Woody Durham

Born in Mebane, North Carolina, Durham grew up in Albemarle, North Carolina. 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 two played on the same Little League Baseball team. In 1957, Durham was a guard for Albemarle High School's football team; Harris was the team's manager.{{cite news |last=Graff |first=Michael |date=March 1, 2010 |title=A Carolina Calling |url=https://www.ourstate.com/woody-durham-carolina-basketball/ | work=Our State |location=Greensboro, North Carolina |access-date=March 14, 2017}} Durham and Harris also sang together for Albemarle High School's chorus as well as in a double quartet.{{cite news |author= |title=Isothermal will host Woody Durham |url=https://www.isothermal.edu/news/2014/11/isothermal-will-host-woody-durham.html | work=Isothermal Community College |location=Spindale, North Carolina |date=November 11, 2014 |access-date=March 14, 2017 }}

In 1961, while Durham was an undergraduate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he was initiated into the Alpha Rho chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.{{cite web |url=http://unc.sinfonia.org/chapter-history |title=Chapter History |author= |date=n.d. |website=Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Alpha Rho, University of North Carolina |access-date=March 18, 2017 }}

Durham graduated with a bachelor's degree in radio, television and motion pictures in 1963.

Durham began his career at WZKY, a small AM radio 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 for high school basketball.{{cite book |last1=Durham |first1=Woody |author-link1=Woody Durham |last2=Lucas |first2=Adam |date=2012 |title=Woody Durham: A Tar Heel Voice |location=Winston-Salem, North Carolina |publisher=John F. Blair |isbn=978-0895875778}}

Durham was the sports director of WUNC-TV while he was an undergraduate. He also called baseball games around this time.{{cite web|title=Woody Durham|url=http://www.chapelhillhistoricalsociety.org/en/2011/pdf/woody_durham_2016.pdf|website=Chapel Hill Historical Society|access-date=April 16, 2017|location=Chapel Hill, NC|date=2016}}

After graduating, Durham briefly worked at WBTW-TV before becoming the sports director of WFMY-TV, where he worked from October 1963 until August 1977. While there, Durham also worked on the station's Atlantic Coast Conference package, what would be the predecessor to Raycom Sports. He also did color commentary for Wake Forest Demon Deacons football, starting in 1964. When Wake Forest decided to fire their football coach in favor of hiring a new coach, Durham moved on to call Guilford College 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 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.

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. Durham also became the master of ceremonies for The Bill Dooley Show and The Dean Smith Show, television programs that aired throughout North Carolina.{{cite news |author= |title=Mouth of the South Called Them As Only He Could See Them |url=https://alumni.unc.edu/news/mouth-of-the-south-called-them-as-only-he-could-see-them/ | work=Carolina Alumni Review |location=Chapel Hill, North Carolina |date=February 19, 2008 |access-date=March 18, 2017 }}{{cite book |author= |title=University of North Carolina ... football blue book for press and radio |url=https://archive.org/details/universityofnort1971unse |location=Chapel Hill, NC |publisher=University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |date=1971}}{{cite book |author= |title=U.N.C. basketball blue book |url=https://archive.org/details/uncbasketballblu19711972 |location=Chapel Hill, NC |publisher=University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |date=1971}}

