Patrick, Verducci, Wilbon Voted to NSMA HoF; Harlan, Wojnarowski Win Nat'l Awards

Caray, Ledford, Young also voted to Hall. 110 other win state sportscaster and sportswriter of year awards in voting by NSMA members

WINSTON-SALEM, NORTH CAROLINA, UNITED STATES, January 13, 2020 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Dan Patrick, Tom Verducci, and Michael Wilbon have been voted into the National Sports Media Association Hall of Fame, NSMA executive director Dave Goren announced.

Three deceased legends, Skip Caray, Cawood Ledford, and Dick Young will also enter the Hall, the results of the annual vote of the NSMA's membership.

The NSMA will also honor the 2019 national sportscaster of the year, Kevin Harlan, 2019 national sportswriter of the year, Adrian Wojnarowski, and 110 state sportscasters and sportswriters of the year from 49 states, plus the District of Columbia. They will be honored at the 61st annual NSMA awards banquet, June 29, 2020 in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Patrick, host of The Dan Patrick Show, got his start in local television, before becoming a sports reporter at CNN. But it was after moving to ESPN and teaming with Keith Olbermann on the network's nightly SportsCenter shows that he made his mark. After leaving ESPN, Patrick went out on his own a with nationally-syndicated radio show. The show now airs in more than 300 markets in the U.S., and is simulcast on TV. Patrick is a two-time winner of the NSMA's national sportscaster of the year award.

Verducci is senior baseball writer at Sports Illustrated, where he has written for 27 years. Winner of three straight NSMA national sportswriter of the year awards, he has branched out to television in the last decade, serving as a baseball analyst and sideline reporter for FOX Sports, Turner Sports, and the MLB Network. Verducci is also the author of several books.

Wilbon began his newspaper career at The Washington Post in 1980. While serving as a reporter and columnist in 2001, he ventured into television, co-hosting Pardon the Interruption with Post colleague Tony Kornheiser, a 2019 NSMA Hall of Fame inductee. Wilbon left the Post for a full-time position at ESPN in 2010. During that time, he has filled several reporting and analyst roles.

Caray joins his father, Harry Caray, to become the first father and son duo elected to the NSMA Hall of Fame. After starting out calling play-by-play for St. Louis University and the St. Louis Hawks, Caray moved to Atlanta to call Atlanta Braves' games on WTBS. WTBS became one of the first local stations carried on other cable systems throughout the country. As a result, Caray became one of the most well-known faces and voices in televised sports. His 33-year career with the Braves ended upon his death in 2008.

Ledford was the 39-year "voice" of the University of Kentucky Wildcats, calling UK basketball and football games on a network that stretched beyond the borders of the Commonwealth. Ledford also called play-by-play on the national broadcast of the NCAA Men's Final Four on the CBS Radio Network, as well as several Kentucky Derbies. Ledford died in 2001.

Young spent 45 years as a sportswriter and columnist at the New York Daily News, before moving to the rival New York Post in 1982. Known for his abrasive personality and style, Young was elected to the writers' wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1978, and was a former president of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. He died in 1987.

NATIONAL AWARDS

Now a two-time winner of the NSMA national sportscaster of the year award, Harlan can be seen and heard on several platforms. He calls NFL football and college basketball on CBS, the NBA on Turner Sports, and Monday Night Football on Westwood One. He spent his early career in Kansas City, where he was the radio and TV voice of the NBA’s Kansas City Kings, then called college basketball on the University of Kansas Jayhawks Radio Network, and spent nine seasons as the radio voice of the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs.

Wojnarowski becomes the sixth person to win three straight NSMA national sportswriter of the year awards, joining Verducci, Rick Reilly, Frank Deford, Jim Murray, and Red Smith. Now ESPN's Senior NBA Insider, "Woj" had a newspaper career that included stops at The Record (Bergen County, NJ), Fresno Bee, and Waterbury Republican-American, before a near 10-year stint at Yahoo Sports. The two-time winner of the Associated Press Sports Editors’ “Columnist of the Year” award is also an award-winning author.

NOTABLE AMONG STATE WINNERS

● Indiana University radio play-by-play announcer Don Fischer was voted Indiana sportscaster of the year for the 27th time;
● Jack Ebling, a three-time Michigan sportswriter of the year, was voted Michigan sportscaster of the year for the second time;
● Davis Potter, who won the 2015 Mississippi sportswriter of the year award, was voted Wyoming sportscaster of the year for the first time;
● John Canzano, who won five Oregon sportswriter of the year awards, was voted Oregon sportscaster of the year for the second time.

For the complete list of state, national, and Hall of Fame winners, and more information on the NSMA, click here.

About the National Sports Media Association
The National Sports Media Association, Inc.is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, which seeks to develop educational opportunities for those who are interested in pursuing a career in sports media, through networking, interning, mentoring and scholarship programs. The NSMA also honors, preserves and celebrates the diverse legacy of sports media in the United States.

Founded in 1959 as the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association in Salisbury, N.C., the NSSA added its Hall of Fame in 1962, with Grantland Rice as its first member. The organization rebranded to the National Sports Media Association in 2016 and moved to Winston-Salem, N.C. one year later. For sponsorship and membership information, contact Dave Goren at dgoren@nationalsportsmedia.org.

David Goren
National Sports Media Association
+1 336-655-2976
email us here
Visit us on social media:
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn