And for good reason. One of them is usually here as a winner in the annual National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Awards Weekend.

The 51st edition of the awards have both Woody Durham, the North Carolina Sportscaster of the Year, and son, Wes, the Georgia Sportscaster of the Year, in Salisbury.

For Woody, the voice of UNC, it's win No. 14. For Wes, who calls Georgia Tech games, it's No. 6.

Woody comes in today for some golf with his son. Wes came earlier and it's easy to tell he's humbled by it all.

"It's very special," he said, adding he and his dad both won three years ago and didn't attend. But they were together — on a golf trip to Ireland.

How much do they discuss their trade during the heated ACC basketball season?

"We talk about games and teams we're setting up to play," Wes said. "If I played Clemson, and he's getting ready to play Clemson, he might call me and ask about Clemson."

Just because basketball is over, Wes said that doesn't mean he relaxes.

"It doesn't end this time of the year because it's so important with the fans," he said.

Wes just had a big NFL Draft Day deal where he was a host for a breakfast attended by 350 Atlanta Falcons fans.

- And let's not forget the other Durham — Wes' brother, Taylor, who once worked here at WSTP. He is one of the voices for Elon football and basketball broadcasts and hosts the Elon coaches radio show.

"It's been fun for us," Wes said.

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DIFFERENT DAVE: What a difference a year makes?

At the 2009 NSSA event, Dave Goren was the North Carolina Sportscaster of the Year looking for work. His job at WXII-TV in Winston-Salem had been cut two months earlier.

He came to Salisbury for the awards banquet and found a job as the NSSA's new executive director.

"I had seen on the web site the job was posted," Goren recalled. "I didn't think a lot about it."

Then NSSA president Bob Setzer told him he should apply.

"The more I thought about the potential, the more excited I got about it," Goren said.

He has definite ideas how to better the NSSA.

"I think this should be a really big deal," Goren said.

He's trying to get a TV show produced for next year's event. He'd like to go on the road to cities like Charlotte with a round-table forum. The NSSA would give out scholarships and recognize three or four local media members.

"I'm excited to get out of bed every day," Goren said.

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SAY WHAT? The college football prediction of the spring in the SEC came from South Carolina Sportswriter of the Year Ron Morris. By the way, is a Salisbury High School graduate who worked for the Salisbury Post as a teenager.

"They're going to win the SEC," Morris said.

Who's "they?" Florida?

Morris said South Carolina will win the SEC.

"Georgia's down. Tennessee's down. Kentucky's Kentucky. Vanderbilt's not going to be a threat," Morris said of the Eastern Division. "It's basically down to Florida and USC and Florida's not going to be the team they were."

Morris also pointed out that Steve Spurrier has had three good recruiting years in a row.

"It's setting up perfectly," Morris said.

Stay tuned on that one.

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SHAKIN' IT UP: Some sportswriters are probably a bit envious of Morris. He gets to deal with the ol' ball coach on a daily basis.

Morris picked up one thing from Spurrier. He was giving fist bumps at Saturday's reception instead of handshakes.

"Spurrier doesn't shake hands," Morris said. "He told me he'd go around the locker room before every game and shake hands with everybody. He said he started thinking, 'I don't know where these guys' hands have been.' "

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BUSY GUY: National Sportscaster of the Year Jim Nantz, a North Carolina native, has been on a whirlwind tour. In a span of nine weeks, he broadcast the Super Bowl, Duke's NCAA basketball championship win and the Masters.

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SWEATING IT OUT: What a difference a few hours make.

When Wyoming Sportscaster of the Year Reece Monaco and his wife left Cheyenne for Salisbury, it was 32 degrees, the wind was blowing and there was snow.

It was pushing 80 when he arrived at the airport in Charlotte.

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I LOVE BEACH MUSIC: Gene Long of southern Rowan County remembers being employed in Salisbury when Brennaman worked the area for advertising at WSTP Radio. And he has a good idea for next year's NSSA Weekend.

"A great thing would be to have a dance with one of the premier beach bands like the Embers or Jackie Gore's Legends of Beach," he said. "Bring in a dozen real smooth shaggers for demonstrations to spread the shag all over the country, and then let the people dance after the demonstrations."

Keep on talkin' Gene.

"We've got Cheerwine. We've got Hap's Grill," Long said. "But we've got beach. This area's located right in the middle of it. Most people don't know what that is."

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THE V TEAM: Vermont's Mike Donoghue and Ted Ryan are in town — Donoghue as a national board member and Ryan as Sportswriter of the Year. This has been a very good year to cover sports in that state.

Both men's and women's basketball and men's hockey teams made the NCAA tournament. Norwich won the Division III national title in men's hockey. The school's women's team made it to the title game in only its third year.

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BETCHA DIDN'T KNOW: National Sportswriter of the Year Bob Ryan and Hall of Famer Peter Gammons started their careers at the Boston Globe on the same day in 1968.

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TODAY: The NSSA winners will be on the golf and tennis courts before heading to The Depot for a reception and the awards banquet.

A legend will be among us.

Arnold Palmer, who recently helped tee off the Masters, will present Nantz.

Ryan will be presented by Boston Globe sports editor Joe Sullivan. Ryan will present Peter Gammons.

Ryan and Nantz are national winners for the third straight year. It is the fifth award for Nantz.

John Madden, another Hall of Famer inductee, is not expected to attend.

A total of 106 state winners will also be recognized.