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.{{cite book|title=Carolina football|date=1985|publisher=University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill|location=Chapel Hill, North Carolina|url=https://archive.org/details/carolinafootball1985unse|access-date=April 3, 2017}}{{cite book|title=U.N.C. basketball blue book|date=1984|publisher=University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill|url=https://archive.org/details/uncbasketballblu19841985|access-date=April 3, 2017}} Jefferson-Pilot also developed call-in and five-minute drive-time radio shows with Smith and Mack Brown.{{cite book|title=Carolina football|date=1992|publisher=University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill|location=Chapel Hill, North Carolina|page=207|url=https://archive.org/details/carolinafootball1992unse|access-date=April 2, 2017}}{{cite book|title=U.N.C. basketball blue book|date=1992|publisher=University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill|location=Chapel Hill, North Carolina|page=158|url=https://archive.org/details/uncbasketballblu19921993|access-date=April 3, 2017}} 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.{{cite book|title=Carolina football|date=1993|publisher=University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill|location=Chapel Hill, North Carolina|page=222|url=https://archive.org/details/carolinafootball1993unse|access-date=April 2, 2017}}{{cite book|title=U.N.C. basketball blue book|date=1993|publisher=University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill|location=Chapel Hill, NC|page=42|url=https://archive.org/details/uncbasketballblu19931994|access-date=April 3, 2017}} Smith, on the other hand, retained Jefferson-Pilot's John Kilgo as host of his radio and television shows.{{cite book|last1=Chansky|first1=Art|title=100 Things North Carolina Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die|date=2015|publisher=Triumph Books|location=Chicago}}

In 1999, Learfield Communications bought the multimedia rights from Tar Heel Sports Marketing.{{cite news|last1=Chansky|first1=Art|title=The Site That Knew The Score|url=http://chapelboro.com/town-square/columns/sports-notebook/the-site-that-knew-the-score|access-date=April 4, 2017|work=WCHL (AM)|date=June 20, 2012|location=Chapel Hill, North Carolina}} 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, 1993, 2005, and 2009. He also called 23 bowl games.{{cite news |author= |title=Woody Durham hits airwaves on WNCW |url=https://www.isothermal.edu/news/2014/11/woody-durham-hits-airwaves-on-wncw.html | work=Isothermal Community College |location=Spindale, North Carolina |date=November 13, 2014 |access-date=March 11, 2017 }}

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.{{cite news|title=UNC's Official Athletic Site TarHeelBlue.com Relaunches|url=http://www.goheels.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&SITE=UNC&DB_OEM_ID=3350&ATCLID=205479779&SPID=108097&SPSID=668181|access-date=April 16, 2017|work=GoHeels.com|publisher=University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill|date=January 7, 2000|location=Chapel Hill, NC}}

After forty years as the Voice of the Tar Heels, Durham announced his retirement on April 20, 2011.{{cite news |author= |title=Woody Durham To Retire As Voice Of The Tar Heels |url=http://www.goheels.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&SITE=UNC&DB_OEM_ID=3350&ATCLID=205493208&SPID=108097&SPSID=668181 | work=GoHeels.com |location=Chapel Hill, North Carolina |date=April 19, 2011 |publisher=University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |access-date=March 10, 2017 }} A nationwide search was conducted to find his successor. Jones Angell, who worked with the Tar Heel Sports Network as a host and as Durham's color analyst, was named the new Voice of the Tar Heels approximately two months later.{{cite news |last=Amato |first=Neil |date=November 11, 2011 |title=A Radio Dream Realized |url=http://www.goheels.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&SITE=UNC&DB_OEM_ID=3350&ATCLID=205471213&SPID=12965&SPSID=668156 | work=GoHeels.com |location=Chapel Hill, North Carolina |access-date=March 12, 2017 }}

