or to become new
members, send $20 to Fred for your annual dues.
Please order your banquet tickets before March 20.
The Indiana Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association was founded in 1946. The ISSA
created its Hall of Fame 50 years later in 1996. The Hall of Fame currently has 129
members