Veteran sportscaster Jim McKay of
'Wide World of Sports' dead at age 86
Saturday, June 7th 2008, 10:40 AM
Sweeney/AP
Jim
Mckay at his farm in Monkton, Maryland, in 1997. He broke the news of
the tragedy at the 1972 Munich Olympics to the American public.
ABC
The
veteran sportscaster is also remembers for bringing far-flung events
into American living rooms with his influential weekend series, 'Wild
World of Sports.'
Jim McKay,
the veteran and eloquent sportscaster thrust into the role of telling
Americans about the tragedy at the 1972 Munich Olympics, has died. He
was 86.
McKay died Saturday, said ABC, the network with which he was long affiliated. The cause of death was not immediately given.
McKay
was host of ABC's "Wide World of Sports" for decades. The influential
weekend series introduced viewers to all manners of strange, compelling
and far-flung sports events.
But he was suddenly placed in the role of a newscaster in 1972 when Israeli athletes were kidnapped in Munich. As viewers followed the gripping story, McKay told how the hostages were killed in a commando raid.
McKay was the father of Sean McManus, president of CBS News and Sports.
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