Some of Durham's expressions during his broadcasts include "Go where you go and do what you do," "Go to war, Miss Agnes"{{cite news |last=Chansky |first=Art |date=July 1, 2011 |title=You Can Call Him Jones |url=http://chapelboro.com/town-square/columns/sports-notebook/you-can-call-him-jones | work=WCHL (AM) |location=Chapel Hill, North Carolina |access-date=March 7, 2017 }}{{cite news |author= |title=Fans' Favorite Woody Durham Memories |url=http://www.goheels.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=205485034 | work=GoHeels.com |location=Chapel Hill, North Carolina |date=April 22, 2011 |publisher=University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |access-date=March 13, 2017 }} (a phrase Durham heard from Chuck Thompson during a Baltimore Colts game), and "Good gosh gurdy."{{cite news |last=Carter |first=Andrew |date=March 9, 2017 |title=Woody's Quiet Fight |url=http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/acc/unc/article136848938.html | work=The News & Observer |location=Raleigh, North Carolina |access-date=March 13, 2017 }} 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.{{cite book|last1=Black|first1=Jimmy|last2=Fowler|first2=Scott|title=Jimmy Black's Tales from the Tar Heels|date=2006|location=Champaign, IL|publisher=Sports Publishing LLC|page=7}}{{cite journal|last1=Broun|first1=Danny|editor1-last=Mosley|editor1-first=Betty|title=Carolina Sports, a Tradition of Excellence|journal=Tar Heel Junior Historian|date=1983|volume=22|issue=2|page=15|url=http://digital.ncdcr.gov/cdm/ref/collection/p16062coll9/id/127102|access-date=April 16, 2017|publisher=Tar Heel Junior Historian Association|location=Raleigh, NC}} Durham repeated this play call for a homecoming ceremony at Kenan Stadium after the 1982 championship game, before the members of that championship team spoke to the audience.{{cite web|last1=Hilliard|first1=Jack|last2=Fletcher|first2=Stephen|title=The Madness of March: Two Championships Uniquely Remembered (Part Two)|url=http://blogs.lib.unc.edu/morton/index.php/2012/03/the-madness-of-march-two-championships-uniquely-remembered-part-two/|website=A View to Hugh|publisher=University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill|access-date=April 17, 2017|location=Chapel Hill, NC|date=March 29, 2012}}

In addition to Mixon and Angell, Durham's broadcast partners have included Phil Ford, Charlie Justice, and Eric Montross.{{cite news|title=Time Out With the Score: 40 Years and Done for Durham|url=https://alumni.unc.edu/news/time-out-with-the-score-40-years-and-done-for-durham/|access-date=April 23, 2017|work=Carolina Alumni Review|agency=University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill|date=April 20, 2011|location=Chapel Hill, NC}}

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.{{cite news|last1=Northam|first1=Ran|title=Voice Of The Tar Heels To Release Much Anticipated Book|url=http://chapelboro.com/Voice-Of-The-Tar-Heels-To-Release-Much-Anticipated/13961505|access-date=April 16, 2017|work=WCHL (AM)|date=August 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120814225939/http://chapelboro.com/Voice-Of-The-Tar-Heels-To-Release-Much-Anticipated/13961505|archive-date=August 14, 2012|url-status=dead}} The book was awarded a Willie Parker Peace History Book Award from the North Carolina Society of Historians in 2013.{{cite web|title=2013 Winners|url=http://www.ncsocietyofhistorians.org/2013_Winners.php|website=North Carolina Society of Historians|access-date=April 16, 2017}}

Durham wrote editorials for the now defunct magazine CAROLINA: The Magazine.{{cite news|title=CAROLINA: The Magazine, Oct. 29|url=http://www.goheels.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=3350&ATCLID=209293969|access-date=April 16, 2017|work=GoHeels.com|publisher=University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill}}

Durham hosted a radio program, Woody Durham’s Great Moments in Sports History, for WNCW. The program, which first aired in December 2014, was a 60- to 90-second show focusing on little-known sports history facts.

