University of North Carolina Athletics
Fans' Favorite Woody Durham Memories
April 22, 2011 | General
April 22, 2011
CHAPEL HILL - Hundreds of Carolina fans have submitted their favorite memories of Woody Durham upon hearing of his retirement earlier this week. While it would be impossible to include all of these memories here, below is a worthy sampling.
James Parris (Richmond, Va.)
"...with 20 seconds left to play, goes back to Michael Jordan, jumper from out on the left...GOOD! 63-62! :13, :12, :11! Georgetown with one timeout. Fred Brown, looking...THREW IT AWAY TO WORTHY! WORTHY, 5! THE TAR HEELS ARE GOING TO WIN THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!!"
Karen Seymour
I will never forget and will be forever grateful to Mr Durham when he mentioned by father-in-law Milton Seymour on the air. Milton passed away in July of 2002 after many years of service as press security. The first football game after his passing my husband and his mom (Andy and Gertrude Seymour) were at the ballgame.They did not hear the broadcast but a friend told me he mentioned Milton's passing on the air. I emailed Mr Durham and he was kind enough to send me the audio portion of that broadcast. It really meant alot to the family. Milton loved his job and the TAR HEELS and spoke often of the kindness of Mr Durham. Thank you Woody Durham for your years of service to the Carolina Family and for your compassion!
Susan Cashwell
I grew up in Albemarle and went to high school with Woody. In fact, my dad was his high school principal. My favorite memory of on the air and getting him to play favorite tunes. Best Wishes, Woody. You will be sorely missed as you have been SUCH a PRESENCE as "The Voice of the Tar Heels" .
Brian Klick (Pennsylvania)
I don't remember what year it was but as a youngster I would often try to get the UNC basketball games on my transistor radio. What made my listening different was that I was about 400 miles away in Lebanon, Pa. Many a night I would go up and down that dial searching for that voice on WBT out of North Carolina. I was successful more often than not and when I heard that voice I always knew what I was doing the rest of the night. Well, Woody, I've been listening to you for over 35 years and I will greatly miss hearing your voice (now on the Internet). I want to wish you the best of health and happiness for you and your family . Thank You for keeping me company on those long Pennsylvania winter nights.
Robert Arrington (Kingsport, Tenn.)
My two are these: (1) His asking listeners, during the 1981 basketball playoffs, "How `bout them Heels?" (2) In 1995, after Marcus Jones had sealed a win in the Carquest Bowl by sacking the Arkansas quarterback, saying, "Marcus Jones should be named ALL WORLD."
Jerry Woodrow
I can't tell you how much I will miss Woody's calls of Carolina basketball. I would do like others and turn down the t.v. and just follow the radio. I'll always remember in a close game with the Heels needing to score, my favorite saying was "it's time to go where you go, and do what you do". That meant to use whatever lucky things you did to help the Heels win. I'll still be a Heel's fan, but somehow it won't be the same. Good luck, Woody, and thanks for the great memories.
Robert Woodard, UNC '08, Assistant Baseball Coach
I was in the 2nd grade. Watching the national championship vs. Michigan at my house in Charlotte. Just as we always did when I was growing up, we had that TV volume muted and Woody on the surround sound in the living room. I was sitting in a chair that I moved from the kitchen into the living room about 6 feet away from the TV and heard Woody's call of Chris Webber seconds before it happened on the screen. I didn't have much of a choice, growing up in a home with two parents (Clayton and Susan) who had graduated from UNC in the late 70's. But listening to Woody, and watching the Heels were some of the best memories I can recall from growing up. Thank you for so many memories Woody.
Alan Wood, UNC `81
There is no way to boil it down to one but here are a few: UNLV semifinal game 1977,
eight points in 17 seconds, 1982 title game, 1993 title game, Dean breaking Rupp's record and the 2009 title game
because that was the only NCAA Championship game he got to call where he could relax a little. He will be missed.
Michael Euliss (Pfafftown, N.C.)
