RECORD SEVEN VOTED INTO NSMA HALL OF FAME AUERBACH, EMRICK WIN NATIONAL AWARDS 108 WIN STATE SPORTSCASTER, SPORTSWRITER HONORS
01.11.2021
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (January 11, 2021) – A record seven men have been voted into the National Sports Media Association Hall of Fame. They are sportscasters Bill King, Jim Nantz, and Dick Stockton, and sportswriters Larry Merchant, William Nack, William C. Rhoden, and Rick Telander.
In addition, NSMA members voted Mike “Doc” Emrick as the 2020 national sportscaster of the year, and Nicole Auerbach as the 2020 national sportswriter of the year.
Among the 108 who won 2020 state sportscaster or sportswriter of the year honors, 51 are first-time winners. They include two who passed away during the year: Detroit sports talk show host Jamie Samuelsen and 100-year-old Sid Hartman of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
The NSMA will honor its winners and Hall of Fame inductees during the organization’s 61st awards weekend, tentatively set for December 12-13, 2021, in Winston-Salem, N.C.
As the play-by-play voice of the San Francisco/Golden State Warriors, San Francisco Giants, University of California Golden Bears, Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders, and Oakland A’s, King was on hand to broadcast some of the most famous sports moments in San Francisco Bay Area history. He had a signature beard, a signature call (“Holy Toledo”), and provided for many, the soundtrack of Bay Area sporting life. King died in 2005.
Nantz is a five-time winner of the NSMA’s national sportscaster of the year award, a three-time Emmy winner, and a member of the Sports Broadcasting, Pro Football, and Naismith Basketball Halls of Fame. After stints at local television stations in Houston and Salt Lake City, Nantz moved to CBS in 1985 and has worked there ever since. Nantz is the network’s lead play-by-play announcer for its coverage of the NFL, the PGA Tour, and the NCAA Basketball Tournament.
Like Nantz, Stockton is one of sportscasting’s most versatile play-by-play announcers, with vast experience calling the NFL, Major League Baseball, and the NBA. Currently in his 27th year at FOX Sports, following 17 years at CBS, Stockton also has worked 19 years for Turner Sports. He began his career with local television sports jobs in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Boston.
Merchant may best be known as a boxing analyst with HBO Sports, but he began his career in the Army, as a sportswriter for the Stars and Stripes. After his discharge, Merchant wrote for the Wilmington (N.C.) News, where he became sports editor. From there it was on to the Associated Press before becoming sports editor and columnist at the Philadelphia Daily News. He then spent ten years as a New York Post general columnist. He joined HBO Sports as a boxing analyst in 1978, calling some of the sport’s marquee fights, before retiring in 2012.
What Merchant was to boxing, Nack was to horse racing. He spent 11 years writing about sports, politics, and the environment at Newsday, before going to work at Sports Illustrated in 1978. He spent 24 years at SI, covering every big horse racing story and winning several awards. He also wrote three books, including Secretariat: The Making of a Champion. Nack died in 2018.
Rhoden spent 34 years as an award-winning columnist at the New York Times, with more than a decade spent as the author of its “Sports of the Times” column. In 2006, he wrote the book, Forty Million Dollar Slaves, He was a frequent panelist on ESPN’s The Sports Reporters, and after retiring from the Times in 2016, he began as a writer-at-large for The Undefeated, ESPN’s digital site that explores the intersections of race, sports, and culture.
Telander has spent the last 26 years as an award-winning sportswriter at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he is now the senior sports columnist. Prior to that, he was an award-winning special contributor, then a senior writer at Sports Illustrated. Also an author, Telander wrote the book, Heaven is a Playground, which in 2002, SI ranked #15 in its Top 100 Sports Books of All Time.
Emrick was voted National Sportscaster of the Year for the fourth time. The Michigan resident retired in the Fall after calling the Stanley Cup Finals for NBC Sports. The Hockey Hall of Famer had been calling the sport professionally since 1973.
At age 31, Auerbach is the youngest to win an NSMA national award in the organization’s 61-year history. In her fourth year at The Athletic, she is one of its primary national college football writers. She also serves as a studio analyst for the Big Ten Network. Prior to The Athletic, she spent six years as a National College Sports Reporter at USA Today.
