Moment of Silence for Mr. McKay
Back a few months ago (or a year or so now), ABC announced the retiring of ABC Sports, in favor of using the ESPN name for every sports broadcast, whether it be network or cable. At the time, there were quite a few people who were vocal about it being an end of an era, and how sad it was to see ESPN taking over. I was rather ambivalent, as I saw it coming anyways, since they had pretty much merged all of their broadcasts anyways.
However, one thing that I have missed, but wasn't necessarily a direct result of this was ABC's Wide World of Sports. One of my favorite memories of childhood was sitting in my living room, watching that on a Saturday afternoon. And of course, the voice that I associate with that show, was Jim McKay's. He was the voice of the "thrill of victory and the agony of defeat." And he was regularly bringing sport into my living room, from all over the world.
He was also very well associated with the Olympic Games, specifically with the Munich games of '72. While my memories of him don't quite extend back that far, I'm still aware of how important he was to making the Olympics more popular in the U.S.
So after passing away on Saturday, at the age of 86, sports broadcasting, and the media as a whole, has lost an incredible personality, and a legend in his field.
However, one thing that I have missed, but wasn't necessarily a direct result of this was ABC's Wide World of Sports. One of my favorite memories of childhood was sitting in my living room, watching that on a Saturday afternoon. And of course, the voice that I associate with that show, was Jim McKay's. He was the voice of the "thrill of victory and the agony of defeat." And he was regularly bringing sport into my living room, from all over the world.
He was also very well associated with the Olympic Games, specifically with the Munich games of '72. While my memories of him don't quite extend back that far, I'm still aware of how important he was to making the Olympics more popular in the U.S.
So after passing away on Saturday, at the age of 86, sports broadcasting, and the media as a whole, has lost an incredible personality, and a legend in his field.