Legendary Broadcaster Jim McKay Dies at 86

[NashVegas]

Source: ESPN

Live reports.

Read more: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=3430672

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McKay was a respected sportscaster when the kidnappings happened at the Munich Olympics. His reporting brought him and the ABC team (which included Peter Jennings,IIRC) world-wide respect.

[YDogg]

1. MSNBC link here

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/25019261/

[NashVegas]

2. Thanks

It's spreading like wildfire, now.

[roguevalley]

20. This is awful. He actually aged onscreen during the Munich

broadcasting. He was a gentleman and old school sports broadcaster. RIP, Jim. You were a good man.

[xxqqqzme]

30. 'They're all gone'....I'll never forget that.

[AngryOldDem]

3. Legendary broadcaster Jim McKay dies

Source: MSNBC

Longtime TV sports journalist Jim McKay has died at the age of 86 after a long illness, ESPN reported Saturday, citing a statement from the McKay family.

McKay was best known for hosting ABC's "Wide World of Sports" and was a part of 12 Olympics.


Read more: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/25019261/

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That's all there is right now.

I will never forget his coverage of the 1972 Munich Olympics.

RIP, Mr. McKay.

[HereSince1628]

4. RIP. He was a fixture of my youthful television watching

Now he will never again know the agony of defeat.

[ben_meyers]

5. He went from sports reporter to news reporter

at the Munich games. The world was stunned by the senseless violence and you could hear it in Jim's voice. A few years later his commentary on the savages destroying Sarajevo, a few months after those Games, should have been further warning to the civilized world.

[Frank Cannon]

7. His coverage of the Munich games was legendary

Particularly when he told us, visibly shaken, that the athletes had been killed. It was a moment in broadcasting history like when Cronkite announced that Kennedy had been assassinated or when Herbert Morrison described the Hindenburg disaster.

I watched Wide World of Sports every week when I was a kid. Thanks for the memories, Jim.

[Faygo Kid]

8. One of the all-time greats.

I remember him well in Munich, too. RIP.

[MarianJack]

9. His Humanity and compassion...

...was such a consolation.

He was also always a gentleman.

[joeybee12]

13. Yes...and according to the story, Walter Cronkite sent him a

telegram praising his work that day in Munich. Yup, he summed up what we all felt. A genuine man. RIP.

[NashVegas]

16. Munich

I was a little kid when that happened.

He was glue.

He'd have put today's prima donnas to shame.

[FredStembottom]

6. Jim McKay and Wide World of Sports

What a staple of kid TV watching for those of us old enough!
Very recognizable voice. I immediately heard it in my head as I read this.
Bye, Jim. You did a good.

[pansypoo53219]

10. OH NOES! i remember that.

i'm OLD. ok, my grandparents watched it.

[libnnc]

12. I watched that show every weekend

RIP Jim :patriot:

[underpants]

22. Cliff diving, Figure 8 races, Chinese acrobats, Globetrotters, ice motorcycles

and of course Vinko Bogataj

[AngryOldDem]

28. And the demolition derbies from the Islip speedway.

I always thought that and the cliff diving were the coolest.

[kestrel91316]

11. "The thrill of victory.........and the agony of defeat" -

He was a fixture on ABC for decades..........RIP.

[shanti]

35. sure was!

i do remember him too, RIP mr. mckay.

[acmavm]

14. Oh my. I saw his picture and right away the music to She Has Funny Cars

started going through my mind

[1776Forever]

15. He was one of the Greatest Sports Broadcasters ever! Thanks for the memories Jim!

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=3430672

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.

:patriot:

[wtmusic]

17. Jim McKay WAS the Olympics in our household

A true great in his field. RIP Jim.

(seems like freaking yesterday)

[underpants]

23. True I'll never forget "Again this is taped. We will not reveal the final result..."

USA 4
USSR 3

What a night that was.

Of course Jim also brought us the official word that all the Israeli athletes were dead

[swilton]

18. Another dimension to the McKay broadcasting

I certainly share in the sadness of this great sports-caster's passing. :-(

But on some levels I thought his Olympic broadcasts were over the top vis a vis his Yankee chauvinism. I saw and now see no objectivity in the Olympic sports broadcasts -- in that there is a lack of reporting the sport for its own sake and letting the viewer come to his own conclusions.

World-class athletes were and are all a cut above the average athlete and they all should be recognized. However, I found and find that the chauvinism contributes to the 'ugly American'/dumbing down of America vis a vis education or lack thereof. Whatever, despite the fact that I love sports and am somewhat an amateur athlete (former masters' swimmer, equestrian, etc., etc) it is why I no longer watch the Olympics.

[NashVegas]

29. Compared to Keith Jackson

McKay was the soul of balance.

I know what you mean though. For me, the soap-opera type coverage - or at least the bulk of it - started when NBC took it. I remember in the 1970s, we'd get the short 'up close & personals' but most of the drama focus was on the action.

[Mad_Dem_X]

19. Instantly-recognizable voice

He will be missed. RIP, Jim. :(

[Efilroft Sul]

21. RIP, Jim.

You were my favorite national sports broadcaster ever, and my childhood Saturdays wouldn't have been the same without you.

[CreekDog]

24. "Spanning the globe..."

sadly, time marches on. :(

[Botany]

25. Veteran sportscaster Jim McKay dies at 87

Source: A.P.

NEW YORK (AP) — Jim McKay, the venerable and eloquent sportscaster thrust into the role of telling Americans about the tragedy at the 1972 Munich Olympics, has died. He was 87.

McKay died Saturday of natural causes at his farm in Monkton, Md. The broadcaster who considered horse racing his favorite sport died only hours before Big Brown attempted to win a Triple Crown at the Belmont Stakes.

He was host of ABC's influential "Wide World of Sports" for more than 40 years, starting in 1961. The weekend series introduced viewers to all manner of strange, compelling and far-flung sports events. The show provided an international reach long before exotic backdrops became a staple of sports television.

McKay — understated, dignified and with a clear eye for detail — 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.

Read more: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jfdn2uoYJwOEdiYCzfkvC52PmF7wD915BSN82

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"The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat."



Thanx Jim. What you and a very small crew w/ few cameras did is in many ways so
much better than anything that is on now.

[Bluebear]

26. Always a class act. Thank you Jim. RIP.

[Zavulon]

27. That really sucks.

I remember watching the Olympics one day as a kid, and I wasn't really finding myself very interested. Towards the end of the broadcast, McKay came on to sign off and said "This is more than just history, and it only happens once every four years. Try to see as much as you can."

Just because I found the guy so likable, I tuned in again the next day, the day after that and so on. Now, so many years later, I still tape every second of the broadcasts and watch them all - even the sports that don't interest me that much.

All because of Jim McKay.

RIP, sir.

[coffeenap]

31. Me too--my cousin was one of the athletes killed-- we learned

everything as it happened while watching him.

[michreject]

32. I never got to see any of the broadcasts

I was stationed in Germany at the time.

[bdamomma]

33. Jim McKay

someone who will never be forgotten was a pillar in Wide World of Sports.

[Blue_Tires]

34. ttt