This post is not a baseball post...it's not even a sports post. This post is about a co-worker, and more importantly, a good friend. Ray Murphy passed away this weekend due to a massive heart attack. He brought life and laughter to the LDE war room at CBS Sportsline.
Murph could carry on an argument or discussion for hours, and never run out of things to say. He could talk to you about sports, music, movies, politics - anything. He always came to work with a smile on his face, and never had a bad day (or if he did, he wouldn't let anyone know it).
I only got to know Ray for the year and a half I have worked at CBS, but I feel like I got really close with him. He was the first person I considered a friend here at Sportsline, and was always the first person I went to say "hi" to when I got to work. He was my baseball buddy - I loved talking baseball with him.
He was witty, and loved to express his opinions. He always quick with a response and would constantly try and make people laugh.
He was a wealth of knowledge, knowing the answer to any trivia question anyone could come up with. But solving his trivia questions, well that's a real challenge.
Murph loved to glog at Sportsline. He took it real seriously, and constantly asked for someone to proofread his glogs. He even had his very own AP Style Handbook (from about the 1960s) in the drawer next to his date entry station, which he used as his own bible.
He was also a very tough fantasy competitor, using his vast knowledge of sports to his advantage.
But now he's gone on to that big LDE in the sky, and will certainly be missed by all here at Sportsline. It most certainly will not be the same without Ray Murphy.
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Thank you Jason for that wonderful tribute about Ray "The Murph" Murphy. He was everything you mentioned in your article and more; he was a good friend and co-worker to many of us who had the pleasure of working with him at SportsLine. He was the first to show me "the ropes" when I started as a part-timer in the Live Data Entry Dept. of SportsLine over 2 1/2 years ago. He taught me the right way to do my job and not use short cuts; he truly cared about his work. We even worked together on the Trivia Tower, creating exciting and interesting sports trivia questions for the company to use on their website. I also had the pleasure of bringing him into my Customer Service Dept. after I was promoted to management and helped train him on the phones with the same ideals that he used to train me. We became good friends who respected each other and the values we believed in, even though we disagreed from time to time. He sat at his cubicle in the corner of the room where everyone knew belonged to Ray. Now, every time I pass it, I will always remember Ray and the good times we shared, the conversations we discussed and the competitiveness we both displayed when it came to my fantasy baseball league. His team was called "The Daily Show" and he was the first one to win my league several years ago. This year, I will rename my league in honor of him; it is the least I can do for my friend. In passing, I hope Ray knew how many lives he touched here at SportsLine. Whether you liked him or not, agreed with him or not, everyone knew Ray and Ray knew everyone. May he rest in peace with God and with his family, especially his father who passed away a short time ago. I hope he gets to continue to share his knowledge of sports, music, politics and philosophy with the angels and saints in that place we all hope to be in.....heaven.
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