Woody Lombardi Durham was an American play-by-play radio announcer for the North Carolina Tar Heels football and men's basketball programs from 1971 to 2011.
32 Facts About Woody Durham
2.
Woody Durham grew up a Tar Heel fan; as a child, Durham attended Tar Heel football games with his family after World War II.
3.
Woody Durham was close with Bob Harris, who would eventually become the Voice of the Duke Blue Devils.
4.
In 1957, Woody Durham was a guard for Albemarle High School's football team; Harris was the team's manager.
5.
In 1961, while Woody 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.
6.
Woody Durham graduated with a bachelor's degree in radio, television and motion pictures in 1963.
7.
Woody Durham began his career at WZKY, a small AM radio station in his hometown of Albemarle, at age 16.
8.
Woody Durham was the sports director of WUNC-TV while he was an undergraduate.
9.
Woody Durham did color commentary for Wake Forest Demon Deacons football, starting in 1964.
10.
When Wake Forest decided to fire their football coach in favor of hiring a new coach, Woody Durham moved on to call Guilford College football for two years.
11.
In 1975, Woody Durham was the president of both the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame and the Atlantic Coast Sportswriters' Association.
12.
In 1977, Woody Durham became the Director of Sports and Sports Development at WRDU-TV.
13.
Woody Durham took over from the radio network's founder, Bill Currie, the "Mouth of the South," when Currie took a television job in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
14.
Woody Durham became the master of ceremonies for The Bill Dooley Show and The Dean Smith Show, television programs that aired throughout North Carolina.
15.
In 1981, Woody Durham was named vice president and executive sports director at Tar Heel Sports Marketing.
16.
Woody 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.
17.
Woody 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.
18.
Woody Durham wrote editorials for the now defunct magazine CAROLINA: The Magazine.
19.
Woody Durham was named North Carolina Sportscaster of the Year thirteen times, last winning the award in 2009.
20.
Woody Durham was inducted into the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters in 2004 and the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame on May 19,2005.
21.
An endowed professorship made in Durham's name, the Woody Durham Distinguished Professorship Fund, was established in 2005.
22.
Woody 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.
23.
Woody 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.
24.
Woody Durham was elected to the National Sports Media Association Hall of Fame on January 16,2018.
25.
Woody Durham was formally inducted to the Hall during NSMA's fifty-ninth Award Weekend on June 25,2018, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
26.
Woody 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.
27.
Woody Durham married Jean after graduating from UNC Chapel Hill in 1963.
28.
Woody Durham was most proud of his work with the Ronald McDonald House of Chapel Hill; his fundraising efforts helped build and expand the home.
29.
Woody Durham was involved with the Eastern North Carolina chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
30.
Woody Durham was diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia in January 2016.
31.
In June 2016, Woody Durham wrote a letter that was posted on GoHeels.
32.
Woody Durham died on March 7,2018, of complications from primary progressive aphasia.