Minnesota News Network sports director Mike Grimm has been named the 2019 Minnesota Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. The award is voted on by members of the NSMA in Minnesota, mostly comprising sportscasters and sportswriters. This is the fifth time Grimm has been honored by the NSMA. Grimm was named Minnesota Sportscaster of the Year in 2009, 2010, and 2013, as well. He won the Iowa Sportscaster of the Year Award in 1999.
Grimm is the full-time Sports Director at the statewide Minnesota News Network, where his award-winning sports updates are heard on 50 stations across the state. He covers the Gophers, Twins, Vikings, Wild, and Timberwolves for MNN.
Grimm is also in his 14th year with the Gopher Radio Network this fall. He has served as “Voice of the Golden Gophers” in men’s basketball that entire time, and in football for the past nine seasons. He called the Gopher Outback Bowl win earlier this month in Tampa, which propelled Minnesota to a final ranking in the Top Ten.
In addition to his Golden Gopher football and basketball play-by-play duties, Grimm serves as the co-host for “Gopher Basketball Weekly with Richard Pitino” and “Gopher Football Weekly with PJ Fleck” and also produces and anchors “The Golden Gopher Daily Update” heard across Minnesota on the Gopher Radio Network.
Prior to his work on the Gopher Radio Network and MNN, Grimm was the primary sports host on legendary station KMOX (1120-AM) in St. Louis for five years. He served as the station’s pre-game and post-game host of St. Louis Cardinals baseball, and also covered the St. Louis Rams, Blues, and Billikens extensively.
Before his time in St. Louis, Grimm worked at WMT Radio (600-AM) in Cedar Rapids, Iowa from 1993-2001. He was the station’s mid-day talk show host and the afternoon sports anchor. He was the play-by-play announcer for Iowa women’s basketball in 2000-2001. He was a fill-in commentator on Iowa men’s basketball games from 1993-1996 and also served as a pre-game and post-game host for Iowa Hawkeye football from 1996-2001. He was the voice of the statewide radio network for high school football and basketball championships in Iowa from 1998-2001. He also anchored sportscasts on heritage station WHO Radio (1040-AM) in Des Moines from 1998-2001.
Grimm graduated from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, where he served as play-by-play voice of Norse sports from 1990-1993 on KWLC Radio (1240-AM). He called his first basketball game on the radio when he was a 19-year old college freshman. Grimm was also a baseball player for the Norse.