RIP Jim McKay

Sadly news hit today that long time sports broadcaster Jim McKay passed away today (Saturday, June 7, 2008), thankfully of 'natural causes.' 

Throughout my youth, Jim McKay, mostly[more] through his duties as a host of ABC's Wide World of Sports, but also as a broadcaster for many Olympiads, was the voice of sports.  On any given weekend, he would introduce and host sporting events of various types always doing so with class.  Never having to raise his voice to convey a range of emotion, with just minor changes in tone McKay easily let viewers experience the highs and lows of sports primarily on their own, rather than through the eyes of the host.

I'm too young to really have known the events of the 1972 Munich Olympics, but those horrific events cemented McKay's place in broadcast history.  Later, as I've aged and learned the history of the events in Munich it was more apparent just how hard those events were for McKay to get through.

McKay was the consummate professional and set a standard that will be hard for sports broadcasters to live up to.  Hopefully those that follow will give it there best, as they'll be much better for it.