I thought I had already posted here.

I was 8 when the Munich games were ripped apart by terrorism. Back then the term "terrorist" was not apparently in mainstream media use because the perpetrators were referred to as "guerillas." I watched the live telecasts with my family (I remember my mother crying), and wondered how and why gorillas obtained weapons and kidnapped Israeli athletes.

Years later, watching the footage again, I was able to appreciate Jim McKay's talents. He had an understated elloquence and poignancy. Unlike his ABC contemporary, Howard Cosell, elloquent in his own right, McKay never let himself become the story. His work with Wide World of Sports brought us to places and events in the pre-ESPN world that we would never see otherwise. He gave us "the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat."

He was the Walter Cronkite of sports broadcast journalism. He was always a trusting, gentle and informed voice.