NSSA ANNOUNCES 2012 AWARD WINNERS VITALE, ALBOM ELECTED TO HALL OF FAME
PATRICK, KING NATIONAL WINNERS
Weber Tennessee Sportscaster, Wyatt Tennessee Sportswriter of Year

Salisbury, NC (January 10, 2013) - Hall of Fame inductees Dick Vitale and Mitch Albom lead the list of winners of the 2012 National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Awards, announced by executive director Dave Goren. National Sportscaster of the Year Dan Patrick and National Sportswriter of the Year Peter King will join Vitale, Albom and 106 State Sportscaster and Sportswriter of the Year Awards. They’ll be honored as part of the 54th Annual NSSA Awards Weekend in Salisbury, NC, June 8-10, 2013.

The ‘Voice of the Nashville Predators,’ Pete Weber is the Tennessee Sportscaster of the Year. Jim Wyatt of the Tennesseean is the Tennessee Sportswriter of the Year. It’s the second win for Weber, fifth for Wyatt.

After many years of coaching on the scholastic, collegiate and NBA levels, Vitale joined ESPN in December 1979. He did their very first televised college basketball game, DePaul vs. Wisconsin. Everyone knows him as “Dickie V” for his enthusiasm and passion for the game. Vitale was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008. In addition to his television work, Vitale is also a fervent supporter of several charities. His Dick Vitale Gala, held in Sarasota, Florida, has helped to raise more than $10 million for the V Foundation for Cancer Research.

Albom is a longtime sports columnist for the Detroit Free Press, who has enjoyed crossover success as a best-selling author. His books – Tuesdays with Morrie, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, For One More Day and Have A Little Faith – have sold more than 33 million copies. Albom hosts his own radio show on WJR in Detroit and is an accomplished playwright, screenplay writer and musician. He has also founded seven charities. One of those — A Hole in the Roof Foundation — operates the Have Faith Haiti Mission, which cares for Haiti’s impoverished and orphaned youth. Albom previously won the NSSA National Sportswriter of the Year Award in 1998.

Patrick is one of the most versatile sportscasters working today. Host of The Dan Patrick Show on radio (distributed on television through DirecTV Sports Networks), Patrick has also hosted several events on NBC TV and NBC Sports Network, including Football Night in America, the London Olympics and the Stanley Cup playoffs. Patrick’s first network tv job was as a CNN Sports reporter and anchor. He moved to ESPN in 1989 and paired with Keith Olberman on the network’s highly-successful sports news flagship, Sportscenter. Patrick also won the NSSA National Sportscaster of the Year Award in 1999.

A former sports reporter at the Cincinnati Enquirer and Newsday, King is widely regarded as one of today’s most-respected NFL writers. King joined Sports Illustrated in 1989 and has earned legendary status for his 8,000-plus word Monday Morning Quarterback posts on SI.com. In addition to his SI work, King appears on NBC’s Football Night in America show during the NFL season. He also won the NSSA National Sportswriter of the Year Award in 2010.

VOTING PROCESS

NSSA members in each state nominate up to three people for state and national awards from mid-October through mid-November. The names of the top two vote-getters (plus ties) appear on the final ballot. If a minimum of two candidates fail to earn a minimum number of nomination votes, that category requires a write-in vote on the final ballot.

Final ballot voting is conducted throughout the month of December. In the event of ties, a tiebreaker vote is conducted. If there is still a tie after the tiebreaker vote, that contest is declared a tie and the candidates are declared co-winners.

Below is the complete list of winners (Number of times won in parentheses).

HALL OF FAME SPORTSCASTER
Dick Vitale, ESPN

HALL OF FAME SPORTSWRITER
Mitch Albom, Detroit Free Press/Author

NATIONAL SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Dan Patrick, Dan Patrick Show/Football Night in America, Premiere Radio/NBC (2)

NATIONAL SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Peter King, Sports Illustrated (2)

TENNESSEE SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR
Pete Weber, Nashville Predators TV/Radio, Nashville (2)
Mike Keith, Tennessee Titans Radio Network, Nashville (10)

TENNESSEE SPORTSWRITER OF THE YEAR
Jim Wyatt, The Tennessean, Nashville (5)

For the complete list of 2012 Winners, please click here.