Woody Lombardi Durham (August 8, 1941 – March 7, 2018) was an American
play-by-play
In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...
radio announcer
An announcer is a voice artist who relays information to the audience of a broadcast media programme or live event.
Television and other media
Some announcers work in television production, radio or filmmaking, usually providing narrations ...
for the
North Carolina Tar Heels football
The North Carolina Tar Heels football team represents the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the sport of American football or Gridiron Football. The Tar Heels play in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiat ...
Mebane, North Carolina
Mebane is a city located mostly in Alamance County, North Carolina, United States, and partly in Orange County. The town was named for Alexander Mebane, an American Revolutionary War general and member of the U.S. Congress. It was incorporated ...
, Durham grew up in
Albemarle, North Carolina
Albemarle () is a small city and the county seat of Stanly County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 15,903 in the 2010 Census. Gerald R. "Ronnie" Michael (a former police chief in the city) serves as Mayor and Albemarle has a s ...
. He grew up a Tar Heel fan; as a child, Durham attended Tar Heel football games with his family after World War II.
Durham was close with Bob Harris, who would eventually become the Voice of the
Duke Blue Devils
The Duke Blue Devils are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Duke University, located in Durham, North Carolina. Duke's athletics department features 27 varsity teams that all compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Associatio ...
. The two played on the same
Little League Baseball
Little League Baseball and Softball (officially, Little League Baseball Inc) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizationAlbemarle High School's football team; Harris was the team's manager. Durham and Harris also sang together for Albemarle High School's chorus as well as in a double quartet.
In 1961, while Durham was an undergraduate at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United State ...
, he was initiated into the Alpha Rho chapter of
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America (colloquially known as Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Phi Mu Alpha, or simply Sinfonia) () is an American collegiate social fraternity for men with a special interest in music. The fraternity is open to men "w ...
.
Durham graduated with a
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to si ...
AM radio
AM broadcasting is radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation (AM) transmissions. It was the first method developed for making audio radio transmissions, and is still used worldwide, primarily for medium wave (also known as "AM band") transmis ...
station in his hometown of Albemarle, at age 16. As a student announcer, Durham played rock-and-roll records, broadcast church sermons, and did
color commentary
A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and the ...
for high school basketball.
Durham was the
sports director
The title of sports director can refer to the director of a live sports broadcast. It can also refer to an individual at a television or radio station who is in charge of the sports department.
Director
{{Job-stub ...
of WUNC-TV while he was an undergraduate. He also called baseball games around this time.
After graduating, Durham briefly worked at
WBTW-TV
WBTW (channel 13) is a television station licensed to Florence, South Carolina, United States, serving the Pee Dee and Grand Strand regions of South Carolina as an affiliate of CBS. The station is owned by Nexstar Media Group, and maintains st ...
before becoming the sports director of
WFMY-TV
WFMY-TV (channel 2) is a television station licensed to Greensboro, North Carolina, United States, serving as the CBS affiliate for the Piedmont Triad region. Owned by Tegna Inc., the station maintains studios on Phillips Avenue in Greensboro, ...
, where he worked from October 1963 until August 1977. While there, Durham also worked on the station's
Atlantic Coast Conference
The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Assoc ...
package, what would be the predecessor to
Raycom Sports
Raycom Sports is an American producer of sports television programs. It is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, and owned and operated by Gray Television.
It was founded in 1979 by husband and wife, Rick and Dee Ray. In the 1980s, Raycom ...
. He also did color commentary for
Wake Forest Demon Deacons football
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team represents Wake Forest University in the sport of American football. The Demon Deacons compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Atl ...
Guilford College
Guilford College is a private liberal arts college in Greensboro, North Carolina. Guilford has both traditional students and students who attend its Center for Continuing Education (CCE). Founded in 1837 by members of the Religious Society o ...
football for two years. Durham's work with WFMY-TV led him to want to call play-by-play for ACC football and men's basketball.
In 1975, Durham was the president of both the
North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame
The North Carolina Museum of History is a history museum located in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina. It is an affiliate through the Smithsonian Affiliations program. The museum is a part of the Division of State History Museums, Office of Archives ...
and the Atlantic Coast Sportswriters' Association.
In 1977, Durham became the Director of Sports and Sports Development at WRDU-TV (which became WPTF in 1978). He stayed with WPTF-TV for four years.
The Voice of the Tar Heels (1971–2011)
While still working for WFMY-TV, Durham became the play-by-play announcer of Tar Heel football and basketball in 1971. He took over from the radio network's founder, Bill Currie, the "Mouth of the South," when Currie took a television job in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
Bill Dooley
William Gerald Dooley (May 19, 1934 – August 9, 2016) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head coach at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1967–1977), Virginia Polytechni ...
Show'' and ''The
Dean Smith
Dean Edwards Smith (February 28, 1931 – February 7, 2015) was an American men's college basketball head coach. Called a "coaching legend" by the Basketball Hall of Fame, he coached for 36 years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel H ...
Show'', television programs that aired throughout North Carolina.
