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The National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association (NSSA) has announced that former long-time ESPN Baseball Analyst Peter Gammons and John Madden have been selected for induction into the organizations hall of fame. In addition, Jim Nantz has been named a repeat winner of the National Sportscaster of the Year , and Bob Ryan as the National Sportswriter of the Year. The induction ceremony will take place on May 3, 2010.


Here is the press release from the NSSA:

2009 NSSA Awards: Gammons, Madden Earn NSSA Hall of Fame Inductions

SALISBURY, NC  (January 18, 2009) - Already Hall of Famers in their respective sports, baseball's Peter Gammons and football's John Madden have been inducted into the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame.  NSSA Executive Director Dave Goren made the announcement on Monday. 

Gammons and Madden will be inducted May 3^rd at the NSSA's Annual Awards Banquet in Salisbury.

Joining Gammons and Madden will be National Sportscaster of the Year Jim Nantz of CBS Sports and National Sportswriter of the Year Bob Ryan of The Boston Globe.  Nantz and Ryan are repeat winners.  They will also be honored at the NSSA Awards Banquet, along with 106 winners of State Sportscaster and Sportswriter of the Year Awards.

Like Ryan, Gammons cut his teeth at The Boston Globe.  In fact, the two started work as interns at The Globe on the same day in 1968.  Gammons went on to revolutionize the way baseball was covered.  His Sunday Notes column often filled an entire page.  After leaving The Globe, Gammons went on to a successful career at Sports Illustrated.  He won three NSSA National Sportswriter of the Year Awards between 1989 and 1993.  Since then, Gammons has become well-known as a baseball expert on television.  He just ended  a long stint at ESPN and can now be seen on the MLB Network (he also writes for mlb.com) and New England Sports  Network (NESN).

Madden won a Super  Bowl as the Oakland Raiders' head coach, then embarked on a long television career that saw him become the preeminent pro football analyst of the last 30 years.  Known for his colorful personality as a commentator, Madden worked for CBS, Fox, ABC and ESPN.  He was the NSSA National Sportscaster of the Year in 1984.  Madden parlayed his fame as an announcer into commercials and a best-selling video game.  He retired in April 2009.

This is Nantz's fifth National Sportscaster of the Year Award (other wins in 1998, 2005, 2007 and 2008).  Only Bob Costas (eight) and Chris Berman (six) have won more National Sportscaster of the Year Awards.  CBS's lead play-by-play man for golf, college basketball and NFL football, Nantz started at CBS in 1985 after a short career in local TV sports.

Ryan has won three straight NSSA National Sportswriter of the Year Awards and four overall.  He has spent his entire career at The Boston Globe, where he covered the Boston Celtics' beat for 15 years.  He has been a general columnist for more than 20 years and has branched out into radio and television during that time, making frequent appearances on ESPN's The Sports Reporters.

