Emerson College's Roger Crosley bound for CoSIDA Hall of Fame

by John Connolly

Courtesy of Co-SIDA

BOSTON, Mass. - There are many jobs for which Roger Crosley might be well suited. Traffic controller. Professional juggler. Mediator. All those vocations involve an acute management of time.

When it comes to Crosley's chosen avocation of sports information, few have been better at equally spreading time and hard-earned talent around than Crosley, one of five inductees in the 2010 Class of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Hall of Fame.

Crosley will be enshrined on Tuesday, July 6, during the 2010 CoSIDA Hall of Fame Gala at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis in San Francisco, Calif. The event is part of the annual CoSIDA convention being held July 4-7 in the City by the Bay.

Crosley not only rolled up his sleeves and wore a hard hat to work each day, he often wore multiple hats, as well.

Whether it was juggling 41 men's and women's sports at MIT, or negotiating traffic in the early years from his day job as a professor of communication arts at Dean Junior College, to a part-time gig as a stringer in the sports department at the Attleboro Sun Chronicle, Crosley did it all with aplomb.

"He is probably the most unappreciated SID in the city because of how hard he worked and all the teams which MIT fields and with less help than anyone else,” former Harvard SID John Veneziano, now an editor with H.O.Zimmman Publishing in Lynn, said. “But there he was, bright and early at 7 a.m. on Saturday for a crew race and then he'd be still in the office at 9 p.m. at night typing in baseball stats. He had a passion for it and a sense of purpose, too, and he never lost that perspective. Roger is just a great credit to the profession.''

After 2 ½ years of doing the Dean Junior College SID job on a part-time basis, the opportunity arose to perform those duties on a full-time stretch. By then the SID bug had bitten.

”Since I was there and it didn't conflict with teaching, the longer I stayed at Dean the more I was concentrating on SID work and athletic administration,”' Crosley said. “I decided that was the way I wanted to go.''

Crosley began to apply and interview at “a whole bunch of places.”' Coincidentally, he was offered two jobs in one weekend - by Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The WPI offer came first and Crosley asked if he could have a day or so to consider his good fortune. WPI was facing a more pressing time constraint and asked for an immediate answer. Crosley, who had a “good feeling” about MIT decided to roll the dice.

“I sweated out the next 24 hours until I got call from (athletic director) Royce Flippin and he offered me the job,” Crosley said. "I lasted 16 years.”

It was during that time, Crosley unveiled a unique propensity for raising multi-tasking to new heights. In addition to doing all the attending publicity and statistical work for MIT's vast array of 41 men's and women's varsity sports, Crosley also managed to squeeze in time for various, associated sports work. He became the publicity director for the New England Intercollegiate Golf Association, the publicity director for the New England Women's Basketball Association, and once MIT embarked on playing varsity football, Crosley became the Secretary-Treasurer-Publicity Director for the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC).

If only Lamar Hunt and Al Davis knew such a guy existed.

“The best example was when I had to pick someone to take over the Eastern Massachusetts Football Foundation and it was Roger (Crosley),” venerable Northeastern Associate AD and COSIDA Hall of Famer Jack Grinold, said. “He's just one of those guys who, besides his job, goes out of his way to give an extra effort for the community. That's not so usual today. It was 30 years ago, but not today. He definitely stands out.”

When MIT joined the New England Football Conference (NEFC), Crosley succeeded another well-respected member of the SID fraternity, Westfield State's Mickey Curtis, as publicity guru.

Never one to rest on his laurels, Crosley sought new pastures. Seven years ago, he moved across town to Emerson College all while maintaining his loyal affiliation with the NEFC. At Emerson, Crosley adroitly handles SID duties for 15 men's and women's varsity sports, as well as serving as the Lions compliance coordinator.

The 53-year-old Crosley grew up in Homer, N.Y., before beginning an odyssey that would take him from the bucolic campus of SUNY-Brockport – from where he graduated in 1978 - to Syracuse University where he earned a master’s degree in television, radio and film in 1980.

When he's not extolling the exploits of the college student-athlete, Crosley resides in Manchester, N.H., with his wife, Pam, and stepsons, Alex, 24, and Jason, 22, and their German Shepherds Sammi and Missy. Alex is a Boston University alum while Jason currently attends Coastal Carolina University.

His dossier is filled with prestigious recognition of his talent and devotion to duty. During his lengthy career, Crosley has been the recipient of the Irving Marsh Award, presented by the Eastern College Athletic Conference Sports Information Directors. He is a past winner of the Scoop Hudgens Award for lifetime contributions by an SID, presented to him by the All-American Football Foundation.

Appropriately, Crosley won the Jack Grinold SID/Media Award, presented by MasterSports. His media guides, while at Dean, won numerous national awards, signifying the potential that would ultimately land him in the CoSIDA Hall of Fame.

Yet, it is the respect that he is held by his peers that echo to the man's true worth. It is respect born of friendship, too.

Veneziano recalls how he and Crosley used to watch pay-per-view boxing fights and the time Veneziano ordered a large amount of Chinese food for several friends. Everyone, including Crosley, settled in for the bout, which featured Iron Mike Tyson. After about 38 seconds, the fight ended by knockout. The Chinese food didn't last much longer. Also, by a clearcut KO.

“These people in the profession become your friends and it's neat that you could have a relationship outside the profession and become a friend as well,” Veneziano said.

CoSIDA Hall of Famer Ed Carpenter of Boston University renown, commented, “I probably have not had more respect for anyone than for Roger Crosley for his commitment and dedication to the student-athletes at his university. It began at MIT and now at Emerson and I was overwhelmed at the amount of work he is able to do. MIT once had the most sports of any university in the country and he did it as a staff of one. It also is reflected in the respect the media has for Roger. It shows not only his knowledge of the profession but the respect the media had for him. This is an honor long overdo. It shows that SIDs respect what he does.”