Local man remembers Murray

One prominent Las Vegan said he wished he had the vocabulary of Jim Murray, or could turn a phrase like him.

That way, said former Las Vegas Events executive director Herb McDonald, he could better express the loss he's feeling at the passing of a dear friend, one of the nation's most revered sportswriters.

"I've know Jim for 53 years ... (since) when he was just a columnist -- and not a famous one," said McDonald, who first met Murray when McDonald was doing publicity work for the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce.

"Every time he came to a fight here we went to dinner. He'd come to the NFR (National Finals Rodeo) and we'd judge the (bull rides). We'd bet $1 (on who was going to win). He and I have been to 10 Masters (golf tournaments) together."

Murray, legally blind since 1979, died late Sunday of cardiac arrest at his home in Los Angeles. He was 78. He filed his last column for the Los Angeles Times on Saturday.

McDonald said he last spoke with Murray two weeks ago. With another Pac-10 football season on tap, he was expecting another call from his old friend any day now.

"He'd always call me and tease me about Stanford football," said McDonald, a Stanford alum. "When (Jim) Plunkett came along, he'd tell me 'I think they might win a couple.' Then when (John) Elway came along, he'd tell me 'I think they might win a couple more'."

McDonald said he'd give almost anything to chat about this year's Cardinal with his old friend.

"He was my best friend. I've cried already today," McDonald said.

SUN sports writer Steve Guiremand, who had stints at the Los Angeles Herald Examiner and Long Beach Press-Telegram before coming to Las Vegas, worked alongside Murray in the press box for years.

And he knew of him long before then.

"Back in the '70s, all the high school journalism teachers talked about was becoming the next Jim Murray. It was Jim Murray this, Jim Murray that," Guiremand recalled.

"He was a nice, unassuming guy. The amazing thing is that he kept covering sports the past 10 or 15 years, even after he had the eye problems."

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