All-time NSMA State Award Winners

05.18.2020

Each year, the National Sports Media Association honors Sportscasters and Sportswriters of the Year from 49 states, plus the District of Columbia, at its awards banquet, held in Winston-Salem, NC. These winners are recognized and voted on by NSMA members for their accomplishments over the past year covering sports.

NSMA intern Nihar Maskara, who just completed his freshman year at Wake Forest, compiled the entire list of state winners, and found some interesting stats.

Here are the ten people who have won both a Sportswriter and Sportscaster state award:

Larry Birleffi, WY
John Canzano, OR
Buddy Diliberto, LA
Jack Ebling, MI
Jim Irwin, WI and NM
Dwight Jaynes, OR
Hod Nielsen, SD
Mark Smith, NM
Maury White, MT and IO
John Romero, NV

Here is the list of people who have won state awards in different states:

Sportswriters

Mike Downey, CA, IL, and MI
Tom Kensler, CO, OK, and TX
Dave Kindred, DC,GA, and KY
Skip Bayless, IL and TX
John Blanchette, MT and WA
Jerry Brewer, KY and WA
Rick Brown, IA and KS
Steve Buckley, MA and ME
Al Carter, OK and TX
David Casstevens, AZ and TX
Jack Chevalier, DE and MD
Joe Christensen, MD and MN
Bob Collins, CO and IN
Tom Cushman, CO and PA
Bill Dwyre, CA and WI
Don Fair, OR and WA
Bob Ford, IN and PA
Terry Frei, CO and OR
Ray Giffin, ID and WY
Ron Green Jr, NC and SC
Steve Guback, DC and VA
Bill Guthrie, CT and NV
Bob Hartzell, KS and OK
Herman Helms, NC and SC
Lynn Henning, MI and MN
Ron Higgins, LA and TN
Bob Hurt, KS and OK
Kevin Iole, NV and VT
Richard Justice, DC and TX
Steve Kelley, OR and WA
Paul Klee, IL and WY
Gil LeBreton, LA and TX
Thom Loverro, DC and MD
Mike Lowe, ME and NH
Steve Luhm, UT and WY
Harry Missildine, ID and WA
Davis Potter, MS and WY
Joe Rexrode, MI and TN
Steve Rudman, UT and WA
Mike Scherting, MT and ND
Mark Whicker, NC and PA
Bud Withers, OR and WA

Sportscasters

Charlie McAlexander, KY, MS, SC, and TN
Ray Scott, FL, MN, PA, and WI
Warren Swain, IA, NE, OR, and VA
Bob Lobel, MA, NH, and VT
Connie Alexander, NM and TX
Bruce Beck, NJ and NY
Bob Blackburn, OR and WA
Marty Brennaman, OH and VA
Bob Brown, NJ and NM
Kevin Calabro, OR and WA
Harry Caray, IL and MO
Paul Carey, MI and MN
Paul Chapman, MI and VT
Tom Dillon, AZ and NM
Bryan Field, DE and NJ
Scott Garceau, MD and NM
Mike Grimm, IA and MN
Tom Hedrick, KS and MO
Mitch Holthus, KS and MO
Pat Hughes, IL and WI
Harry Kalas, HI and PA
Ken Korach, CA and NV
Russ Langer, NM and NV
Ted Leitner, OK and CA
Doug Logan, NY and VA
Steve Martin, ME and NC
Joe McConnell, IL and IN
Mac McDonald, NC and VA
Bob Melvin, NH and VT
Al Michaels, HI and OH
Jack Michaels, NC and ND
Scott Miller, MT and ND
Max Morgan, AR and MD
Leo Morris, NC and WY
Larry Munson, GA and TN
Jim Powell, SC and WI
Bob Rathbun, GA and VA
Gary Sanders, AL and TN
Greg Sharpe, KS and NE
Scott Wahle, MA and NE
Rick Weaver, FL and NE
Ken Wilson, HI and MO
Warner Wolf, DC and NY

