# "...and the agony of defeat" Good night, Jim McKay **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [June 7, 2008, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-agony-of-defeat-good-night-jim-mckay/452162 "2008-06-07T19:15:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2008, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-agony-of-defeat-good-night-jim-mckay/452162/1 "2008-06-07T19:15:53Z")
[Veteran sportscaster Jim McKay dies at 86](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080607/ap_en_tv/obit_mckay) I always hated sports, but I loved the Olympics, and I loved him no matter what he was talking about. Thanks for everything Jim. You’ll never be forgotten. “They’re all gone.” :chills: ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2008, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-agony-of-defeat-good-night-jim-mckay/452162/2 "2008-06-07T19:34:21Z")
This bit was especially sad: > [@](#): > > The broadcaster who considered horse racing his favorite sport died only hours before Big Brown attempted to win a Triple Crown at the Belmont Stakes. ---
**Author:** ![MaddyStrut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dbc845/32.png) [@MaddyStrut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaddyStrut)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2008, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-agony-of-defeat-good-night-jim-mckay/452162/3 "2008-06-07T21:16:16Z")
I loved him hosting Wide World of Sports (a Saturday tradition in my house in the days before ESPN). He was the face of the Olympics to me. And, like **Equipoise** , I still get a chill thinking of “they’re all gone” back in '72. He had long life, enjoyed what he did, and brought a lot of joy to many of us. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2008, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-agony-of-defeat-good-night-jim-mckay/452162/4 "2008-06-07T22:56:36Z")
I can’t say it any better than the rest of you have. I agree completely. He was a professional who will be missed. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2008, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-agony-of-defeat-good-night-jim-mckay/452162/5 "2008-06-07T23:40:06Z")
Goodbye, Jim. Yes, he was the face and the voice of ABC Sports, even more so than Howard Cosell, Keith Jackson, Frank Gifford or any of the others. He was one of the few sports journalists. He kept a cool head in times of crisis, such as the '72 Olympics massacres, and was a pipeline of information and sanity for a troubled world. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2008, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-agony-of-defeat-good-night-jim-mckay/452162/6 "2008-06-08T00:59:11Z")
It’s nearly impossible to believe now, but there was almost no _news_ presence at the 1972 Olympics at the time the kidnapping and massacre took place. It was the second week of the games, and the news crews had packed up and gone home. For 16 hours, McKay was the person responsible for gathering the information, reporting it, and trying to put it into context. You don’t need to be a sports fan to realize that we’ve lost a person of incredible professionalism and skill. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2008, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-agony-of-defeat-good-night-jim-mckay/452162/7 "2008-06-08T02:55:44Z")
[QUOTE=kunilou] It’s nearly impossible to believe now, but there was almost no _news_ presence at the 1972 Olympics at the time the kidnapping and massacre took place. It was the second week of the games, and the news crews had packed up and gone home. For 16 hours, McKay was the person responsible for gathering the information, reporting it, and trying to put it into context. [/QUOTE] They played the sound bite of “They’re all gone,” but with the stuff that preceded it too, on the radio today. I pulled over and cried. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2008, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-agony-of-defeat-good-night-jim-mckay/452162/8 "2008-06-08T05:27:55Z")
“Whoa Nellie!” cried Kieth Jackson. “I’m next!” ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-agony-of-defeat-good-night-jim-mckay/452162/9 "2008-06-10T16:32:57Z")
[The IMDB](http://www.imdb.com/news/ns0000003/) is reporting that Jim McCay is dead. He was the announcer for ABC’s Wide World of Sports and that’s his voice that delivered those lines for the opening sequence. He was thrust into the ‘real’ news during the '72 Olympics in Munich and his coverage of the story kept me riveted to the TV set and introduced me to the larger world. I once saw him in an airport, at least I think it was him. I was too chicken to go up and ask if it was him and to thank him for his coverage of the '72 Olympics. One my many regrets I’m sad to say. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-agony-of-defeat-good-night-jim-mckay/452162/10 "2008-06-10T16:39:10Z")
I’m going to move this from Cafe Society to the Game Room forum, where game and sports-related topics go. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-agony-of-defeat-good-night-jim-mckay/452162/11 "2008-06-10T17:40:58Z")
Should’ve [merged](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=470999&highlight=olympics), _then_ moved. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-agony-of-defeat-good-night-jim-mckay/452162/12 "2008-06-10T19:37:25Z")
I merged the threads and relocated it again to TGR.