Curt Gowdy

Curtis Edward "Curt" Gowdy (July 31, 1919 – February 20, 2006) was an American sportscaster, well known as the longtime "voice" of the Boston Red Sox and for his coverage of many nationally televised sporting events, primarily for NBC Sports in the 1960s and 1970s.

Biography

Early years

The son of Edward Gowdy, a manager and dispatcher for the Union Pacific railroad, Curt Gowdy was born in Green River, Wyoming, and moved to Cheyenne at age six. As a high school basketball player in the 1930s, he led the state in scoring. He enrolled at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, where he was a 5'9" (175 cm) starter on the basketball team and played varsity tennis, lettering three years in both sports for the Cowboys. He was also a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity.

After graduating in 1942 with a degree in business statistics, Gowdy aimed to become a fighter pilot, but a ruptured disk in his spine from a previous sports injury cut short his service in the Army Air Force, leading to a medical discharge in 1943.

Hall of fame

A hall of fame is a structure housing memorials to famous or illustrious individuals in a certain field, usually chosen by a group of electors. The meaning of "fame" has changed over the years, originally meaning "renown" as opposed to today's more common meaning of "celebrity".

In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or museums which enshrine the honorees with sculptures, plaques, and displays of memorabilia and general information regarding the inducted recipient/s. Sometimes, the honorees' plaques may instead be posted on a wall (hence a '"wall of fame") or inscribed on a sidewalk (as in a "walk of fame" or an "avenue of fame"). In others, the hall of fame is more figurative and just simply consists of a list of names of noteworthy individuals (or sometimes groups, for ex. Sporting groups or Rock groups) maintained by an organization or community or honouring its inducted members legacy or legend.

The English-language term was popularised in the United States by the Hall of Fame for Great Americans at Bronx Community College, in New York City, completed in 1900. Its inspiration is the Ruhmeshalle ("Hall of Fame") in Munich, Germany. The Walhalla memorial in Bavaria, Germany, is an even earlier hall of fame, conceived in 1807 and built from 1900 to 1907.

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 seven years.

Recipients

This list of awardees is taken from the website of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Electronic

Print

Woody Durham

Woody Lombardi Durham (born August 8, 1941 in Mebane, North Carolina), known as "The Voice of the Tar Heels", was the longtime play-by-play radio announcer for the University of North Carolina Tar Heels football and basketball teams from 1971 to 2011.

Durham grew up in Albemarle, North Carolina, and was close with Bob Harris, longtime announcer for the UNC rival Duke Blue Devils. The two played on the same little league baseball team, were on the same 1957 high school football team, and sang together in the school chorus and a double quartet. Durham graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1963 with a Bachelor's degree in Radio, Television and Motion Pictures. He is a member of the Alpha Rho chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the national fraternity for men in music.

Career

Durham began his career at WZKY, a small AM radio station in his hometown of Albemarle, at age 16. Many Tar Heel fans brought their radios to Kenan Stadium and the Dean Smith Center, and fans watching on television often turned down the sound so they could hear Durham's radio call.

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 the sport's most complete library, in addition to promoting and preserving the history of basketball. Dedicated to Canadian doctor and inventor of the sport James Naismith, it was opened in, and inducted its first class in 1959.

As of September 11, 2015, when the induction ceremony took place, the Basketball Hall of Fame had honored 345 individuals and 10 teams.

History of the Springfield building

The Naismith Hall of Fame was established in 1959 by Lee Williams, a former athletic director at Colby College. In the 1960s, the Basketball Hall of Fame struggled to raise enough money for the construction of its first facility. However, during the following half a decade, the necessary amount was raised and the building opened on Feb. 17, 1968, less than one month after the National Basketball Association played its 18th All-Star Game. The Basketball Hall of Fame's Board named four inductees in its first year. In addition to honoring those who contributed to basketball, the Hall of Fame sought to make contributions of its own. In 1979, the Hall of Fame sponsored the Tip-Off Classic, a pre-season college basketball exhibition. This Tip-Off Classic has been the start to the college basketball season ever since - and although it does not always take place in Springfield, Massachusetts, generally it returns every few years.