Jim McKay
Thursday, June 12, 2008 © by
Author’s note: A shorter version of this column appeared in The Tentacle on June 11, 2008…
I finally got an accompanying YouTube video up. Find it here:
20080607 NBC's Bob Costas pays tribute to Jim McKay
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoAatCui6zw
Last Tuesday morning the spotlight of the sports world was focused on the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in
Mr. McKay passed away last Saturday on his horse farm in Monkton, in northern
For many of us who grew up watching early television, Mr. McKay was one of the first recognizable television celebrities in our lives.
One of the driving forces of television in its infancy was sports programming and many a youngster learned manners, poise, integrity, and speaking skills from Mr. McKay.
Much has been written about the socializing affect television can have on young impressionable minds. Of course, in recent years, much of the conversation has centered on the concern over the terrible impact the manners and behavior and violence displayed on television are having on today’s young children.
We may not have known at the time that we were learning to be gracious ladies and gentleman – but learning social skills is exactly what was happening.
We just thought we were watching sports.
(For many baby-boomers, the example set by folks like Mr. McKay may very well be one of the reasons that we are so disillusioned with
Mr. McKay was always very knowledgeable, well spoken, and gentlemanly as compared with television and sports of today which frequently appears to emphasize empty glitz, pizzazz, and mindless, banal banter over depth, talent, and integrity.
Mr. McKay was born James Kenneth McManus on Sept. 24, 1921 in
Running nearly 3,000 words in length, it is must reading for anyone who really wants to gain insight into the life and times of Mr. McKay – and why so many of us came to admire him as one of the truly great gentlemen of our time.
For the seasoned newspaper reader, one subtle tribute stands out. The AP stylebook now has folks simply referred to by their last name after they are introduced in an article. Unfortunately not many newspapers use a modified AP style that allows a writer to refer to a person by “Mr.” or “Mrs.” or “Dr.” after they are first mentioned.
In the article which appeared in the
As it should be, Mr. McKay began his career as a police reporter for
Dan Rodricks proudly pointed out in his column from last Sunday, that “Jim McKay had once been one of us. (So had his wife, Margaret; so had Louis Rukeyser of Wall Street Week, the author William Manchester, CBS reporter David Culhane, to mention a few.)”
Before Mr. McKay joined the paper, he graduated from
“After graduating from college, Mr. McKay served 3 1/2 years in the Navy during World War II, mostly on escort duty in the
In 1947, A. S. Abell Company, the publisher of the
Last Sunday’s article noted that Mr. McKay did not understand why he was being recruited for the brand new medium. He was told, “(D)idn't you say you were president of the dramatic society at
The television station began on Oct. 27, 1947 with a live broadcast of “two horse races at Pimlico.” The article noted “the first words heard on television in
He changed his name in 1950 to Mr. McKay after he was recruited that year to work for CBS - TV. His first program was “The Real McKay.”
Many of us remember Mr. McKay for different reasons. In his long and storied career, he broadcast 25
He was the first host of the “Wide World of Sports” in 1961 and over the next four decades, he introduced many different sports to the American living room other than the traditional fare of baseball, football, or basketball. Many will remember the iconoclastic opening for each episode: “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.”
He reported upon the Olympics for the first time in 1960 and went on to cover a total of 12 Olympics throughout his career.
For many folks, who are not sports enthusiasts; his place in history occurred when he anchored the live coverage, for 16 hours straight, of the terribly tragic 1972 Munich Olympics when 11 Israeli athletes were senselessly murdered by Palestinian terrorists.
History will forever remember Mr. McKay’s concluding remark when the ordeal was over: “When I was a kid, my father used to say our greatest hopes and our worst fears are seldom realized. Our worst fears have been realized tonight. They have now said that there were 11 hostages. Two were killed in their rooms this morning -- excuse me, yesterday morning. Nine were killed at the airport. They're all gone.”
He is the only sportscaster to win an Emmy for news coverage - for his reporting at those 1972 Olympics.
In 1968, he was the first sports broadcaster to win an Emmy for sports coverage – his first of 13 Emmys. He received a lifetime achievement award in 1990. In 1995, he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame.
In a statement released by President George W. Bush, he said: "For a generation of Americans, Jim was more than the much-honored host of Wide World of Sports and ABC's Olympic coverage. He was a talented and eloquent newsman and storyteller whose special gift was his ability to make the viewers at home genuinely care about more than just who won or lost.”
His death marks the end of an era. He leaves behind a legacy of sharing, with several generations, a life known for the thrill of victory.
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