• J. Robert Marlowe Award of Merit (1971), by the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters.
• Distinguished Service Awards, by the Greensboro Jaycees and the North Carolina High School Athletic Association.
• Sports Hall of Fame (1993), by Stanly County, North Carolina.{{cite book|title=U.N.C. basketball blue book|date=1994|publisher=University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill|location=Chapel Hill, NC|page=52|url=https://archive.org/details/uncbasketballblu19941995|access-date=April 17, 2003}}
• Carolina Priceless Gem Award (1994), by UNC Chapel Hill.
• Distinguished Service Medal (1995), by UNC General Alumni Association.{{cite journal|date=2005|title=GAA Honors Alumni With Distinguished Service Medals|url=http://www.carolinaalumnireview.com/carolinaalumnireview/19950708/?pg=36&pm=1&u1=friend|journal=Carolina Alumni Review|location=Chapel Hill, NC|publisher=University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill|issue=July/August|page=34|access-date=April 19, 2017|url-access=subscription }}
• William R. Davie Award (2000), by UNC Chapel Hill Board of Trustees.{{cite news|url=http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/nov00/daward111500.htm|title=Trustees honor four with William R. Davie Award|date=November 15, 2000|work=UNC News Service|access-date=April 19, 2017|publisher=University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill|location=Chapel Hill, NC}}
• Russell Blunt Legends Award (2003), by NCHSAA.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/carolinafootball2010a|title=Carolina football|date=2010|publisher=University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill|location=Chapel Hill, NC|page=174|access-date=April 20, 2017}}
• Lindsey Nelson Outstanding Sportscaster Award (2005), by All-American Football Foundation.
• Sports Hall of Fame (2008), by City of Mebane.{{cite web|url=http://www.visitalamance.com:80/events/|title=Events in Alamance County, NC|website=VisitAlamance.com|publisher=Burlington/Alamance County NC Convention & Visitors Bureau|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080602000216/http://www.visitalamance.com/events/|archive-date=June 2, 2008|url-status=dead|access-date=April 19, 2017}}
• Outstanding Service Award (2010), by UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.{{cite news|url=http://www.goheels.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&SITE=UNC&DB_OEM_ID=3350&ATCLID=205459360&SPID=12962&SPSID=667864|title=Woody Durham To Receive NFF Schenkel Award|date=August 18, 2011|work=GoHeels.com|access-date=April 17, 2017|publisher=University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill|location=Chapel Hill, NC}}
• 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.{{cite news|url=http://www.utsports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/032017aab.html|title=Beamer, Durham To Be Honored at O&W Game|date=March 20, 2017|work=UTSports.com|access-date=March 21, 2017}}{{cite tweet|number=855801326697140224|user=WesDurham|title=Thanks to @knoxqbclub & East Tenn @NFFNetwork chapter for honoring my Dad with Lindsay Nelson Award this morning in Knoxville.|author-link=Wes Durham|date=April 22, 2017|last=Durham|first=Wes}}

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.{{cite web|title=State Awards - North Carolina|url=https://nationalsportsmedia.org/awards/state-awards/north-carolina|website=National Sports Media Association|publisher=National Sports Media Association|access-date=April 17, 2017}}{{cite web|title=Woody Durham|url=https://footballfoundation.org/roster.aspx?rp_id=258|website=National Football Foundation|publisher=National Football Foundation|access-date=April 17, 2017}} 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{{cite news|title=Woody Durham to be Inducted into NCAB Hall of Fame|url=http://www.goheels.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=3350&ATCLID=205472460|access-date=April 17, 2017|work=GoHeels.com|publisher=University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill|date=April 3, 2004|location=Chapel Hill, NC}} and the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame on May 19, 2005.{{cite web |url =http://www.ncshof.org/woodydurham |title=Woody Durham 2005 |last=Pace |first=Lee |website =North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame |access-date=April 18, 2017 }}

An endowed professorship 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.{{cite web|title=The Woody Durham Distinguished Professorship Fund|url=http://college.unc.edu/foundation/distinguished-professorships/the-woody-durham-distinguished-professorship-fund/|website=College of Arts & Sciences|publisher=UNC College of Arts & Sciences|access-date=April 19, 2017}} Durham received the Curt Gowdy Media Award for his contributions to basketball during the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony in September 2015.{{cite press release |url=http://www.goheels.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=209888582 |location=Chapel Hill, North Carolina |title=Woody Durham Wins Gowdy Award | publisher=Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame |date=February 13, 2015 |access-date=March 19, 2017 }} 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.{{cite AV media |date=February 18, 2016 |title=UNC Men's Basketball: Woody Durham Honored in Smith Center for Gowdy Award |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQ6DJwMl92E |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211219/aQ6DJwMl92E |archive-date=2021-12-19 |url-status=live|access-date=March 19, 2017 |location=Chapel Hill, North Carolina |publisher=UNCTarHeelsAthletics }}{{cbignore}}

Durham was named a Town Treasure, an award honoring exceptional citizens of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, North Carolina, by the Chapel Hill Historical Society for his work with fundraising efforts around the city of Chapel Hill.{{cite news|last1=Loughran|first1=Rosie|title=9 Chapel Hill and Carrboro residents named 'town treasures'|url=http://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2016/11/nine-chapel-hill-and-carrboro-residents-named-town-treasures|access-date=April 16, 2017|work=The Daily Tar Heel|date=November 7, 2016|location=Chapel Hill, NC}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.chapelhillhistoricalsociety.org/en/2011/pdf/woody_durham_2016.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2017-04-17 |archive-date=2017-04-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170417161035/http://www.chapelhillhistoricalsociety.org/en/2011/pdf/woody_durham_2016.pdf |url-status=dead }}

Durham was elected to the National Sports Media Association Hall of Fame on January 16, 2018.{{cite news|title=WOODY DURHAM ELECTED TO NSMA HALL OF FAME|url=http://goheels.com/news/2018/1/16/mens-basketball-woody-durham-elected-to-nsma-hall-of-fame.aspx|access-date=16 January 2018|work=GoHeels.com|publisher=University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill|date=16 January 2018|location=Chapel Hill, North Carolina}} He was formally inducted to the Hall during NSMA's fifty-ninth Award Weekend on June 25, 2018, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. 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.{{cite news |last1=Moody |first1=Aaron |title=A hat trick for UNC's Woody Durham as he enters National Sports Media Hall of Fame |url=https://www.newsobserver.com/sports/article213837954.html |access-date=26 June 2018 |work=The News & Observer |date=26 June 2018}} Wes Durham, who accepted Durham's Hall of Fame award on Durham's behalf, told the Winston-Salem Journal 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.{{cite news |last1=Dell |first1=John |title=Woody Durham goes into National Sports Media Association Hall of Fame |url=https://www.greensboro.com/sports/accxtra/woody-durham-goes-into-national-sports-media-association-hall-of/article_363be415-2037-5818-8691-5cfcbece49ff.html |access-date=26 June 2018 |work=location=Raleigh, NC |date=26 June 2018 |location=Greensboro, NC}}

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 of Chapel Hill; his fundraising efforts helped build and expand the home. He also was involved with the Eastern North Carolina chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Durham was diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia in January 2016. In June 2016, Durham wrote a letter that was posted on GoHeels.com, announcing that he would retire from public speaking.{{cite news|last1=Durham|first1=Woody|title=Open Letter From Woody Durham|url=http://www.goheels.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=3350&ATCLID=210990393|access-date=April 4, 2017|work=GoHeels.com|publisher=University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill|date=June 1, 2016}}

Durham's eldest son, Wes Durham, is the former play-by-play radio voice of ACC rival Georgia Tech and current play-by-play radio voice of the Atlanta Falcons. His youngest son, Taylor, is currently the play-by-play announcer for the Elon Phoenix.

Durham died on March 7, 2018, of complications from primary progressive aphasia.

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Category:1941 births

Category:2018 deaths

Category:North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball announcers

Category:North Carolina Tar Heels football announcers

Category:American sports journalists

Category:College basketball announcers in the United States

Category:College football announcers

Category:American radio sports announcers

Category:University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni

Category:Deaths from dementia in North Carolina

Category:Deaths from primary progressive aphasia

Category:People from Mebane, North Carolina

Category:People from Albemarle, North Carolina