2009 NSSA STATE AWARD WINNERS
STATE		SPORTSCASTER	SPORTSWRITER
AL		Chris Stewart, Tuscaloosa	Kevin Scarbinsky, Birmingham
AR		Phil Elson, North Little Rock	Bob Wisener, Hot Springs
CA		Greg Papa, Oakland	Bill Dwyre, Los Angeles
CO		Drew Goodman, Denver	Dave Krieger, Denver
CT		Kevin Nathan, Hartford	Jeff Jacobs, Hartford
DE		Scott Klatzkin, New Castle	Kevin Tresolini, Wilmington
		John Sadak, Wilmington
FL		David Steele, Orlando	Gary Shelton, St. Petersburg
GA		Wes Durham, Atlanta	Furman Bisher, Atlanta
HI		Bobby Curran, Honolulu	T.V. Mott, Maui
			Stephen Tsai, Honolulu
ID		Dave Tester, Meridian	Brian Murphy, Boise
IL		Pat Hughes, Chicago	Dave Reynolds, Peoria
			Rick Telander, Chicago
IN		Don Fischer, Indianapolis	Terry Hutchens, Indianapolis
IA		Larry Morgan, Des Moines	Rick Brown, Des Moines
KS		Bob Davis, Lawrence	Kevin Haskin, Topeka
KY		Mary Jo Perino, Lexington	Larry Vaught, Danville
LA		Dave Nitz, Ruston	Randy Rosetta, Baton Rouge
ME		Rich Kimball, Orono	Peter Warner, Bangor
		Clem LaBree, Bangor
MD		Craig Heist, Baltimore	Thom Loverro, Columbia
MA		Mike Lynch, Needham	Dan Shaughnessy, Boston
MI		No Winner	Bob Wojnowski, Detroit
MN		Dave Lee, Minneapolis	Charley Walters, St. Paul
		Mike Grimm, Minneapolis
MO		John Covington, Washington	Craig Vonder Haar, Washington
MT		Rocky Erickson, Billings	Scott Mansch, Great Falls
		Mick Holien, Polson
NE		Kevin Kugler, Omaha	Lee Barfknecht, Omaha
			Mike Babcock, Lincoln
NV		Russ Langer, Las Vegas	Ed Graney, Las Vegas
NH		Mike Murphy, Concord	Allen Lessels, Manchester
NJ		Mike Gill, Atlantic City	Brian Cunniff, Wildwood
		Tom Williams, Ocean City
NM		Van Tate, Albuquerque	Felix Chavez, Las Cruces
NY		Bruce Beck, New York City	Phil Mushnick, New York City
NC		Woody Durham, Chapel Hill	*Tom Berry, High Point
		Mick Mixon, Charlotte
ND		Rod Kleinjan, Dickinson	Wayne Nelson, Grand Forks
OH		Marty Brennaman, Cincinnati	Hal McCoy, Dayton
OK		Bob Barry, Jr., Oklahoma City	Dave Sittler, Tulsa
		Dean Blevins, Oklahoma City
OR		Joe Becker, Portland	Rachel Bachman, Portland
		Katy Brown, Portland
PA		Merrill Reese, Philadelphia	Rich Hofman, Philadelphia
RI		Steve Hyder, Pawtucket	Joe McDonald, Providence
		Steve McDonald, Providence
SC		Tony Ciuffo, Charleston	Ron Morris, Columbia
		Mike Morgan, Columbia
SD		Al Decker, Deadwood	Mick Garry, Sioux Falls
TN		Mike Keith, Nashville	Brent Hubbs, Knoxville
TX		Eric Nadel, Arlington	Evan Grant, Dallas
UT		Dana Greene, Salt Lake City	Dirk Facer, Salt Lake City
VT		George Commo, Waterbury	Ted Ryan, Burlington
VA		Lane Casadonte, Richmond	David Teel, Newport News
WA		Bill Krueger, Bellevue	John Blanchette, Spokane
WV		Steve Cotton, Huntington	Jack Bogaczyk, Charleston
WI		Matt LePay, Madison	Gary D'Amato, Milwaukee
WY		Reece Monaco, Cheyenne	Eric Schmoldt, Casper
		NATIONAL SPORTSCASTER	NATIONAL SPORTSWRITER
		Jim Nantz, CBS Sports	Bob Ryan, The Boston Globe
		HALL OF FAME SPORTSCASTER	HALL OF FAME SPORTSWRITER
		John Madden, ABC, Fox, CBS, NBC, ESPN	Peter Gammons, Sports Illustrated, ESPN.com
			*deceased

About NSSA - The National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association was founded in 1959 in Salisbury, NC by a local group interested in honoring sportscasters and sportswriters for their crafts.  More than 700 NSSA members from several sports media fields vote annually for State and National Sportscasters and Sportswriters of the Year.  An annual banquet is held in Salisbury each spring to present the winners with their awards.  In 1962, a Hall of Fame was added.  Starting with Grantland Rice, more than 80 sports media legends have been inducted into the NSSA Hall of Fame.

NSSA Mission Statement -- The National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association & Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization, dedicated to honoring, preserving and celebrating the legacy of sportscasters and sportswriters in the United States - for their creativity in storytelling, their pursuit of truth and their conveyance of information - all of which helps American sports fans form lifelong connections to both participatory and spectator sports.   NSSA also seeks to develop educational opportunities for those who are interested in pursuing a career in sports media, through networking, mentoring and scholarship programs.