Cornerville Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 WWII vet...legendary broadcaster...class...he was the best. RIP Jim. Jim McKay McKay also covered 12 Olympics, but none more memorably than the Summer Games in Munich, Germany. He was the anchor when events turned grim with the news that Palestinian terrorists kidnapped 11 Israeli athletes. It was left to McKay to tell Americans when a commando raid to rescue the athletes ended in tragedy. "They're all gone," McKay said. ABC calculated that McKay traveled some 4 1/2 million miles to work events. He covered more than 100 different sports in 40 countries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 ESPN broke the news shortly after 10 a.m. ... and my hands shook as I relayed the message to a board full of sports writers and broadcasters. "They're all gone" will send a chill down my spine for as long as I live. In Bob Ley's well-done retrospective, he mentioned the message Walter Cronkite sent McKay shortly thereafter: "Dear Jim, today you honored yourself, your network and your industry." My condolences to his family and friends ... and to the field of journalism, which has lost one of its very best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 Jim McKay was the voice of sports for anyone like me who grew up watching Wide World of Sports every weekend. Plus the Olympics, Derby, Indy 500, etc. RIP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 No doubt he's be calling the The Belmont Stakes in Heaven this afternoon. RIP, Jim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spun Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 For a sports nut kid stuck in the house with bad weather outside, Jim McKay and Wide World of Sports was the perfect medicine in between Bills, Sabres and Braves games. I will never forget nor forgive what happened in Munich. Today marathon TV coverage is routine. Back in the day, two events requiring marathon TV were the tragedy of the Munich Olympics and later Watergate. The constant coverage in itself spelled global signifiance. Rest well Jim Mckay in the Wide World of Heaven! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 McKay's call "The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat" is forever embedded in my memory. Wide World of Sports was always entertaining in the 70's. There would be some coverage of some random sport in Austria or wherever. Classic stuff. RIP Jim. You were a great one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajzepp Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 For a sports nut kid stuck in the house with bad weather outside, Jim McKay and Wide World of Sports was the perfect medicine Same here. That guy's been there all of my 36 years helping me learn about and enjoy sports growing up. I always enjoyed his broadcasts and commentary. RIP, sir! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steely Dan Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 McKay's call "The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat" is forever embedded in my memory. Wide World of Sports was always entertaining in the 70's. There would be some coverage of some random sport in Austria or wherever. Classic stuff. RIP Jim. You were a great one I remember that too. It was a great array of sports too. Back in the day prizefights were on TV for free. Mckay was the ultimate professional in a profession that has seen steady decline since the invention of cable TV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steely Dan Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 SI Vault 1984 Article on McKay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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