Woody, I must say your leaving saddens me. As a lifetime Wolfpack fan I always pulled against the Tar Heels but we usually came out on the losing end. I was one of the thousands across the region who would turn off the sound on the television to listen to your expert call of ACC basketball. My fondest memories of you include the ACC Tournaments of the 70's as we were allowed to bring our transistor radios to school to listen to the opening round. We would then sprint home to play basketball in the backyard as we listened to your call of the remainder of the games. You know you will be missed by the Tar Heel loyals but the rest of us will feel the void as well. I am glad my children got to hear the greatest "voice of" ever. Thanks for the memories! Blessings.
Jeff Stout, former UNC football videographer
We were videotaping a football game at Maryland in the early 90s for the coaching staff. UNC ball on about the 10 yard line. Coach Brown called a reverse to Randall Felton. The blocking was so good, as soon as Felton got the handoff, Woody declared "...he can WALK in!". We scored and won the game. Woody and Mick always rode in the back of the support staff bus with us videographers. He made us feel like a part of the team.
Cynthia Parker Shaffer
As a young girl in the early 70's in Smithfield, NC (10-11 years old ), I would listen to Woody do the play by play of the Big 4 tournament on an old transistor radio under the bed sheets to muffle the sound as I shared a bedroom with 2 younger sisters. I can remember feeling the excitement as his/our beloved Tarheels would pull out a miracle win... I felt it on Sunday mornings as Sunday school and church was ALWAYS a must and Dad would know why I seemed out of sorts staying up so late...
Then there were the Saturdays in the Fall. After house cleaning and chores, I would lay on the living room floor in front of the floor model stereo and listen to Woody's description of Kenan Stadium and the Carolina Blue skies. Then and there I knew that I was destined to attend UNC, so I continued to study and was so proud to be accepted to UNC in the Fall of 1979. Woody played a BIG part in my drive to become a Tarheel and maintain academic excellence.
As I entered Kenan Stadium that first football Saturday in the Fall of 1979, ( for my very first time ), chills went up and down my spine as the atmosphere and excitement was exactly as I had imagined through Woody's eyes...I went on to own restaurants and bars in Chapel Hill and have made it my home. As a matter of fact, fed the basketball team pre-game meals in 1985-1987...!!!
Cheers to You, Woody, and simply Thank You...!!!
Jordan Falls (Grover, N.C.)
I am 17 years old. My dad is 45 and has been listening to Woody since 1972. I have been listening to Woody since I was born in 1994. At age 1 I would tell my dad whenever the Tar Heels were playing, "Let's listen to Woody." He has lived in my living room since I was born. I have some many great moments it is so hard to choose one great memory. I was in St. Louis when Raymond made the free throws to put the Heels up 75-70 and listening to Woody say on the radio, "The Tar Heels are on the doorstep of a National Championship!" and then watching Sean May catch the air ball my Luther Head and hearing Woody say "The Tar Heels have won the National Championship!" Marvin's shot in the Smith Center against Duke in 2005 is also one of my several favorite calls. I loved Tyler Hansbrough and I love Woody's call when he broke the Carolina scoring record in 2008 against Evansville. I wasn't alive when it happened... but I've heard it so many times this is also one of my favorites. "The Shot" with 17 seconds left is one of my favorite Woody "moments." And then of course there is "How about them Tar Heels? They are the 2009 National Champions!!!" And then all of the 2010-2011 calls. Harrison from the corner against Miami, top of the key at FSU. Tyler Zeller against Miami in Greensboro and then Harrison the next day against Clemson. He is like a part of my family. If the Tar Heels are playing, I have my radio headset in my ears listening to Woody and the television sound turned down. Woody means so much to me and it is like I have lost a member of my family. He will NEVER be forgotten and I will always remember where I was when he retired. We will miss him greatly and from Tar Heel Nation we thank him for everything he has done for us.
