The Jim Murray Reader

by Murray, Jim; Scully, Vin

• ISBN13: 9780803283268
• ISBN10: 0803283261
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-07-01
• Publisher: Bison Books

Summary

Jim Murray, the dean of American sportswriters, entertained readers with writing that is so good and so funny that even people who don't like sports read him.The Jim Murray Readergathers some of Murray's best columns from the height of his career and showcases the wit and the style that won him a Pulitzer Prize in 1990. His inexhaustible talent and limitless range are on full display here: from the perplexities of tennis scoring ("a game in which love counts for nothing, deuces are wild, and the scoring system was invented by Lewis Carroll") and baseball rules ("The infield fly rule is about as simple as calligraphy. It might as well be a Japanese naval code") to Murray's Laws ("The way to make a line move faster is to join the other one") and many of his colorful profiles ("Richard Petty has climbed in more windows than 50 car thieves. . . . He wasn't born, he was assembled and modified"). His striking images, evocative prose, and hyperbolic one-liners have made Murray one of the most quotable and most celebrated sports columnists of the twentieth century.

Author Biography

Jim Murray (1919-98) was one of the founders of Sports Illustrated and a writer for Time magazine before his tenure as sportswriter at the Los Angeles Times from 1961 until 1998. Murray won the Red Smith Award, America's most prestigious sportswriting honor, and the Pulitzer Prize. Vin Scully has been the voice of the Dodgers since 1950, which is the longest consecutive service of any current Major League broadcaster for one team.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xv
Personally Speaking	p. 1
As White as the Ku Klux Klan	p. 2
It's Business as Usual	p. 5
ôMarringö the Races	p. 8
Thankful, But …	p. 10
Don't Blame Little League	p. 12
Missing: An Ocean of Joy	p. 15
Of Human Bondage	p. 18
Blasting a Golf Trail	p. 21
Weird Site for a Fight	p. 24
The Terror of Indy	p. 27
Score it Nonsense	p. 31
A Matter of Blind Faith	p. 34
The Hall of What?	p. 37
Laws of Murray	p. 40
The Same Old Song	p. 43
The Joy of Seeing	p. 46
Translating the Quotes	p. 50
If you're Expecting One-Liners	p. 53
Recruiting Sales Talk	p. 56
One Man's Opinion	p. 60
Instant Celebrity	p. 62
A Car to Remember	p. 65
All-Time Greatest Name	p. 68
It Wasn't Too Bad	p. 71
Bo, You Have Company	p. 74
We Just Have it Too Good	p. 77
It's Seen and Not Heard	p. 80
It Doesn't Suit Them	p. 83
Some Nights I Stay Up Through the News	p. 86
Let's be Honest about the Masters	p. 89
Breeding Counts but doesn't Add Up	p. 92
The Sport that Time Leaves Alone	p. 95
Just Once, I'd Like to See …	p. 98
Who Let Lawyers in the Ballpark?	p. 100
No Bosox Tea Party	p. 103
Red-Blooded Runners	p. 105
Tribute to Abe	p. 108
Golf is to Football as Palm Springs is to Pittsburgh	p. 110
No Grundges in the Kumquat Bowl	p. 113
A Transient Business	p. 116
From Russia with Love or … I'll Never Smile Again	p. 120
Portraits	p. 125
Man Without a Funnybone	p. 126
Idol Whose Time is Past	p. 129
Catchin' Up with Satch	p. 132
A Woman of the Century	p. 135
He Earned his Way	p. 138
He Dared Stand Alone	p. 141
Dr. J Came to Play	p. 144
Baseball's Showboat	p. 147
The Pirate has Heart	p. 150
Baby-Face Bomber	p. 153
That's Shoe Biz	p. 156
Comaneci Olympics	p. 158
Who is this Guy?	p. 162
A Rejected Landmark	p. 165
The Cowboy's Lament	p. 169
Alzado is Razor Sharp	p. 172
Fame But no Hall	p. 175
A Salute to Gilliam	p. 178
The People's Champ	p. 181
Trouble Hits Tape	p. 184
Lieutenant Fair-and-Square	p. 187
A College Graduate	p. 191
A Tough Little Lady	p. 195
First Test-Tube Linebacker	p. 198
Making of a Man	p. 202
The One and Only	p. 205
Perfect Timing	p. 208
World Class Leprechaun	p. 211
The One that Counts	p. 214
Another Rocky Story	p. 217
Master of the City Game	p. 220
An American Legend	p. 224
Track and Field's Hottest Double Feature	p. 227
You'd Never Think she is One of Them	p. 230
Coach of the Living Dead	p. 233
Patching an Image	p. 235
He needn't Take Number; it's his	p. 238
An Actor on Canvas	p. 241
The Eternal Cowboy	p. 244
Fond Farewells	p. 247
Life Finally Caught Marciano with a Sucker Punch	p. 248
Last of the Victorians	p. 251
He Never Grew up	p. 254
Death of an Heirloom	p. 256
A Portrait in Courage	p. 259
The Call of a Siren	p. 262
He Made a Name of Red Smith	p. 264
Index	p. 267
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