Ron Futrell oral history interview, 2024 September 30

Oral history interview with Ron Futrell conducted by Claytee D. White and Stefani Evans on September 30, 2024 for the Game On! The Oral History of Las Vegas Sports project. In this interview, Futrell recalls arriving in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1984 from Washington state where he had worked as a sportscaster. Growing up, Futrell shares he had a love of baseball, football, and basketball. He recalls attending Mt. San Antonio College in California as a communications/broadcasting major, and worked in sports journalism ever since. Three days after he arrived in Las Vegas, he reported on the Jazz v. Lakers game at the Thomas & Mack and interviewed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar after the player broke the all-time scoring record. Futrell remembers having to learn about sports betting and about emceeing a 1984 Las Vegas Gold Swim Team fundraiser with Frank Rosenthal. He describes the years-long tension between UNLV Administration, Athletic Directors, and Jerry Tarkanian in a time when sports reporters had to “choose sides.” He describes the salary scandal surrounding basketball coach Rollie Massimino and a "cam scam" in Tark's final year, when a camera was hidden in an air duct in UNLV's North Gym to film a conditioning class. Futrell's relations with UNLV temporarily soured when he broke the 1998 story about UNLV Athletic Director Charlie Cavagnaro using racist and sexist language in describing black and female athletes. However, he later taught for three years in the School of Communications. Digital audio available; no transcript available.