Reflecting on 25 Years in TV Sports

by Ron Futrell @RonFutrell


The news was not unexpected, but still mildly painful.


The TV station where I had anchored sports and news for 25 years was dropping its sports department. Anchors will now read the sports with the same passion they do a hatchet murder, or a panda being born at the local zoo, and the viewers will get used to it (please pronounce Mark Teixeira's name right.) Perhaps they will.


Certainly, media is changing and some have called this a trend in the business. Consultants (who are usually failed news directors) have told us for years they want to attract females and since they believe women do not like sports, they must lessen the importance of sports, or kill it altogether. You could argue against that premise (which I did) until you were Dodger Blue in the face, but you would never win that argument and eventually management will find somebody who would just shut up and fill the three-minute segment (cut to 2:30 if weather went long.)


The news of removing the sports department did cause me to reflect on more than 2 decades of covering sports in Las Vegas and developing a bond with this community that will never be broken. It's been 4 years since I've done full time news on TV, but I still have people come up to me and think I'm the sports guy. "Hey, good job last night on the sports." I usually smile and say thanks.


I feel fortunate to have covered big-time sports during some great times in Las Vegas. I covered the careers of Randall Cunningham, Andre Agassi, Greg Maddux, Mike Tyson and many others. There were the great boxing events with Hagler, Hearns, Leonard, and Duran. I got to cover the rise of NASCAR and the UFC in Las Vegas, and was green-side for Tiger Woods' first win on the PGA Tour. The first month I was in Las Vegas I covered Kareem Abdul Jabbar setting the all-time NBA scoring record at the Thomas and Mack. Whew! Nice way to break-in back in April 1984. I was no Hunter S. Thompson, but covering the Mint 400 in the glory days of off-road racing was a dirty job long before the days of "Dirty Jobs." I was fortunate to cover World Series', Super Bowls, and NBA Finals.


Certainly, the rise and fall of UNLV basketball was a story that few got to report on up-close. 3 Final Fours in 5 years and then the internal struggle where a university president worked covertly to use the media to remove a coach (Jerry Tarkanian) because he did not have the courage to fire him. Who can forget "Cam Scam" when university officials put a camera in an air conditioning duct in the North Gym to try to catch a violation? I am most proud of covering this story straight up and honestly and my commentaries have stood the test of time. Nothing united this community more than Rebel Basketball, nothing tore it apart worse than the subsequent battles. Those were big, historic stories from 20 years ago that are still being talked about today. Often sports was called upon to lead newscasts because the stories were that big.


What I enjoyed most was the time I spent at local high schools and ball fields covering the youth of this valley and getting to know them through their sports exploits. Sure, it was fun interviewing future NFL star Steven Jackson as he barreled over opponents at Eldorado High, but doing the first, and likely the only interview ever with a Bonanza High tennis player was always rewarding. My former station let me cover grass-roots local sports unlike any other station in town and I will always appreciate that and it had great rewards.


Occasionally we did some serious journalism. There was the time a UNLV Athletic Director was using racist talk in open staff meetings. I uncovered the story and "broke" the story. Other media outlets followed but we reported this story first and did it under the risk of legal action. We were right and we broke a story that needed to be told. 


We made a lot of money with our sports department. I was trusted to produce and host hour-long shows that were highly profitable. We did NASCAR and IRL race shows, Thunder hockey shows, UNLV shows and there was the local sports show we did for 5 years following Monday Night Football, titled Monday Night Quarterback. How about this show from the late 80's that we did from Hawaii introducing a UNLV basketball team in embryo that would later win a National Championship?Aloha Rebels. These were the combined efforts of a lot of people who had passion in the projects. They were a lot of work, and a lot of fun and I believe were the essence of what a good sports department does.

What the future brings with local TV sports is hard to say. If media is one thing, it is chaning. UNLV basketball is making a comeback and Dave Rice is on his way to returning this program to national prominence. Las Vegas will have a major league professional sports team before this decade is out and viewers will want to hear from somebody who knows these sports. I thank my former station for giving me the resources and trusting me to cover sports as it deserved to be. It's also my opinion local TV news viewers (male and female) will seek stations that give them sports with flair, fun and accuracy. I'm guessing consultants don't want to hear me say that anymore.  

Virgin River Celebrates 20th Anniversary!

Perhaps one of the most fascinating elements related to the development of hotel casino properties is how they were created.
The creation of the Virgin River hotel actually started when Jim Black stopped to find a restroom in Mesquite in 1988 while heading to Las Vegas from Utah. Considering that Mesquite had very little, Black envisioned a bar.
Thus, the creation of the Virgin River hotel casino, which opened in May of 1990; and is now celebrating its 20-year anniversary. If ever there was an example of “Build it and they will come,” the Virgin River is it.
The Virgin River opened with 10 employees, 76 rooms, and the immediate success of the hotel casino led to the addition of a 16,000 square-foot casino, a restaurant; and 76 more rooms.
One year later, 115 more rooms were added along with two movie theaters. Expansion continued in 1992 and 1993 when the casino was expanded again and a buffet was added.
In August of 1994, a race and sports book was added along with the seventh building. One year later, a bingo center took the Virgin River to yet another level.
In 1998 a 24-lane bowling center with pro shop and arcade was added. In 2005, the coffee craze was met with the addition of a Starbucks.
Now with more than 700 rooms and more than 700 employees, the Virgin River is a hot spot all year long.
Hotel General Manager Lex Hall and Black Gaming Vice President of Hotel Operations Marleen Szalay have been with the Virgin River since the establishment’s first days, and neither of them have any plans of leaving anytime soon.
“I moved to Las Vegas from Idaho in 1966,” recalled Hall. “Things were slow in Idaho. There were no jobs, so I decided to go south. My brother lived in Las Vegas.”
Hall went to work for a bar in North Las Vegas where he worked until the call came asking him to join the Virgin River.
“The Virgin River was under construction at the time,” said Hall. “The Black brothers wanted someone to open it. They asked me if I knew where Mesquite was, so I came up and visited. I spent the night there, liked what I saw and went to work.”
To Hall, the Virgin River represented a smaller area with friendly people and good old down-home country fun. He packed his bags never looking back and the Virgin River suddenly became a hot spot for everyone from the locals to residents from several other states.
“I think what made the Virgin River so successful was its Western feel,” said Hall. “Everyone knows your name, and it’s very close-knit. There are many nice people in Mesquite, and I know of several people who come here each year for their vacation.”
Szalay started three months before Hall. She was living in Las Vegas working at the Mirage Hotel and Casino when she received a life-changing call from Black Gaming CEO Randy Black of Black Gaming.
“Randy told me that I should come to work for them at the Virgin River and that it would be an adventure,” said Szalay, a native of Las Vegas who has lived in Mesquite for 20 years. “And no question about it, this has been an adventure.
“Randy is such a great genuine, family guy. It’s a pleasure working for him. The only reason Mesquite has become what it has is because of Randy. Because of his foresight and willingness to take a chance on a very small town and know in his heart it was all one big gamble, it’s a great story. He put everything he had into it and it turned out very well.”
“When we opened the River, we were one big family – and we are still one big family. “
Black also has fond memories of the creation of the Virgin River; along with both Szalay and Hall. In fact, Black Gaming has a total of sox employees who have been with the company since its inception also including Bertha Sandoval, Juan Delgado, Marina Munoz, all three in the buffet; Maria Galindo, the bar/lounge; and Ned Blackmon, security.
“Back in the old days, there were only 1,200 people in Mesquite,” Black recalled recently. “Jim stopped there and said that there really needed to be a hotel casino at that location.
“We actually turned a big mountain into a flat area so that we could build the Virgin River. We were in the earth-moving business at the time.”
The fact that both Hall and Szalay relocated to Mesquite and remain with Black Gaming is considered a big reason for the Virgin River’s continued success.
“I remember when Marleen was renting rooms before the casino was even open,” Black recalled. “She had a little office for a month of so.
“Lex has been voted Mr. Mesquite. He’s really the St. Peter of our organization. They are both awesome people.”
The memories of the creation of the Virgin River are further symbolized by the fact that Black’s uncle, Arthur Black, was the commissioner of the Arizona Highways Commission and was an integral part in the creation of the highway through the gorge between Mesquite and St. George thereby opening the route.
Things have not stopped since Day One either as evidenced by continued improvements and additions such as; all 700 rooms were remodeled earlier this year; swimming pools were also remodeled; and meeting space has been added for small meetings and family reunions.
In addition, the coffee shop is now being enlarged and remodeled.
Recreational facilities which are part of the Virgin River include the Palms Golf Club and the Oasis Gun Club where trap, skeet and sporting clays shooting are offered along with five stands.

The Bridge, Have You Seen The Bridge?

The Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Bridge is one of the most spectacular sights at the already amazing Hoover Dam.

The bridge is named after the former Nevada Governor and the former Arizona State and NFL football star who was killed in Afghanistan while serving as an Army Ranger.

The bridge is supposed to be ready for vehicles in November 2010, but there is a bike ride scheduled for October by the Regional Transportation Commission in Las Vegas.

Amazing site to see. I took this photo in July from a HeliUSA chopper while flying to the Grand Canyon Ranch.

This latest Wonder of the World will cut travel time between Nevada and Arizona. No more long delays because of log jams over the Dam.

Remembering Kenny Guinn

Former Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn died Thursday July 22 after an accident while working on the roof of his home. He was 73 years old. It's unclear if he died of a heart attack, or died because of the fall.

My thoughts of Kenny are many, but one that has rarely, if ever, been mentioned stands out to me.

Guinn loved education. After the mess at UNLV when Bob Maxson was President of the school, Guinn offered to take over and clean it up. His pay for that year....one dollar. That's it. He ran the university for a year for a buck.

While he was President of UNLV Rollie Massimino had already been hired as basketball coach, and unknown to Guinn, Rollie has a second, secret contract that paid him an additional $375,000 a year through something called the "Varsity Club."

Rollie was such a failure as coach, even those who once supported him in the Varsity Club had withdrawn their support and stopped paying the cash to the Club.

Guinn once described the shock to me that he had as he learned of this scheme to launder more money to Rollie without public disclosure. "I was amazed to learn what had been done by the previous administration. I knew the first thing I had to do was make the secret contract details public." UNLV is a public university and all contracts must be part of the public record.

Guinn cleaned up the mess left my Maxson. Within a week after learning of the secret contrat, Guinn engineered a deal to get rid of Rollie, buy him out of both of his contracts made by Maxson and close an ugly chapter in UNLV history.

He was a great friend and he will be missed dearly by Nevada.

Barry Family Looks Forward to Golden Gloves Competition

Pat Barry, wife, look forward to Golden Gloves July 22-24 at CasaBlanca




Long-time youth boxing enthusiast Pat Barry congratulates a competitor

following a Golden Gloves event at the CasaBlanca in 2009.

The popular Berry returns to the CasaBlanca July 22-24 when the Golden Gloves Junior Nationals.



MESQUITE, Nev. -- For Pat Barry, the Golden Gloves Junior Nationals July 22-24 at the CasaBlanca Resort and Casino may be the purest form of boxing. With an estimated 400 competitors ages 8-16 competing in the CasaBlanca Event Center, the future of the sport will be showcased in a classic event.
“There is so much value in Golden Gloves,” said the 57 year-old Beary, who with his wife, Dawn, runs Barry’s Boxing Center at 2664 S. Highland Ave., in Las Vegas. “The sport instills discipline into young people while also giving them a sense of self-worth.”
Barry speaks from experience as evidenced by a career which saw him mount a 12-8 record with five draws. His biggest win came over Jessie Bender, who was the New England state middleweight champion in 1975.
“I took the fight on a two-day notice,” Barry remembers. “I was between managers at the time. I didn’t know Bender from Adam and my grandmother had just died and my mother was horrified about the fight. I won a six-round unanimous decision. That was my claim to fame.
“I loved boxing. The problem was that my shoulder kept popping out, so I say now that I loved boxing more than it loved me.”
A former member of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department who spent 30 years (1978-2009) working as a detective in Patrol, Canine, Domestic Violence and Juvenile, Barry and his wife, Dawn, (she, too, retired from Metro where she worked in Detention Services and Patrol Section) now spend their days running the boxing gym in Las Vegas.
“Youth boxing has always been my passion,” he said adding that the gym in Vegas is a non-stop facility of about 4,000 square feet. “We first opened the gym in 1984 at Spring Mountain and Decatur in Las Vegas. Now, we have both young men and young women competing and I really believe that boxing can save lives.
“The sport shows young people the responsible way of doing things rather than blowing their temper and doing something they will regret later. People many times learn to pick themselves up off the canvas. They learn to face their fears head-on.”
Barry’s own path to Las Vegas is very interesting. A native of Long Island, N.Y., he journeyed to Las Vegas in 1976 for a chance to fight Michael Spinks who had just won the Super Middleweight title at the Olympics.
“I came to Vegas and my weight went under 148, and I was told I was too light to fight Spinks,” Barry said. “The fight was all set for the Aladdin Hotel and on the week of the fight, I was told it wouldn’t work. I walked into a gym, and saw some guy who told me he was actually fighting Michael.”
After the fight with Spinks fell apart, Barry was going to return to Long Island. After speaking with noted boxing gymnasium and fight manager Johnny Tocco, Barry decided to stay and eventually joined the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
But while injuries stopped Barry’s own boxing career, he stayed active in youth boxing in Las Vegas and you can bet hundreds of competitors and their families are thankful that he remained in the desert. After retiring from the police department, he and his wife, Dawn, focused their efforts fully on the gym.
In fact, when he retired from Metro, the gym became an official first job.
“Retiring can be scary,” Barry said. “Way too many people retire and then they die. Now, I’m at the gym to open the doors first thing in the morning and my schedule is full. My life really hasn’t changed much at all. I’m still up first thing in the morning doing road work before heading to the gym.
‘My day is full and I would not have it any other way.”
Barry’s professional coaching has included mentoring world champion contender Augie Sanchez from 1998-2002; World Champion Bones Adams from 1998-2000; and world champion contender Roman Ladon from 1997-99.
His amateur boxing has included coaching stints with Junior Golden Gloves champions Jesus Magdaleno (he also won the Senior Golden Gloves and USA Senior Golden Gloves titles), Haseim Rahman and Kevin Pimentel in 2007. He also led USA National Champion Diego Magdaleno, who is now 16-0 as a professional; and Medalist Louie Padilla (all three medaled USA national championships along with Golden Gloves titles).
In addition, Barry’s international coaching experience has included trips to Mexico, Canada and Milan, Italy. He was also named the Coach of the Year for USA Boxing in 2007 while being named one of the top five volunteer coaches of all sports by the United States Olympic Committee.
Even with the many years of activity in youth boxing, the event at the CasaBlanca stands out as one of Barry’s favorite.
“The location is excellent,” Barry said. “There is so much for the kids to do in Mesquite not to mention the fact that the competition is incredible. The facility itself is first-class and perfect for the Golden Gloves.”
Further information regarding the Golden Gloves can be found at www.juniorgoldengloves.com or by calling Dawn Barry at 702-368-2696.