By: Michael Clark, BSU Athletics—
Muncie, IN – Morry Mannies, who served as the radio “Voice of the Cardinals” for 56 years, has passed away at the age of 81.
Mannies began his career with Ball State Athletics as an 18-year old on Sept. 1, 1956, when he got behind the microphone to call the Ball State football season opener against Hanover. His final broadcast came on March 5, 2012, when the men’s basketball squad took on Western Michigan in the Mid-American Conference Tournament. He wrapped up that game as he did all of his Ball State broadcasts with his trademark saying, “Good night and good sports.”
Between 1956 and 2012, Mannies covered more than 5,500 Ball State and high school football and basketball games, while also logging more than 30,000 hours behind the microphone for WLBC/WXFN Radio in Muncie. A banner bearing his name, a microphone and the number 56 hangs in the Worthen Arena rafters in his honor.
“This truly is a sad day not just for Ball State Athletics, but Ball State University,” Director of Athletics Beth Goetz said. “Morry’s passion and dedication to Ball State were unmatched. His broadcasts had a way of tying everyone from students, alumni, faculty and staff, parents and community members together. Our condolences go out to the Mannies family.”
Mannies was on the call for some of the most memorable teams and moments in Ball State history, from seven football bowl teams to seven NCAA men’s basketball tournament appearances, most notably the 1990 Sweet 16 run, and the “Wowie and Maui” when the Cardinals knocked off top-5 teams on back-to-back days at the 2001 Maui Invitational.
Mannies was a three-time winner of the Indiana Sportscaster of the Year Award and a three-time recipient of the MAC Sportscaster of the Year honor. He was inducted into the Ball State Athletics Hall of Fame (1985), Delaware County Hall of Fame (1986), MAC Hall of Fame (1996), Indiana Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association Hall of Fame (2002), Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame (2002), and the Indiana Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame (2009).
He earned his bachelor’s degree from Ball State in 1960 and master’s from the university in 1964. The Mannies family established the Morry E. Mannies Sportscasting Scholarship in the summer of 2007. The scholarship benefits Ball State juniors or seniors majoring in telecommunications who have declared an interest in sportscasting, have acquired sportscasting experience at Ball State and have high academic achievements as a student.
A recipient of the Ball State Alumni Association’s Beneficence Award in 1985, Mannies was bestowed the Alumni Association’s highest honor when he received a Distinguished Alumni Award in 2005.
Woof Boom Radio’s Morry Mannies scholarship program was established in 2015.
In 2015 Woof Boom Radio introduced the Morry Mannies scholarship program for athletes from the schools Woof Boom Radio covers each year. A portion of the proceeds from the sponsorships of high school sports have been directed to The Morry Mannies’ Scholarship Foundation. Student athletes that attend a school that Woof Boom has covered throughout the school year are eligible. Athletic Directors from these schools nominate and select the Male and Female recipient each year.
Arrangements are pending with Meek’s Mortuary in Muncie.
