SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Longtime regional sportscasting legend Jim Adelson died about 5:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30, at the age of 91, in Scottsdale, his son Steve Adelson confirmed Saturday, Oct. 1.
"He went out with a smile on his face," Steve said. "He loved the fact the Bison beat Iowa two weeks ago."
For more than 25 years, the sportscaster made nightly appearances on television sets across the Red River Valley on Fargo's KXJB, Channel 4. For many years, his was the voice of North Dakota State University Bison sports and University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux hockey.
That longevity made Adelson, KXJB's sports director, a household name in Fargo-Moorhead and secured a following for both local high school and regional sports.
"I had a lot of fun doing my job," Adelson, then 88, said in a 2014 interview. "I made some kind of a mark in Fargo because I was different."
He was indeed one of a kind, branching out from the anchor desk to provide play-by-play televised broadcasts for the East Region boys basketball tournament and hosting his popular "Hole-in-One Golf Show," which aired Sunday nights for more than two decades.
An avid golfer, Adelson organized the first KX Amateur golf tournament in 1964. The tourney celebrated its 52nd summer this year.
Golf remained a passion for Adelson throughout his life. He said in 2014 he was still playing about once a week at a public golf course near his home in Scottsdale, where he retired.
His three children-Sally, Tom and Steve-all live in Arizona, and he had said he was enjoying spending time with his grandchildren.
Adelson kept in touch with the Fargo-Moorhead sports scene as a bi-monthly guest on a KFGO radio show hosted by Derek Hanson.
"He lived an amazing life," Steve said. "He'll be missed. We have lots of great memories."
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