Here is the list of the five sportswriters and sportscasters who have won the most NSMA state awards:

Sportswriters

Charley Walters, MN; 24
Dick Connor, CO; 22
Tom McEwen, FL; 19
Furman Bisher, GA; 19
Si Burick, OH; 19

Sportscasters

Vin Scully, CA; 33
Bob Curtis, ID; 33
Don Fischer, IN; 27
John Ward, TN; 24
Bob Martin, CO; 22

Here is a list of sportswriters and sportscasters with the most awards in each state:

Sportswriters

State	Name	# of All-time Wins
AK - Alaska	Lew Freedman	10
AL - Alabama	John Pruett	16
AR - Arkansas	Jim Bailey	18
AZ - Arizona	Joe Gilmartin	16
CA - California	Scott Ostler	14
CO - Colorado	Dick Connor	22
CT - Connecticut	Jeff Jacobs	10
DC - Washington D.C.	Dave Kindred	5
DE - Delaware	Hal Bodley	12
FL - Florida	Tom McEwen	19
GA - Georgia	Furman Bisher	19
HI - Hawaii	Stephen Tsai	6
ID - Idaho	Larry Hovey	8
IL - Illinois	Bob Verdi	18
IN - Indiana	Bob Hammel	17
IA - Iowa	Rick Brown	11
KS - Kansas	Bob Hentzen	15
KY - Kentucky	Billy Reed	8
LA - Louisiana	Peter Finney	17
MA - Massachusetts	Dan Shaughnessy	13
MD - Maryland	Phil Jackman	15
ME - Maine	Pete Warner	8
MI - Michigan	Joe Falls and Jerry Green	11
MN - Minnesota	Charley Walters	24
MO - Missouri	Joe McGuff	7
MS - Mississippi	Rick Cleveland	13
MT - Montana	Scott Mansch	10
NC - North Carolina	Wilt Browning and Ronald Green	5
ND - North Dakota	Greg DeVillers	7
NE - Nebraska	Lee Barfknecht	12
NH - New Hampshire	Allen Lessels	12
NJ - New Jersey	Tom Luicci	10
NM - New Mexico	Phill Casaus and Pancho Morris	9
NV - Nevada	Steve Carp and Ed Graney	6
NY - New York	George Vecsey and Dick Young	12
OH - Ohio	Si Burick	19
OK - Oklahoma	Bill Connors	11
OR - Oregon	Leo Davis and George Pasero	7
PA - Pennsylvania	Bill Lyon	7
RI - Rhode Island	Rick McGowan	14
SC - South Carolina	Ken Burger and Leslie Timms	7
SD - South Dakota	Don Lindner	11
TN - Tennessee	David Climer	8
TX - Texas	Blackie Sherrod	16
UT - Utah	Lee Benson	14
VA - Virginia	David Teel	13
VT - Vermont	Mike Donoghue	10
WA - Washington	John Blanchette	9
WI - Wisconsin	Cliff Christl	7
WV - West Virginia	Chuck Landon	10
WY - Wyoming	Bob Hammond	15

