Sportscaster Jim McKay

[Peter Q. George]

Thank you, Kevin, for sharing your memories of Jim McKay.  Though I never met Jim personally, I've heard nothing but praise for his total professionalism and his down-to-earth persona.  I grew up watching "ABC's Wide World Of Sports" as a kid ever since 1964.  The Saturday night hot-dog and bean supper would not commence until "Wide World Of Sports" ended at 6, with Jim McKay's declaration "....this has been ABC's Wide World Of Sports".

I will never forget at the age 12 with the '72 Munich Olympic Games, watching the tragic events unfold on live television when McKay's solemn announcement that all of the Israeli athletes were killed by terrorists..... "They're all gone.".  Even today (36 years later), watching that clip still gives me the shivers.  RIP Jim McKay.   

Peter Q. George (K1XRB)
Whitman, Massachusetts
                           "Scanning the bands since 1967"
radiojunkie1@yahoo.com
radiojunkie3@yahoo.com
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--- On Sat, 6/7/08, Kevin Vahey <kvahey@comcast.net> wrote:

> From: Kevin Vahey <kvahey@comcast.net>
> Subject: Re: Sportscaster Jim McKay
> To: "Chuck Igo" <chuckigo@maine.rr.com>
> Cc: "Boston Radio Interest" <boston-radio-interest@rolinin.bostonradio.org>, "Bill O'Neill" <billohno@gmail.com>
> Date: Saturday, June 7, 2008, 11:40 PM
> Showing my age here.
> 
> Early in 1969 ABC Wide World of Sports invaded the ultra
> modern
> (cough) broadcast complex of WMUR at 1819 Elm.
> 
> They were covering a World Cup Ski Race on a few hours
> delay and the
> closest entry point to ATT Long Lines was Channel 9.
> 
> They parked a mobile unit with color VTR's in the
> parking lot and
> installed a switcher in master control that they wound up
> letting us
> keep.
> 
> McKay was going to do voice over live and he used the
> announce booth
> that was also the office of Uncle Gus. He never once
> complained about
> the situation and just did his coverage of the race
> perfectly.
> 
> His son Sean helped in the studio with graphics that we
> shot using the
> old TK-31's
> and of course I got a thrill that my camera was being seen
> by milions.
> 
> Afterwards McKay made sure he thanked each of us
> personally.
> 
> His teenage son Sean who was the gopher is now the
> President of CBS
> News and Sports.
> 
> I ran into him a couple of years ago at Gillette and he
> remembered the
> high-tech Channel 9 complex vividly.
> 
> RIP JIm