[Deathwatch] Jim McKay, sportscaster, 86

[Deathwatch Central <cdw@slick.org>]

Sportscaster Jim McKay dies at 86
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/more/06/07/obit.mckay.ap/index.ht
ml?cnn=yes

NEW YORK (AP) -- Jim McKay, the veteran and eloquent sportscaster
thrust into the role of telling Americans about the tragedy at the 1972
Munich Olympics, has died. He was 86.

McKay died Saturday, said ABC, the network with which he was long
affiliated. The cause of death was not immediately given.

McKay was host of ABC's Wide World of Sports for decades. The
influential weekend series introduced viewers to all manners of
strange, compelling and far-flung sports events.

But he was suddenly placed in the role of a newscaster in 1972 when
Israeli athletes were kidnapped in Munich. As viewers followed the
gripping story, McKay told how the hostages were killed in a commando
raid.

McKay was the father of Sean McManus, president of CBS News and Sports.

Many thanks to TheLenGuy for posting this obituary