RIP, Jim McKay
Jim McKay has passed away. More later.
UPDATE: I am unable to pay proper tribute to Mr. McKay this afternoon because of other responsibilities, but here are some video links from Fang's Bites to keep you busy for now.
I also have many quotes in my inbox from McKay's friends and colleagues. I kind of like this one from Costas:
"Jim McKay was a singular broadcaster. He brought a reporter's eye, a literate touch, and above all a personal humanity to every assignment. He had a combination of qualities seldom seen in the history of the medium, not just sports."
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Comments (9)
RIP.....Munich
Wide World of Sports. Weekend evenings in the winter just aren't the same without it.
The 1972 Munich Olympics. No one was any better. Even Walter Cronkite said so. And the glory of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
Tens of thousands of sporting events on CBS, ABC/ESPN, and NBC.
All graced by the presence of the "Real McKay".
Didn't he ruin the 1980 Olympic USA/Russia game by telling everyone you're going to be shocked by the outcome or something?
It was amazing how he brought all these minor sports to us. Speed skating, barrel jumping, slalom skiing, "the thrill of victory and agony of defeat" skiing, plus so many more. Then was Munich and just about every Triple Crown race (yay! Big Brown lost!) ABC covered. The fact that every major network honored him today on their sports coverage speaks volumes for who he was. RIP
Whenever there was a big event for ABC outside of the NFL or college football, Jim McKay was there. He was one of the best. The HBO documentary, Jim McKay: My World in My Words is a definite must see.
"Jim McKay was the established hot of ABC's Wide World of Sports. A well-educated American with a wonderful command of the English language and perfect manners, he became highly respected for his emotional and sensitive coverage of the Israeli hostage crisis during the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich....He took me under his wing all those years ago and taught me the trade." Jackie Stewart "Winning is Not Enough"
ESPN Classic should devote a day in broadcasting vintage McKay instead of the poker/American Gladiator stuff they broadcast. Make that a week.
Just watched Fang's Videos....
Got a chuckle out of McKay's call of Dave Wottle's great come from behind Olympic Victory.
As Wottle is steaming down the stretch trying to makeup the 10-15 metre deficit, McKay hurriedly cued in this piece of "male oriented" trivia about Wottle:
"And here come Wottle, he got married shortly after the Olympics Trials, some say that he should not have done that, that it would RUIN him".
I'm sure millions of married men watching across America nodded in assent upon hearing that.
And apparently McKay never spoke to Casey Stengel who once said..."It ain't the sex that killing my ballplayers...it's the looking for it".
But McKay knew his audience.
This has always confused me. Why did Jim McKay go by that surname rather than McManus? His son joined the business with that surname (which I kind of respect since he didn't want to be seen as getting to the top b/c of daddy) but he did not and not even wikipedia explained as to why.
He hosted a show called "The Real McKay" back in TV's primordial days because the producer thought it was a catchy name, and he just started using that as his professional name, apparently.