2020 NSMA Award Winners and 2021 NSMA Hall of Fame Inductees
*Deceased (# of times won in parentheses)
HALL OF FAME SPORTSCASTERS
*Bill King, Oakland A's/Raiders, SF Giants/Warriors
Jim Nantz, CBS
Dick Stockton, FOX, CBS, Turner
HALL OF FAME SPORTSWRITERS
Larry Merchant, Philadelphia Daily News, NY Post
*William Nack, Sports Illustrated
William C. Rhoden, New York Times
Rick Telander, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Sun-Times
NATIONAL SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Mike 'Doc' Emrick, NBC (4)
NATIONAL SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Nicole Auerbach, The Athletic (1)
ALABAMA SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
J.D. Byars, Jaguar Sports Properties, Mobile (2)
ALABAMA SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Ben Thomas, AL.com, Mobile (1)
ARIZONA SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Dave Pasch, Arizona Cardinals Radio Network, Phoenix (5)
ARIZONA SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR (TIE)
Doug Haller, The Athletic, Phoenix (4)
Kent Somers, Arizona Republic, Phoenix (4)
ARKANSAS SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Steve Sullivan, KATV-TV, Little Rock (6)
ARKANSAS SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Andrew Hutchinson, Hawgbeat.com, Fayetteville (1)
CALIFORNIA SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR (TIE)
Duane Kuiper, NBC Sports Bay Area, San Francisco (1)
Ted Leitner, Padres Radio Network, San Diego (1)**
CALIFORNIA SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Bill Plaschke, LA Times, Los Angeles (1)
COLORADO SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Ryan Harris, Altitude Sports Radio, Denver (1)
COLORADO SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Nick Groke, The Athletic, Denver (1)
CONNECTICUT SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Erik Dobratz, WTNH-TV, New Haven (1)
CONNECTICUT SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Joe Morelli, HearstCT, New Haven (1)
DELAWARE SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Scott Klatzkin, Delaware Sports Properties, Wilmington (5)
DELAWARE SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Martin Frank, News Journal, Wilmington (2)
DC SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR (TIE)
Dave Jageler, Nationals Radio Network, Washington (1)
John Walton, Capitals Radio Network, Washington (1)
DC SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Barry Svrluga, Washington Post, Washington (4)
FLORIDA SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Eric Reid, Heat TV Network, Miami (3)
FLORIDA SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Dave Hyde, South Florida Sun-Sentinel (4)
GEORGIA SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Frank Sulkowski, WJCL, Savannah (1)
GEORGIA SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Jeff Schultz, The Athletic, Atlanta (5)
HAWAII SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Rob DeMello, KHON2, Honolulu (3)
HAWAII SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Stephen Tsai, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Honolulu (8)
IDAHO SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Will Hall, KTVB-TV, Boise (1)
IDAHO SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
John Wustrow, Idaho Press, Nampa (1)
ILLINOIS SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Jason Benetti, NBC Sports Chicago, Chicago (1)
ILLINOIS SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Shannon Ryan, Chicago Tribune, Chicago (1)
INDIANA SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
John Michael Vincent, 1070 The Fan, Indianapolis (1)
INDIANA SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Kyle Neddenriep, Indianapolis Star, Indianapolis (1)
IOWA SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Mark Woodley, KWWL-TV, Waterloo (1)
IOWA SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Tommy Birch, Des Moines Register, Des Moines (2)
KANSAS SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Wyatt Thompson, K-State Sports Properties, Manhattan (6)
KANSAS SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR (TIE)
Rick Peterson, Jr., Hays Daily News, Hays (5)
Rick Peterson, Sr., Topeka Capital-Journal, Topeka (1)
KENTUCKY SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Keith Farmer, WLEX-TV, Lexington (1)
KENTUCKY SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Kyle Tucker, The Athletic, Lexington (1)
LOUISIANA SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Chris Blair, LSU Sports Properties, Baton Rouge (1)
LOUISIANA SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Scooter Hobbs, American Press, Lake Charles (1)
MAINE SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Travis Lee, WMTW-TV, Portland (1)
MAINE SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Mike Lowe, Portland Press Herald, Portland (4)***
MARYLAND SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Johnny Holliday, Maryland Sports Radio Network, College Park (3)
MARYLAND SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Peter Schmuck, Baltimore Sun, Baltimore (7)
MASSACHUSETTS SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR (TIE)
Joe Amorosino, WHDH-TV, Boston (2)
Dan Roche, WBZ-TV, Boston (3)
MASSACHUSETTS SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Peter Abraham, Boston Globe, Boston (1)
MICHIGAN SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
*Jamie Samuelson, 97.1 The Ticket, Detroit (1)
MICHIGAN SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Mick McCabe, Detroit Free Press, Detroit (2)
MINNESOTA SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Cory Provus, Twins Radio Network, Minneapolis (2)
MINNESOTA SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
*Sid Hartman, Star Tribune, Minneapolis (1)
MISSISSIPPI SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Matt Wyatt, Matt Wyatt Show, Jackson (1)
MISSISSIPPI SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Rick Cleveland, Mississippi Today, Jackson (13)
