Caulton Tudor, one of our own

Caulton Tudor was a Carolinian to his core, a native of Angier, a graduate of East Carolina University and a News & Observer sportswriter and columnist for more than 40 years. Tudor, who died Tuesday at age 70, had for several years been a columnist for WRAL following his N&O retirement.

In some ways, Tudor bridged a period between old-time sportswriting, when writers with encyclopedic knowledge of all things sports and games dominated the sports pages, and the modern era, when sports departments include investigative reporters and those with expertise in social media.

But this was true: Tudor as a columnist was wildly popular, and his word was law when it came to analyses of coaches and strategies. He couldn’t go a day on the golf course or even during a lunch without getting quizzed by readers who recognized him. “Whadda ya think, Toot?” they’d ask. “Hey, guess you feel pretty stupid, huh Tudor?” might come after a prediction was foiled. But Tudor took all comment, in person or print, with good humor.

In his time, he covered the Atlantic Coast Conference and all basketball tournaments (35 of them), bowl games (22), Final Fours (24) and even hockey. He was a great analyst, but also a terrific nuts-and-bolts reporter who mentored two or more generations of young writers. His value to his profession, in other words, went far beyond his days at the typewriter and keyboard.

This story was originally published November 2, 2017 at 1:15 PM with the headline "Caulton Tudor, one of our own."