In 1981, Durham was named vice president and executive sports director at Tar Heel Sports Marketing.
Durham remained the host of the television shows until 1983, when Jefferson-Pilot Communications bought the rights to UNC Chapel Hill's football and men's basketball television shows. Jefferson-Pilot also developed
call-in
In broadcasting, a phone-in or call-in is a programme format in which viewers or listeners are invited to air their live comments by telephone, usually in respect of a specific topic selected for discussion on the day of the broadcast. On radio ( ...
and five-minute drive-time radio shows with Smith and
Mack Brown
William Mack Brown (born August 27, 1951) is an American college football coach. He is currently in his second stint as the head football coach for the University of North Carolina, where he first coached from 1988 until departing in 1997, whe ...
. Durham would return to hosting the football television show, then known as ''The Mack Brown Television Show'', in 1993 after the Village Companies, the owners of the Tar Heel Sports Network, bought back the multimedia rights for UNC Chapel Hill. In addition to the football and men's basketball shows, the rights also included Jefferson-Pilot's radio properties. Smith, on the other hand, retained Jefferson-Pilot's John Kilgo as host of his radio and television shows.
In 1999, Learfield Communications bought the multimedia rights from Tar Heel Sports Marketing. As Learfield preferred to have only one announcer host all of its multimedia shows, and Smith was retiring from coaching, Durham once again became the host of the men's basketball television and radio shows.
As the Voice of the Tar Heels, Durham was also behind the microphone for 13 Final Fours, including national title wins in
1982
Events January
* January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00).
* January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C ...
,
1993
File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...
,
2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...
, and
2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...
. He also called 23 bowl games.
When the UNC Chapel Hill athletic department relaunched its website, TarHeelBlue.com (now GoHeels.com), Durham and his then color analyst partner Mick Mixon were given editorial columns on the website.
After forty years as the Voice of the Tar Heels, Durham announced his retirement on April 20, 2011. A nationwide search was conducted to find his successor.
Jones Angell
Monrovie Jones Angell IV
(born 1979, Sanford, North Carolina), known professionally as Jones Angell, is the current “Voice of the Tar Heels,” the play-by-play radio announcer for the North Carolina Tar Heels football and men’s basketbal ...
, who worked with the
Tar Heel Sports Network
The Tar Heel Sports Network is a radio network in the United States dedicated to broadcasting live events and programming relating to North Carolina Tar Heels athletics. It is operated by Tar Heel Sports Properties, a property of Learfield I ...
as a host and as Durham's color analyst, was named the new Voice of the Tar Heels approximately two months later.
Some of Durham's expressions during his broadcasts include "Go where you go and do what you do," "Go to war, Miss Agnes" (a phrase Durham heard from Chuck Thompson during a
Baltimore Colts
The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...
game), and "Good gosh gurdy." Durham is also known for his "How 'bout them Heels" play call before the end of the 1982 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game. Durham repeated this play call for a homecoming ceremony at
Kenan Stadium
Kenan Memorial Stadium is a stadium located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and is the home field of the North Carolina Tar Heels. It is primarily used for football. The stadium opened in 1927 and holds 50,500 people. It is located near the center ...
With the help of his wife Jean and sportswriter Adam Lucas, Durham published his autobiography, ''Woody Durham: A Tar Heel Voice'', on September 4, 2012. The book was awarded a Willie Parker Peace History Book Award from the North Carolina Society of Historians in 2013.
Durham wrote editorials for the now defunct magazine ''CAROLINA: The Magazine''.
Durham hosted a radio program, ''Woody Durham’s Great Moments in Sports History'', for
WNCW
WNCW (88.7 FM, "WNCW 88.7") is a non-commercial public radio FM station licensed to serve Spindale, North Carolina. Owned by Isothermal Community College, the station broadcasts a varied format including Americana, folk, blues, jazz, reggae, ...
. The program, which first aired in December 2014, was a 60- to 90-second show focusing on little-known sports history facts.
Awards and honors
* J. Robert Marlowe Award of Merit (1971), ''by'' the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters.
* Distinguished Service Awards, ''by'' the
Greensboro
Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte, North Car ...
Jaycees
The United States Junior Chamber, also known as the Jaycees, JCs or JCI USA, is a leadership training, service organization and civic organization for people between the ages of 18 and 40. It is a branch of Junior Chamber International (JCI). ...
and the
North Carolina High School Athletic Association
The North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) is the governing organization of high school athletics in North Carolina, United States. The association maintains the official rule books and governs the officiating standards across ...
.
* Sports Hall of Fame (1993), ''by'' Stanly County, North Carolina.
*Carolina Priceless Gem Award (1994), ''by'' UNC Chapel Hill.
*Distinguished Service Medal (1995), ''by'' UNC General Alumni Association.
*William R. Davie Award (2000), ''by'' UNC Chapel Hill Board of Trustees.
* Russell Blunt Legends Award (2003), ''by'' NCHSAA.
* Lindsey Nelson Outstanding Sportscaster Award (2005), ''by'' All-American Football Foundation.
