The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Sports

December 11, 2008

Woody O’Hara gets his due in W.Va. broadcasters hall

By Mickey Furfari

MORGANTOWN — Congratulations go out to Woody O’Hara, the well-known Morgantown radio-TV personality, who was recently inducted into the West Virginia Broadcasters Hall of Fame.

That is located in Huntington and has been in existence only three years. The late Jack Fleming, the “Voice of the Mountaineers,” and the late John McKinney, chief engineer for West Virginia University football and basketball game broadcasts, also are enshrined.

O’Hara, now 67, is in his 38th year with the Mountaineer Sports Network and a longtime associate and admirer of both Fleming and McKinney. He is still involved in post-game radio shows, including Mountaineer replays for football and Jammin’ Basketball.

“I think it’s a wonderful honor,” the new Hall of Famer said. “I accepted this as an ultimate reward. And I still enjoy being a part of MSN.”

That’s certainly a well-deserved tribute to the gentleman who entertained while informing his listeners over the years since first joining MSN in 1970.

O’Hara said his association with Fleming was “simply wonderful” during the many years the two worked together. “I considered Jack Fleming as the best there was when it came to calling play-by-play in both football and basketball.”

In recent years, Woody has enjoyed working with Tony Caridi, Jay Jacobs (basketball) and Dwight Wallace (football).

A native of Winchester, Va., Woody is a 1962 graduate of Shenandoah College and was inducted into the Handley High School Hall of Fame in 1994. He was sports director of a radio station in Charles Town before coming to Morgantown.

He and wife Vicki have three children — Michael, Kelly Shaffer, and Woody Jr. They have three grandchildren.

You might be interested to know that Bill Stewart is only the third WVU head coach in football history to guide his team to a bowl berth in his first year at the helm.

The others were Dr. Marshall “Little Sleepy” Glenn and Dr. Dudley DeGroot.

Glenn’s 1937 team went 8-1-1 and nipped Texas Tech 7-6 in the Sun Bowl Jan. 1, 1938. In 1948, DeGroot’s team posted a 9-3 record in his first year, including a 21-12 win over Texas Western in the Sun Bowl Jan. 1, 1949.

In this year of strained finances, a good book might be the right gift.

You sports fans might consider Norman Julian’s history of WVU basketball titled “Legends.” It profiles the coaches, All-Americas and great games from the Dyke Raese 1942 NIT championship era into Gale Catlett’s.

“A must read for every Mountaineer basketball fan,” says Jerry West, who is profiled in the book and whose picture is on the cover.

Jerry’s coach at WVU, Fred Schaus, says, “It was fun for me to relive some of my fondest memories. I was impressed with the accuracy.”

“Legends” can be ordered by sending $19 to Trillium Publishing, 454 Kensington Ave., Star City, WV 26505.

Proceeds from the book help the Legends of WVU Basketball athletic scholarship endowments at WVU.

You may read more about the book by going to www.normanjulian.com.

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