Jim McKay’s passing today touches us all. McKay was the ultimate professional, a quiet, understated man who was the voice of ABC Sports, especially Wide World of Sports. The tributes to him will be pouring in, and all will be deserved. ESPN and ABC Sports president George Bodenheimer released a statement that read in part: “There are no superlatives that can adequately honor Jim McKay. … Jim was the ultimate colleague, having helped generations of people who have now taken his mantle. He was also a warm and devoted family man.” McKay did not scream, yell or gesture like modern day talking heads. He simply reported the facts, clearly and precisely and often in prose we all wish we could use. “Jim was in his own right a poet,” longtime sports producer Don Ohlmeyer said on ESPN. “He always could see the humanity in sports.” Ohlmeyer pointed out that McKay hated the traveling associated with his job – it meant he had to be away from his family. Quiet, dignified, detailed, direct – and a good father.

All of us who were around for the terrible day at the 1972 Munich Olympics will never forget McKay’s work that day. It was one of those touchstone moments that are impossible to forget. Terrorists had attacked the Olympic Village and invaded the Israeli section, taking Israeli athletes hostage. McKay was there the entire day, announcing what was happening. When the German police tried to rescue the hostages at the airport, the terrorists turned on the Israelis, killing them all – actually slaughtering them as they were bound and tied in helicopters. McKay looked in the camera and told us “They’re all gone.” He nearly cried, usually a no-no on the air but impossible to avoid on that day. Those watching did cry. McKay’s broadcast did not involve histrionics, he did not yell or scream, he merely told us the horrible news, starting by saying our worst fears are seldom realized but that night they were.

Perhaps present-day broadcasters (including the screaming sportswriters who go on TV) should watch that broadcast, take a lesson from it. McKay was emotional yet understated. He was in the middle of a tragedy, yet he was calm. He did not bring on 10 experts to tell us what we should feel or how we should think about what had happened. He did not examine the incident politically. There was no back and forth banter, one side trying to outdo the other.

There was just one man, one kind man, one family man, telling us of tragedy and cruelty that was beyond words.

Here is Ohlmeyer’s interview on ESPN.

Here is a tribute to McKay following his death.

And McKay's achievements in television.

In this interview McKay talks about Munich.

Finally, McKay talks about the “the agony of defeat” opening to Wide World of Sports.