College Sports

Jim McKay, the legendary voice of ABC sports, has died at age 86. He passed away of natural causes at his farm in Monkton, Md., according to his son Sean McManus, head of CBS News and Sports.

The man who enjoyed horse racing as his favorite sport died just hours before the Belmont Stakes, the third and final leg of the Triple Crown.

He will always be remembered for anchoring the 1972 Munich Olympics, when Israeli athletes were taken hostage and eventually murdered. I will never forget, at age 14, seeing his face, hearing the heartbreak in his voice, and knowing that somehow the world had changed a bit that day. His words, “They’re all gone,” will resonate for generations, whenever the horrors of Munich are remembered.

His voice was also the Saturday afternoon staple for ABC’s Wide World of Sports. Who can forget “The Thrill of Victory, and the Agony of Defeat?” He hosted the popular show for four decades, beginning in 1961. In the days before sports on 100 cable channels, when most people got only three channels on their TV sets, Wide World of Sports set a standard that ESPN will never capture.

But beyond all of the platitudes, McKay was a fan of sports, of athletes. He traveled more than four million miles covering over 100 sports of all types. He was also the first sportscaster to win an Emmy.

I’m going to miss McKay. He has been a commentator on the Olympics, even when it jumped to NBC. He would handle interviews and special “Up Close and Personal” segments.

I hope he isn’t the last of a generation of sportscasters who loved the games, who cared about the fans. McKay was special and he will be missed.