* Sports Hall of Fame (2008), ''by'' City of Mebane.
*Outstanding Service Award (2010), ''by'' UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.
*Chris Schenkel Award (2011), ''by'' National Football Foundation.
*Vince Lombardi Excellence in College Broadcasting Award (2012), ''by'' Lombardi Award Ceremony.
*Lindsey Nelson Broadcasting Award (2017), ''by'' Knoxville Quarterback Club.
The UNC Chapel Hill gave Durham several awards in addition to those listed above. For Durham's contributions to the UNC Tar Heels men's golf program, the program inducted him into their A.E. Finley Order of Merit. He was named North Carolina Sportscaster of the Year thirteen times, last winning the award in 2009. During the 2002 ACC men's basketball tournament, Durham was presented with the Marvin "Skeeter" Francis award for his services to the ACC. He was inducted into the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters in 2004 and the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame on May 19, 2005.
An
endowed professor
A financial endowment is a legal structure for managing, and in many cases indefinitely perpetuating, a pool of financial, real estate, or other investments for a specific purpose according to the will of its founders and donors. Endowments are of ...
ship made in Durham's name, the Woody Durham Distinguished Professorship Fund, was also established in 2005. This professorship was created to seek out deserving new faculty members for UNC Chapel Hill's Department of Communication. Durham received the
Curt Gowdy Media Award
The Curt Gowdy Media Award is an annual award given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to outstanding basketball writers and broadcasters. It is named for American sportscaster Curt Gowdy, who was the Hall of Fame's president for ...
for his contributions to basketball during the
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...
Enshrinement Ceremony in September 2015. A presentation honoring Durham receiving the Curt Gowdy Media Award was held in the Smith Center on February 17, 2016, during halftime of the Duke/UNC Chapel Hill men's basketball game.
Durham was named a Town Treasure, an award honoring exceptional citizens of
Chapel Hill Chapel Hill or Chapelhill may refer to:
Places Antarctica
* Chapel Hill (Antarctica) Australia
*Chapel Hill, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane
*Chapel Hill, South Australia, in the Mount Barker council area
Canada
*Chapel Hill, Ottawa, a neighbou ...
and
Carrboro, North Carolina
Carrboro is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 21,295 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census.
, by the Chapel Hill Historical Society for his work with fundraising efforts around the city of Chapel Hill.
Durham was elected to the National Sports Media Association Hall of Fame on January 16, 2018. He was formally inducted to the Hall during NSMA’s fifty-ninth Award Weekend on June 25, 2018, in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the Li ...
. Durham is one of only two play-by-play announcers to be in inducted in the NSMA Hall of Fame; the other being
Larry Munson
Lawrence Harry Munson (September 28, 1922 – November 20, 2011) was an American sports announcer and talk-show host based out of the U.S. city of Athens, Georgia. He was best known for handling radio play-by-play of University of Georgia B ...
. Wes Durham, who accepted Durham's Hall of Fame award on Durham's behalf, told the ''
Winston-Salem Journal
The ''Winston-Salem Journal'' is an American, English language daily newspaper primarily serving Winston-Salem and Forsyth County, North Carolina. It also covers Northwestern North Carolina.
The paper is owned by Lee Enterprises. ''The Journa ...
'' about the establishment of the Woody Durham College Voice Award, also presented during the Award Weekend. Founded by the NSMA, UNC-CH, and Learfield Sports, the award honors college broadcasters.
Personal life
Durham married Jean after graduating from UNC Chapel Hill in 1963.
Durham and Jean were involved in several charitable efforts in the Chapel Hill area after moving back in 1984. Durham was most proud of his work with the
Ronald McDonald House
Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) is an independent American nonprofit organization whose stated mission is to create, find, and support programs that directly improve the health and well-being of children.
RMHC has a global network of ...
of Chapel Hill; his fundraising efforts helped build and expand the home. He also was involved with the
Eastern North Carolina
Eastern North Carolina (sometimes abbreviated as ENC) is the region encompassing the eastern tier of North Carolina. It is known geographically as the state's Coastal Plain region. Primary subregions of Eastern North Carolina include the Sandhil ...
primary progressive aphasia
Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a type of neurological syndrome in which language capabilities slowly and progressively become impaired. As with other types of aphasia, the symptoms that accompany PPA depend on what parts of the left hemisph ...
in January 2016. In June 2016, Durham wrote a letter that was posted on GoHeels.com, announcing that he would retire from public speaking.
Durham's eldest son, Wes Durham, is the former play-by-play radio voice of ACC rival
Georgia Tech
The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...
and current play-by-play radio voice of the
Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcon ...
. His youngest son, Taylor, is currently the play-by-play announcer for the
Elon Phoenix
The Elon Phoenix is the official mascot of Elon University, located in Elon, North Carolina. It is the name that each of the sports teams at the university are referred to. The university is a member of the Colonial Athletic Association and compe ...
.
Death
Durham died on March 7, 2018, of complications from primary progressive aphasia.