Sportscasters

State	Name	# of Wins
AK - Alaska	John Carpenter	7
AL - Alabama	Jim Fyffe	9
AR - Arkansas	Paul Eells	13
AZ - Arizona	Tom Dillon	21
CA - California	Vin Scully	33
CO - Colorado	Bob Martin	22
CT - Connecticut	Rich Coppola and Joe D’Ambrosio	9
DC - Washington D.C.	Frank Herzog	9
DE - Delaware	Bob Kelley	19
FL - Florida	Gene Deckerhoff	15
GA - Georgia	Wes Durham and Pete Van Wieren	11
HI - Hawaii	Jim Leahey	17
ID - Idaho	Bob Curtis	33
IL - Illinois	Harry Caray	10
IN - Indiana	Don Fischer	27
IA - Iowa	Bob Brooks and Ron Gonder	8
KS - Kansas	Bob Davis	14
KY - Kentucky	Cawood Ledford	22
LA - Louisiana	Buddy Diliberto	15
MA - Massachusetts	Mike Lynch	16
MD - Maryland	Vince Bagli	10
ME - Maine	Rich Kimball	7
MI - Michigan	Ernie Harwell	19
MN - Minnesota	Herb Carneal	20
MO - Missouri	Jack Buck	22
MS - Mississippi	Jack Cristil	22
MT - Montana	Mick Holien	13
NC - North Carolina	Woody Durham	13
ND - North Dakota	Lee Halvorson	7
NE - Nebraska	Kevin Kugler	9
NH - New Hampshire	Jim Jeannotte	23
NJ - New Jersey	Tom Williams	10
NM - New Mexico	Van Tate	12
NV - Nevada	Russ Langer	10
NY - New York	Marv Albert	19
OH - Ohio	Marty Brennaman	16
OK - Oklahoma	Bob Barry Sr.	15
OR - Oregon	Darrell Aune	12
PA - Pennsylvania	Harry Kalas	17
RI - Rhode Island	Chris Clark	16
SC - South Carolina	Bob Fulton	8
SD - South Dakota	Danny Olson	8
TN - Tennessee	John Ward	24
TX - Texas	Brad Sham	12
UT - Utah	Bill Howard	8
VA - Virginia	Bill Roth	11
VT - Vermont	Jack Healey	20
WA - Washington	Bob Robertson	12
WI - Wisconsin	Jim Irwin and Matt Lepay	10
WV - West Virginia	Steve Cotton	14
WY - Wyoming	Dave Walsh	9

For all of the great sports media personnel there are, none of it would be possible without the outlets that give them the platform. Many are iconic brands in their home states.

Here is a list of the media outlets that have the most wins in each state:

Sportswriters

State	Outlet	# of Affiliate Wins
AK - Alaska	Anchorage Daily News	12
AL - Alabama	The Huntsville Times	23
AR - Arkansas	Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Little Rock	24
AZ - Arizona	The Phoenix Gazette	16
CA - California	Los Angeles Times	30
CO - Colorado	The Denver Post	46
CT - Connecticut	The Hartford Courant	36
DC - Washington D.C.	The Washington Post	29
DE - Delaware	News Journal, Wilmington	42
FL - Florida	The Tampa Tribune	22
GA - Georgia	Atlanta Journal-Constitution	59
HI - Hawaii	Honolulu Star-Advertiser	41
ID - Idaho	Boise Idaho Statesman	26
IL - Illinois	Chicago Tribune	32
IN - Indiana	Indianapolis Star	20
IA - Iowa	The Des Moines Register	37
KS - Kansas	Topeka Capital-Journal	49
KY - Kentucky	Lexington Herald-Leader and Louisville Courier-Journal	24
LA - Louisiana	The Times Picayune, New Orleans	26
MA - Massachusetts	The Boston Globe	46
MD - Maryland	The Sun, Baltimore	46
ME - Maine	Bangor Daily News	30
MI - Michigan	Detroit Free Press	32
MN - Minnesota	St. Paul Pioneer Press	31
MO - Missouri	St. Louis Post Dispatch	26
MS - Mississippi	The Clarion Ledger, Jackson	18
MT - Montana	Great Falls Tribune	25
NC - North Carolina	The Charlotte Observer	19
ND - North Dakota	The Forum, Fargo	17
NE - Nebraska	Omaha World-Herald, Omaha	38
NH - New Hampshire	The Union Leader, Manchester	28
NJ - New Jersey	The Star-Ledger, Newark	18
NM - New Mexico	Albuquerque Journal, Albuquerque	29
NV - Nevada	Las Vegas Review-Journal	32
NY - New York	The New York Times	29
OH - Ohio	Dayton Daily News	33
OK - Oklahoma	The Daily Oklahoman, Oklahoma City	29
OR - Oregon	The Oregonian, Portland	39
PA - Pennsylvania	The Philadelphia Daily News	24
RI - Rhode Island	Providence Journal	26
SC - South Carolina	The State, Columbia	21
SD - South Dakota	The Rapid City Journal	19
TN - Tennessee	The Tennessean, Nashville	23
TX - Texas	Dallas Times Herald	17
UT - Utah	The Deseret News, Salt Lake City	30
VA - Virginia	Richmond Times-Dispatch	22
VT - Vermont	The Burlington Free Press	35
WA - Washington	Seattle Post-Intelligencer	27
WI - Wisconsin	The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel	43
WV - West Virginia	Charleston Daily Mail	18
WY - Wyoming	Laramie Daily Boomerang	23