Kevin Chandler
Woody Durham is one of the many reasons why I came to school here. He is
truly a legend and Tar Heel football and basketball will just not be the
same. I have dreaded this day for years. The obvious favorite Woody calls
would be the 2005 National Championship game in which I was a junior in
high school and this was my first experience of a National Championship. I
cried with sheer joy when I heard the words, "It's over! Carolina has won
The National Championship!" But I would also say from the same year, when
we beat dook at home and the crowd was so deafening, I couldn't even hear
Woody talk. I also remember listening to him when we beat N.C. State in
2004 when we stuffed TA McClendon at the goal line. This marks one of the
saddest days in my sports history and I will forever remember where I was,
walking on campus, when I heard the news. Thanks for the memories, Woody!
David Nelson (Charlotte, N.C.)
My favorite "Woody call" is when Walter Davis hit the shot that brought the Heels from 8 points down in the last 17 seconds to defeat Duke in overtime in March of 1974. My brother and I jumped all over our room in celebration. In the words of our beloved voice of the Tar Heels..."Unbeleivable!!"
We will certainly miss Woody. I guess I will have to turn the sound up on the TV when I watch the Heels! God bless you, Woody!
Jim Nichols (Ocean Pines, Md. - Tar Heel Born
Many will write to you about national championship calls or description of the day Kelvin Bryant handed the ball to Steve Streater in the end zone, but mine is a regular season win over the school in Durham on January 17th, 1990. The day King Rice abused a freshman named hurley, or something...
I was a young petty officer in the United States Navy far from home in Japan. I switched on the Armed Forces radio Network to hear a familiar voice and for two hours I smiled and nodded in front of a newly purchased pioneer audio system. It was like being home again.
Tomorrow, I'll "go where I go and do what I do" one last time. It will hurt much more than any loss on the field or the court.
Peter Cashwell
Speaking as the son of a former Albemarle Bulldog (my father, Dick Cashwell, graduated in '55 before going on to UNC), I suppose there's good reason why I always heard a certain authority in Woody Durham's voice. I grew up in Chapel Hill and started attending UNC home football and basketball games at roughly the same time Woody started announcing them; after I'd heard him do an away game, it simply never occurred to me that they could sound any different. From then until 1995, when I moved to Virginia, I would dutifully tune in to hear Woody call any Carolina game I couldn't attend, but two games stand out in my memory:
One was the 1993 championship game, when I was driving from Rome, Georgia, where I'd had a job interview, to Fayetteville. Unfortunately, the stations carrying the game were not numerous, and as my wife and I surged through the darkness, hoping against hope that we might make it back before the final buzzer, we kept losing the signal, forcing her to begin another rapid search across the FM band until we heard that familiar Stanly County twang telling us a little bit more about what was going on. Eventually, though, either the car's radio died or we hit a dead patch, and we had to drive the last twenty minutes or so with no knowledge of what was happening. We whipped into the driveway, dashed into the living room, turned on the TV, and saw George Lynch answering post-game questions. He wasn't smiling, but there was a net around his neck. I will always regret not getting to hear Woody's call of those last few minutes.
The second was an NCAA tournament game against Notre Dame--a tight one, as I recall, and possibly the 1977 season. I don't remember anything about it except the tension, UNC's ultimate victory, and the care with which Woody kept secret the fact that he would eventually reveal when the buzzer sounded: "Carolina has NEVER LOST on Saint Patrick's Day!" Some might accuse him of failing to keep his audience fully informed; me, I just knew he didn't want to jinx the Heels.
When Coach Smith retired, I was stunned--I felt as though everything I knew about Carolina basketball was disappearing before my eyes. Well, a few national championships later, I feel a little better, but it's not quite the same. Right now, thinking about a UNC game without the voice of Woody Durham, I feel kind of the same way I felt in 1997. Carolina sports broadcasting may again reach the heights to which you propelled it, but it will never be the same. Thanks for being a part of my life, Woody, and the lives of my family and friends for the last forty years. Lux Libertas to you, sir--and go Bulldogs!
