Jim McKay has died

As far back as I remember watching sports Jim McKay seemed to always be there at every sporting event. He was like the Walter Cronkite of sports news. Wouldn't it be fitting if there was a tripe crown winner on the day we honor Jim's life.

Jim McKay, 86, a longtime television sports journalist, has died of natural causes in Maryland, according to a statement from the McKay family.

McKay is best known for hosting "ABC's Wide World of Sports" and 12 Olympic Games.

McKay won numerous awards for journalism, including the George Polk Memorial Award and two Emmys -- one for his sports coverage, the other for his news reporting -- for his work at the 1972 Munich Olympics, which were tragically affected by the Black September terrorists' attack on the Israeli athletes in the Olympic Village.

"There are no superlatives that can adequately honor Jim McKay. He meant so much to so many people. He was a founding father of sports television, one of the most respected commentators in the history of broadcasting and journalism," ESPN and ABC Sports president George Bodenheimer said in a statement.

"For more than 60 years he brought sports into the homes of Americans on Wide World of Sports, the Olympics and many other programs that captured the essence of the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.

"Jim was the ultimate colleague, having helped generations of people who have now taken his mantle. He was also a warm and devoted family man. My thoughts and prayers go out to his wife Margaret, Sean and Mary for their loss. And I know that countless people, around the world, have been touched by this great man. We will miss him."

In 1968, McKay won the first of his 13 Emmy Awards, becoming the first sports commentator to receive that honor.

His 12th Emmy, in 1988, was not for his talents as a broadcaster but as the writer of the openings for ABC Sports' coverage of the 1987 Indianapolis 500, the British Open and the Kentucky Derby. He is the only broadcaster to have won Emmys for sports and news broadcasting and for writing.

In 1990 he was the recipient of the first-ever Lifetime Achievement in Sports award from the Academy. In 1992 he was the recipient of an Emmy Award in the Individual Achievement category for the ABC Sports special, "Athletes and Addiction: It's Not a Game."

In 1989 McKay received the Peabody Award, which is presented annually to recognize the most distinguished and meritorious public service programming rendered each year on radio and television.

McKay was the first American network sports commentator to visit mainland China. In 1991, he visited Cuba to interview Fidel Castro.

McKay was with "ABC's Wide World of Sports" since its inception in April 1961.

Jim McManus (McKay's real name) was born in Philadelphia on September 24, 1921, and moved to Baltimore when he was 15.

He graduated from Loyola College there, then entered the United States Navy as an officer during World War II. At the war's conclusion, he was captain of a minesweeper.

His reports from the '72 Olympics massacre were among the best newcasts (and most emotional) I've ever seen on tv.

R.I.P. Jim

I'm a little surprised that this thread has had no replies (considering all the sports fans here). McKay, for me anyway, exemplified excellence in sports reporting and his "They're all gone" report (about all the Israeli athletes killed in the 1972 massacre) will live with me forever.

It may just be a generational gap, and look at two major sporting events the guy had covered for YEARS with ABC........what, the Indy 500 and the Kentucky Derby? Not exactly the premier national events* as they once were.

But McKay was cool, and indeed 1972 was his professional highlight. I believe it was the HBO Sports Documentary made about him where he said that when ABC got the first reports that all the Israeli hostages were killed, it wasn't reported* on-air because it couldn't be confirmed. He had to wait either several minutes or hours before it was finally confirmed, and all the while he's having to pretend on TV that nothing was wrong, but knowing in his gut that they were dead. The worst time of his life apparently...

*=Shit, remember when news networks did THAT?

I thought I had already posted here.

I was 8 when the Munich games were ripped apart by terrorism. Back then the term "terrorist" was not apparently in mainstream media use because the perpetrators were referred to as "guerillas." I watched the live telecasts with my family (I remember my mother crying), and wondered how and why gorillas obtained weapons and kidnapped Israeli athletes.

Years later, watching the footage again, I was able to appreciate Jim McKay's talents. He had an understated elloquence and poignancy. Unlike his ABC contemporary, Howard Cosell, elloquent in his own right, McKay never let himself become the story. His work with Wide World of Sports brought us to places and events in the pre-ESPN world that we would never see otherwise. He gave us "the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat."

He was the Walter Cronkite of sports broadcast journalism. He was always a trusting, gentle and informed voice.

Nicely said, klyd.

McKay was always a pleasure to watch for the reasons you stated. He was classy!

Those '72 olympics were memorable for a number of reasons, most notably, the murder of the eleven Israeli athletes.

But 1972 was the year that the Soviets won the controversial basketball gold medal after some shockingly dreadful officiating. The American silver medals still sit in a vault in Switzerland as no player will accept them (in fact, most players have wills that prohibit any just descendant from receiving them.

Olga Korbut's dazzling displays in gymnastics and Dave Wottle's 800 meter victory with the golf cap also come to mind, but the biggest figure of the game was Mark Spitz, who won 7 swimming gold medals.

Wide World of Sports was a TV staple in our house. There wasn't an event that we didn't watch and probably because Jim McKay made them all sound like the best possible thing to watch. "Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport......". The entire broadcasting team was great; Chris Schenkel, Keith Jackson, Jack Whitacker and of course Howard in later years.

I was in the Toga Bar at Ceasar's in Atlantic City when I looked up and saw the picture of McKay with the dates underneath, and morbidly I wondered if any of the swimmers in the Dead Pool had him.

He was on my long list, but I remember putting him in with the likes of William Buckley, who was old, but active and seemingly in decent shape. I thought he'd have a few more good years. I don't believe anybody had him in the group.

His funeral is supposed to be tomorrow. I think the service is supposed to be a cathedral downtown. If it wasn't gonna be 100 degrees I might walk down there just to watch the procession to pay my respects.

In honor of Jim:

During his eulogy for his father his son shared the story of his father. He was out of town at some sporting event and he walked into a room where Howard Cosell was sitting with several people. They were colleaques; friends; journalists, etc. Jim sits by Howard and he says, "Jim, I'm always surrounded by people no matter where I go. It seems there's no place where I can just be alone and have some peace. Jim replied, "Howard, have you tried your room?"