Mike Grisdale surrounded by family, friends and co-workers.

Mike Grisdale

WCBY-AM (Cheboygan) sports broadcaster Mike Grisdale was honored last Friday night (9/13) before the Cheboygan Chiefs-Elk Rapids football game with the naming of the Western Avenue Field press box named after him, a show of appreciation to his 40+ years of sports broadcasting. Since 1984, Grisdale has been the iconic voice of the Chiefs, calling football, basketball and other sports.

“I’m glad I had the opportunity to thank a lot of people, because that’s what makes it work,” Grisdale told the Cheboygan Daily Tribube.  “Sticking with something for 40 years is not easy. There’s a lot of different factors involved, but I always enjoy doing ballgames and covering high school sports. You’ve got to have a lot of cooperation with the coaches, the business community, the fans, and the owners of the radio station just allow us to keep that tradition going.”

Grisdale was born and raised in Cheboygan and attended Central Michigan University.  He told the paper in 2020 that he chose to major in communications at Central Michigan University, pursuing a career in broadcasting. He dreamed of becoming the next Ernie Harwell, George Blaha, Bob Ufer, or Bruce Martin. "At CMU, I was able to get plenty of on-air experience on student stations," said Grisdale.  "Thanks to Del Reynolds, I was able to work at the Cheboygan radio stations whenever I came home over the holidays and during the summer. I volunteered to do anything they needed including being the disc jockey for the overnight or weekend shifts, be board operator for the Tiger games, record commercials, remote broadcasts, etc."  Since then it’s been a journey for the WCBY broadcaster, who’s also helped with news and even found a way to referee high school athletic events during that time.

Just before the Friday night ceremonies, Grisdale received four audio shoutouts from some of the main play-to-play voices of Detroit's professional sports teams, including Dan Dickerson (Tigers), George Blaha (Pistons), Ken Kal (Red Wings) and Dan Miller (Lions).