Islanders TV Announcer Howie Rose Not Returning Next Season, Citing Heavy Workload

Islanders TV play-by-play man Howie Rose informed MSG officials yesterday that he "will leave the job, citing a desire to reduce his workload," according to Neil Best of NEWSDAY. Rose also does radio play-by-play for the Mets on WOR-AM, meaning he has "had no real offseason the past two decades." Rose said, "I don’t know that I’ve ever been more conflicted about a decision I have had to make in my life. But I’m confident I made really the only one I could make at this point in time in my career and life." Best notes the 62-year-old Rose has worked for MSG since '85, first as a "substitute radio announcer for Rangers games before he took over as the full-time radio voice" in '89. MSG "will begin a search for Rose’s successor immediately." Rose said that the added burden this past season of commuting to Brooklyn from his home in Roslyn on Long Island "was not a factor in his decision" and that he "had been thinking about leaving for some time" (NEWSDAY, 5/19).