Sportscasters

State	Outlet	# of Affiliate Wins
AK - Alaska	KTUU TV, Anchorage	8
AL - Alabama	WAPI, Birmingham	13
AR - Arkansas	KATV, Little Rock	22
AZ - Arizona	KTAR, Phoenix	24
CA - California	Los Angeles Dodgers	26
CO - Colorado	KOA, Denver	28
CT - Connecticut	WTIC, Hartford	32
DC - Washington D.C.	WRC	11
DE - Delaware	WILM, Wilmington	18
FL - Florida	WFLA, TV, Tampa	15
GA - Georgia	WSB, Atlanta	9
HI - Hawaii	KGMB, Honolulu	11
ID - Idaho	KRPL, Moscow	19
IL - Illinois	WGN-TV, Chicago	17
IN - Indiana	WIRE, Indianapolis	15
IA - Iowa	WMT, Cedar Rapids	9
KS - Kansas	WIBW, Topeka	21
KY - Kentucky	WHAS, Louisville	19
LA - Louisiana	WWL-TV, New Orleans	23
MA - Massachusetts	WHDH, Boston	19
MD - Maryland	WBAL, Baltimore	24
ME - Maine	WZON, Bangor	11
MI - Michigan	WJR, Detroit	24
MN - Minnesota	WCCO, Minneapolis	37
MO - Missouri	KMOX, St. Louis	33
MS - Mississippi	WELO, Tupelo	17
MT - Montana	Grizzly Sports Network, Polson and KGVO, Missoula	8
NC - North Carolina	WPTF, Raleigh	9
ND - North Dakota	KNOX, Grand Forks	6
NE - Nebraska	KFOR, Lincoln	19
NH - New Hampshire	WKXL, Concord	25
NJ - New Jersey	WVNJ, Newark	10
NM - New Mexico	KRQE-TV, Albuquerque	15
NV - Nevada	KORK, Las Vegas	9
NY - New York	WNBC-TV, New York	35
OH - Ohio	Cincinnati Reds Network	15
OK - Oklahoma	KWTV, Oklahoma City	15
OR - Oregon	KEX, Portland	17
PA - Pennsylvania	KDKA, Pittsburgh	13
RI - Rhode Island	WJAR-TV, Providence	24
SC - South Carolina	South Carolina Gamecocks Sports Network	10
SD - South Dakota	KELO, Sioux Falls	11
TN - Tennessee	Vol Network, Knoxville	22
TX - Texas	WFAA, Dallas	12
UT - Utah	KSL-TV, Salt Lake City	14
VA - Virginia	Virginia Tech Hokies/IMG Sports Radio Network, Blacksburg	12
VT - Vermont	WSYB, Rutland	11
WA - Washington	KOMO, Seattle and Seattle SuperSonics	11
WI - Wisconsin	WTMJ-TV, Milwaukee	22
WV - West Virginia	Marshall IMG Sports Network, Huntington	13
WY - Wyoming	KFBC Radio, Cheyenne	10

It’s been awesome to look back at history and acknowledge the all-time sports media winners of the NSMA state award. There have been so many legends in the industry and there will be many more to come.

There is no doubt that it was very disheartening to cancel this year’s NSMA award show, but we will come back bigger and better than ever next year by honoring this year’s and next year’s award winners.

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