First Mauer, now Rosen. Minnesota loses another legend

Another sports legend in these parts is leaving the business.

Mark Rosen, the dean of TV broadcasting in the Twin Cities, is retiring after 50 years, WCCO has announced. That’s 50 years with one employer.

Rosen, a spectacularly gifted broadcaster, started as an intern at WCCO in 1969 and was hired full time while still attending the University of Minnesota. He also had a radio gig on KFAN, where he hopes to expand his role.

He was inducted into the Minnesota Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2013.

In recent months, he’s had more to worry about than who won a game. His wife is undergoing treatment for brain cancer.

“We’d be watching these shows together on the couch on a Tuesday night and I’d think, ‘Is this what it’s like? Is this what normal people do?’ ” Rosen tells the Star Tribune. “It just felt right. Home is where my energies need to be right now. I mean, I’ve never been home at night in my whole adult life.”

Rosen, 66, will anchor his last broadcast after the Final Four, which is being held in the Twin Cities next spring.