MISSOURI SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Mitch Holthus, Chiefs Radio Network, Kansas City (1)****
MISSOURI SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Dave Matter, Post-Dispatch, St. Louis (3)
MONTANA SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Riley Corcoran, Grizzly Sports Properties, Missoula (3)
MONTANA SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Jordan Hansen, Missoulian, Missoula (1)
NEBRASKA SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Jeff Motz, KFOR Radio, Lincoln (1)
NEBRASKA SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Parker Gabriel, Lincoln Journal Star, Lincoln (2)
NEVADA SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Kevin Bollinger, KVVU-TV, Las Vegas (2)
NEVADA SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Ron Kantowski, Las Vegas Review-Journal, Las Vegas (2)
NEW HAMPSHIRE SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Mike Murphy, Wildcat Sports Properties, Durham (8)
NEW HAMPSHIRE SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Roger Brown, Union Leader, Manchester (2)
NEW JERSEY SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Chris Carlin, Rutgers Sports Properties, Piscataway (2)
NEW JERSEY SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Steve Politi, NJ Advanced Media, Newark (3)
NEW MEXICO SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Van Tate, KRQE-TV, Albuquerque (12)
NEW MEXICO SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Ken Sickenger, Albuquerque Journal, Albuquerque (1)
NEW YORK SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Kevin Maher, News 12 Long Island, Woodbury (1)
NEW YORK SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Rich Cimini, ESPN NY, New York (1)
NORTH CAROLINA SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR (TIE)
Stan Cotten, Wake Forest Sports Properties, Winston-Salem (5)
Gary Hahn, Wolfpack Sports Properties, Raleigh (2)
NORTH CAROLINA SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Ed Hardin, News & Record, Greensboro (5)
NORTH DAKOTA SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Jody Norstedt, Midco Sports Network, Fargo (1)
NORTH DAKOTA SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Greg DeVillers, Grand Forks Herald, Grand Forks (7)
OHIO SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Dan Hoard, Radio voice - Cincinnati Bengals/Univ. of Cincinnati Bearcats, Cincinnati (4)
OHIO SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Justin Williams, The Athletic, Cincinnati (1)
OKLAHOMA SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Pat Jones, The Sports Animal, Oklahoma City/Tulsa (1)
OKLAHOMA SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Berry Tramel, The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City (7)
OREGON SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR (TIE)
Adam Bjaranson, KOIN-TV, Portland (1)
Orlando Sanchez, KGW-TV, Portland (1)
OREGON SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Ken Goe, The Oregonian, Portland (1)
PENNSYLVANIA SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Michael Barkann, NBC Sports Philadelphia, Philadelphia (8)
PENNSYLVANIA SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Matt Gelb, The Athletic, Philadelphia (2)
RHODE ISLAND SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR (TIE)
Nick Coit, WLNE-TV, Providence (3)
Yianni Kourakis, WPRI-TV, Providence (1)
RHODE ISLAND SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Bill Koch, Providence Journal (3)
SOUTH CAROLINA SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Phil Kornblut, SC Radio Network, Columbia (7)
SOUTH CAROLINA SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Grace Raynor, The Athletic, Clemson (3)
SOUTH DAKOTA SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Tim Smith, KMIT Radio, Mitchell (3)
SOUTH DAKOTA SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Brian Haenchen, Argus Leader, Sioux Falls (1)
TENNESSEE SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Pete Weber, Predators Radio Network, Nashville (8)
TENNESSEE SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Teresa Walker, Associated Press, Nashville (4)
TEXAS SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Josh Bogorad, Stars Radio Network, Dallas (1)
TEXAS SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Kirk Bohls, Austin American-Statesman, Austin (6)
UTAH SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Scott Garrard, 97.5/1280 the Zone, Salt Lake City (1)
UTAH SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Tony Jones, The Athletic, Salt Lake City (2)
VERMONT SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
George Commo, Radio Vermont Group/Northeast Sports Network, Burlington (11)
VERMONT SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Alex Abrami, Burlington Free Press, Burlington (3)
VIRGINIA SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Dave Koehn, Virginia Sports Radio Network, Charlottesville (1)
VIRGINIA SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Mike Barber, Times Dispatch, Richmond (1)
WASHINGTON SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Dave Sims, Mariners/ROOT Sports Northwest, Seattle (3)
WASHINGTON SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Bob Condotta, Seattle Times, Seattle (1)
WEST VIRGINIA SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Keith Morehouse, WSAZ-TV, Huntington (6)
WEST VIRGINIA SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Chuck McGill, Thundering Herd Illustrated/HerdZone.com, Huntington (9)
WISCONSIN SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Jeff Levering, Brewers Radio/TV Networks, Milwaukee (1)
WISCONSIN SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Adam McCalvy, MLB.com, Milwaukee (2)
WYOMING SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
David Settle, KOWB Radio, Laramie (1)
WYOMING SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Michael Katz, WyoSports, Cheyenne/Laramie (1)
** Won one time in Oklahoma.
*** Won eight times in Kansas.
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