Posted by
Bill Crawford on Saturday, June 07, 2008 10:35:39 PM
Jim McKay was a man who travelled in the rarefied broadcasting air of the Olymics, and the following week he would cornpone his way through a caber tossing competition in "Wide World Of Sports".
He served as straight man, counterpoint and sanity control for Howard Cosell in many venues. He was one of those voices, like Pat Summerall and Curt Gowdy, who were the background voices in so many living rooms for a generation.
His pinnacle in my mind was when he was forced into news correspondent on the spot service during the first terror incident of the modern era: the kidnapping and murder of the Isreali Olympic athletes in Munich in 1972.
He was part of a generation who were truly reporters, not pundits. He didn't try and put it all in perspective for us. He was a witness to a tragedy there, nothing more. It had a dignity to it that Keith Olberman wouldn't know on his best day.
Rest in Peace, Jim McKay. Our prayers are with your family.