"I might have played Led Zeppelin once upon a time but I've always been a sports fans," Norton said. "When they offered me this opportunity, I couldn't believe it. But I jumped at it.

That "opportunity" was to join Tommy Moody, the local sports history guru and USC baseball broadcaster, and Bob Shields, longtime WLTX-TV sports director, each weekday morning 6-9 for "The Early Game" on WNKT-FM 107.5. Fourteen months later, the trio is still going strong.

"It's great to be on," said Norton who spends his off-air hours in sales. "Every morning, I wake up feeling so darn lucky. Tommy and Bob not only know their sports stuff, but they're also two of the nicest people I've ever been around."

Norton adds balance to team by being an unapologetic Clemson fan on a station that it is hailed as the home of the Gamecocks.

"Yeah, I've gotten some not-so-nice e-mails about that," Norton said. "Some people ask me why we talk about Clemson. For one reason, there are a lot Tigers fan in this area.

"Also, I think Carolina fans are interested in what Clemson is doing and Clemson fans are interested in what Carolina is doing. The three of us try to touch on a lot of subjects, including high school sports. Everybody here knows that I pull for the South Carolina Gamecocks except for that one game."

Norton never attended Clemson but he grew up in a Tigers family in North Myrtle Beach. His father, Dr. George Norton, and his brothers went to Clemson. But when it came time to choose a college, Norton went to USC because of its journalism school.

"That's what I wanted to do and Clemson didn't have a j-school," Norton said.

Norton began his radio career as a teenager at a North Myrtle Beach station. Later, when the job became full-time, he had stopovers in Knoxville, Florence and Nashville with a couple of stints on the air in Columbia sandwiched in there. He finally returned to the Columbia radio market for good in the mid-1990s.

By then he was a father and decided the wanted to settle down and try his hands at sales. He was successful at it and probably never envisioned going on the air again. But when Citadel Broadcasting launched its all-sports station WNKT in November, 2007, Norton couldn't pass up the offer to get back behind the microphone.

"I had often thought about giving talk radio a try," he said.

Norton sees himself as the one who moves the show along by adding a lighter touch to the proceedings.

"I just happen to be a regular guy who likes sports and always has," Norton said. "I try to see that we don't get too serious. I know both South Carolina and Clemson fans are disappointed that their football teams finished 7-6. But we still try to keep the perspective that it is sports and games.

"That's not to say I don't appreciate the passion that both schools' fans have for their teams. I mean, sports is why we're here, but we can still have some fun."

Norton and his wife, Barbie, have two children: Savannah, 15, and Benjamin, 8.

"They are both into sports," Norton said. "Savannah runs cross country at Dutch Fork and is getting ready to try soccer. Benjamin is into baseball and other sports. So you can see I'm surrounded sports."